MOTEGI: Australian Moto GP world championship leader Casey Stoner (pic) will start on pole in today’s Japan Motorcycle Grand Prix after recording the fastest time in qualifying yesterday.
The Honda rider, who won in Motegi last year on a Ducati, clocked 1:45.267, the fastest lap time here on a motorcycle and 0.256 faster than reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo of Spain on a Yamaha.
He was also 0.524 ahead of Italian Honda team–mate Andrea Dovizioso, who took pole last year.
It is Stoner’s 10th pole position of the season, also a new record for Moto GP, and his fourth in a row after the last three races in Aragon, San Marino and Indianapolis.
The new surface of the Twin Ring Motegi, laid after damage caused by Japan’s 9.0–magnitude earthquake on March 11, gave his soft tyres “fantastic” grip, Stoner said.
“Everything seems to be going well. The bike’s working well,” he said.
“We still need to improve a few small things. For me, on this circuit, I am pretty happy with the way things are going. We just have to wait out for tomorrow and see what the weather does and give it our best.”
Having won eight of the 14 races so far this season, Stoner enjoys a 44–point lead over Lorenzo and victory in Motegi would improve his chances of securing the championship at his home Grand Prix in Australia on Oct 16.
Honda have an edge over other manufacturers at the Japanese circuit as they use Motegi to develop their bikes, Stoner has said in the past.
Lorenzo, who settled for fifth place in the three free practice sessions, said his team “changed the bike completely” before the qualifying round.
“It’s unbelievable, the lap time,” the Spaniard said. “We were quite close to Honda (riders). On this track, they are so competitive.”
“So tomorrow is going to be a tough race for us, for all the Yamaha riders. But we are fighting with full motivation.”
Meanwhile, Dovizioso said he was happy to start from the front row.
“I’m really happy with the work of the team and the Honda is working really well at this track, I think tomorrow we will have a great race.”
Fellow Honda rider Dani Pedrosa came in fourth, followed by Ben Spies on a Yamaha and Marco Simoncelli also on a Honda.
Valentino Rossi on a Ducati was seventh. – AFP
RESULTS
MotoGP: 1. Casey Stoner (Aus) Honda 1:45.267, 2. Jorge Lorenzo (Spa) Yamaha 0.256, 3. Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) Honda 0.524, 4. Dani Pedrosa (Spa) Honda 0.699, 5. Ben Spies (US) Yamaha 0.775, 6. Marco Simoncelli (Ita) Honda 0.944, 7. Valentino Rossi (Ita) Ducati 1.200, 8. Alvaro Bautista (Spa) Suzuki 1.319, 9. Hector Barbera (Spa) Ducati 1.427, 10. Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati 1.496,
11. Hiroshi Aoyama (Jpn) Honda 1.544, 12. Cal Crutchlow (Bri) Yamaha 1.551, 13. Randy de Puniet (Fra) Ducati 1.650, 14. Colin Edwards (US) Yamaha 1.898, 15. Karel Abraham (Cze) Ducati 2.655, 16. Toni Elias (Spa) Honda 2.902, 17. Kousuke Akiyoshi (Jpn) Honda 3.100, 18. Damian Cudlin (Aus) Ducati 3.695, 19. Shinichi Ito (Jpn) Honda 4.704.
Moto2: 1. Marc Marquez (Spa) Suter 1:52.067, 2. Thomas Luthi (Swi) Suter 0.193, 3. Andrea Iannone (Ita) Suter 0.356, 4. Bradley Smith (Bri) Tech3 0.578, 5. Yuki Takahashi (Jpn) Moriwaki 0.627.
125cc: 1. Johann Zarco (Fra) Derbi 1:57.888, 2. Hector Faubel (Spa) Aprilia at 0.242, 3. Nicolas Terol (Spa) Aprilia 0.360, 4. Maverick Vinales (Spa) Aprilia 0.570, 5. Alberto Moncayo (Spa) Aprilia 1.049.
No comments:
Post a Comment