MotoGP

Rd.08 07/05 U.S. GP

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RACE DATA

Round 8: US Grand Prix (Qualifying Practice)
Circuit: Laguna Seca, U.S.
Date: 4 July 2009
Circuit Length: 3.610 km
Practice condition: Dry
Air: 21 C
Ground: 46 C
PP: J. Lorenzo(Yamaha/1'21.678)

REPORT

Fiat Yamaha take another qualifying one-two but Lorenzo suffers in late crash

Jorge Lorenzo secured his fourth pole position of the season at Laguna Seca today for tomorrow's US Grand Prix despite crashing twice during the qualifying session, the second accident leaving him with an Acromial Clavicular Separation to the right side and a contusion to the right foot. He is hopeful for tomorrow but will be reassessed in the morning before taking a final decision on whether or not to race.

His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi secured second after a last-minute improvement which edged Casey Stoner, who also crashed in the final minutes, into third.

This morning was much cooler than yesterday but Lorenzo continued strongly and topped the time sheets for the second free practice session. Rossi meanwhile struggled a little on the colder track and could only manage third. The sun finally came out at lunchtime and qualifying was run in temperatures more similar to yesterday, Lorenzo quickly claiming the top spot and remaining there for the majority of the session. With twenty minutes to go the Spaniard lost the front at turn ten and slid out for the first time but he was unhurt and raced back to the pits to change bikes. Whilst he was off track Stoner moved into provisional pole but Lorenzo showed there were no ill effects of the crash just ten minutes later by re-taking the top spot. However with just three minutes to go the 22-year-old crashed again in the same section of the track and was less lucky this time, being taken immediately to the circuit clinic for examination. The damage to his right shoulder area, although painful, is not dangerous and he is hoping to ride tomorrow but will wait until the morning before making a decision.

Rossi found the going today somewhat harder than yesterday and was unable to find the perfect setting for his M1, losing time particularly in the final sector of the 3.6km track. In the last ten minutes the World Champion was constantly improving his time but not enough to move from third position, where he sat behind Stoner and Lorenzo. His last flying lap, although not enough for pole, was an improvement however and he moved into second, 0.167 seconds off his team-mate.

Edwards to start home challenge from third row

A strong finish from Colin Edwards in another fiercely contested MotoGP qualifying session helped the American claim a place on the third row of the grid for his home race at Laguna Seca.

Edwards, who has yet to qualify lower than the third row in an impressive start to 2009, will start tomorrow's 32-lap race from seventh position after he clocked a best time of 1.22.490.
Despite encountering front-end issues on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1, the 35-year-old was just over half-a-second away from thrilling a large Independence Day crowd in California with a front row start.

Edwards, who lost most of the fingernail off the third finger on his right hand in a heavy crash at Turn 10 in overcast and cooler conditions this morning, is confident he become only the 14th rider in history to score points in 100 Grand Prix races tomorrow to maintain his challenge for fourth place in the world championship.

A crash at the final corner just 15 minutes into the session dented James Toseland's hopes of securing a third consecutive top ten grid position.
The British rider lost the front-end at the left-hander, and riding his spare YZR-M1 machine for the rest of the session, he was unable to find a comfortable front-end setting as he finished in 15th position with a best time of 1'23.390.

RESULT

COMMENT

Jorge Lorenzo (Position: 1st   Time: 1'21.678   Laps: 27)

"I was trying to push but first I had some traffic and then the tyres were cold, and I wasn't in the right shape to try to improve my time. I'm disappointed for these two crashes but I am okay and I am optimistic that I will be able to ride tomorrow. Now the American doctors and the Clinica Mobile are working together to try to help me as best they can and make me more comfortable. Thanks to all the American people here for their support!"

Ramon Forcada, Crew Chief

"It's a pity for these two crashes because Jorge was riding very well today. The first one was with a brand new hard front tyre and the second was due to the fact that he made two laps quite slowly and the rear tyre was cold, so when he started riding fast he crashed. Jorge made a very good job throughout the session and the pole position is a sign that he was feeling good. Luckily he is not too bad so we have to just look forward to tomorrow morning, when we can assess his condition and make a decision. Hopefully he will be on the starting grid tomorrow and we will see an exciting race."

Valentino Rossi (Position: 2nd   Time: 1'21.845   Laps: 34)

"Firstly I want to say that I hope Lorenzo and Stoner are okay for the race tomorrow, because it should be a great battle between the three of us. I am happy about this session because we have had two practices today when we haven't been in perfect shape and we have struggled in some areas, especially in the last sector where we are still not strong enough. I was finding it quite hard to ride at the maximum there today and control the bike how I wanted, so we need to try to improve a bit more. It depends how the other two are but I hope they're okay and then we can have an exciting race."

Davide Brivio, Team Manager

"The first row is positive but we still have some small improvements to make for the race tomorrow. We're very close but we can still be better so we will work tonight to try and make another step. It will be hard to check our changes in the warm-up because it will be cold, but we will try our best! Jorge and Casey both had big crashes but luckily it doesn't look like anything too serious so we hope that they will be fit to race tomorrow. We wish them both our best!"

Colin Edwards (Position: 7th Time: 1'22.490 Laps: 28)

"The bike felt better than yesterday but I'm still not completely happy and I've still got a few issues to iron out before the race. I made a mistake this morning and did a bit of damage to a finger on my right hand, but nothing that is giving me too many problems. It wasn't fun though high-siding at Turn 10 because that's not a slow corner. I was on my head and then my back, so just to take a fingernail off I feel pretty lucky. But the big issue is the feeling from the front-end. I've got too much movement and as soon as I go into the corner it doesn't feel stable at all. To be seventh I'm pretty happy because I didn't feel like I could push as hard as I want or need to. But if I can eliminate a couple of problems in the warm-up I'm confident of a good race. I know it is going to be tough to get a podium tomorrow but I'll be giving it my all for the American fans and for Monster. There are a lot of people here to support me on a big weekend for America and I'm determin ed to give them a good result."

James Toseland (Position: 15th Time: 1'23.390 Laps: 27)

"It was a tough session and pretty obvious that we've got a lot of work to do. After such a good race in Assen when we made massive progress with the set-up of the bike, I just can't get the same confident feeling I had last weekend. I wasn't pushing too hard at the last corner when the front tucked and I was down. I was running a different setting on the front and I never really felt comfortable with it. The crash forced me to switch to the spare bike and we tried a new setting on the front and it just didn't really work. I'm nowhere near where I expected to be and that is disappointing. But as always I'll be working as hard as ever with my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3 to find some improvements for the race."