Seventeen year old Bradley Smith starts his second successive grand prix in pole position after leading the way in qualifying for the 125 cc bwin.com Grand Prix of Spain in the frenzied atmosphere in Jerez this afternoon. Riding the Polaris World Aprilia the Oxford–based rider led the morning practice session and then produced a stunning qualifying lap round the 2.748 mile Jerez circuit.
Smith had remained patient in yesterday’s practice and qualifying sessions running in a new engine and it all paid off this afternoon.
“That is a great result for me and the team because yesterday we all remained calm and got through all the hard work we had to do,” explained Smith, who grabbed his first pole position in Qatar three weeks ago. “It all paid off today both in practice and qualifying. We are well set up for the race and we just need that little bit of luck that deserted us in the race in Qatar.”
The other British 125 cc teenagers carried on where they had left off in Qatar. Fifteen year old Gloucestershire rider Scott Redding starts from the second row after qualifying in eighth place in only his second grand prix riding the Blusens Aprilia with Kent-based Danny Webb just one place behind him in ninth place. He will start from the third row of the grid for the 23 lap race.
Brave Toseland Battles To Eighth
James Toseland called upon all his considerable reserves of courage and strength to qualify eighth fastest in a superb MotoGP qualifying session that had the 80,000 Spanish crowd going wild. Toseland was fighting against a bout of bronchitis that saw him in the clinic on a drip after the practice sessions yesterday but still somehow produced 21 qualifying laps on the Tech 3 Yamaha. He will start the 27 lap race, the second round of the MotoGP World Championship, from the third row of the grid which will contain two Spanish riders on the front row.
“That was really tough and I’ve felt so weak over the last few days with all my energy being drained away,” said Toseland. “With these problems to qualify on the third row is a great result and I just hope I can get a good night’s sleep and find some energy for what promises to be a very tough race tomorrow.”
Jorge Lorenzo’s domination of the one hour session in just his second MotoGP race sent the patriotic crowd into raptures. To add to their excitement another Spaniard Dani Pedrosa was second fastest with the front row completed by American Colin Edwards. Lorenzo riding the Fiat Yamaha was unstoppable as he took his second successive pole in the first two MotoGP races of his illustrious career. He finished sixth tenths of a second in front of the Repsol Honda of Pedrosa and decimated the lap record set by Loris Capirossi on a 990 cc MotoGP machine two years ago.
World Champion Casey Stoner had a tough session and will start from the third row after qualifying seven with the second row occupied by former World Champion Nicky Hayden, seven times Jerez winner Valentino Rossi and Frenchman Randy De Puniet who crashed without injury at the finish.
Qualifying Classification:
1. Jorge Lorenzo - Yamaha 1.38.189
2. Dani Pedrosa - Honda 1.38.789
3. Colin Edwards - Yamaha 1.38.954
4. Nicky Hayden - Honda 1.39.061
5. Valentino Rossi - Yamaha 1.39.064
6. Randy de Puniet - Honda 1.39.122
7. Casey Stoner - Ducati 1.39.286
8. James Toseland - Yamaha 1.39.334
9. John Hopkins - Kawasaki 1.39.439
10. Loris Capirossi - Suzuki 1.39.484
