Rizla Suzuki team-mates Loris Capirossi and Álvaro Bautista were both left to think what might have been as they were held-up on their final lap in qualifying at Misano this afternoon.
Capirossi (P11, 1’35.096, 30 laps) was on a flying final lap and looked certain to break into at least the second row of the grid, but a slower moving train of riders got in his way and forced the Italian to lose vital tenths-of-a-second. He was disappointed with the position, but realistic enough to know that he has a good set-up and a strong pace ahead of tomorrow’s 28-lap race.
Bautista (P16. 1’35.629, 29 laps) was extremely annoyed that he had been baulked on his final fast lap, which would almost certainly have given him a much improved time and seen him move up the grid. He had made huge steps today with his Suzuki GSV-R as he shaved almost two-and-a-half-seconds of his lap-time from yesterday. Bautista was extremely unlucky not to be rewarded with a much better qualifying position after his impressive efforts today.
Today’s qualifying was held in very warm conditions as air temperatures got up to 26ºC and the track heated up to 42ºC. Spaniard Dani Pedrosa took his fourth pole position of the season on his factory Honda, with World Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo in second.
Tomorrow’s race is the 12th round of the season and will see Capirossi, Bautista and the rest of the field head off for 28 laps of action at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT).
Loris Capirossi:
“Today has been a good day, but again the position is not what we want or deserve. On my best lap I caught up with a group of three or four riders in the last section and I lost three or four tenths-of-a-second. If that hadn’t have happened I think I could easily have been on the second row. I am really positive for tomorrow’s race because the bike is working very well here at Misano. I need to make a good start and do my best because the setting of the bike is good. We are still losing a bit on the exit of the corners and we need to do something about that – as it makes it difficult to overtake. Our potential is much more than this qualifying position and we will be trying as hard as we can tomorrow to prove it.”
Álvaro Bautista:
“This morning we improved the bike a lot from yesterday and I was able to get a good pace. In the qualifying it was a bit difficult at the start because I used the hard front tyre and I didn’t get the feel from it under braking. At the end of the session we put in the softer compound and that was much better. Unfortunately on the last lap some riders slowed me up and I couldn’t improve my lap-time – which I am sure I would have done. I feel good with the bike here and if I can get a decent start tomorrow I have a strong enough rhythm to be able to battle my way into the top 10.”
Stuart Shenton – Loris Capirossi’s Crew Chief:
“We’re disappointed with the grid position, but it has been a good effort so far this weekend from Loris and the whole team. It would have been nice to be well inside the top 10 for the start of the race, but it was not to be. I think it was getting quite competitive out there at the end of qualifying – not just between other riders, but also between team-mates. It looks like Loris has a good race pace and his times are consistently in the 35s, so let’s just see what we can do tomorrow.”
GP Aperol di San Marino e Riviera di Rimini Qualifying Practice Classification:
1. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1’33.948: 2. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) +0.308: 3. Casey Stoner (Ducati) +0.449: 4. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +0.552: 5. Ben Spies (Yamaha) +0.524: 11. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.148: 16. ÁLVARO BAUTISTA (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.681:
