Posted on 11 April 2010. Tags: qatar, Qualifying
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The first MotoGP qualifying session of 2010 saw Fiat Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo in strong form, taking the second and third spots on the grid behind Casey Stoner to set up an exact rematch of last year’s Qatar race.
World Champion Rossi had struggled a little yesterday but was much happier on his bike today after some set-up changes this morning, finding better rear grip and an improved race pace as a result. Mid-way through the session he moved into the lead for a short while before Stoner bettered his time and edged him back into second. With the hour gone the Italian was up on the clock on his final flying lap but he dropped a few tenths when passing two riders on the fourth sector and had to settle for second, 0.355 off Stoner’s time.
After his confidence-inspiring opening day yesterday, Lorenzo took a small step back this evening and found he had less feeling in the rear than previously. He was nonetheless able to put up a spirited fight for grid positions and was happy to qualify third, considering his recently broken hand and lack of testing. The 23-year-old admits that he still has some pain when braking but is more concerned in tweaking his set-up tonight to put him in the best possible shape for tomorrow night’s race, which starts at 2300 local time (2200 CET).
Valentino Rossi – Position: 2nd Time: 1’55.362 Laps: 25
“I’m really happy about the work we’ve done today on our set up and now we have a good race pace with the hard Bridgestone tyres. With the soft one the rear is still sliding a little bit too much, but I think for the race we are okay. My final flying lap was very fast but then I had to pass a couple of riders in the final sector and I lost some time, but anyway we have a good grid position so I am happy. A strong start is going to be very important and we will have to push hard on the first lap to try to stay close to Stoner, who is always very strong here. Honestly I think it will be tough to beat him but we will try our best!”
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Jorge Lorenzo |
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Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 3rd Time: 1’55.520 Laps: 24
“Considering my situation I am really happy about my grid position and I think we can be proud of our work. Unfortunately today though we have lost some feeling on the rear and it was difficult to go as fast as yesterday. My hand isn’t perfect and I still have some pain in braking but I am less worried about that than about the bike. We will use the warm-up to try to make some improvements and then I will just do my best in the race and try for the podium.”
Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“We’ve done an okay job in this practice! We made some adjustments to the bike and it’s a lot better than yesterday so Valentino’s pace is much stronger now. The starting position is good and tomorrow we’ll just try from the start to stay with Stoner and see how the race develops. It will be interesting!”
Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager
“We’re happy to be on the front row after Jorge’s injury, it’s a great achievement by him to be so close to Rossi and Stoner at this stage. We’re not 100% happy with the bike set-up and we can still improve it for the race, even though it’s going to be a tough challenge to match the leaders. Anyway we will make the most of the remaining time and try to be there.”
Edwards and Spies eye top six in 2010 opener
Monster Yamaha Tech 3 duo Colin Edwards and Ben Spies are confident they can mount a dual challenge for the top six in the opening MotoGP race of 2010 at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar tomorrow night.
Edwards will kick off his eighth MotoGP campaign from the third row of the grid after a closely fought opening qualifying session of the season in Doha this evening.
In warm but windy conditions under the spectacular Losail International Circuit floodlights, Edwards declared himself delighted with set-up tweaks on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machine that drastically improved turning performance.
The changes boos ted Edwards’ confidence that he can emulate his fourth position in the 2009 Qatar MotoGP race having lapped at a consistent pace on Bridgestone’s hard rear race tyre.
Edwards also impressed on soft tyres and surged into the top three in the final 20 minutes. But in a typically frantic final few minutes, Edwards dropped down to eighth despite setting his best time on his last lap. The 36-year-old though was only 0.174s from Randy de Puniet in fourth place.
Fellow American Spies will make his eagerly anticipated Monster Yamaha Tech 3 debut from 11th on the grid after the reigning World Superbike champion finished with a best time of 1.56.271. That was less than 0.5s away from fourth and the Texan is confident he can fight for a top six having set his best time of the session on hard compound tyres.
Tomorrow’s race is scheduled to run over 22-laps and is the first in the 18-round world championship that concludes in Valencia on November 7.
