Kawasaki's Shinya Nakano will start tomorrow's 22-lap Czech Grand Prix from the second row of the grid, after qualifying his Ninja ZX-RR in fifth position during this afternoon's hotly contested timed session. The 28-year-old Japanese ace had his sights set firmly on a front row grid position, but lost out by just one tenth of a second, as a succession of fast laps right at the end of the qualifying session pushed Nakano back from third to fifth place on the timesheet.
But the Kawasaki pilot is confident that he can mount an attack from the second row of the grid during tomorrow's race. This confidence comes from finding a race set-up on his Ninja ZX-RR that allowed Nakano to run consistently in the top three on the timesheet on his preferred race tyre, before switching to super sticky qualifiers at the end of this afternoon's timed session.
Nakano's Kawasaki teammate, Randy de Puniet, will start the second Ninja ZX-RR from the fourth row tomorrow, after finishing today's qualifying session tenth fastest; less than a second behind pole sitter, and reigning world champion, Valentino Rossi.
Although disappointed at not securing a grid position closer to that of his more experienced teammate, the 25-year-old Frenchman is still confident of putting in a strong performance in tomorrow's race, as long he can get a good start and make up positions on the opening lap.
Shinya Nakano: 5th - 1'56.770"After three good free practice sessions here at Brno, the second row was my minimum target this afternoon. Obviously, I'd have preferred to be making my fourth front row start of the season tomorrow, but I think it's still possible to get away with the leaders from the second row of the grid. Our Ninja ZX-RR has been working well at this circuit right from the start of free practice and, with the refinements we've made today, I think we've got the best possible combination of chassis and engine set-up for this circuit, together with a race tyre from Bridgestone that we know will also work well tomorrow. I'm confident going into the race, which is a new feeling for me at Brno, as our results here for the past two seasons haven't been so good. I think our obvious improvement this year, at what we've always regarded as a bogey track for us, just goes to show how much progress Kawasaki have made with the Ninja ZX-RR since this time last year."
Randy de Puniet: 10th - 1'57.185"While qualifying down in tenth place this afternoon was a little disappointing, more important for the race is that we have a good set-up with our Ninja ZX-RR in race trim, and I'm confident that this will allow me to make up places tomorrow. Of course, starting from the fourth row of the grid makes things difficult for the race tomorrow, as I've discovered already this year. The most important thing is not to lose any further places at the start. If I can get away cleanly from the line then I'm confident I can make up places early in the race, and I hope we will leave here tomorrow afternoon with a good result under our belts."
Naoya Kaneko: Technical Manager"Both riders go into tomorrow's race confident in both their race set-up and their choice of race tyre and, as we've seen today, this combination of chassis, engine and tyres seems to work well here at Brno. It's unlikely that we'll make any further changes during warm-up tomorrow, but if we do then they'll only be very minor adjustments. Everyone has improved since last year, but I think that, at this track in particular, we've made the biggest improvement overall, putting us a lot closer to the front of the grid than we have been during the previous two seasons. After today's performance, I don't think we will think of Brno as a difficult track for Kawasaki again."
Qualifying Practice - Final Times1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Camel Yamaha Team 1'56.191;
2. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team +0.250;
3. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team Roberts +0.412;
4. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team +0.503;
5. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team +0.579;
6. Toni Elias (SPA) Fortuna Honda +0.684;
7. John Hopkins (USA) Team Suzuki MotoGP +0.722;
8. Colin Edwards (USA) Camel Yamaha Team +0.776;
9. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team +0.948;
10. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team +0.994
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