Jorge Lorenzo was on superb form at Motegi today, taking an impressive pole position on his first visit to Japan as a Yamaha rider. The 21-year-old will head the field for his Factory’s home race tomorrow whilst his Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi, who will be bidding to seal his eighth World Championship crown, will start from fourth.
Lorenzo struggled in the dry yesterday afternoon but some overnight set-up changes to his M1 reaped rich rewards today and the Spaniard was in very different shape from this morning, finishing the early session in second. This afternoon saw him sustain an even higher level of performance, improving with three out of four of his Michelin qualifying tyres and holding off Casey Stoner, Nicky Hayden and Rossi to hang on to pole position. With his challengers already back in the pits he had pole in the bag for his final run but was nonetheless able to improve once again, setting a best lap of 1’45.543 and bettering the previous pole record by 0.181 seconds.
Lorenzo began his MotoGP career this season with three straight poles, culminating in a win from the third one in Portugal. He has started from third at the last two races and finished in the same position for both, meaning he has been on the podium each time he has started on the front row this season. He will be looking to keep this record intact when the lights go out at 1400 local time tomorrow.
Daniele Romagnoli (Team Manager):
“This morning’s session gave us a lot of confidence for this afternoon’s qualifying. Today, with more temperature in the ground and an improved set-up, we were able to be very fast and consistent. Many thanks to Michelin for very good qualifying tyres; they worked incredibly well today and gave Jorge the chance to fly. It was very exciting for the team to watch him riding like this. We are confident that tomorrow we will have the chance to fight for podium.”
Jorge Lorenzo (Position: 1st Time: 1'54.543 Laps: 27):
“I’m so happy for this pole position because this is how I started my season and it shows that we are returning to how we were. It’s the first pole since Portugal, when I won, and we have had a hard time since then until the last two podiums so this is a great satisfaction for me. I was able to ride so fast all day today, a big improvement from yesterday, and my Michelin tyres worked so well all day so thank you to them. My team have done a great job to set the bike up and this is a fantastic qualifying for us. It’s not the race so now we have to wait for tomorrow, but we’re starting in the best place so I am looking forward to having a great race.”
| | Qualifying Times: | | |
| | | | |
| | FRONT ROW | | |
| | | | |
| 1. | Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) | Fiat Yamaha Team | 1'45.543 |
| 2. | Casey Stoner (AUS) | Ducati Marlboro | 1'45.831 |
| 3. | Nicky Hayden (USA) | Repsol Honda | 1'45.971 |
| | | | |
| SECOND ROW | |
| | | | |
| 4. | Valentino Rossi (ITA) | Fiat Yamaha Team | 1'46.060 |
| 5. | Dani Pedrosa (SPA) | Repsol Honda | 1'46.303 |
| 6. | Loris Capirossi (ITA) | Rizla Suzuki MotoGP | 1'46.450 |
| | | | |
| THIRD ROW | |
| | | | |
| 7. | Colin Edwards (USA) | Tech 3 Yamaha | 1'46.496 |
| 8. | Randy De Puniet (FRA) | LCR Honda MotoGP | 1'46.554 |
| 9. | Shinya Nakano (JPN) | San Carlo Honda Gresini | 1'46.616 |
| | | | |
| FOURTH ROW
| |
| | | | |
| 10. | James Toseland (GBR) | Tech 3 Yamaha | 1'46.863 |
| 11. | John Hopkins (USA) | Kawasaki Racing | 1'46.888 |
| 12. | Chris Vermeulen (AUS) | Rizla Suzuki | 1'46.904 |
| | | | |
| FIFTH ROW
| |
| | | | |
| 13. | Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) | JiR Team Scot MotoGP | 1'46.907 |
| 14. | Toni Elias (SPA) | Alice Team | 1'47.400 |
| 15. | Marco Melandri (ITA) | Ducati Marlboro | 1'47.475 |
| | | | |
| SIXTH ROW
| |
| | | | |
| 16. | Anthony West (AUS) | Kawasaki Racing | 1'47.669 |
| 17. | Alex De Angelis (RSM) | San Carlo Honda Gresini | 1'47.680 |
