MotoGP Round 11 – Qualifying : First Ever Pole Position for Ben Spies on Home Soil
It was a last gasp effort from Ben Spies, as he secures his first ever MotoGP pole position in front of the home crowd at Indianapolis. His best time of 1’40.105, recorded on his 26th of 28 laps, came as a surprise as the earlier practice session was dominated by Casey Stoner, ahead of Repsol Honda pair Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo in 4th.
Spies only managed to set the 6th fastest time in FP2, so the battle for pole was expected to be between Stoner, the two Repsol Honda riders and championship leader Jorge Lorenzo. But Spies had other ideas and his pole lap was 0.220 seconds quicker than 2nd place man Fiat Yamaha’s Lorenzo.
It was a great day for the home crowd as Nicky Hayden completed the front row, lapping only just a hundredth of a second behind Lorenzo. Dovizioso will tomorrow’s race in 4th position, alongside teammate Pedrosa in 5th and Stoner in 6th. Stoner dominated both the practice session, and will be disappointed to be half a second behind pole position man Ben Spies.
Valentino Rossi had an eventful qualifying session, when he crashed out with only five minutes left in the session. Luckily he was unharmed by the fall and will start tomorrow’s race from the 3rd row of the grid in 7th place, alongside San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Marco Simoncelli and Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards.
Loris Capirossi completed the top 10 for Rizla Suzuki, just alongside teammate Alvaro Bautista in 11th and San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Marco Melandri in 12th on the 4th row of the grid.
Qualifying Times :
Ben SPIES (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 1’40.105
Jorge LORENZO (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1’40.325
Nicky HAYDEN (USA) Ducati Team 1’40.336
Andrea DOVIZIOSO (ITA) Repsol Honda Team 1’40.559
Dani PEDROSA (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1’40.637
Casey STONER (AUS) Ducati Team 1’40.664
Valentino ROSSI (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1’41.005
Marco SIMONCELLI (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’41.092
Colin EDWARDS (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’41.232
Loris CAPIROSSI (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’41.512
Alvaro BAUTISTA (SPA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’41.534
Marco MELANDRI (ITA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’41.623
Hiroshi AOYAMA (JPN) Interwetten Honda MotoGP 1’41.631
Aleix ESPARGARO (SPA) Pramac Racing Team 1’41.649
Mika KALLIO (FIN) Pramac Racing Team 1’41.856
Hector BARBERA (SPA) Paginas Amarillas Aspar 1’41.896
Randy DE PUNIET (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1’41.923
Photo : Fiat Yamaha, Rizla Suzuki, motogp.com
