Chinese GP - Qualifying Practice
STONER ONE TENTH OFF FRONT ROW IN CHINA, CAPIROSSI
OUT OF LUCK
 Ducati
Marlboro Team rider Casey Stoner will start tomorrow's Chinese
GP from the second row of the grid after a dramatic qualifying
session at Shanghai that saw team-mate Loris Capirossi brought
down by a rival during his crucial final qualifying run. Capirossi's
misfortune left him 14th.
World Championship leader Stoner also showed impressive race
pace and is feeling confident for this fourth race of the
2007 season. Capirossi is happy with his speed in race trim
but knows he has a tough task ahead of him to fight back from
a fifth-row start.
CASEY STONER, 4th fastest, 1m 59.516
"We are competitive with our race tyre lap times, they
are very good, so once again we are feeling quite confident.
Unfortunately we were a bit unlucky in qualifying, I had a
little problem with my number one bike, with which I've been
doing all the settings, it stopped just before we went to
start our qualifying laps and I think it took me maybe ten
minutes to get back to the box on a scooter. That was a lot
of time out and also we didn't have the same settings on the
second bike, so when I tried to do some fast times I just
didn't feel as comfortable as I had with my number one bike.
Anyway, the second row is quite good enough, with almost the
same lap time as the front row. I'm very happy with the settings
we found during practice and I'm looking forward to the race
even if there are a lot of other riders going so fast this
weekend, the race tyre times are very close indeed. I think
it will be a very close race until maybe the last five four
laps."
LORIS CAPIROSSI, 14th fastest, 2m 00.369s
"Unfortunately when I was doing my final fast lap I
had an accident and lost the chance to get a good starting
position for the race. I was using a wider line through that
corner in order to get a better exit speed. Vermeulen saw
some space and tried to pass me but there wasn't enough room.
I'm disappointed that I didn't have the chance to improve
my time but I'm not complaining about the accident because
these things can happen. I'm okay, though my right arm is
bruised and quite painful. Tomorrow we'll try to make a good
start and recover during the race, because in race conditions
we are not so bad at all."
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