Today’s qualifying session at Jerez was characterized by the same Honda duo Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa, with the Spaniard finishing second just 0.
158s after his team mate’s blazing record lap of 1’38.
757, and six out of seventeen riders losing the front ends of their bikes and crashing.
Jorge Lorenzo will be taking off on the front row in third, having finally found the grip he was looking for and having lead the better part of the session finishing just a mere 0.
003s from Pedrosa.
Lorenzo seems to have found his confidence that he was lacking in his race pace, after putting in some devasting long runs.
If Lorenzo found his missing grip, so did Ben Spies who finished in fourth while crashing in the final minutes.
Taking off beside Spies, will be Marco Simoncelli and Andrea Dovizioso, who put in a final hot lap that propelled him into sixth, but he’ll have to find something more in tomorrow morning’s warm-up in order to stay with the front runners.
Seventh went to Randy de Puniet, who also one of the crashers, but he was the best and only Ducatista in the top 10.
Colin Edwards also joined the list of riders who ended up biting the asphalt, but he’s in eighth, while team mate Cal Crutchlow took the ninth spot.
Hiroshi Aoyama also crashed in the middle of the session and even if his Honda flipped and slammed into his left knee, he didn’t pick up any tell tale injuries and will be 10th on tomorrow’s starting grid.
Another crasher was Valentino Rossi, who concluded in a very lowly 12th with his second Ducati bike, unable to find any sort of rythmn on softer tires.
However Rossi will be blessing his stars that his D-Air Dainese leathers deployed as he hit the tarmac and didn’t suffer any further injuries to his shoulder.
Karel Abraham took 16th and he too also lost the front end on the only Ducati Desmosedici that is still sporting winglets.
MotoGP Jerez Qualifying Results:01- Casey Stoner – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – 1’38.
75702- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – + 0.
15803- Jorge Lorenzo – Yamaha Factory Racing Team – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.
16104- Ben Spies – Yamaha Factory Racing Team – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.
63305- Marco Simoncelli – San Carlo Honda Gresini – Honda RC212V – + 0.
72906- Andrea Dovizioso – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – + 0.
95207- Randy De Puniet – Pramac Racing Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 1.
13508- Colin Edwards – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1.
13809- Cal Crutchlow – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1.
26210- Hiroshi Aoyama – San Carlo Honda Gresini – Honda RC212V – + 1.
41111- Nicky Hayden – Ducati Marlboro Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 1.
41812- Valentino Rossi – Ducati Marlboro Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 1.
42813- Hector Barbera – Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 1.
46014- John Hopkins – Rizla Suzuki MotoGP – Suzuki GSV-R – + 1.
55315- Loris Capirossi – Pramac Racing Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 1.
76616- Karel Abraham – Cardion AB Motoracing – Ducati Desmosedici GP11 – + 1.
84417- Toni Elias – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC212V – + 2.
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