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Colin Edward – Position: 8th Time: 1’56.005 Laps: 22
“I made the bike a hundred times better than yesterday. I was really worried after last night that I was going to struggle but I pretty much went back to last year’s set-up and I’m happy with it. The bike just turned a lot better tonight and I had a lot more feeling from the front tyre on the brakes. Yesterday I was so lost it felt like I was riding somebody else’s bike. I’m confident for the race because I did some good laps on the hard tyre. I’m a bit more consistent than those in front of me on race tyres, so I don’t think I’m out of the hunt for fourth place tomorrow at all. At the end of the day I was really close to being fourth on the grid. I had a couple of little issues on the soft tyre but Bridgestone have still done a great job and I’m looking forward to the race because of the consistency I’ve got on the hard race tyres. As always I’ll be giving it my all for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team.”
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Ben Spies |
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Ben Spies – Position: 11th Time: 1’56.271 Laps: 22
“It wasn’t a good session really and I never got to use the advantage of the soft tyre. I didn’t get it done and I never really put in a clean lap. But I am happy with the lap time we put in on race tyres. The positive is I did my fastest time on race tyres that had a lot of laps on them. The top four guys are obviously a little bit quicker on hard tyres. But the majority of the people that were quicker than me were on soft tyres, so we’ve just got to try to get a good start. I think the race pace I’ve got is still good, but I’m going to have a hard time passing people down this long straight. I’m right behind Colin on the grid and hopefully jump in behind him and go.”
Posted in Articles, News, Qualifying
Posted on 24 October 2009. Tags: Qualifying, Sepang
Full Saturday free practice times from the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang, round 16 of the 2009 MotoGP World Championship.
Niccolo Canepa, who injured his arm in Friday practice at Phillip Island last weekend, has been replaced by Aleix Espargaro.
1. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 2min 0.518 sec
2. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 2min 1.087 sec
3. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 2min 1.254 sec
4. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 2min 1.455 sec
5. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2min 1.716 sec
6. Toni Elias SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini 2min 1.918 sec
7. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 2min 1.980 sec
8. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 2min 2.098 sec
9. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2min 2.195 sec
10. Alex de Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini 2min 2.274 sec
11. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 2min 2.362 sec
12. Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing 2min 2.435 sec
13. Aleix Espargaro SPA Pramac Racing 2min 2.859 sec
14. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2min 3.032 sec
15. Marco Melandri ITA Hayate Racing Team 2min 3.088 sec
16. James Toseland GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2min 3.528 sec
17. Gabor Talmacsi HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP 2min 3.874 sec
Fastest practice time:
Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda 2min 1.427sec (FP2)
2008 Malaysian Grand Prix – 19/10/2008:
Pole position:
Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda (B) 2min 1.548sec
Fastest race laps by manufacturer:
Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha (B) 2min 2.249sec
Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda (B) 2min 2.379sec
Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro (B) 2min 2.759sec
Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki (B) 2min 2.927sec
John Hopkins USA Kawasaki Racing (B) 2min 3.543sec
Posted in Articles, News
Posted on 03 October 2009. Tags: Estoril, lorenzo, pole, Qualifying
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Jorge Lorenzo took his first pole position since Laguna Seca back in June at Estoril this afternoon, the Mallorcan sealing his fifth pole of the season with a strong performance ahead of tomorrow’s Portuguese Grand Prix. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi meanwhile took his eleventh front row of the season and will start tomorrow’s race from second, with Casey Stoner taking the final front-row slot.
Having topped both practice sessions this weekend, Lorenzo was the clear favourite for pole this afternoon and the 22-year-old looked smooth and comfortable out on track as he made a few last-minute setting changes before the fight for grid spots. With twenty minutes remaining he took the lead and didn’t surrender it for the rest of the session, improving his time several times and never looking in much danger from his rivals.
Rossi had a few problems yesterday but was in better shape today, having improved the balance of his M1 in the hard braking zones. His penultimate lap was good enough to put him second although he was unable to quite match his team-mate’s pace on the softer Bridgestone tyre today. The championship leader is planning a few overnight improvements in order to ensure he is at the maximum for the race.
