Catalunya sees records fall as Pedrosa storms to pole

2013-06-16 20:37
Sunday’s MotoGP™ race at the Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya will commence with Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa on pole following an exciting qualifying session on Saturday afternoon. Also on the front row, for what promises to be a superb race, are Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow and Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo.

Pedrosa is in impressive form on his 200th Grand Prix weekend and his pole time of 1'40.893 is the best ever lap of Catalunya. Slotting themselves in on the front row and also looking to get away from the chasing pack tomorrow are Crutchlow and Lorenzo, with the pair trailing pole-man Pedrosa by 0.608s and 0.673s respectively. Lorenzo overcame an early clutch problem, swapping bikes to make the front row.

From the second row, GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista, who had his best qualifying of the year, Ducati’s Nicky Hayden and Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez will also be hoping to mount podium challenges, having all qualified within a second of pole.

From row three, the Italian trio of Yamaha Factory Racing’s Valentino Rossi, Energy T.I. Pramac Racing’s Andrea Iannone and Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso will all aim to make their final improvements in Warm Up on Sunday morning in order to be able to challenge the leading six on the grid.

Iannone impressed in eighth having made it through from Q1 with Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Bradley Smith who qualified 11th, sandwiched by 10th placed LCR Honda rider Stefan Bradl and 12th placed Power Electronics Aspar man Aleix Espargaro – the only CRT rider to make Q2.

The scorching heat at the Circuit de Catalunya – track temperatures reached 57°C during qualifying – is forecast to continue on Sunday, meaning that tyre tactics will be as important as ever for the sixth race of the season. Many riders remain undecided, whilst Ducati pair Hayden and Dovizioso have already ruled out the harder option.

MotoGP™ Qualifying Practice Classification
1- Dani Pedrosa
SPA
Honda
1:40.893
2- Cal Crutchlow
GBR
Yamaha
1:41.501
3- Jorge Lorenzo
SPA
Yamaha
1:41.566
1st CRT
12- Aleix Espargaro
SPA
ART
1:42.878



P.Espargaro

The Moto2™ contest on Sunday at the Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya will get underway with Pol Espargaro on pole, whilst Scott Redding and Tito Rabat will start just behind him on the grid.

Local rider Espargaro set a rapid pace in qualifying, the Tuenti HP 40 man emerging on top thanks to a 1’46.410 lap on Saturday afternoon, in scorching heat at the brilliant Circuit de Catalunya. Marc VDS Racing Team's standings leader Redding ended up 0.619s adrift of pole, whilst Espargaro’s Tuenti HP 40 colleague Rabat completed the front row with a similar time to Redding’s.

Indeed another similar lap time from Italtrans Racing Team's Takaaki Nakagami has him at the front of row two, 0.688s off pole man Espargaro. Despite an early crash, NGM Mobile Forward Racing's Alex de Angelis made row two as well, with Came IodaRacing Project's Johann Zarco in sixth.

The third row features Aspar Team Moto2’s Jordi Torres, Technomag carXpert's Randy Krummenacher and Moto3 World Champion Sandro Cortese - who rides for Dynavolt Intact GP.

The top ten was rounded out by Interwetten Paddock Moto2 Racing’s Thomas Luthi, who will be disappointed with that position having shown good pace in free practice.

There were crashes for Thai Honda PTT Gresini’s Ratthapark Wilairot and Blusens Avintia’s Kyle Smith towards the end of the session, but both riders emerged without major problems.

Moto2™ Qualifying Practice Classification
1- Pol Espargaro
SPA
Kalex
1:46.410
2- Scott Redding
GBR
Kalex
1:47.029
3- Tito Rabat
SPA
Kalex
1:47.076



L.Salom

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Moto3™ Qualifying Practice Classification
1- Luis Salom
SPA
KTM
1:50.782
2- Alex Rins
SPA
KTM
1:51.108
3- Miguel Oliveira
POR
Mahindra
1:51.540

Source: motogp.com

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