Rossi takes pole despite crash

From motogp.com

Valentino Rossi survived a late crash during qualifying at the Cardian ab Czech Republic Grand Prix to take his fifth pole position of the season, in clear and sunny conditions at the undulating Brno track on Saturday.

At one of his favourite venues on the calendar Rossi took his Yamaha M1 round the circuit in 1:56.145 on the 21st of his 23 laps after a battle for supremacy with his team-mate and closest World Championship rival Jorge Lorenzo – who trails him by 25 points in the standings and was 0.05 secs. behind the Italian in the session.

Rossi became the first rider since the introduction of the single-tire supplier rule to dip under an existing pole position record.

“Pole position is great, but the most important thing is that I’m okay after the crash," Rossi said. "I have a bit of pain in my right thumb but that’s all, so I think I’ve been quite lucky. I’ll get it checked out at the Clinica Mobile later but I don’t think it’s anything bad.

"This weekend only one of the front tires is working well for us, which means we only have four for the weekend, so we’re putting quite a lot of stress on just a few tires. I arrived to brake very deep and just lost the front, it was unlucky.

"Anyway, we did a great job in the session and being on pole again is important. We have a good race pace and I think it’s possible to be competitive tomorrow.”

Lorenzo continued his 100 per cent front-row qualifying record for the season.

“This morning we tried the softer Bridgestone tire but I didn’t feel so good on it," Lorenzo explained. "This afternoon we gave it another chance but again it didn’t seem to work so well, so we decided to just concentrate on the harder tire. I had a very strong pace and like yesterday I felt very comfortable on the bike, but I couldn’t quite get the pole position today.

"Being on the front row is always important though and we’ve reached this target; we know that we’re very fast. Everyone is excited and motivated as usual and we’re confident that we have the race set-up to allow us to challenge tomorrow.”

In the absence of Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa could be the biggest threat to Rossi and Lorenzo, with the talented Repsol Honda rider having qualified in third place, just under four tenths down on Rossi.

Pedrosa looked quick in the morning practice and finished in a close second place, just 0.131 secs. from the fastest time. He was quickest early in the afternoon session, setting a best lap of 1:56.528, well inside the circuit race lap record. Traffic in the final moments of qualifying apparently prevented Pedrosa from challenging for pole position.

“I’m happy enough with today because we’re on the front row and that’s the most important thing to achieve in qualifying," Pedrosa said. "I think I could have gone even quicker at the end of the session, but on my final run lap I had a lot of traffic and I had to do two slow laps until I found a clear track. Still, I think we had some more potential to go faster so this is positive.

"For tomorrow we still have to improve the set-up and achieve a little more consistency in our lap times so that I can run at the front. I like this circuit and I’ve had some good results here previously, so I hope I can make a quick start and fight for the win tomorrow.”

Toni Elías reacted well to the news that he will not be riding for the San Carlo Honda Gresini team next year, placing himself at the front of the second row on his RC212V.

With Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) qualifying in fifth to seventh respectively the top seven was dominated by Yamaha and Honda.

De Angelis will be joined on the third row by Ducati’s Nicky Hayden and Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi, who survived a scary moment to qualify ninth.

There was a crash for temporary factory Ducati stand-in Mika Kallio who placed 10th, while Randy de Puniet ran off track at one stage and qualified 13th.

Metis Gilera’s Marco Simoncelli held off a late challenge from the pretender to his 250cc crown, Hiroshi Aoyama, to take pole at the Cardion AB Czech Republic Grand Prix in perfect riding conditions at Brno.

The Italian had already looked set for his third pole of the year in the final stages of the session when Scot Racing’s championship leader Aoyama laid down a time of 2:01.961 to take provisional pole. Nonetheless Simoncelli fought back on his final lap, riding around Alex Debon (Aeropuerto-Castello-Blusens) to improve on Aoyama’s best by 0.35 secs.

Héctor Barberá has been in good form so far this weekend and in great form in recent qualifying sessions but he could not add to his three poles from the last four GPs as he qualified in third place for the Pepe World Team, 0.453 secs. behind Simoncelli and just ahead of Debon – who completed the front row.

Italian rider Andrea Iannone, who started the 2009 World Championship in fine form with two wins in the opening two races but has since been plagued by inconsistency, has the chance to put things right on Sunday at Brno having qualified on pole for the second time this year.

The Ongetta Team ISPA rider’s 2:08.171s time on the 12th of his 14 laps was enough to put him at the head of the grid in front of second fastest competitor Nico Terol (Jack & Jones Team) who lapped 0.3 secs. behind him.

The front row of the grid for the 10th 125cc race of the year is completed by German rider Sandro Cortese (Ajo Interwetten) and World Championship leader Julián Simón (Bancaja Aspar), that pair going round with a similar pace to Terol’s.

Florian Marino won a sensational 10-man battle to the line to claim his first Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup victory.

The 16-year-old Frenchman fought off Briton Danny Kent and Italian Alejandro Pardo, both 15, with the first 10 all crossing the line within 2.3 seconds.

Seventeen-year-old Norwegian Sturla Fagerhaug finished fifth and now has a three-point advantage over arch rival Jakub Kornfeil, the 16-year-old Czech, who was eighth.

MotoGP Qualifying Results
1. Valentino ROSSI (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1:56.145 (296.296km/h)
2. Jorge LORENZO (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha +0.050
3. Dani PEDROSA (SPA) Repsol Honda Team Honda +0.383
4. Toni ELIAS (SPA) San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda +0.672
5. Colin EDWARDS (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha +0.809
6. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (ITA) Repsol Honda Team Honda +0.963
7. Alex DE ANGELIS (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda +1.630
8. Nicky HAYDEN (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati +1.658
9. Loris CAPIROSSI (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki +1.666
10. Mika KALLIO (FIN) Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati +1.849
11. Chris VERMEULEN (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki +1.942
12. Niccolo CANEPA (ITA) Pramac Racing Ducati +2.063
13. Randy DE PUNIET (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP Honda +2.153
14. James TOSELAND (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha +2.186
15. Marco MELANDRI (ITA) Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki +2.332
16. Michel FABRIZIO (ITA) Pramac Racing Ducati +2.535
17. Gabor TALMACSI (HUN) Scot Racing Team MotoGP Honda +2.604