Spectacular last-gasp San Marino pole for Pedrosa

2012-09-15 23:30
In much improved conditions for all three MotoGP™ qualifying sessions at the Gran Premio Aperol di San Marino e della Riviera de Rimini in Misano it was Repsol Honda Team’s Dani Pedrosa who stormed to a thrilling pole position for tomorrow’s premier-class race ahead of Jorge Lorenzo and Cal Crutchlow.

In the first dry session so far, Pedrosa’s lap in the high 1.33s saw Yamaha Factory Racing’s Lorenzo dramatically pushed into second by less than two hundredths. Lorenzo was however happy with his lap and expects a close battle in tomorrow’s race. Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Crutchlow was equally on the pace, with the Brit on provisional pole in the final minutes, before being overtaken by the Spanish duo. This is the fifth time the he will start from the front row, and he will no doubt be looking for his second GP podium tomorrow.

Fourth place went to LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl, who looks ever more like the complete package on his satellite machine with yet another terrific performance. Lining up next to him in fifth is San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Álvaro Bautista, putting on a good show for the team at its home race. Rounding out the second row is Ducati Team’s Valentino Rossi, having had one of his best qualifying sessions of the year, fishing just over seven tenths off the top.

Row three is headed by Tech 3’s Andrea Dovizioso, who will be disappointed he could not match his teammate in front of his home crowd. This pushed Yamaha’s Ben Spies into seventh, with the American doing well to recover from a crash half way through the session. He headed back out on his second bike, yet was not comfortable with the different set-up of the machine. In ninth, Repsol Honda’s Jonathan Rea looked unfazed by his lack of track time, as he went consistently quicker on his factory machine on his MotoGP QP debut. Ducati’s Nicky Hayden completed the top ten, putting in the laps despite still suffering from a right hand injury. Power Electronics Aspar’s Randy de Puniet finished as top CRT, having qualified in 12th. Apart from Spies, the only other crasher was Speed Master’s Mattia Pasini, who walked away from the incident unscathed.


Moto2

It was Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol’s Marc Márquez who threw down the gauntlet for tomorrow’s race at Gran Premio Aperol di San Marino e della Riviera de Rimini in Misano by taking Moto2™ pole position in front of Pol Espargaró and Scott Redding.

Championship leader Márquez recorded his seventh pole of the season with a 1.38’242, beating Pons 40 HP Tuenti’s compatriot Pol Espargaró into second by less than a tenth. Espargaró had looked to be re-mounting a new challenge in the final minutes, yet crashed out in turn 15 as he lost the front of his machine. Marc VDS Racing Team’s Scott Redding, who was consistently fast all session could not quite beat the Spaniard, yet was still less than a tenth off the top.

Surprise inclusion in fourth is Italtrans Racing Team’s Takaaki Nakagami, who put the hammer down in the latter stages to displace local favourite Andrea Iannone on board his Speed Master machine. Iannone encountered some traffic on his final laps, and finished the afternoon over two-tenths off Márquez. Completing the second row in sixth is Interwetten-Paddock’s Tom Lüthi, who re-found some pace as the sun came out to provide the best conditions all weekend.

Espargaró’s teammate Esteve Rabat put his Kalex in seventh, after shadowing Márquez for much of the session. Thai Honda PTT Gresini Moto2’s Ratthapark Wilairot made a surprise visit into the top ten, seemingly getting to grips well with his Suter around the Misano circuit in eight. Redding’s teammate Mika Kallio and Tech 3 Racing’s Bradley Smith complete the top ten.

With riders pushing hard all session there were numerous crashes apart from Espargaró, including this morning’s pace-setter, Came IodaRacing Project’s Simone Corsi, Desguaces La Torre SAG’s Marcel Schrötter, Federal Oil Gresini Moto2’s Gino Rea and JiR Moto2’s Johann Zarco, with none of the riders injuring themselves seriously.


Moto3

The sun came out in time for the Moto3™ qualifying practice at the Gran Premio Aperol di San Marino e della Riviera de Rimini in Misano where Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Sandro Cortese took pole position in front of Romano Fenati and Niccolò Antonelli.

Cortese stormed to pole with a time of 1.44’201, the best lap all weekend, thanks to the much-improved weather and track conditions. Lining up next to him in second is Team Italia FMI’s local favourite Romano Fenati, who used the home crowd and track knowledge to his advantage. Completing the front of the grid is another Italian in the form of San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Antonelli, getting his second front row start of the season.

Heading up row two in fourth is Cortese’s teammate Danny Kent, doing very well to recover from a crash earlier in the session when he hit a bump with his front wheel. In fifth, RW Racing GP’s Luis Salom put in a good showing to oust Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2’s Jonas Folger into sixth. Folger had looked like one of the men to take pole after his great form in practice, yet could not carry this pace over into the fully dry conditions.

The third row on the grid sees current Italian champion, Team Italia FMI’s Alessandro Tonucci in front in seventh, with yesterday morning’s pace-setter, AirAsia-SIC-Ajo’s Zulfahmi Khairuddin, next to him in eighth after putting in a solid ride. Ninth spot went to Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Miguel Oliveira with Red Bull’s Arthur Sissis completing the top ten. Blusens Avintia’s Maverick Viñales had a session to forget, as he had to pull in early with a leaking gasket. He went back out on track with 20 min left, yet did not look his usual self as he finished in 11th. Apart from Kent, the only other faller was TT Motion Events Racing’s Niklas Ajo, who managed to re-mount.

Source: MotoGP

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