Jorge Lorenzo delivered a scorching pace at the Misano circuit today to take second place on the grid in qualifying for tomorrow’s Grand Prix of San Marino. The reigning World Champion had continued to benefit from the hard work of his crew in the final morning free practice, holding second for most of the session to finally finish third just 0.323 from first. Lorenzo dominated the afternoon’s qualifying session, starting as the fastest rider from the outset before dropping to second with a gap of 0.578 to pole with 11 minutes to go. An extra burst of speed saw him drop the gap to a mere 0.120 seconds behind Casey Stoner on pole.
Ben Spies had a more challenging qualifying than his team mate today, spending the final free practice and subsequent qualifying working to improve rear grip levels on his YZR-M1. A last minute effort saw him deliver a fourth place grid start just off the front row, 0.809 from pole. The team will now work overnight to find an improvement for warm up to provide the best possible set up for the race.
Jorge Lorenzo
Position 2nd – Time 1.33.258 – Laps 30
“Today has been a good day for us. We wanted pole position but the first row is a good start for tomorrow. We have tried some things today and in QP we could almost always be in front. The bike is very good after all the great work of my crew and we have a fast pace. I think we can be competitive tomorrow and try to finish in front of Casey so that’s our aim. The weather conditions are being very tough this weekend, it might even rain tomorrow. The race will be very difficult in all aspects.”
Ben Spies
Position 4th – Time 1.33.947 – Laps 30
“It was honestly a lot tougher than expected this afternoon. I wasn’t really happy with it We’re trying a lot of stuff with the bike and I don’t feel all that bad riding wise, we just don’t have the right setting yet and we’re not comfortable at a few spots on the track. Some are really good, some are really bad. We had to ride way over the limit to be where we were today. I’m glad we got it done and got on the second row but I’m not happy about how many risks I had to take to get there. The bike’s there, we can see it, Jorge’s going fast and I feel good, we just have to get my setting comfortable. We’ve got all night to work on it and see what we can do for tomorrow. “
Wilco Zeelenberg – Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager
“Second place is good, Jorge has a very good pace and he’s happy with the bike so we are ready to race. Our tyre choice has been sorted so we don’t have to gamble anything. Jorge is riding very consistently as the Jorge we know, he is very smooth and looking good so we are looking forward to the race to see what we can achieve.”
Massimo Meregalli – Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director
“First row is a good starting point for tomorrow, Jorge has a really good pace which is important. We are working to find a better set up for Ben and are still looking for some more grip for the rear. We are going to prepare something to try for tomorrow morning’s warm up. The weather for tomorrow is also a big question mark!”
Edwards storms to superb seventh in Misano qualifying
Colin Edwards delivered another fantastic qualifying performance for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team in Misano to boost his hopes of recording a top six finish in tomorrow’s 28-lap GP Aperol di San Marino E Riviera di Rimini.
The 37-year-old missed a second successive second row start by just 0.028s and Edwards will start round 13 of this year’s World Championship from seventh position having once again finished top non-factory rider.
Edwards was in stunning form earlier today when he ended practice in a confidence-inspiring fifth position, the Texan benefiting from geometry modifications to the front-end of his YZR-M1 machine to lap almost a second faster than he managed yesterday.
With a quarter of this afternoon’s qualifying session remaining, Edwards jumped into the top five with a lap of 1.34.356. He was able to shave a further 0.3s off that lap but it wasn’t quite quick enough to secure him a third top six start on the grid this season.
Edwards is now optimistic that he can battle for the top six in tomorrow’s race as he looks to cement his position as the leading non-factory rider in the overall rankings.
British rider Cal Crutchlow had an eventful qualifying session, which took place in slightly cooler conditions than yesterday. Temperatures still peaked at 29 degrees and like team-mate Edwards, Crutchlow was able to knock almost a second off his Friday pace to finish this morning’s third practice session in ninth position thanks to wheelbase alterations to his YZR-M1 machine.
Crutchlow was lapping inside the top 10 and looking to improve his pace of 1.34.791 when he suffered two late crashes. He tumbled out at Turn 3 on his first soft Bridgestone rear tyre and having returned to the pits to jump on his spare Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team machine, he crashed again in the closing moments of the session while looking to better his 13th position.
Both times he escaped injury and the spills haven’t dented Crutchlow’s confidence and the 25-year-old remains positive that he can compete for a top 10 result on the 2.626 miles circuit tomorrow.
Colin Edwards
Position 7th – Time 1.34.054 – Laps 29
“I’m really happy with today and it was a shame all our hard work didn’t quite get us on the second row. We knew what the problems were yesterday and we changed the geometry on the front-end to create some stability throu gh the high-speed sections. Once again I got to say a big thanks to my Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew because they rolled out an awesome bike for me. They did their job and I had to do mine and thankfully I did. There’s not much between fourth and seventh and to be just over a tenth behind Ben (Spies) on the factory Yamaha proves what a good job we’ve done. I’m now looking forward to the race tomorrow. I’m going to run the soft rear tyre and I’m pretty sure it will be perfect, but I just can’t make the hard rear option work. It feels pretty rigid and I just tense up when I’m on it. I’ve got to be looking at the top six though it is not going to be easy at all when you look at the calibre of those guys in front of me and the bikes they are riding. I just need to make sure I get a good start and try and stay out of trouble in the first couple of corners because there’s been a few incidents there.”
Cal Crutchlow
Position 13th – Time 1.34.791- Laps 23
“The position on the timesheets looks like it was a bad session and it could definitely have ended a lot better without the two crashes. But this morning I was a second faster than yesterday and felt really comfortable on the bike after we made some overnight changes that improved the front. I think I was eighth on the timesheets when I had the first crash, so I know I could have been in the top 10 on the grid. The first crash was at Turn 3. I’d just gone out on my first soft rear and there wasn’t enough heat in it, so it high-sided me and then turned into a low-side. It wasn’t a big problem and we put a new soft rear tyre in the spare bike. But the only front I had left was 25-laps old. I was on for a really good lap and the front pushed because it had close to race distance on it and I crashed again. That’s pretty annoying but they were both my mistakes and I hold my hands up for that. I’m still positive that I could have been much higher up on the grid and I am confident I can be inside the top 10 tomorrow. I need to apologise to my Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew for giving them a bit of work, but it makes me more determined to give them a decent result tomorrow.”
2011 MotoGP San Marino
Misano, San Marino 03/09/2011
1 Casey Stoner Honda AUS 1’33.138
2 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 1’33.258
3 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 1’33.318
4 Ben Spies Yamaha USA 1’33.947
5 Marco Simoncelli Honda ITA 1’33.990
6 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 1’34.026
7 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 1’34.054
8 Alvaro Bautista Suzuki ESP 1’34.360
9 Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 1’34.592
10 Hiroshi Aoyama Honda JPN 1’34.637
11 Valentino Rossi Ducati ITA 1’34.676
12 Karel Abraham Ducati CZE 1’34.727
13 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 1’34.791
14 Randy De Puniet Ducati FRA 1’34.870
15 Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 1’34.955
Circuit Length:
4226
Weather:
Dry
Fastest Lap Ever:
1’33.138
(Casey Stoner, 9/4/2011)
Last Years Winner:
Daniel Pedrosa