Tomorrow’s 28-lap race gets underway at the slightly earlier time than usual of 1300 local time, which is 1400 CET.
Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 1st Time: 1’36.214 Laps: 29
“It’s been quite a few races since I’ve had a pole! I was getting a bit worried because doing one fast lap has always been one of my strong points but lately we haven’t been able to be quite competitive enough with the soft tyre. This weekend however everything is working really well and the setting with both tyres is great, so I was able to go out and do some very fast laps. Tomorrow is another day and we know that everyone will be strong, so we will just try and push to the limit and see what happens.”
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Valentino Rossi – Position: 2nd Time: 1’36.474 Laps: 28
“We improved the setting a lot this afternoon from yesterday and managed to fix a lot of the problems we had in the braking, so today was not so bad. We still need more traction on the exits from the slow corners however and we are also losing some time in the tight hairpin. We are not so far but we need to study the data and find a way to improve things a bit more for the race. It will be quite a strong fight tomorrow I think and 28 laps in this heat is going to be hard, but we will be ready.”
Daniele Romagnoli – Team Manager
“It’s very good to be back on pole position after what has been quite a long time. Jorge was today able to do some very fast laps with the softer tyre, which has allowed us to get back on pole, but he also has a good and consistent race pace and so we feel confident for the race. We still have a little work to do on some rear grip issues in order to be a bit faster in the last section of the track, so we will use tomorrow’s warm-up to do that and then we will be ready for an exciting race.”
Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“We’ve done a good job to have improved our setting and this has allowed Valentino to be on the front row today. However we still have some work to do to make another step and get to what will probably be tomorrow’s race pace – it looks like we’re a little bit slower at the moment. Tomorrow’s warm-up will be important and we will use the time as best we can in order to be ready to fight.
Edwards impresses in Estoril qualifying, Toseland battles to 12th
Colin Edwards continued his brilliant qualifying form at the Estoril circuit this afternoon, the Texan riding his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine to fifth position on the grid in preparation for the 28-lap Portuguese MotoGP.
A fastest lap of 1.37.142 ensured Edwards claimed his 10th second row start of 2009 to strengthen the American’s bid for fifth place overall in the world championship standings.
In temperatures that again hit the mid-twenties, Edwards concentrated his efforts on finding a balance between stability and turning with the front-end of his YZR-M1 machine.
Edwards was as high as fourth place at one stage and the 35-year-old finished leading non-factory rider again on the timesheets, an achievement he has managed with remarkable consistency this season. James Toseland, who is still firmly in the hunt for a top seven world championship finish, will start from 12th position on the grid. The British rider worked on geometry and wheelbase changes to improve grip levels with his YZR-M1 and he was under 0.2s away from a top ten finish in another closely contested session.
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Colin Edwards 5th 1.37.142 – 26 laps
“If you’re the next best rider on the timesheets behind the four best in the world then you’re not doing a bad job. And I felt like I did a good job today. We tuned the bike to get rid of some of the small movement issues I had with the front yesterday. It made it more comfortable but the chan ges meant the bike didn’t turn as well. We played around with the setting to make it turn better again but then the movement returned. At this track you need the turning so I can handle the movement. I’m probably trying to make the bike feel too perfect. The first corner here is always pretty tricky and after what happened in Misano I’ll be trying to make it through. I genuinely believe I can fight for the podium tomorrow. I know it will be really difficult but Dani (Pedrosa) had some problems at the end of the race in Misano and nobody is sure whether Casey (Stoner) is going to be able to keep his pace for 28-laps. I’m sure it will be a good race though and I’m looking forward to having a strong finish to the year for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team.”
