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Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo kept up his 100
percent MotoGP
front-row qualifying record for the season with another
pole position at his home track this afternoon, his
third of 2009. Valentino Rossi made a welcome return to
the front row after a three-race absence, qualifying
just 0.013 seconds adrift of his team-mate in second
place.
After Rossi had ruled the roost in practice yesterday,
it was Lorenzo’s turn at the top during this morning’s
session while the Italian slipped to third behind Andrea
Dovizioso. Temperatures climbed even higher than
yesterday throughout the early afternoon and when the
Qualifying session began it had reached 38 degrees at
Montmeló.
Lorenzo held the top spot for most of the first forty
minutes before Rossi sprang into the lead with 20
minutes to go, sparking another entertaining battle
which saw the Yamaha pair trading places with Casey
Stoner and Dovizioso. For the second race running
however it came down to the last couple of laps to
decide the final line-up and with four minutes to go
Rossi re-took pole. Inside the final sixty seconds
however his Mallorcan team-mate edged him off with a
stunning lap, cheered on by his home fans. The World
Champion’s answering challenge fell just over one
hundredth of a second short, leaving Stoner to secure
third place a further 0.439 seconds off.
Jorge Lorenzo
“The heat was incredible today and it’s going to
be very tough doing so many laps tomorrow
without getting too tired! I’m so happy to be
here on pole in front of my home fans at this
track, which I really love. Tomorrow is going to
be a very difficult race for everyone and I am
expecting a very good fight with Valentino, who
has a very strong pace. It looks like Stoner
and Dovizioso will be there too so I hope it’s
an exciting race for the fans! I have a good
rhythm here and I feel very comfortable on the
bike so I am just going to stay focused and
think about having a great race.”
Valentino Rossi
“It’s good to be back on the front row after
three races off it, so we’re happy about that.
Of course I am sorry to miss the pole by such a
tiny amount, but anyway we have an excellent
pace and I am confident for tomorrow. We’ve been
waiting for good weather for five races and now
the temperature is maybe a little bit too much,
but for sure it’s better than rain for everyone!
I think that it will be a hard race tomorrow in
this heat and after just a few laps I think the
bikes will start to slide a bit, which means
that we can expect a great battle and a hard
fight! I am happy with the work we’ve done here,
I am enjoying riding my bike and the weekend is
going well so far. There are one or two small
things we can hopefully improve tomorrow, but I
am ready to be competitive.”
Daniele Romagnoli
“This is a perfect day for our side of the
garage. For us to start on pole here, at Jorge’s
home track, is brilliant and we couldn’t ask for
anything more. Jorge clearly has extra
motivation in front of the Spanish fans but he
did a great job today throughout both sessions
and he has an excellent race pace. His last run
was very good and he was able to challenge
Valentino and take the pole position.”
Davide Brivio
“It’s good to be back on the front row – this
was one of our primary targets for this weekend.
It was such a close qualifying battle with Jorge
and we’ve only missed out by a fraction so we’re
not too disappointed. We have a strong race pace
and everything looks good for tomorrow. Let’s
race!”
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