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LORENZO TAKES FIFTH POLE OF SEASON AND ROSSI MAKES IT A ONE-TWO FOR FIAT YAMAHA

Jorge Lorenzo took his first pole position since Laguna Seca back in June at Estoril this afternoon, the Mallorcan sealing his fifth pole of the season with a strong performance ahead of tomorrow's Portuguese Grand Prix. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi meanwhile took his eleventh front row of the season and will start tomorrow's race from second, with Casey Stoner taking the final front-row slot.

Having topped both practice sessions this weekend, Lorenzo was the clear favourite for pole this afternoon and the 22-year-old looked smooth and comfortable out on track as he made a few last-minute setting changes before the fight for grid spots. With twenty minutes remaining he took the lead and didn't surrender it for the rest of the session, improving his time several times and never looking in much danger from his rivals.

Rossi had a few problems yesterday but was in better shape today, having improved the balance of his M1 in the hard braking zones. His penultimate lap was good enough to put him second although he was unable to quite match his team-mate's pace on the softer Bridgestone tyre today. The championship leader is planning a few overnight improvements in order to ensure he is at the maximum for the race.

Tomorrow's 28-lap race gets underway at the slightly earlier time than usual of 1300 local time, which is 1400 CET.

Jorge Lorenzo
 
Position: 1st   Time: 1'36.214   Laps: 29
"It's been quite a few races since I've had a pole! I was getting a bit worried because doing one fast lap has always been one of my strong points but lately we haven't been able to be quite competitive enough with the soft tyre. This weekend however everything is working really well and the setting with both tyres is great, so I was able to go out and do some very fast laps. Tomorrow is another day and we know that everyone will be strong, so we will just try and push to the limit and see what happens."
 
Valentino Rossi 
Position: 2nd   Time: 1'36.474   Laps: 28

"We improved the setting a lot this afternoon from yesterday and managed to fix a lot of the problems we had in the braking, so today was not so bad. We still need more traction on the exits from the slow corners however and we are also losing some time in the tight hairpin. We are not so far but we need to study the data and find a way to improve things a bit more for the race. It will be quite a strong fight tomorrow I think and 28 laps in this heat is going to be hard, but we will be ready."

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Edwards impresses in Estoril qualifying, Toseland battles to 12th

Colin Edwards continued his brilliant qualifying form at the Estoril circuit this afternoon, the Texan riding his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine to fifth position on the grid in preparation for the 28-lap Portuguese MotoGP.

A fastest lap of 1.37.142 ensured Edwards claimed his 10th second row start of 2009 to strengthen the American's bid for fifth place overall in the world championship standings.

In temperatures that again hit the mid-twenties, Edwards concentrated his efforts on finding a balance between stability and turning with the front-end of his YZR-M1 machine.

Edwards was as high as fourth place at one stage and the 35-year-old finished leading non-factory rider again on the timesheets, an achievement he has managed with remarkable consistency this season.

James Toseland, who is still firmly in the hunt for a top seven world championship finish, will start from 12th position on the grid.

The British rider worked on geometry and wheelbase changes to improve grip levels with his YZR-M1 and he was under 0.2s away from a top ten finish in another closely contested session.

Colin Edwards 5th 1.37.142 - 26 laps

"If you're the next best rider on the timesheets behind the four best in the world then you're not doing a bad job. And I felt like I did a good job today. We tuned the bike to get rid of some of the small movement issues I had with the front yesterday. It made it more comfortable but the chan ges meant the bike didn't turn as well. We played around with the setting to make it turn better again but then the movement returned. At this track you need the turning so I can handle the movement. I'm probably trying to make the bike feel too perfect. The first corner here is always pretty tricky and after what happened in Misano I'll be trying to make it through. I genuinely believe I can fight for the podium tomorrow. I know it will be really difficult but Dani (Pedrosa) had some problems at the end of the race in Misano and nobody is sure whether Casey (Stoner) is going to be able to keep his pace for 28-laps. I'm sure it will be a good race though and I'm looking forward to having a strong finish to the year for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team."

James Toseland 12th 1.37.823 - 26 laps

"It has been a little bit frustrating today because we decided to change the geomet ry and the wheelbase of the bike, but it meant we had less time to find the ideal set-up. Towards the end of the session we found a good set-up and while 12th on the grid is not bad, I feel I could have been at least one row further forward. That's frustrating but I'm sure I'll be starting the race tomorrow in pretty good shape. My lap times on race tyres are good and I'm looking forward to a really good warm-up session because we'll be making a couple of slight tweaks that I think will give us even better performance. The first corner is always quite difficult at this track with it being so tight, so my plan is to try and stay out of trouble, get my head down and have a really good race for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team."