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James Toseland 12th 1.37.823 – 26 laps
“It has been a little bit frustrating today because we decided to change the geomet ry and the wheelbase of the bike, but it meant we had less time to find the ideal set-up. Towards the end of the session we found a good set-up and while 12th on the grid is not bad, I feel I could have been at least one row further forward. That’s frustrating but I’m sure I’ll be starting the race tomorrow in pretty good shape. My lap times on race tyres are good and I’m looking forward to a really good warm-up session because we’ll be making a couple of slight tweaks that I think will give us even better performance. The first corner is always quite difficult at this track with it being so tight, so my plan is to try and stay out of trouble, get my head down and have a really good race for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team.”
Posted in Articles, News
Posted on 05 September 2009. Tags: Misano, Qualifying
Full qualifying times from the San Marino Grand Prix at Misano, round 13 of the 2009 MotoGP World Championship.
Third in the championship Casey Stoner has withdrawn until Estoril on October 4 to try and return to full fitness.
Stoner’s place at Ducati Marlboro has been taken by Mika Kallio, whose Pramac ride has been handed to Aleix Espargaro.
Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso is using Ohlins suspension for the first time this weekend, team-mate Dani Pedrosa remains on Showa.
Rossi was riding with a smiling image of the donkey’s face from the film ‘Shrek’ painted on top of his helmet – a joke at Rossi’s own expense for crashing at Indianapolis last Sunday.
1. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 1min 34.338 sec
2. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 1min 34.560 sec
3. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 1min 34.808 sec
4. Toni Elias SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1min 34.907 sec
5. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1min 35.184 sec
6. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 35.223 sec
7. Alex de Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini 1min 35.343 sec
8. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 1min 35.492 sec
9. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 1min 35.554 sec
10. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1min 35.561 sec
11. Mika Kallio FIN Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 35.601 sec
12. Marco Melandri ITA Hayate Racing Team 1min 35.785 sec
13. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1min 35.790 sec
14. James Toseland GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1min 36.070 sec
15. Aleix Espargaro SPA Pramac Racing 1min 36.228 sec
16. Niccolo Canepa ITA Pramac Racing 1min 36.264 sec
17. Gabor Talmacsi HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP 1min 37.091 sec
Fastest practice time:
Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha 1min 34.528sec (FP2)
2008 San Marino Grand Prix – 31/8/2008:
Pole position:
Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro (B) 1min 33.388sec
Fastest race laps by manufacturer (wet):
Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha (B) 1min 34.904sec
Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro (B) 1min 34.988sec
Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda (M) 1min 35.479sec
Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki (B) 1min 35.941sec
John Hopkins USA Kawasaki Racing (B) 1min 36.710sec
Posted in Articles, News
Posted on 29 August 2009. Tags: Indianapolis, Qualifying
Full qualifying times from the Indianapolis Grand Prix, round twelve of the 2009 MotoGP World Championship.
Third in the championship Casey Stoner has withdrawn until Estoril on October 4 to try and return to full fitness.
Stoner’s place at Ducati Marlboro has been taken by Mika Kallio, whose Pramac ride has been handed to Aleix Espargaro for Indianapolis and Misano. 20-year-old Espargaro is making his MotoGP debut this weekend.
1. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 1min 39.730 sec
2. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 1min 40.236 sec
3. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 1min 40.609 sec
4. Alex de Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini 1min 40.620 sec
5. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1min 40.961 sec
6. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 41.067 sec
7. Toni Elias SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1min 41.283 sec
8. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 1min 41.309 sec
9. Marco Melandri ITA Hayate Racing Team 1min 41.530 sec
10. James Toseland GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1min 41.620 sec
11. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1min 41.742 sec
12. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 1min 41.773 sec
13. Niccolo Canepa ITA Pramac Racing 1min 41.910 sec
14. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1min 42.038 sec
15. Mika Kallio FIN Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 42.250 sec
16. Aleix Espargaro SPA Pramac Racing 1min 42.577 sec
17. Gabor Talmacsi HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP 1min 42.736 sec
Fastest practice time:
Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda 1min 40.271sec (FP2)
2008 Indianapolis Grand Prix – 14/9/2008:
Pole position:
Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha (B) 1min 40.776sec
Fastest race laps by manufacturer (wet):
Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha (B) 1min 49.668sec
Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda (M) 1min 50.057sec
Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro (B) 1min 50.989sec
Ben Spies USA Rizla Suzuki (B) 1min 51.219sec
Anthony West AUS Kawasaki Racing (B) 1min 51.524sec
Posted in Articles, News
Posted on 15 August 2009. Tags: BRNO, Qualifying
Full qualifying times from the Czech Republic Grand Prix at Brno, round eleven of the 2009 MotoGP World Championship.
