|
|
2008-03-29 Rider claims after Jerez qualifying
 Be first to comment this story
 Jorge Lorenzo today proved that his Qatar performance was not coincidence, as he stepped up the game in Jerez and discouraged rivals by brilliant performance. Besides qualifying results, his short race simulation was something that will be worst nightmare for other riders tonight, so let's see rider claims after Jerez qualifying practice.
Jorge Lorenzo - pole position - 1:38.189, 26 laps:
The pole position and the second place in Qatar were like a dream, so it’s an amazing surprise for me to repeat that pole position here, and even better because it’s in front of my home fans! I was really happy with the last qualifying lap, my earlier ones were already quite good but not perfect, so I was really excited to make such a great final lap. Our race pace is good as well and I am feeling very comfortable on the bike and with my Michelin tyres. My rivals are very strong and will be trying hard to beat me, but I will definitely be fighting for the podium! Thanks to my team for doing a great job; I am really excited about tomorrow and I hope we have more weather like this and a fantastic show.
Dani Pedrosa - 2nd - 1:38.789:
I’m happy with today’s result, because we have made a big improvement to our performance on qualifying tyres. I didn’t really expect to be as high as second, but I’m happy because this is a tight track, so it’s particularly important to start from the front row. Looking at the race, we still need to make a few improvements, working to get the best compromise from the chassis and the tyres. We haven’t yet made our final decision on race tyres but the situation is quite clear for us, so everything is fine. Tomorrow the atmosphere at Jerez will be fantastic, with maybe more than 130,000 fans watching the race. We know the race will be difficult because there are many fast riders here. We will just try and get a good start and make the most of that.
Colin Edwards - 3rd - 1:38.954:
It was very, very eventful to say the least. I was in the gravel once, somehow saved myself from crashing at the first corner and still managed to get on the front row. After all that I had to get on the front row for the team. My guys at Tech 3 and Yamaha have been awesome and they are doing a great job. I started the session with a rear tyre that had a few laps on it but with a new front. But a few laps in the bike didn't feel perfect. I came in and put a new rear in and I just got a little bit carried away. I started pushing and obviously got into turn one too hot. It went, came back, went away again and I thought I was down. I tried to dig my elbow in but it kept going so I kind of lifted my arm up and pulled it up on the handlebars. And it came back somehow. The crowd loved it anyway. I've done it a few times but this is the first time it has been caught on camera. I was a bit upset with the first incident.
I was pushing and I saw Jorge Lorenzo in front of me and I thought he was on a new rear tyre. I'd done 15 laps on mine but I still wanted to keep him in sight. I came to the end of the back straight and I knew the second I hit the brakes I was running off. I just thought 'oh no, this is about ten metres too deep' and off I went into the gravel. After Qatar this is my second front row and I'm ready for the race. My pace for the race was a bit better this morning when it was a bit cooler, but we are still looking good.
Nicky Hayden - 4th - 1:39.061:
We’ve made a bit of progress, but this afternoon a lot of guys went quicker and we didn’t quite have the feeling I was looking for to get the rhythm I need to be dangerous tomorrow. Definitely need to try to step it up in warm-up; me, the bike, everything’s going to need more speed if we want to be up there. It’s mainly getting the front working better over the bumps, though the bike/tyre combination’s not so bad. Qualifying, I wasn’t thrilled with my lap, I felt the bike had a bit more potential. I used a different front tyre than I’ve used in the past and maybe in these hot conditions it wasn’t ideal. The Michelin rear qualifier was really good today and definitely had more in it, so big thanks to Michelin. I’m looking forward to the race. Jerez is always unbelievable experience and I’m sure tomorrow’s going to be no different. Man, I just want to be up there and experience it.
Valentino Rossi - 5th - 1:39.064, 25 laps:
Our target today was the front row and I think we could have done a 1’38 and maybe been second, but unfortunately I had an electronic problem on my last qualifying lap and I had to stop, which was unlucky. This is a pity and of course it would be better to be on the front, but anyway we’re not far away, the second row is not so bad and I think we can be competitive tomorrow. Our race pace is okay, I think with some small adjustments we can improve a bit more but we’re close. Congratulations to Lorenzo, I don’t know if we can be quite as fast as him on race tyres and he will be hard to beat tomorrow, but let’s see! We still haven’t decided on our final race tyre, we have to wait and see how the temperature is tomorrow, but it’s going to be a very exciting race and we’re all looking f orward to it!
Randy De Puniet - 6th - 1:39.122:
I’m quite happy about this result. The small adjustments we made in this morning’s free session gave me the chance to go faster and the feeling with the bike on race tyres is quite impressive. We solved our rear traction problems working on engine-mapping and chassis set-up and the pace on race tyres improved by four tenths compared with yesterday’s performance. Anyway the second row was our target and we are pretty confident for tomorrows race.”
Casey Stoner - 7th - 1:39.286:
Things haven't really been going too well for us here. We managed to go pretty much as quick as we'd gone all weekend early in the first session today but didn't really improve from there so that's disappointing. Qualifying could have been a lot better - I had a good lap going but unfortunately with the settings not being perfect the front just pushed me wide in one turn and I lost a good few tenths of a second, otherwise we would have been on the second row. We should be in a little bit better shape for the race - we got a decent pace and rhythm but we're not quite at the point where we need to be. I think there are a lot of guys in a similar situation to me, we're all struggling with the same thing so we'll have to wait and see what we can all do in the race tomorrow but we'll give it some!
