Chinese Grand Prix, Shanghai
Qualifying, Saturday May 3 2008
REPSOL HONDA RIDERS ON ROWS TWO & FOUR
Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden fought
hard in a tough qualifying session at Shanghai this afternoon,
ending up fifth and tenth quickest.
Pedrosa, who had been just five hundredths of a second off
the fastest time during the three free practice sessions,
will start tomorrow’s Chinese Grand Prix from the second
row of the grid. The Spaniard was trying as hard as ever,
saving one major slide during the early stages of qualifying
as he battled for a front-row start.
There were several fallers this afternoon, Hayden one of
them. The American slid off with 18 minutes to go while on
a red-hot qualifying lap that would have put him much closer
to the front of the grid. The tumble also lost Hayden some
momentum because it took him a crucial five minutes to get
back to his pit and collect his number-two machine. He ended
the session just a fraction off a third-row start.
Latest race-day weather forecasts predict rain for the Shanghai
area.
Dani Pedrosa, 5th fastest, 1m 58.855s
“We improved from the morning to the afternoon session.
We were lapping at a good pace on race tyres but unfortunately
we couldn't improve as much as we usually do with qualifying
tyres, it seemed like we lacked a bit of grip. I don’t
know why, but a lot of riders crashed during this afternoon’s
qualifying session. All things considered, starting from the
second row tomorrow is not so bad. If it’s dry for the
race we need to improve our rhythm a bit. I hope we will be
able to have a dry race because according to the latest weather
forecasts it may rain tomorrow. In that case we will only
have 20 minutes to prepare our settings for the wet.”
Nicky Hayden, 10th fastest, 1m 59.507s
“Qualifying didn’t go to plan, really. It was
okay in the beginning, we were quite up front on race tyres.
With my first qualifier I went to first place for a second,
then with my second qualifier I just had an easy front push
in turn 11 and down I went. I had a pretty good lap going
but just didn’t get it down. The track is so long and
so big it took me forever to get back to the pits, a little
bit walking, a little bit scooter. Then I just got out on
the other bike and did one run and didn’t get the chance
to improve my time. It was a pity because things were looking
quite good on race tyres – this morning I did over race
distance and was quite happy. This afternoon the track felt
a bit greasy, there were a lot of guys crashing. I’ve
put myself in a nice hole starting tenth, I haven’t
qualified off the front two rows in the dry since Barcelona
last year. I’m going to need an awesome start, try to
pick a few guys off and move forward.”
Kazuhiko Yamano - Team Manager
“Both riders have a good race pace and their qualifying
results do not reflect their race potential. Nicky was unlucky,
he crashed and couldn't improve his time on qualifiers. Dani
will start from the second row. We are confident about both
riders because they have a good pace on race tyres. They have
finalised their bike specifications, they are very determined
and are highly motivated.”
Qualifying Practice - Results
1 C. EDWARDS USA Tech 3 Yamaha 1'58.139
2 V. ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team + 0.355
3 C. STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team + 0.452
4 J. LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team + 0.572
5 D. PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team + 0.716
6 L. CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 0.802
7 J. TOSELAND GBR Tech 3 Yamaha + 1.115
8 C. VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 1.186
9 R. DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP + 1.218
10 N. HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team + 1.368
11 A. DOVIZIOSO ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP + 1.420
12 M. MELANDRI ITA Ducati Marlboro Team + 1.539
13 S. NAKANO JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini + 1.577
14 J. HOPKINS USA Kawasaki Racing Team + 1.601
15 T. ELIAS SPA Alice Team + 1.794
16 A. DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini + 2.177
17 S. GUINTOLI FRA Alice Team + 2.621
18 A. WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team + 2.699
|
