It has been wet in Jerez this weekend with rain expected for tomorrow’s race. Qualifying today was mostly dry, however, with wet patches on the track. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) gambled with dry tires and a dry set-up to take pole in conditions he called “dangerous”. The front row is filled out with Dani Pedrosa (Honda) and Nicky Hayden (Ducati).
Hayden, who is quite happy with the new Ducati, is good friends with Casey Stoner (no surprise, the two were teammates at Ducati for several years), and Stoner was queried about Valentino Rossi’s problems this weekend. Rossi qualified 13th, which is bad enough in itself, but he was only 4th fastest among the Ducatis. Stoner was quoted with this observation about Rossi’s struggles: “We can see it’s not completely the bike because Nicky is getting good results and he is more and more happy with it.”
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
| 1 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 282.1 | 1’39.532 | |
| 2 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 283.5 | 1’39.667 | 0.135 / 0.135 |
| 3 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 282.3 | 1’40.563 | 1.031 / 0.896 |
| 4 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 281.7 | 1’40.570 | 1.038 / 0.007 |
| 5 | 1 | Casey STONER | AUS | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 285.9 | 1’40.577 | 1.045 / 0.007 |
| 6 | 11 | Ben SPIES | USA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 280.9 | 1’41.090 | 1.558 / 0.513 |
| 7 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 284.0 | 1’41.180 | 1.648 / 0.090 |
| 8 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 286.9 | 1’41.447 | 1.915 / 0.267 |
| 9 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 287.3 | 1’41.550 | 2.018 / 0.103 |
| 10 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 265.6 | 1’41.700 | 2.168 / 0.150 |
| 11 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 284.2 | 1’41.724 | 2.192 / 0.024 |
| 12 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | SPA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 288.8 | 1’41.871 | 2.339 / 0.147 |
| 13 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 282.3 | 1’42.961 | 3.429 / 1.090 |
| 14 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 267.7 | 1’43.135 | 3.603 / 0.174 |
| 15 | 51 | Michele PIRRO | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | FTR | 268.2 | 1’43.363 | 3.831 / 0.228 |
| 16 | 54 | Mattia PASINI | ITA | Speed Master | ART | 266.5 | 1’44.308 | 4.776 / 0.945 |
| 17 | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | COL | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 269.5 | 1’44.467 | 4.935 / 0.159 |
| 18 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda | 257.4 | 1’44.645 | 5.113 / 0.178 |
| 19 | 22 | Ivan SILVA | SPA | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 261.4 | 1’44.717 | 5.185 / 0.072 |
| 20 | 77 | James ELLISON | GBR | Paul Bird Motorsport | ART | 264.8 | 1’45.724 | 6.192 / 1.007 |
| 21 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | Suter | 264.5 | 1’46.200 | 6.668 / 0.476 |
Colin had a bad crash during qualifying from what I’ve heard. Crutchlow is awesome, looking back to his world supersport
Days. Ben will come through, but Lin Jarvis had comments in the off season seeming to suggest Ben is out, even
Before the season started. I hate that they are bringing Bradley Smith into Yamaha without being deserving.
I think Dovi moving to Yamaha was their thought for the future factory rider, but Crutchlow is cementing his worth.
A few interesting things to note:
Where is Spies? Behind Crutchlow? Wow. I’m a fan of Spies – never hidden that fact – but if he doesn’t watch out, his factory ride will go to Crutchlow next year. I follow him on twitter, and he really needs to focus less on bicycling, and more on motorbikes… quite disappointed in what I’ve seen so far this season.
Colin Edwards qualified last!? Anyone have any more on that story? He’s been fastest CRT bike so far… strange.
Oh Vale. What is happening?
Nice to see Stoner being put in place by Jorge. And Nicky is having a bit of a comeback… I hope it continues!
I don’t think Stoner has ever one at this track and I don’t expect this will change any time soon. A wet race would be awesome and really sort the men from the boys. I’m no fan of Pedrosa but he seems to be able to get unbelevable starts almost every race and I think there is a high possibility he will lead from start to finish. He is also a demon in the wet! I do wonder if we will ever really know what is going on with VR. I pray that he works his sh1t out and starts racing with the front runners. Go Casey,
Casey back in his place I see! 🙂
It looked like Jorge was going to catch Stoner at the end! Great race. Spies, if you’re reading this, it is now time to panic. Burn your bicycles. Pull out all the stops. Do whatever it takes man. There is NO excuse for 11th place.
You mean until Stoner saw him coming then simply pulled the pin and blew him away?
Stoner just has a faster straight line bike. When Lorenzo got close at the end Stoner just had to twist the throttle. Lorenzo was later on brakes but there was too big of a horsepower discrempancy to overcome. If Yamaha can catch up a bit on the Horsepower, this will be a competitive season. If not, it will be more of the same.
At least the top 2 riders are battling at the front, so there is some entertainment value.
You haven’t done much road racing have you Tim? If simply having the fastest bike in a straight line meant anything,the Ducati’s would be winning.
re: “re: “I’m a fan of Spies – never hidden that fact – but if he doesn’t watch out, his factory ride will go to Crutchlow next year.”
his factory ride will go nowhere. there aren’t any multi-million dollar tracks under construction in crutchlow’s home town.
I think you’re wrong. The powers that be love having Poms in the series. Hence why they’ve signed Bradley Smith for Tech3 next year.
De Puniet on the ART CRT qualified impressively. How about Nicky! I’m hoping for a wet race, I think it would tighten up the field. It should be a good race.