James Toseland - 8th - 1:39.334:
I'm disappointed with eighth after I got a front row in Qatar but I am rough. I don't like to make excuses but I am not feeling at my best at all. To be only three-tenths off the front row and eighth is a bit frustrating. I'm losing three-tenths just with the way I'm feeling. But when you feel this rough it just shows that if you are not fully on it you can be eighth pretty easy because it is so close. I feel a bit better than yesterday and hopefully my condition will have improved a bit more tomorrow for the race, but I've never taken so many drugs in my life. It will be a tough race in my condition but my guys are doing a great job and I'm sure the bike will be great. I feel for the team because I'm not feeling on top of the world. It is so close though. Jorge did an unbelievable lap but from second to thirteenth the gap is less than a second. I don't think I've ever seen anything that close in all the classes I've raced in. It is unbelievably competitive. We have a good direction for the race set-up tomorrow but the tyres will be critical.
We are just trying to pick the best one for the endurance because the temperature is a lot higher than when we tested here. It is unusually high for this time of year and I think we could do with something a bit stronger. But everybody is in the same boat. Colin showed what this package is capable of but I paid the price for not feeling too great. But credit to Colin because he got the job done.
John Hopkins - 9th – 1:39.439, 26 laps:
I'm reasonably happy with today as we're on the third row. To be honest, the fastest qualifying lap we did wasn't the best as I lost the front going into one of the long fast right turns, so I know we had the potential to go even quicker. I ended up scraping my elbow but I managed to pick the bike up and get the power down to make a fairly decent lap time. The tyre choice for the race is a bit of a gamble, as we've only had a few laps on it due to the lack of testing, but I'm confident that with Bridgestone's help we have made a good decision. The machine set-up feels good and my injury is much better so tomorrow we have to get away from the start well and fight for a good finish.
Loris Capirossi - 10th - 1:39.484:
I think that if we look at our grid position it is not too good, but we are quite happy with the performance on race tyres. We are one of the best – if not the best – on Bridgestone race tyres on the track today and for sure tomorrow it will be harder to start on the fourth row but we are quite optimistic. The reason for this is because we have a good feeling here with the bike and we will certainly be trying as hard as we can to get a good result tomorrow.
Shinya Nakano - 11th - 1:39.559:
The feeling with the bike improved a lot in qualifying and in morning practice compared to yesterday. That allowed me to push hard from the start. I’m satisfied because we knew it was going to be tough to get on the third or fourth row but with the fourth qualifying tyre I pushed hard and managed to seal 11th place. I know we’re still some way off the front but I know I can at least run with the second group and that’s my objective tomorrow.
Chris Vermeulen - 12th - 1:39.704:
We had a good session on race tyres and we found something in the bike and with the Bridgestone tyres. We seem to have a good pace and we improved quite a bit during the session and I think there is more to come. With the qualifiers we made good time today, but it was nowhere near the front guys. It shows that we still have some work to do with the qualifying tyres – as we have had in the last few races! I am really happy with my race set-up, but unfortunately I’m on the fourth row of the grid so I will need a good start. I think I’d better get my elbows sharpened to make my way through!
Andrea Dovizioso - 13th - 1:39.767:
Things are very positive as we are in good shape in race trim and we’ve found the right Michelin tyre that allows me to keep a good, consistent pace. We need to work a little bit more on corner entrance speed but I think we can make a good race. I want to make a good start and try and gain some positions and not lose contact with the leaders, that’s my aim early on. It won’t be easy, but in any case I have a chance to do well thanks to our good race set-up. Jerez is a difficult circuit to overtake on, which is why my strategy must be to attack all the time.
Alex De Angelis - 14th - 1:40.037:
I’m really disappointed to have crashed on the last lap of qualifying. I was improving on my best time and would have definitely moved up the grid for a Grand Prix where the starting position is really important. We have to study the data and find out why the front is sliding, even though the general feeling is good. We have to look at the cycle parts and find out the problem.
Anthony West - 15th - 1:40.088, 25 laps:
The qualifying session has given us some inspiration as we've managed to slash our lap times by a huge amount. I am disappointed not to be further up the grid, and the position isn't quite where we would like to be, but at least we are making progress. The qualifying tyre gave me a lot of confidence as the machine was much more stable, we could turn into the corners better and this enabled us to achieve a reasonable lap time. The rest of the field is within our grasp now and although it's going to be very tough out there tomorrow, I'm looking forward to racing.
Toni Elias – 16th - 1:40.286, 20 laps:
I didn’t expect to qualify like this in Jerez. I am too behind in the standings, in front of my team-mate and the other Ducati ridden by Marco (Melandri). We have to work to improve. Personally things went a bit better compared to yesterday, but of course is not enough. Tomorrow it will be a hard race. We can’t change the world in one day. With patience I am sure that we will be able to find the solution to our difficulties.
Sylvain Guintoli – 17th - 1:40.939, 21 laps:
We have taken some small step forward, but seen the classification I can’t tell it was enough. This morning it didn’t go well, but in the afternoon, with the qualifying tyres, I improved my best lap time by two seconds. This is probably the only positive thing of the day. It’s a bit frustrating, but I am taking too much time to adapt to the bike. I am doing all it is possible as always and I hope that some good result will come soon for me and the Team.
Marco Melandri - 18th - 1:41.027:
I had a crash in this afternoon's qualifying session and it was strange because I wasn't pushing very hard. The front felt a bit nervous and suddenly folded. We went straight back out with the other bike on qualifying tyres but the setting was a little different and I really struggled with it. It's a shame because my last run this morning went quite well but when we dialled the same settings in this afternoon the feeling wasn't the same. I don't know, maybe it's going to be hard to go any better at this track but I know this is not my level - something's not right and we have to find a solution. I'm not happy but this is what we have to deal with at the moment.
|
Back to MotoGP news home
|
|
|
