Home hero Jorge Lorenzo continued his impressive rookie assault on the MotoGP class with an outstanding pole position in Jerez today, smashing the existing pole record by almost a second aboard his Fiat Yamaha M1 in front of thousands of Spanish fans. The youngest rider on the grid produced a masterful qualifying display to take his second consecutive pole position and his 3rd at this circuit.
After topping the time sheets yesterday, Lorenzo continued gradually refining his set-up throughout this morning’s free practice and the early part of the afternoon session, before setting the fastest lap so far on the first of three Michelin qualifying tyres with 20 minutes remaining. He bettered himself once again soon after before an inch-perfect final lap on his third soft tyre saw him improve another half a second to consolidate pole position. Dani Pedrosa w as over half a second slower in second place whilst third spot was filled by Yamaha Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards for the second race running. Lorenzo’s team-mate Valentino Rossi had looked on course to join him on the front row before an electronic problem caused him to abandon his final hot lap, and he will start from fifth for tomorrow’s 27-lap race.
Jorge Lorenzo
Position: 1st
Time: 1'38.189
Laps: 26
“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.”
Daniele Romagnoli - Team Manager
“Today was a perfect day. We watched today’s qualifying with great emotion as Jorge demonstrated an excellent race pace and then beat the pole record in fantastic style on his qualifying laps. We were amazed! Yamaha and Michelin were able to provide a perfect package for us today, enabling Jorge to do an excellent job and ride in an incredible way. After today’s result it’s clear that we have the possibility to be on the podium tomorrow, and we will try our best to be there.”
Qualifying Times:
FRONT ROW 1. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'38.189
2. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 1'38.789
3. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 1'38.954
SECOND ROW
4. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda 1'39.061
5. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'39.064
6. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1'39.122
THIRD ROW 7. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 1'39.286
8. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 1'39.334
9. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing 1'39.439
FOURTH ROW 10. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'39.484
11. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'39.559
12. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki 1'39.704
FIFTH ROW 13. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP 1'39.767
14. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'40.037
15. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing 1'40.088
SIXTH ROW 16. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team 1'40.286
17. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team 1'40.939
18. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro 1'41.027
Jerez Lap Record: V. Rossi (Yamaha) 2005, 1'40.596
Jerez Best Lap: L. Capirossi (Ducati) 2006, 1'39.064