- Third in the championship Casey Stoner has withdrawn from the next three events to try and cure the fatigue problems he has suffered at the last five rounds.
- Stoner’s place at Ducati Marlboro has been taken by Mika Kallio, whose Pramac ride has in turn been temporarily handed to WSBK race winner Michel Fabrizio.
- Valentino Rossi lost the front of his Fiat Yamaha and crashed out with three minutes of the session to go, but still kept pole.
- Mika Kallio also had a fast accident, with eight minutes to go, which ended with his factory Ducati on top of a tyre barrier. Kallio, like Rossi, was unharmed.
1. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 1min 56.145 sec
2. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 1min 56.195 sec
3. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 1min 56.528 sec
4. Toni Elias SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1min 56.817 sec
5. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1min 56.954 sec
6. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 1min 57.108 sec
7. Alex de Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini 1min 57.775 sec
8. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 57.803 sec
9. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1min 57.811 sec
10. Mika Kallio FIN Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 57.994 sec
11. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1min 58.087 sec
12. Niccolo Canepa ITA Pramac Racing 1min 58.208 sec
13. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 1min 58.298 sec
14. James Toseland GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1min 58.331 sec
15. Marco Melandri ITA Hayate Racing Team 1min 58.477 sec
16. Michel Fabrizio ITA Pramac Racing 1min 58.680 sec
17. Gabor Talmacsi HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP 1min 58.749 sec
Fastest practice time:
Jorge LorenzoSPA Fiat Yamaha 1min 56.331sec (FP2)
2008 Czech Republic Grand Prix – 17/8/2008:
Pole position:
Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro (B) 2min 11.657sec (wet)
Fastest race laps by manufacturer:
Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro (B) 1min 57.199sec
Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha (B) 1min 57.228sec
Shinya Nakano JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 1min 58.174sec
Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki (B) 1min 58.497sec
Anthony West AUS Kawasaki Racing (B) 1min 59.136sec
Posted in Articles, News
Posted on 04 July 2009. Tags: Laguna Seca, Qualifying
ull qualifying times from the US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca, round eight of the 2009 MotoGP World Championship.
Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner both suffered huge highsides in the closing minutes and were taken to the medical centre.
Mika Kallio is absent due to a finger injury, while Gabor Talmacsi will be Scot Honda’s only rider from this event onwards.
1. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 1min 21.678 sec
2. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 1min 21.845 sec
3. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 21.910 sec
4. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 1min 22.113 sec
5. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 1min 22.135 sec
6. Toni Elias SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1min 22.146 sec
7. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1min 22.490 sec
8. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 22.540 sec
9. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1min 22.633 sec
10. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1min 22.662 sec
11. Marco Melandri ITA Hayate Racing Team 1min 22.842 sec
12. Alex de Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini 1min 23.004 sec
13. Sete Gibernau SPA Grupo Francisco Hernando 1min 23.106 sec
14. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 1min 23.147 sec
15. James Toseland GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1min 23.390 sec
16. Niccolo Canepa ITA Pramac Racing 1min 23.912 sec
17. Gabor Talmacsi HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP 1min 24.528 sec
Fastest practice time:
Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha 1min 21.799sec (FP2)
2008 US Grand Prix – 20/7/2008:
Pole position:
Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro (B) 1min 20.700sec
Fastest race laps by manufacturer:
Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro (B) 1min 21.488sec
Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha (B) 1min 21.713sec
Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki (B) 1min 22.499sec
Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda (M) 1min 22.915sec
Jamie Hacking USA Kawasaki Racing (B) 1min 23.063sec
Posted in Articles, News
Ducati Motorcycles for sale