James Toseland will start from seventh on the grid after the British rider continued to make big progress in his quest to master the Shanghai circuit. His best lap of 1.59.254 put him as high as fifth place at one stage before he dropped back to the third row. Tomorrow’s race could be the first wet encounter of 2008, with weather forecasts predicting a strong chance of rain.
Colin Edwards 1st 1.58.139
“I’ve got to say big thanks to my team, Yamaha and Michelin. I truggled yesterday but today it really came good. My guys and the Japanese got together last night and they came up with a set-up scenario to get the bike working which is completely foreign to what I’ve been riding. I haven’t used this set-up in all my time at Yamaha, but based on the problems I was describing they suggested a plan and when I was thinking about it I was like ‘do what’? We were just looking for more traction because I struggled so badly in that area yesterday. We made a big change to the bike to get some weight on the rear and it worked. It was a great team effort and it definitely worked because when I went out this morning I was a second faster instantly. And it felt easy because I had no issues from the front like yesterday and my comfort level went up from 50 per cent to 95 per cent. My first two qualifiers weren’t bad but it felt like I was playing a computer game when the shadow passes you and you are always trying to catch that shadow. It felt like that I could see where I wanted to be but I just wasn’t hammering the throttle. So for the last tyre I went into turn one and knew I just had to get in deep enough and I really hammered it round the first two corners. I was 0.3s up just in that one section. From there I rode a good lap but I didn’t have any real moments. It was weird because I didn’t really have to take any risks like normal to do that time. |Everything was pretty calm and collected and the Michelin qualifier is awesome. It is going to be at tough race. I haven’t done a 59 yet on a race tyre and Casey and Valentino look to be doing consistent 59. I just got to get a good start and hang in there.”
James Toseland 7th 1.59.254
“I’ve had to dig deep this weekend because this is a much tougher track to master than Portugal. It is tough learning it on race tyres so to then throw the qualifiers in with the extra grip it almost makes it a completely new track again because you’ve got to go so much faster. On my first tyre I was out on my second bike and we’d changed the clutch and I had a problem with the gear shifter. I went out on my first bike on the second tyre and pinned it out of the double left and had a really big moment. My feet came off the pegs and I bit the screen so that was the end of that lap too. I only had one tyre really to make a time but without the experience of knowing how hard to push with the first two, I wasn’t really up to speed. I went out on the last tyre and braked a bit early for one corner and ran a bit wide at another but these things are going to happen on a brand new track. I was fifth when I did my best lap but unfortunately I just dropped off the second row. That can happen though when you don’t know the track so well against this class of field. I’m confident for tomorrow rain or shine but congratulations to Colin and the team. He did a great job and its good for me to see Colin performing like that because it shows what the package is capable of. That’s why I can’t wait to get to some tracks I know.” |
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Valentino Rossi put his Fiat Yamaha M1 onto the front row of the grid for the second time this season in Shanghai today, qualifying second for tomorrow’s Chinese Grand Prix. Rossi looked to have pole position sewn up before fellow Yamaha rider Colin Edwards took his third career pole, Yamaha’s fourth from four races this season.
Rossi continued in the same vein as yesterday by setting the pace in this morning’s free practice and continuing to do so through most of this afternoon’s session. Three-quarters of the way through a strong flying lap put him in provisional pole position and the Italian was confident that a slight improvement with the next qualifying tyre could be enough to take the front slot. He improved again but a last-minute lap from Edwards was 0.355 seconds faster, and Rossi will now have to wait a little longer for his 50th career pole. Meanwhile Rossi’s team-mate Jorge Lorenzo stunned onlookers by qualifying fourth, despite riding with a broken left ankle and having missed the most of the day yesterday following a crash in first practice. After qualifying on pole for his first three MotoGP races, Lorenzo’s fourth is no less impressive and he makes it three Yamahas in the top four. Tomorrow’s 22-lap race gets underway at 1500 local time and a forecast of heavy rain could make for some unexpected twists and turns. |
Valentino Rossi 2nd 1.58.494
“I’m quite happy with this position; third in Estoril, second here…hopefully one better next time! I’ve been fast here since Friday morning and we’ve worked so hard with the team and with Bridgestone lately to improve the situation with the qualifying tyre, so we definitely deserve to be here. Today I had fun and I was able to fight with my rivals, plus I really enjoyed having the chance to ride at the maximum around this track. When I saw 58.5 on the clock I thought that I had a chance to try for the pole, but then Colin did 58.1 and this was a bit too much for us! Anyway it’s very important to be on the front row, especially because we don’t know whether it will rain or not. Thanks to my mechanics for doing a great job, and now we’ve just got to hope the rain stays away!” Davide Brivio – Team Manager |
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Jorge Lorenzo |
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The youngster completed 21 laps in this morning’s session and finished a creditable 14th. Having missed out on two sessions yesterday, the pain was not the only problem as the team also faced a difficult task to set the bike up in very limited time and with little data to work with. It was a painful day’s work for Lorenzo but, after finding a comfortable race set-up this morning, he felt able to push as hard as his injuries allowed on both of his Michelin qualifying tyres this afternoon and fourth place on the grid is a deserved result for the courageous championship leader.
Jorge Lorenzo 4th 1.58.711
“The way I felt yesterday, I couldn’t even imagine a result like this today. In fact it was all I could do to believe that I would be able to ride at all. This result is amazing for me, as good as my other pole positions, and it’s given me a lot of confidence despite the pain. Now I have to take care and tomorrow I will just try to do the best I can; who knows what can happen in the race?
I have a lot of pain in both feet and ankles and it’s difficult to change down with the left and to change direction with the right, but I showed I am able to do it. Yesterday’s crash was big, probably the biggest of my career, but I think I was actually quite lucky not to have worse injuries. The doctors at the clinic are working very hard to help me and now I will go back there for more treatment. Hopefully I will be feeling better again tomorrow and we will do what we can, rain or shine!”
Danielle Romagnoli
“Jorge is still surprising us! He did an unbelievable job in today’s qualifying considering his injuries, and after the crash yesterday we could never have imagined a result like this. Having missed all of yesterday, we only had one session to set-up the bike but we managed to find a good race pace and some good tyres with Michelin. Then fourth place with the qualifying tyre this afternoon is very impressive!
Thank you to Dr. Costa and to all of the team at the Clinica Mobile; they’ve played a very important part in today’s result. The race is a different story because it’s long and it will be arduous for Jorge, but hopefully he will be feeling a little bit better tomorrow and we know how brave he is!”
