Pedrosa takes tenth MotoGP pole with late Le Mans charge

2008-05-17 08:32
MotoGP World Championship leader Dani Pedrosa will start tomorrow´s Alice Grand Prix de France from pole position, his tenth in the premier class. The Spaniard performed his customary late charge to take his Repsol Honda to the top marker on the grid, edging out 2007 poleman Colin Edwards with a 1´32.647 lap of the Le Mans circuit.

Edwards had looked on course for a repeat of last year´s qualifying performance, laying down his fast time immediately upon changing up to the stickiest Michelin rubber. Whilst last year he sank down the field in the wet, with a defined race setting and confidence on a high he will be hoping for a good performance and a first GP victory tomorrow.

The `Texas Tornado´ has been on the front row for four of the five races this season, including pole position in China. He was on a final hot lap for a second consecutive pole when he was baulked by Ducati Marlboro´s Marco Melandri, whose teammate Casey Stoner will join the Tech 3 Yamaha veteran on the front line.

Pedrosa, Stoner and Valentino Rossi, who was fourth fastest in the session, were all made to sit up on the newly-configured Garage Vert corner. Such mistakes were few and far between, as they all showed high competitiveness on their respective race and qualifying tyres as part of a top four separated by just half a second.

Experiencing further run-offs was fifth placed Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo, who crashed in the morning practice and experienced several off-track excursions whilst looking for a fourth MotoGP pole position. The last such diversion left him having to turn the factory M1 around by himself, standing on his still-tender ankles. Lorenzo still leads the BMW M Award for combined qualifying results on 99 points, trailed by Edwards and Pedrosa.

2006 World Champion Nicky Hayden salvaged a second row start with which to attempt to move his way up amongst the frontrunners, whilst James Toseland heads row three on a new track for the Briton, ahead of Rizla Suzuki´s 2007 Le Mans racewinner Chris Vermeulen and Kawasaki´s John Hopkins will join the Yamaha Tech3 rider.


250cc

Alex Debon took his second 250cc pole position of the season with a final push in Le Mans.

Whilst rain at the beginning of the second 250cc qualifying session didn´t completely stop the quarter litre riders´ attempts at taking pole position, it did compact their attempts at hot laps until the final five minutes of Saturday afternoon.

With little time to find their rhythm, and the track still slightly damp, only Lotus Aprilia´s Alex Debon was able to find the form to take him ahead of Alvaro Bautista by just one thousandth of a second and into pole for tomorrow´s race, with a 1´38.478 lap of Le Mans.

The Spanish veteran knocked his fellow countryman off the top spot with the clock down to zero, leaving no time for an Aspar rider comeback. Bautista, Metis Gilera´s Marco Simoncelli and Emmi-Caffe Latte man Thomas Luthi will join Debon on the front row for the Alice Grand Prix de France.

Simoncelli added his name to the list of riders running off track at La Chapelle, whilst fifth placed Mattia Pasini took a shortcut along the asphalt escape road. The Polaris World rider was unable to improve upon his time from yesterday, but this was thankfully not a consequence of a heavy morning crash. He is joined by title rival Mika Kallio, Spaniard Julian Simon and former World Champion Manuel Poggiali on the second row.


125cc

The front row for the 125cc Alice Grand Prix de France was unaffected by events in the Saturday afternoon qualifying session, with Sergio Gadea confirming his first pole position of 2008.

The Mapfre Aspar rider will have a clear track in front of him when the lights go out tomorrow, at the scene of his first World Championship victory last season. His time of 1´43.515 from yesterday was unbeaten by his 125cc rivals, and he himself was nearly a second down on his previous marker.

The only member of the front row contingent to improve upon their times was Bradley Smith, although the Polaris World teenager´s time was not quite enough for him to move up into pole. He was just 0.025 slower than Gadea.

Stefan Bradl and World Championship leader Simone Corsi complete the first line of attack, ahead of Sandro Cortese, Mike di Meglio, Nico Terol and reigning title holder Gabor Talmacsi. Di Meglio suffered a spectacular tumble late on in the session but will be able to assume his place on the grid tomorrow.

Source: Dorna

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