Submitted by David Emmett on
Results and summary of qualifying for the MotoGP class at Misano:
Dani Pedrosa has reaffirmed his authority at Misano by taking a convincing pole in the dying seconds of qualifying at Misano, finally settling a session-long scrap with his compatriot and rival Jorge Lorenzo. The Repsol Honda rider and the Fiat Yamaha man swapped top spot for most of the session, setting times within a couple of hundredths of each other, but as the flag fell, Pedrosa put in a final flying lap to beat Lorenzo by nearly three tenths of a second.
In third place is Marlboro Ducati's Casey Stoner, the Australian having gone back to the old forks on his Desmosedici, with immediate results. Heading up the front row is Valentino Rossi, and sitting next to him is Monster Tech 3 Yamaha's Ben Spies, once again demonstrating his ability at a track he doesn't have to spend Friday learning. LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet rounds out the 2nd row, finishing 6th despite still recovering from the broken leg he suffered at the Sachsenring.
Results
| Pos | No. | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff | Diff Previous |
| 1 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | HONDA | 1'33.948 | ||
| 2 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | YAMAHA | 1'34.256 | 0.308 | 0.308 |
| 3 | 27 | Casey STONER | DUCATI | 1'34.397 | 0.449 | 0.141 |
| 4 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | YAMAHA | 1'34.470 | 0.522 | 0.073 |
| 5 | 11 | Ben SPIES | YAMAHA | 1'34.472 | 0.524 | 0.002 |
| 6 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | HONDA | 1'34.751 | 0.803 | 0.279 |
| 7 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | YAMAHA | 1'34.782 | 0.834 | 0.031 |
| 8 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | HONDA | 1'34.826 | 0.878 | 0.044 |
| 9 | 58 | Marco SIMONCELLI | HONDA | 1'34.934 | 0.986 | 0.108 |
| 10 | 33 | Marco MELANDRI | HONDA | 1'35.018 | 1.070 | 0.084 |
| 11 | 65 | Loris CAPIROSSI | SUZUKI | 1'35.096 | 1.148 | 0.078 |
| 12 | 40 | Hector BARBERA | DUCATI | 1'35.259 | 1.311 | 0.163 |
| 13 | 7 | Hiroshi AOYAMA | HONDA | 1'35.286 | 1.338 | 0.027 |
| 14 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | DUCATI | 1'35.303 | 1.355 | 0.017 |
| 15 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | DUCATI | 1'35.438 | 1.490 | 0.135 |
| 16 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SUZUKI | 1'35.629 | 1.681 | 0.191 |
| 17 | 36 | Mika KALLIO | DUCATI | 1'35.724 | 1.776 | 0.095 |
Comments
Impressive
A week ago I was watching QP at Indy from the LCR garage. While Randy could throw his over the bike no problem, it was clear that walking was painful. It was sad to see him struggle to qualify last but great to see him on the 2nd row a week later.
What the Fork(s)?
How many sets of "old" and "new" forks has Stoner gone through? Yesterday, there was no more speed to be found in the bike... until they got some old parts and he immediately finds more than a second. Whichever "old" ones these are, you would think it's time to put them on Hayden's bike, too.
Is Kallio using the same "new" forks? If so, hasn't someone at Pramac considered looking in the parts bins by now?
Ohlins forks
Casey Stoner had some problems with 2010 ohlins forks,strange front end issues at Qatar and at Le Mans,then he decided to switch to the 2009 version at Mugello.
Hayden has said at this moment that he was happy with his current forks(2010) and never changed,despite some front end crashes.
Both marlboro ducati riders have tested the new 2011 front forks during Brno test,and Stoner has used it during all indy week end,not nicky.
This week end at Misano,Casey has begun with the new (2011) on his bike one,and the older version(2009) on his second bike.
My questions were...
...largely rhetorical. I haven't read a detailed assessment (if there is one) about the difference between the '10 and '11 forks, but if Stoner can immediately pick up a second by going back to the '09 ones, it's time to change the rest of the bikes. Funny how the man goes from "mailing it in before he leaves" to qualifying on the front row, just by getting a request fulfilled. Maybe he does know a little something about his equipment, after all.
In Hayden's case, if he's going from the same pace as his team mate to qualifying back with the injured and the rookies, it's time to stop being polite and start asking for the parts his team mate has (this will serve him well in the future). If he's going to be scrapping just to get a couple of points, he might as well start developing the bike for next year.
In Kallio's case, what else does he have to lose?! There has to be someone in his garage willing to advocate for him.
Hayden and forks
Hayden's already been questioned on whether the '09 forks would help him; his response was along the lines of "well the 2009 forks didn't work for me so well in 2009".
AS a quick re-cap - Stoner ran the '10 forks early in the season, switched to the '09 forks and went faster for a number of races, then tried the '11 forks at Indy with no real gains and so has gone back to the '09 forks.
As for changing all of the Ducs based on Stoner's experience, I'm sure you'd agree that none of the other Duc riders ride the thing like Stoner does, so what suits him would probably see the other guys spearing off into the outfield.
Yes, Nicky, but when you ran
Yes, Nicky, but when you ran those '09 forks, they were on a GP09. You're riding a GP10 this year. At least worth a try in FP, I'd think.
I would think that....................
Stoner would like his complete 2009 bike instead of the problematic 2010. Newer is not always better. At the very least, have one to do a back to back comparison ( I suppose there is some new rule that would prohibit this though !!) The situation is not conducive to rider confidence, but I don't think anyone can doubt Stoners mental toughness this year. He should feel proud of todays qualifying result. Looking at the Moto GP rules, no one should ever underestimate the power of stupid people in groups.
Should qualifying change?...
I really think all these instances of riders "balking" other riders should be addressed by Dorna.
I really like the WSBK format.
David, could you see that they change that for next year?
Thanks.
Definitely not
They won't change to a superpole format for next year. It's possible that they could look at it for 2012, but so far, I've not heard anything about it, so that looks unlikely as well.
Don't read too much into qualifying....
Clearly Dani is only fast because he's on the fastest bike and he's so small, right? =)