2010 Silverstone MotoGP Qualifying Practice Result - Last-Minute Crashes Leaves Polesitter Standing

By David Emmett | Sat, 19/06/2010 - 14:02

Results and summary of Qualifying Practice from Silverstone:

Jorge Lorenzo will start from pole for the British MotoGP round at Silverstone tomorrow, after the Fiat Yamaha rider held off last-minute challenges to his position from the Hondas of Randy de Puniet and Dani Pedrosa.

De Puniet looked like the favorite to take pole at Silverstone, the LCR Honda rider impressing throughout the session. De Puniet was the first man into the 2'04s, then the first man into the 2'03s, and looked like cracking into the 2'02s. But on his final flying lap, over three tenths of a second up after the second section, the Frenchman pushed just a little too hard, and slid off unhurt in the new section after Abbey.

Like De Puniet, Dani Pedrosa looked capable of taking pole, but Pedrosa also crashed out on his final lap. But Pedrosa was not as lucky as De Puniet, for the Spaniard was hit by his Repsol Honda RC212V after sliding off, the rear tire catching after Pedrosa had lost the front, causing the bike to slap Pedrosa's right leg hard, leaving him to be stretchered off and taken to the Clinica Mobile for further examination.

Pedrosa's teammate Andrea Dovizioso heads up the second row, finishing in 4th ahead of a brace of Marlboro Ducatis. This time, it was Nicky Hayden who finished ahead of Casey Stoner, the two men just over a second behind Lorenzo.

Ben Spies showed no ill effects from his crash this morning, the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha rider qualifying in 7th, ahead of the San Carlo Gresini Hondas of Marco Melandri and Marco Simoncelli. Spies' teammate Colin Edwards rounds out the top ten.

Results: 

Pos No. Rider Bike Time Diff Diff Previous
1 99 Jorge LORENZO YAMAHA 2'03.308    
2 14 Randy DE PUNIET HONDA 2'03.434 0.126 0.126
3 26 Dani PEDROSA HONDA 2'03.586 0.278 0.152
4 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO HONDA 2'03.995 0.687 0.409
5 69 Nicky HAYDEN DUCATI 2'04.332 1.024 0.337
6 27 Casey STONER DUCATI 2'04.394 1.086 0.062
7 11 Ben SPIES YAMAHA 2'04.477 1.169 0.083
8 33 Marco MELANDRI HONDA 2'04.555 1.247 0.078
9 58 Marco SIMONCELLI HONDA 2'04.868 1.560 0.313
10 5 Colin EDWARDS YAMAHA 2'05.035 1.727 0.167
11 40 Hector BARBERA DUCATI 2'05.354 2.046 0.319
12 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA HONDA 2'05.712 2.404 0.358
13 41 Aleix ESPARGARO DUCATI 2'05.748 2.440 0.036
14 65 Loris CAPIROSSI SUZUKI 2'05.821 2.513 0.073
15 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SUZUKI 2'06.607 3.299 0.786
16 36 Mika KALLIO DUCATI 2'06.980 3.672 0.373
2010
5
MotoGP
Silverstone, Great Britain
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Comments

Maybe DePuniet can pull off a win. What's going on with Stoner? I'd like to see Nicky get up on the podium, that'd be cool!

resources.motogp.com/files/results/xx/2010/GBR/MotoGP/QP/Analysis.pdf

 

Everyone's best time was a one-off, except for Lorenzo's, which was 1-of-4, with dePuniet and Pedrosa each 1-of-2.

De Puniet used to be a single-fast-lap specialist with a penchant for agricultural detours.  Hopefully, today's demonstration is not a return to that form, but instead reveals an ability to stay near the front.

Lorenzo only pitted once during the session, and (as usual) completed the most laps.  His fastest lap (the last one) at the end of his 15-lap initial run still would have placed him in front of Hayden.  I assume that string of 2:03's came on the softer compound.

Of course, we saw something similar at Mugello...

Has anyone seen Colin Edwards post QP interview? The man is not happy. I was laughing my ass off though, not at him or his situation, just with his colorful expression. I've only been watching MotoGP for 3 years now but man, I have never heard anyone that pissed off and showing it in a candid interview.

-Vinny
twitter @deftjester

Fantastic, almost terrifying lap by De Puniet - in slo-mo his front tyre was being repeatedly flicked off the ground by several inches at one point. Lorenzo's bike looked supple and working very effectively and his riding was almost flawless; Pedrosa deserves huge credit for his best time too.

But oh, things still aren't right in Ducland. Hayden was riding his very, very well indeed but it's still a maximum 4th place bike, while Stoner's, presumably in an attempt to get it going faster, looked to be wound up way too tight - leaping and shaking everywhere. They were both riding the things to the wall but it seems it's the same wall, just they are coming at it from opposite sides..