Qualifying for the Valencia MotoGP race tomorrow resulted in Makoto Tamada (Honda) taking pole position. More interesting is the fact that five manufacturers were represented in the top ten qualifying positions — all within eight tenths of a second (less than one percent difference in lap time). Honda, Yamaha, Ducati, Suzuki and Kawasaki are all now becoming reasonably competitive with one another in MotoGP. Honda and Yamaha continue to dominate, of course, but Suzuki and Kawasaki, in particular, have come on strong this year running Bridgestone tires (most of the Hondas and Yamahas run Michelin tires). While Ducati has struggled this year, somewhat, Troy Baylis put his red machine sixth on the grid for tomorrow’s race.
It is nice to see this MotoGP series end with most of the major manufacturers (Aprilia would be the exception) finding a competitive pace. It bodes well for next year’s series.
