Submitted by Mike Lewis on
Result Below:
Jorge Lorenzo reminded the paddock just how fast a two-time MotoGP champion can be Saturday when he seized pole position and set the Jerez circuit lap record in the process. Lorenzo's 1'37.910 made him the only rider in the 1'37s and eclipsed Marc Marquez's 2014 lap record by two-tenths of a second. Worrisome to Lorenzo's rivals, the Spaniard led nearly the entire session.
Marquez, riding with a broken finger, took second position in the front row closely followed by the factory Ducati of Andrea Iannone.
Pol Espargaro on his satallite Yamaha leads the second row but is more than a half-second in back of the pole sitter. Lorenzo's teammate, Valentino Rossi, still apparently fighting for the correct tire setup, ended qualifying in fifth. The fifth place actually is the championship points leader's second-best qualifying of the year, bettered only by his fourth-place Q2 in Austin. Aleix Espargaro slid his factory Suzuki into the final spot on the second row.
Cal Crutchlow managed seventh just in front of Andrea Dovizioso (8th) and track surface tempertures hit 50 C (122 F). Yonny Hernandez, a Q1 refugee, rounds out the third row in ninth. Bradley Smith just put his satellite Yamaha into the top 10.
Temperatures are expected to remain hot for Sunday's race.
Results:
| Pos | No | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff | Prev |
| 1 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | 1'37.910 | ||
| 2 | 93 | Marc Marquez | Honda | 1'38.300 | 0.390 | 0.390 |
| 3 | 29 | Andrea Iannone | Ducati | 1'38.468 | 0.558 | 0.168 |
| 4 | 44 | Pol Espargaro | Yamaha | 1'38.539 | 0.629 | 0.071 |
| 5 | 46 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | 1'38.632 | 0.722 | 0.093 |
| 6 | 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Suzuki | 1'38.638 | 0.728 | 0.006 |
| 7 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | 1'38.714 | 0.804 | 0.076 |
| 8 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 1'38.823 | 0.913 | 0.109 |
| 9 | 68 | Yonny Hernandez | Ducati | 1'39.464 | 1.554 | 0.641 |
| 10 | 38 | Bradley Smith | Yamaha | 1'39.491 | 1.581 | 0.027 |
| 11 | 9 | Danilo Petrucci | Ducati | 1'39.789 | 1.879 | 0.298 |
| 12 | 45 | Scott Redding | Honda | 1'39.825 | 1.915 | 0.036 |
| Q1 Results | ||||||
| To Q2 | 9 | Danilo Petrucci | Ducati | 1'39.250 | ||
| To Q2 | 68 | Yonny Hernandez | Ducati | 1'39.427 | 0.177 | 0.177 |
| 13 | 8 | Hector Barbera | Ducati | 1'39.569 | 0.319 | 0.142 |
| 14 | 25 | Maverick Viñales | Suzuki | 1'39.603 | 0.353 | 0.034 |
| 15 | 19 | Alvaro Bautista | Aprilia | 1'39.612 | 0.362 | 0.009 |
| 16 | 7 | Hiroshi Aoyama | Honda | 1'39.866 | 0.616 | 0.254 |
| 17 | 50 | Eugene Laverty | Honda | 1'39.974 | 0.724 | 0.108 |
| 18 | 69 | Nicky Hayden | Honda | 1'40.025 | 0.775 | 0.051 |
| 19 | 6 | Stefan Bradl | Yamaha Forward | 1'40.166 | 0.916 | 0.141 |
| 20 | 17 | Karel Abraham | Honda | 1'40.177 | 0.927 | 0.011 |
| 21 | 76 | Loris Baz | Yamaha Forward | 1'40.280 | 1.030 | 0.103 |
| 22 | 43 | Jack Miller | Honda | 1'40.365 | 1.115 | 0.085 |
| 23 | 63 | Mike Di Meglio | Ducati | 1'40.817 | 1.567 | 0.452 |
| 24 | 15 | Alex De Angelis | ART | 1'41.108 | 1.858 | 0.291 |
| 24 | 33 | Marco Melandri | Aprilia | 1'41.273 | 2.023 | 0.165 |
Comments
Well
Rossi won't win this time... it's not starting from 8th position ;)
Super happy to see Jorge smiling and back at the top of his game.
Very interesting
I don't know what to make of FP4 - was Rossi running the hard again? FP3 seemed pretty clear: Rossi and Lorenzo are running about the same pace, with Rossi a tick tick tick faster in the first three sectors, and Lorenzo absolutely dominant in sector 4.
It looks to me - unless something unexpected emerges from the tires, which is a big possibility - JL from Rossi and Dovizioso / Marquez (I think Marquez finger will bother him enough that challenging for the podium will be hard based on what we've seen so far - but he does have some serious moxie so we will see).
Lorenzo's got 2 tenths in the final sector, and that's where the decisive corner lies.
If the harder option actually works, then this is all thrown on its ear, and most likely Rossi from Dovizioso with Lorenzo in 4th or 5th again would be my guess.
Looks like a very interesting race.
