Nicky Hayden qualifies as top Open for first time this season
. By Bikeland Staff
After four free practice sessions led by four different riders in Dovizioso, Smith, Lorenzo and Baz, this afternoon's qualifying practice for the French GP saw another change at the top of the timesheets as Marc Marquez snatched pole position for the fifth round of the season. Rainfall during Moto3 qualifying abated for the final free practice session in the top class and as Q2 took place on a dry track Márquez was able to overcome the challenge of Lorenzo and Dovizioso to snatch his third pole of the season.
POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar rider Nicky Hayden continued to attack the weekend with his usual never-say-die attitude and his persistence paid off this afternoon when a set-up change in Q1 allowed him to seal his best grid of the season so far. The American came close to qualifying for Q2 as he finished fourth fastest in Q1, securing fourteenth position on tomorrow's grid, as the best Open bike for the first time this season. Eugene Laverty had a less enjoyable day as he crashed twice, admitting that both were down to the wrong tyre choice. The Irishman continues to learn in his rookie MotoGP season and he is looking forward to a more positive day tomorrow.
14th Nicky Hayden 1.34.267: “Even though it rained shortly beforehand, luckily it was dry for qualifying. It was our best qualifying practice of the season so far, which is a boost going into tomorrow's race. Now we have to turn this positive progress into a result. We made a small change this afternoon which turned out to be very positive and I would have liked to qualify for Q2 but it wasn't to be, we need to keep working. My mechanics have been doing a great job all season so hopefully I can pay them back. There won't be much space in the first three turns tomorrow so we'll have to be careful but my goal is to stay focused and turn my best grid position of the season so far into my best result.”
21st Eugene Laverty 1.34.947: “Yesterday was a tough day and I didn't enjoy myself on the bike but today we really managed to improve the front-end response of the bike and I was able to get it turned more easily. The only shame today was that we had two crashes, which both happened when I was on a used front tyre and a new rear. It is a mistake we need to learn from but apart from that I am okay, the pace is decent and tomorrow we need to build on it. I think we deserved more than 21st place today but we didn't manage to put a faster lap in so we have to try and make up positions tomorrow.”