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31-05-2009, 12:31am
Well it looks like we might be in for one of those races with approx 1/2 second splitting the top 5 and less than two hundreds of a second separating the top 4.
Anyway the report and results from qualifying are below so read on and we will see what tommorrow brings.
Lorenzo wins battle for Mugello pole
Saturday, 30 May 2009
An exciting qualifying session in the Italian sunshine ended with Jorge Lorenzo taking pole.
The fans at Mugello were treated to a great battle in qualifying on Saturday afternoon with Fiat Yamahaâ€s Jorge Lorenzo upstaging his team-mate Valentino Rossi on the World Championâ€s home track, with the Spaniard taking pole and the Italian off the front row.
In brilliant sunshine at the Gran Premio dâ€Italia Alice four riders fought for pole right at the death with Lorenzo eventually emerging on top, courtesy of a 1â€48.987 time on the 29th of his 30 laps, beating Casey Stoner by a tight margin (0.021s).
Ducati star Stoner will be satisfied to have placed himself on the front row and given his practice performances should be in contention for victory on Sunday.
Just behind Stoner on the grid will be his former team-mate Loris Capirossi who surged to provisional pole in the final minutes on his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R before eventually ending up third.
Rossi, therefore, sits in the unfamiliar territory of the second row at a circuit where he has won the last seven MotoGP races and he will nonetheless expect to be in the podium fight once again on Sunday. It will be his first non-front row start at Mugello in MotoGP.
An excellent showing from the much improved Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) saw him qualify as the top Honda representative, with Monster Yamaha Tech 3â€s Colin Edwards just behind him by a 0.048s fraction.
Repsol Hondaâ€s factory Honda pairing of Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa will be disappointed to have qualified on the third row, meanwhile. An off-colour Pedrosa spent much of the session towards the bottom of the timesheet and he will need one of his trademark strong starts in Sundayâ€s race in order to get amongst the front-runners and stay in touch in the title race.
Toni ElÃas (San Carlo Honda Gresini) took a tumble when on a fast lap at the end of the practice and had to settle for ninth place, with fellow Honda rider Yuki Takahashi (Scot Racing) completing the top ten.
MotoGP Qualifying Practice Classification
Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Motorcycle Lap time Km/h Gap
1 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1'48.987 338.983
2 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 1'49.008 336.868 0.021
3 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 1'49.121 331.491 0.134
4 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1'49.148 336.763 0.161
5 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 1'49.499 327.371 0.512
6 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1'49.547 337.500 0.560
7 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1'49.648 332.001 0.661
8 3 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1'50.073 334.779 1.086
9 24 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1'50.078 338.134 1.091
10 72 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN Scot Racing Team MotoGP Honda 1'50.305 332.205 1.318
11 7 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 1'50.405 321.237 1.418
12 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1'50.448 336.553 1.461
13 88 Niccolo CANEPA ITA Pramac Racing Ducati 1'50.528 339.836 1.541
14 52 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1'50.537 327.570 1.550
15 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki 1'50.710 339.409 1.723
16 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 1'50.924 333.539 1.937
17 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing Ducati 1'51.008 341.988 2.021
Anyway the report and results from qualifying are below so read on and we will see what tommorrow brings.
Lorenzo wins battle for Mugello pole
Saturday, 30 May 2009
An exciting qualifying session in the Italian sunshine ended with Jorge Lorenzo taking pole.
The fans at Mugello were treated to a great battle in qualifying on Saturday afternoon with Fiat Yamahaâ€s Jorge Lorenzo upstaging his team-mate Valentino Rossi on the World Championâ€s home track, with the Spaniard taking pole and the Italian off the front row.
In brilliant sunshine at the Gran Premio dâ€Italia Alice four riders fought for pole right at the death with Lorenzo eventually emerging on top, courtesy of a 1â€48.987 time on the 29th of his 30 laps, beating Casey Stoner by a tight margin (0.021s).
Ducati star Stoner will be satisfied to have placed himself on the front row and given his practice performances should be in contention for victory on Sunday.
Just behind Stoner on the grid will be his former team-mate Loris Capirossi who surged to provisional pole in the final minutes on his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R before eventually ending up third.
Rossi, therefore, sits in the unfamiliar territory of the second row at a circuit where he has won the last seven MotoGP races and he will nonetheless expect to be in the podium fight once again on Sunday. It will be his first non-front row start at Mugello in MotoGP.
An excellent showing from the much improved Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) saw him qualify as the top Honda representative, with Monster Yamaha Tech 3â€s Colin Edwards just behind him by a 0.048s fraction.
Repsol Hondaâ€s factory Honda pairing of Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa will be disappointed to have qualified on the third row, meanwhile. An off-colour Pedrosa spent much of the session towards the bottom of the timesheet and he will need one of his trademark strong starts in Sundayâ€s race in order to get amongst the front-runners and stay in touch in the title race.
Toni ElÃas (San Carlo Honda Gresini) took a tumble when on a fast lap at the end of the practice and had to settle for ninth place, with fellow Honda rider Yuki Takahashi (Scot Racing) completing the top ten.
MotoGP Qualifying Practice Classification
Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Motorcycle Lap time Km/h Gap
1 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1'48.987 338.983
2 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 1'49.008 336.868 0.021
3 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 1'49.121 331.491 0.134
4 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1'49.148 336.763 0.161
5 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 1'49.499 327.371 0.512
6 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1'49.547 337.500 0.560
7 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1'49.648 332.001 0.661
8 3 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1'50.073 334.779 1.086
9 24 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1'50.078 338.134 1.091
10 72 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN Scot Racing Team MotoGP Honda 1'50.305 332.205 1.318
11 7 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 1'50.405 321.237 1.418
12 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1'50.448 336.553 1.461
13 88 Niccolo CANEPA ITA Pramac Racing Ducati 1'50.528 339.836 1.541
14 52 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1'50.537 327.570 1.550
15 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki 1'50.710 339.409 1.723
16 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 1'50.924 333.539 1.937
17 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing Ducati 1'51.008 341.988 2.021