Comments (0) 1. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (M) 25 points
2. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team (B) 20 points
3. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 16 points
4. Andrea Dovizioso ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP (M) 11 points
5. Colin Edwards USA Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 10 points
6. James Toseland GBR Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 9 points
7. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 8 points
8. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team (M) 7 points
Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden scorched to a double front-row start at Catalunya today, setting the second and third fastest times in this afternoon’s thrilling qualifying session. Pedrosa was less than a tenth of a second off pole position, with Hayden just 0.251 seconds off pole.
Both riders also set impressive times in race trim, local hero Pedrosa ending free practice just two thousandths off the best time and Hayden fifth, just over a tenth of a second slower. Pedrosa, who started last month’s French GP from pole position, had an electrical problem with his number one bike in qualifying but was able to switch to his second bike and challenge for pole, proving the consistent performance of his two machines. This is Hayden’s best qualifying performance of the year so far, following two fourth places at Jerez and Estoril. The Spaniard and the American will now sit down with their Michelin technicians to make their final tyre choice for tomorrow’s race, round seven in the 2008 MotoGP World Championship.
Nicky Hayden, 9th fastest, 1m 43.614s
1. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 1’41.186
2. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (M) 1’41.269
3. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team (M) 1’41.437
4. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP (M) 1’41.571
5. Colin Edwards USA Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 1’41.609
6. James Toseland GBR Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 1’41.820
7. Andrea Dovizioso ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP (M) 1’42.053
8. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 1’42.365
Nicky Hayden made solid progress, ending the day ninth, less than six tenths off the fastest lap of the day. Track conditions were more slippery than usual today following heavy rain throughout much of yesterday. Seven riders crashed during the morning and afternoon sessions, Pedrosa sliding off in the final minutes of the second outing, after he already had ridden his best lap.
Nicky Hayden, 9th fastest, 1m 43.614s
“Today hasn’t been the smoothest. There’s a lot of long corners here, so we’ve been trying to get a bit of rear traction, that’s what we’re working on. We’ve tried a few things and we had something we were going to try on the second bike this afternoon but we lost a bit of time with that bike. There’s been a lot of rain here the last couple of days, this morning the track was a bit damp off line, with a little bit of water sitting in the kerbs, which made them pretty slippery. This afternoon the weather was perfect but the track was still a little slippery off-line.”
1. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (M) 1’43.017
2. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 1’43.023
3. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team (B) 1’43.090
4. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 1’43.099
5. Alex de Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 1’43.233
6. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 1’43.368
7. Shinya Nakano JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 1’43.442
8. James Toseland GBR Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 1’43.479
