| Jorge Lorenzo |
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Lorenzo had looked in menacing form in the morning practice session, turning out laps in the low 1’39s with meticulous consistency. This afternoon was much warmer however and the Mallorcan found he was 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 to overhaul his compatriot and he eventually finished 0.285 seconds off pole position. The Yamaha man is feeling confident for tomorrow however and the Spanish fans have high hopes for an exciting battle between their two home favourites.
The World Champion found he was in much better shape today and in the end detained from taking any painkillers for his recovering shoulder. Instead he and his crew turned their attentions to improving the set-up of his M1, having lacked rear traction yesterday. Rossi definitely looked much happier this afternoon and indeed led the standings for the first forty minutes of the session before surrendering the lead to his team-mate and then slipping down to as low as sixth at one point. The Italian lost time on a fast penultimate lap when he had to pass another rider but his final push saw him improve significantly and haul himself up to fourth, just 0.047 off Stoner in third position.
Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 2nd Time: 1’39.487 Laps: 27
“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 – Position: 4th Time: 1’39.558 Laps: 28
“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.” Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager Davide Brivio – Team Manager Edwards and Spies on third row in close Jerez qualifying A thrilling qualifying session at a sun-drenched Jerez circuit ended with Colin Edwards and Ben Spies claiming hard fought places on the third row of the grid for tomorrow’s Spanish MotoGP race. The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 pairing will start alongside each other on row three after Edwards qualified his YZR-M1 machine in seventh, with fellow Texan Spies just 0.019s further back in eighth. Seventh spot was reward for Edwards’ efforts in fine-tuning the set-up of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine. The 36-year-old spent much of the session concentrating on improving the electronic set-up of his YZR-M1 while also making crucial front-end geometry changes to improve his corner entry confidence. Fast learner Spies made a mockery of his inexperience at the 4.423km Andalucian circuit to finish just over 0.7s away from pole position and just over 0.4s adrift of the front row. Spies was a superb sixth in free practice with his all-action style thrilling a large home crowd and the 25-year-old has been one of the most consistent on worn race tyres during the weekend, boosting hopes of another impressive display in tomorrow’s 27-lap race. The reigning World Superbike champion is confident he can at least emulate his brilliant top five finish in the season’s opening race in Qatar last month. Today’s qualifying session was a closely contested affair with just 0.825s covering the top ten. |
Colin Edwards – Position: 7th Time: 1’39.970 Laps: 26
“It has been hard work so far this weekend and a bit of a struggle if I’m being honest, so to finish seventh is a pretty good outcome for me. I seem to have been struggling with the electronics all weekend and we just haven’t been able to get to a point where it feels all that predictable, and that has been a big strength of the Yamaha. We’ve been experimenting with that a lot but I feel we made some decent progress. I changed the geometry on the front of the bike to make it more like the set-up that Valentino likes with a bit more weight on the front. That helped me a lot with the bike feeling a lot more balanced and now I’ve got more feel from the front. Tomorrow is going to be a typical Jerez race. You’ve got to hope you can come out Turn One unscathed, see where you’re at and then just go for it. It’s going to be a tough race but I’ll be giving it my all for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team. |
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Ben Spies |
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“I’m happy and it’s good to be in the middle of the third row because I can try and get a good start and see what’s going on in the first couple of laps and try and get up there. I was happier with my race set-up than what I had for the quick lap on the soft tyres. I didn’t mess anything up real big but I just couldn’t get into that qualifying mode and put that fast lap in. From not knowing where I was going yesterday, I’m happy to be in the top ten and hopefully I can get closer to the front and see what is going on up there. I’d like to think I can get in the battle for the top six but it’s going to be hard. Towards the end of the race is where I’ll be more comfortable because I’ll get in that rhythm and when the tyres go off I’ll feel a little better with the bike. I’ve got a pretty good feeling where I’m going on the track and I just need to change a few things for tomorrow and hopefully ride a littl e better. But I’m looking forward to my first race in Jerez.”
