Submitted by David Emmett on
Results and summary of Qualifying Practice for MotoGP:
Valentino Rossi took his first pole of the year at Le Mans, snatching the top spot from Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa with less than a minute to go. Adding insult to injury Rossi's Fiat Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo also shot ahead of Pedrosa as the final seconds ticked away, taking 2nd from his compatriot, leaving Pedrosa the final spot on the front row.
Casey Stoner had been fast throughout the session, leading for large parts of practice, but the Marlboro Ducati rider simply could not get the softer tires to work in the crucial last couple of minutes, and could not improve his time, ending the day in 4th, and four tenths off Rossi's pole time. Stoner has his teammate alongside him on the second row, Nicky Hayden finding a burst of pace in the last few minutes, leaping up to 5th with two minutes to go. LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet rounds out the second row, much to the delight of the home crowd.
Results:
| Pos | No. | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff | Diff Previous |
| 1 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | YAMAHA | 1'33.408 | ||
| 2 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | YAMAHA | 1'33.462 | 0.054 | 0.054 |
| 3 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | HONDA | 1'33.573 | 0.165 | 0.111 |
| 4 | 27 | Casey STONER | DUCATI | 1'33.824 | 0.416 | 0.251 |
| 5 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | DUCATI | 1'33.845 | 0.437 | 0.021 |
| 6 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | HONDA | 1'34.074 | 0.666 | 0.229 |
| 7 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | HONDA | 1'34.204 | 0.796 | 0.130 |
| 8 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | YAMAHA | 1'34.304 | 0.896 | 0.100 |
| 9 | 65 | Loris CAPIROSSI | SUZUKI | 1'34.306 | 0.898 | 0.002 |
| 10 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | DUCATI | 1'34.514 | 1.106 | 0.208 |
| 11 | 33 | Marco MELANDRI | HONDA | 1'34.523 | 1.115 | 0.009 |
| 12 | 11 | Ben SPIES | YAMAHA | 1'34.920 | 1.512 | 0.397 |
| 13 | 58 | Marco SIMONCELLI | HONDA | 1'34.942 | 1.534 | 0.022 |
| 14 | 7 | Hiroshi AOYAMA | HONDA | 1'34.979 | 1.571 | 0.037 |
| 15 | 40 | Hector BARBERA | DUCATI | 1'35.323 | 1.915 | 0.344 |
| 16 | 36 | Mika KALLIO | DUCATI | 1'35.810 | 2.402 | 0.487 |
| 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SUZUKI |
Comments
Spies
is getting a baptism by fire the last few outings. Good to hear he is still able to ride. Nicky Hayden is resurrecting his career for sure this year. The year in the wilderness on the Ducati has seemingly left him driven and fast this year! And every time someone in the press makes a big deal about how bad the Honda is, Dani seems to find a little something extra. My money is on a Rossi and Lorenzo scrap for this one.
Have not checked all the stats...
...but for what I know Rossi does not have a great pole/win record. Lorenzo has too much promise to live up to... I say it will either be Pedrosa or Stoner.
You might check
You might check Wikipedia.org for Vale's stats. His pole/win record looks strong to me.
You are actually right.
I guess it is because he has way more wins not coming off pole that I felt that way. Backward thinking, I know ;-)
Stats
I hope that MotoTheory is a better source for this sort of info than Wikipedia.
Some Le Mans stats for Rossi I looked up there:
- Rossi has 3 wins
- 1 DNF
- His worst finish was 16th
- Le Mans is Rossi's 18th best track (he has better average results at 17 other tracks)
- His average points is 15 out of 10 entries
- Rossi is the 14th best rider at Le Mans, 3rd best among surrently active riders.
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MotoTheory.com - MotoGP Data & Statistics
You underline my gut feeling.
I don't think he will win tomorrow.