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STUNNING STONER ON FRONT ROW AT ESTORIL, HAYDEN TO START FROM THIRD ROW

Casey Stoner announced his return to the competitive end of the MotoGP grid today with a typically exhilarating qualifying performance at Estoril, where he put in a strong challenge for pole position before settling for a front row start in third place. The Australian was in good physical shape at the end of the hour-long session and the arm-pump problems that he suffered yesterday were not as severe.
Stoner moved to the top of the time sheets early in the session, lapping faster than the rest of the field on three consecutive laps. Another brief spell in provisional pole at the midway stage was only bettered by Jorge Lorenzo, who went on to consolidate pole position whilst Valentino Rossi edged out Stoner for second place in the final stages by a mere 0.054 seconds. Nicky Hayden ran the new fairing on both of his Desmosedici machines today and he made gradual set-up progress throughout the day, only for his final flying lap to be thwarted by a clash with another rider on the front straight.  

CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team)  (3rd; 1'36.528)

"Yesterday it looked as though a front row start was a long shot but at the end of the qualifying session today I was actually disappointed not to be on pole! This morning we came out and everything felt good and this afternoon was the same. My body's sore because I haven't been on the bike for so long but so far I haven't struggled with any of the symptoms that had bothered me before the break. We were competitive on race tyres but when we put the soft tyres on to make them work we couldn't get any grip. We weren't generating any heat into the right hand side of the tyre so I don't know if it was a faulty batch or we were just unlucky. The second tyre had more grip but I didn't use it to its full potential. Anyway, a front row start is nice for us and I want to thank my whole team and everybody else who has stuck by me lately. We've had a lot of critics while I've been away and I've had to laugh at some of the things I've read. Tomorrow is the race, which is the big one, but it's nice to come back in this way and I think we've already shown that it was the right decision to take the time off."

NICKY HAYDEN - (Ducati Marlboro Team)  (9th; 1'37.654)

"We've made a little bit of progress in every session with every run, just slowly chipping away. We made quite a big change again this afternoon and dropped another eight tenths off the lap time, although obviously some of that was down to using the softer tyre. The team has done a good job - we've tried a couple of things we've never tried before and made some progress. I thought I maybe had the chance to qualify a little bit better but at the start of my last flying lap De Angelis ran into the back of me on the front straightaway! I mean, I can understand if you bump a guy in the middle of a second gear corner or something but there I was doing 274km/h and they can see on the data where the bike came unstable because you can see the steering go side to side. My first instinct was that something had happened to the bike so I shut off the throttle and it ruined my last flying lap. Anyway, we're on the third row and it's going to be a long, hard race tomorrow. I know a lot of guys in my group are going about the same speed but if we can take another little step in the morning we'll be okay. Like always it will be important to get a good start and not get boxed in the first turn. We'll see."

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GP of Portugal - Qualifying - 03/10/2009

DE ANGELIS AND ELIAS PROMISE ESTORIL FIGHTBACK
San Carlo Honda Gresini riders Alex de Angelis and Toni Elias are confident they can battle through the MotoGP pack as the racing season resumes at Estoril tomorrow, despite having qualified in a disappointing eleventh and thirteenth place respectively.
Having virtually recovered from the head cold that affected his performance yesterday, De Angelis was ninth quickest this morning but encountered set-up difficulties in the afternoon. Elias had lapped eighth fastest this morning and looked certain to battle for a place on the second row with his pace on race tyres in the afternoon. However, his challenge was thwarted when he ran into traffic after fitting a softer tyre for a flying lap at the end of the session.

Alex De Angelis (11th; 1'37.822): "Physically I feel a bit better today but we've been struggling with the bike. I wasn't able to keep it close to the apex in the tight corners, it was running wide everywhere, but we made a change at the end that helped a lot. It brought us back into contention and if we'd have had more time to build on it and make another step we could have been much higher up the order. Anyway, I'm happy that we're working in the right direction - now it's a case of waiting to see what the conditions are tomorrow, talking things through with Bridgestone and making the right tyre choice. "

Toni Elias (13th 1'37.911): "I'm quite pleased with my race pace and I think we've done a good job. We were in bad shape yesterday but like at a lot of other races where we have had bad Fridays we were able to turn the situation around on the Saturday. I was up there in fifth or sixth, occasionally up to fourth, and I think that is the kind of position we should be in. Unfortunately things didn't work out on the softer tyre. Just when I was putting together a fast lap I ran into Toseland and Dovizioso in the middle of the track and I was blocked off. It's a shame to be starting from thirteenth but that's the way it is and now we have to fight back - just like I did at Assen and Sachsenring."

Fausto Gresini - Team Manager: "We haven't been able to fulfil our potential so far at this circuit for one reason or another. We've been struggling in a variety of areas but other than the first few riders the pack is tight and there is the opportunity to make up a lot of ground if we can just make a small step in the morning. Obviously it's not going to be an easy race for us or anybody but we'll keep working with our riders to put them in the best possible shape for the battle ahead."

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HONDA RACING INFORMATION

Portuguese Grand Prix, Estoril
Qualifying, Saturday October 3 2009

Weather: warm and sunny
Ambient temperature 25 degrees
Track temperature 40 degrees

PEDROSA JUST 0.174 SECONDS OFF ESTORIL FRONT ROW

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) and Randy de Puniet
(LCR Honda) were Honda's top performers in this
afternoon's Portuguese GP qualifying session, the
pair ending the outing fourth and sixth fastest.

