MotoGP

Rd.12 09/05 San Marino GP

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RACE DATA

Round: 12- San Marino(Qualifying Practice)
Circuit: Misano, Italy
Date: 4 September 2010
Circuit Length: 4.226 km
Practice condition: Dry
Air: 26 C
Ground: 42 C
PP: D. Pedrosa(1'33.948/Honda)

REPORT

Front row for Lorenzo but Rossi just misses out at Misano

Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo once again parked his M1 on the front row of the grid at Misano this afternoon, keeping his 100% record for qualifying this season. His team-mate Valentino Rossi missed out by just seven hundredths of a second and will start his home race from fourth.

After struggling yesterday Lorenzo had significant improvements to make to his setting but it was clear from this morning's practice that he was back on form when he finished on top of the standings. A close-fought qualifying session saw the Mallorcan take the lead with eight minutes to go but in the closing minutes Dani Pedrosa took the top spot and Lorenzo was relegated to second. The championship leader is confident that he has the race pace to run at the front tomorrow and he will be looking to make it onto the podium once again.

Rossi has won here for the last two years and as usual thousands of his passionate yellow-clad fans were packed in to watch their local favourite in action this afternoon. He, too looked in fine fettle this afternoon and was consistently in the top four, moving to third with ten minutes to go. In the closing stages he seemed to have a shot at pole position but he was slowed by traffic and unable to capitalise on his softer Bridgestone tyre, just missing out as Casey Stoner held on to third. Rossi and his crew still need to make a final decision about their race tyre but are confident that they can put up a fight for home honours in tomorrow's 2pm race.

Spies close to front row, Edwards seventh in Misano

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider Ben Spies produced another inspired qualifying performance in Misano today, the American just missing out on a third successive front row start by the narrowest of margins.

The Texan was able to capitalise on numerous set-up tweaks made from practice to finish just 0.075s from the front row in a closely contested qualifying session that saw less than one second cover the top nine riders.
Spies was once again leading non-factory team rider in fifth position, his quickest lap of 1'34.472 just 0.002s behind reigning world champion and Misano crowd favourite Valentino Rossi.
Spies made big progress in his quest to find a more comfortable front-end setting with his YZR-M1 machine this afternoon and the 26-year-old is confident he can mount a strong challenge for his third podium finish of the season in tomorrow's race.

Colin Edwards further boosted his confidence that he can claim a first top six finish of the 2010 campaign after storming to seventh place on the grid.
Edwards' growing confidence in a front-end setting he first used in Brno last month was evident again after he finished fourth overall in free practice.
Edwards missed claiming a place on the second row of the grid for only the second time in 12 races by just 0.031s, his best time of 1.34.782 leaving him to start from the front of the third row.
The 36-year-old plans to make more overnight front-end tweaks ahead of the 28-lap race as he looks to strengthen his bid for a top ten world championship position.

RESULT

COMMENT

Jorge Lorenzo (Position: 2nd   Time: 1'34.256   Laps: 30)

"We have improved in every practice here and after the troubles of yesterday I'm happy about this session. I have a good pace now and I'm feeling confident about a good race. Unfortunately we couldn't profit as much as we might have with the softer tyre at the end of the session and our bike isn't the fastest here, but we have good corner speed so I hope we will be able to stay with the leaders. I am feeling excited and motivated for tomorrow's race."

Wilco Zeelenberg, Team Manage

"We're very pleased with this result today. Second place is only one better than yesterday but in terms of bike feeling and behaviour it's a huge jump for us. Dani did a great lap, we were consistent but Jorge couldn't use the soft tyre like he wanted to so we couldn't get any closer to him. But tomorrow is 28 laps not just one and we feel that we are in form for another strong challenge."

Valentino    Rossi (Position: 4th   Time: 1'34.470   Laps: 31)

"The front row would have been good for the race of tomorrow but I just missed out today. I think I had the potential today but unfortunately with the last tyre I found some traffic at the end. The rear tyre is going to be very important for tomorrow's race and we still have a decision to make; at the moment we are thinking more of the hard one but we need to wait and see the weather. I am feeling better here than in Indy because it's much cooler; I am still suffering a bit with my shoulder in the hard right braking zones but it's not too bad. Anyway it's fantastic to be here in Italy with all of these fans and I'm excited about tomorrow. The helmet is a joke about my timekeeping - we have put a big clock on the top of it with a different helmet showing the right time for each session so I make sure that I arrive on time!"

Davide Brivio,    Team Manager   

"We are very close to the first row and it was a possibility for us today. Unfortunately Valentino found some traffic, as usual many riders tried to get in his draft and he couldn't use the full potential of the softer tyre, but fourth is not so bad. We worked really well in practice but we still need to make the final choice for our race tyre because at the moment both tyres are a possibility for the race. We need to analyse the data closely and choose our final package."

Ben Spies (Position: 5th   Time: 1'34.472   Laps: 32)

"We made some changes to the bike overnight that didn't really help this morning and then made more changes before qualifying and they made a big improvement. Everything went smooth and it was a good qualifying session. The first goal is to be on the second row at least and I've done that, but I think I should have had another front row. I got caught up with Capirossi and that was a little annoying. I wasn't too upset at the time because I didn't think it would be a front row lap, but looking back I was on my best lap and I'm pretty sure I would be sitting on the outside of the front row. But I'm a lot happier and more confident with the bike than I was this morning and I know we can make some more changes to make us stronger for the race. We can make the bike easier to ride towards the end of the race and I'm looking forward to it. My confidence is really high after the last couple of races and there's no reason why I can't be challenging for a top position again tomorrow."

Colin Edwards (Position: 7th   Time: 1'34.783   Laps: 29)

"I've felt good on the bike all weekend and that showed with fourth position overall in practice. I really felt I had the speed to get on the second row, but de Puniet just got sixth from me by less than a tenth. But I'm happy with the way things have been going this weekend. As the temperature came up today it felt like I was pushing the front a bit but I know we can make a minor adjustment to fix that and my race pace has been pretty strong all weekend. I doubt I can do mid-34s the whole race but I think a top six is definitely within my grasp. After what happened last year I just want to make it through the first corner and at lea st get the chance to put up a fight. But there's no reason why the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team shouldn't have a double top six finish tomorrow and that would be a great result."