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Qualifying session of the Gran Premio bwin de España saw local favorite Dani Pedrosa edged his countryman Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo to secure pole position ahead of Sunday’s race at the Jerez circuit. The top ten rider is just separated by 0.9 second, with Pedrosa topping the timesheet with a best lap time of 1.39.202.

Lorenzo is not far behind, only 0.285 second behind the Honda man Pedrosa. Lorenzo had looked in menacing form in the morning practice session, turning out lap after lap in the low 1.39s. However this afternoon was much warmer and the Mallorcan found himself a couple of tenths slower in the sweltering heat, as he battled to extend his run of four consecutive poles at this track.

With twenty minutes left he moved to the top of the standings but his lead was short-lived as his Spanish rival Pedrosa took over soon after. Lorenzo improved his time twice more but it was not enough. Pedrosa prevailed and Spanish fans rejoiced as they will have 2 top Spanish riders in the top 2 position to start tomorrow’s race. Australian Casey Stoner completed the front row with his fastest lap of 1.39.511.

Multiple World Champion Valentino Rossi had to contend with 4th fastest, still a little effected by his shoulder injury. But you can never write off the legendary Italian, as he almost always have something up in his sleeves when the 27 lap race commences tomorrow at 14.00hrs local time (12.00GMT).

Dani Pedrosa : “It’s always nice to get pole position and especially here because it is my home race and the support from the fans is amazing, so I’m very happy for them. I really didn’t expect this pole to be honest, but I was pushing very hard so I’m very pleased about it. Obviously I will start the race thinking about the win, and I know there will be a lot of fans out there cheering for me so I hope we can give them something special.”

Jorge Lorenzo : “I was very fast this morning and I hoped I would be again this afternoon, but we struggled a bit in the increased heat and couldn’t keep up quite such a good pace. This morning I could ride exactly how I wanted, which was a great feeling, but in qualifying it wasn’t exactly the same. Anyway, my lap time is not so bad and we are on the front row, which is very important. I am very excited about tomorrow and I feel confident that I can make a good race in front of the Spanish fans. This is a very special track to race at and I can’t wait to hear the crowd!”

Valentino Rossi : “Of course it would be better to be on the front row but fourth is okay and I’m very happy about how much we’ve improved since this morning. After Pedrosa, the next five of us are all very close and this afternoon I was able to do some laps in the 39s with the harder Bridgestone tyre. We are fast now but we’re still not consistent enough so we have to work on this for tomorrow. My shoulder feels a lot better today and I have to say thank you to all of the Clinica Mobile and everyone who has worked on it. I am still lacking a bit of strength but the pain is okay. I am hoping for a great race tomorrow for all the fans.”

Loris Capirossi : “I am very disappointed with today because everybody has tried so hard. We tried to find the best setting for the bike and in this afternoon’s session it just didn’t work like it had done this morning. I just didn’t have the right feel from the front and I struggled a lot. We tried to modify things but we didn’t find a solution. For tomorrow we will need to do something because we are not so far from the front guys – even with this problem – and I am sure we can be competitive. It is not the position I want on the grid, but tomorrow is another day and I will be trying really hard in the race to make things better.”

Qualifying Times :

FRONT ROW

1. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1.39.202
2. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1.39.487
3. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 1.39.511

SECOND ROW

4. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1.39.558
5. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team 1.39.560
6. Randy de Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1.39.591

THIRD ROW

7. Colin Edwards (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1.39.970
8. Ben Spies (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1.39.989
9. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Repsol Honda Team 1.40.021

FOURTH ROW

10. Marco Melandri (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1.40.027
11. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1.40.206
12. Hiroshi Aoyama (JAP) Interwetten-Honda 1.40.322

FIFTH ROW

13. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1.40.416
14. Hector Barbera (SPA) Aspar Team 1.40.482
15. Aleix Espargaro (SPA) Pramac Green Team 1.40.555

SIXTH ROW

16. Marco Simoncelli (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1.40.586
17. Mika Kallio (FIN) Pramac Green Team 1.40.803

Photo : Rizla Suzuki MotoGP / Fiat Yamaha Team / MotoGP
Editorial : Nazim Idris

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