The stage is set...
Now what remains to be seen is the start of the race, lorenzo is just not able to match his earlier launches and because of that he is not able to fully use his opening laps assault. So if he doesn't gets stuck at the first corner he will fly away though am sure Valentino will be capable to stay with him during the second half of the race and if it comes to a last lap fight then the story is reversed like valentino 60% with Jorge 40%. Only stoner has beaten him in a last lap battle in catalunya 2007 and marquez in qatar last year. Gonna be one hell of race.....
...and Toni Elias!!
Sorry because I don't remember exactly the track and date, but I think this was the year when Nicki Hayden won the WC that Toni Elias in a extraordinary fight with Kenny Robert Jr. and Valentino Rossi during the last 3 laps, ended with a miscalculation of Robert thinking that still was another lap to go and was easy on the last corner leaving the chance to Vale to overtake Toni only to Toni don't give up and beat Valentino Rossi on the line for a couple of thousands of a second, difference that I think was and is the closes in a race finish of MotoGP.
That was
Estoril, Portugal 2006
Sunday is Sunday for sure
What we can hope for is a real race. Rossi will almost certainly be faster than 5th suggests, Lorenzo is a great racer when he's in the mix, and (of course) Marquez, say no more. Dovi is doing exceptionally well too this year, so could it be a four way to the finish, plus maybe Crutchlow and Iannone?
Of course Rossi needs immediately need to beat Dovi to keep the lead.
This could be a cracker!
Rossi Qualies
Rossi Qualies
Thank goodness for 5th, that keeps him in the mix for a good start, I was hoping he would get up there. And still, his comparative Qual struggles could be improved upon. Strategy and mindset. He and his team are doing wonderfully getting the hard rear to work when others aren't. Now start spending a wee bit of FP time doing set up on the second bike for the softer tire while it is fresh for a few laps, and do a quick Qual simulation. It isn't rocket science.
(It is interesting to me that Rossi now has underdog storyline in our narrative, it feels a wee bit funny. And good. Same wonder and awe re Ducati. I like it!)
Oh lordy do we have a humdinger on our hands or what?
JEREZ IS HERE!
Ducati question
David, can you remind us, if Ducati win a race, what further 'concessions' do they lose?
Ducati Concessions
Three dry race wins will mean that Ducati lose the soft tire, and have to use the same allocation that the Hondas and Yamahas use. That will only be partly a loss, as it will sometimes give them an advantage in some races where they could use the hard. It's a loss in qualifying, but a benefit in some races.
Don't think the hard tyre gamble will work for Rossi this time
Looking at the fast lap analysis on motogp.com, it looks like Rossi can run low 1:40s all day. Unfortunately, several other people, can run 1:39s, with Lorenzo able to string low 1:39s together.
I've not seen anyone suggest that the softer tyre will go off and lose significant pace. As per Argentina, I think Rossi needs the softer tyre to go off for his tortoise and hare strategy to pay off a second time.
Scott Redding has been a
Scott Redding has been a dissapointment so far in 2015.
I don't understand, I was so sure he was being hindered by his weight. I tgough once he got on the more powerful RC213V, he would be flying, and it seems that somehow that isn't the case.
He had a better result in 2014 on the open bike, than in 2015 on the factory bike.
I am very confused about all of this.
confused
you think your confused be in reddings shoes!
Worrying
It's becoming a worry. The longer Scott's troubles continue, the more it will get into his head and mess with his confidence. He must be especially gutted to see how much better Crutchlow is doing on virtually the same bike. Scott is a brilliant aggressive rider and an appealing personality, the kind of young rider most would want to see do well and have a promising future in the premier class. But a bad season will hurt his chances a lot. I really hope Honda work hard with him and his fledgling team to help them overcome their problems.
Crutchlow showed
with his slow early pace on the factory Honda that it takes some time to get ones head around. I theorise that the RCVR last year was in fact a comparatively easy bike to ride at it's (lower) limit, the 213V and even to an extent the RS of this year needs to be dominated to get the best out of it. Look at when Aoyama was given the first RS at Valencia last year, all the Hayden crowd called foul thinking he'd fly but he struggled with it, slower than on the RCVR IIRC.
Hopefully Redding and the team just need some time to understand the potential of the bike.
It is true that even Marquez
It is true that even Marquez admitted that the factory Honda in fact is a hard bike to ride, but somehow I expected quite more from Scott.
Time will tell, I sure do want another competitive rider, and I think realistically there is no reason for him not to be.
Maybe I was expecting a bit much, who knows...
Expecting too much
Perhaps Marquez' fortunately timed arrival and remarkable adaption to the class has reset everyone's expectations to an unrealistic level.
People tend to remember Doohan as boringly dominant, but it took him 6 years to win his first title. In fairness it should have come in '92 but even that would have been 4 years. His first win was late in his second year.
Hmmm
Honda rideability
I am still getting used to this new idea that the Honda is not synonymous with rideability. They nearly always have been to my memory. My production ones sure have been. Recent development has left it for the "riding it ragged" Moto 2 style. Curious...