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Local hero Valentino Rossi took his sixth pole of the
season at Misano in Italy this afternoon, meaning he has
finished on top of the standings in all three sessions
so far this weekend. Team-mate Lorenzo qualified third,
edged out by Dani Pedrosa but continuing his 100 percent
front-row qualifying record for the season.
A welcome sea breeze meant temperatures
today were marginally cooler but it was still tough work as
Rossi and Lorenzo pushed each other hard in the morning
session, the Italian finishing two-tenths in front of the
Spaniard. Lorenzo then took an early lead in this
afternoon's practice before Rossi took over with twenty
minutes remaining, both riders showing a strong race pace as
they continued to fine-tune the settings of their M1s around
the 2.626 km track.
Rossi's time looked fairly untouchable
until the riders put in the softer Bridgestone tyres at the
end of the session and the lead then swapped a few times
between him, Lorenzo and Pedrosa. The championship leader
had the last word however with a brilliant final lap to take
his 58th career pole. Lorenzo tried his hardest to answer
back and set his fastest time of the session on his last
lap, but the 22-year-old couldn't quite get there today and
had to settle for third. Tomorrow's race promises another
exciting battle between the championship leaders when it
gets underway at 1400 local time.
Valentino Rossi
"We expected it to be a bit cooler today but in the end it
wasn't so different from yesterday and it's still very hard
work for all the riders. This afternoon the grip wasn't
great and we found it a bit harder with the race pace, but
then we made a second round of modifications and everything
felt very good. I am very happy to get the pole position
here in Misano. I was able to do a great first lap on my
final tyre and that was enough for pole, and the team
changed the tyre in the time of an F1 pit stop so thanks to
them! We know that it's going to be a very tough race
tomorrow, but we are in good shape. If anyone is wondering
about my helmet...I have the donkey on it because in Italy,
if you make a stupid mistake we say that you are a donkey. I
made a mistake in Indy so this is why! I think it's very
funny!"
Jorge Lorenzo
"I think the race tomorrow is going to be quite painful in
this heat and the physical condition is going to be very
important! It will be a long race but we are in good shape
and I am looking forward to the challenge. Unfortunately I
wasn't fast enough with the soft tyre right at the end, but
we are still on the front row once again and this is the
most important thing. My race pace is very good and I did
some consistent runs, even though we still have some areas
that we need to improve a bit because our setting isn't
perfect yet. But I know that I can push tomorrow, even if it
will be very hard."
Davide Brivio - Team Manager Rossi
"It looked like Valentino really wanted this pole here in
Misano! I think we've worked very well here so far this
weekend, and we've got a good base. Valentino is in great
shape and we think we're ready for another big battle. It's
going to be difficult and we expect to see Lorenzo and
Pedrosa there at the front as well, but we're in the best
position. Let's race!"
Daniele Romagnoli - Team Manager Lorenzo
"In the end we're happy about today, the front row is always
our target and at this track it's especially important. Of
course we were looking for pole position and Jorge did a
great job, the last lap was his fastest but unfortunately it
wasn't quite fast enough to beat Valentino, who was very
strong today. Our race pace is good but we still need to
make a few improvements to the setting, especially the front
end as we have a bit of understeer. Now we will check the
data and see what we can do to make sure we're able to put
up a good fight."
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