Pedrosa missed a front-row start by a tantalising
0.174 seconds, putting him off the front row for
the first time since July's British Grand Prix.
Nevertheless the Spaniard is still on the pace
here, less than half a second off pole-sitter
Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) and just a fraction off
second- and third-fastest Valentino Rossi
(Yamaha) and Casey Stoner (Ducati), who is back
in action after a nine-week layoff. Winner of
this year's US GP, Pedrosa is currently locked in
a battle for third place overall with Stoner. He
is confident of more progress in morning warm-up
to further boost his chances of a strong result
in tomorrow's race, the 14th of this year's 17-race series.

De Puniet was justifiably delighted with his
performance. The Frenchman, now almost fully
recovered from the broken left ankle he sustained
in July, solved some traction problems to come
close to equalling his best grid slot of the
year, the fifth places he scored at Jerez and Mugello.

Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) is still learning
his way with Öhlins suspension, which he raced
for the very first time at last month's San
Marino GP. The Italian is working steadily
through the set-up options with his Öhlins front
forks and rear shock, gaining more vital data with each and every outing.

Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and his
crew have worked hard at this tight and tortuous
track to keep his RCV running tight lines, but
they only found the solution to their problems
quite late in the day. That left the Indy podium
finisher 11th fastest in a closely bunched
mid-pack, with less than half a second covering sixth to 13th places.

Thirteenth place belongs to Toni Elias (San Carlo
Honda Gresini) who struggled yesterday, leaving
him with plenty of catching up to do during
today's two sessions. The Spaniard was hoping for
a better grid position but was unable to get the
best out of his soft Bridgestone's at the end of this afternoon's outing.

Gabor Talmacsi (Scot Honda) has struggled to
improve his times here and believes he's taking a
wrong direction in machine set-up. Changes are thus likely in morning warm-up.

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PEDROSA AND DOVIZIOSO FOURTH AND EIGHTH IN ESTORIL QUALIFYING

Qualifying for the Grand Prix of Portugal took place at Estoril today with Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso securing fourth and eighth places on the grid in the hour-long session. Pedrosa finished just 0.174s from Casey Stoner in third, which gives the Spaniard a starting slot at the front of the second row. If Pedrosa can once again make one of his now-customary fast starts, he is confident that further improvements to his machine set-up will allow him to fight at the front of the race tomorrow.
Dovizioso was able to increase his pace from yesterday afternoon by seven tenths of a second, though the Italian was a little frustrated to finish in eight today - a ranking which translates into a place in the middle of the third row. That said, the winner of the British Grand Prix and his crew know that with further improvement to their suspension settings they have plenty of potential to find some extra pace, and that's what they will be focusing on in the 20-minute warm up session.
There was some good news for the factory Honda squad today with the news that Repsol will once again be the team's title sponsor in 2010. This means the Repsol Honda Team will enter its 16th successive season having established itself as one of motorsport's most recognizable and successful partnerships.
Tomorrow's 28-lap race begins at 1pm local time (GMT +1 hour).
 
DANI PEDROSA - 4th - 1m 36.702s 

"We were working hard on machine set-up this morning, though we experienced a few issues which delayed us a little this afternoon in the fight to set the best lap times on the softer Bridgestones. It's always better to start on the front row of course, but I think fourth is not a bad starting slot. We improved our lap times significantly this afternoon and if we can make a few more improvements to the set-up, everything is possible in the race. It's difficult to know what the rhythm and race pace will be tomorrow because maybe the conditions will be a little cooler. Casey's performance today was impressive, so compliments to him - I'm not surprised he was this fast. My main goal for the rest of the season will be to retain third in the championship and we hope take the first step towards that goal tomorrow."
 
ANDREA DOVIZIOSO - 8th - 1m 37.541s 

"We got through a lot set-up work today trying to improve the feeling from the machine at this circuit, which is quite bumpy. There's definitely more to come, and starting from eighth obviously isn't ideal -however with a good warm-up tomorrow we should be able to make some progress. At the moment we don't have the rhythm to fight with the leading riders and we'll be focussing on suspension settings to try to get closer to them. We cannot be happy with today's result, but the important thing is to maintain concentration and try our best in the race. The characteristics of this racetrack accentuate some issues we found at the last race in Misano, but I'm confident we have a lot of potential with the Ohlins suspension. Plus we only have experience from one race, so there's a lot more to come. We be looking to take a step forward in warm-up and to get as strong a result as possible in the race."

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KALLIO TENTH ON THE PORTUGUESE GP STARTING GRID. CANEPA FOURTEENTH
Unlucky day for Mika Kallio who during the Portuguese Grand Prix qualifying session couldn't manage to conquer more than the tenth position due to the intense traffic encountered in the last laps at his disposal. The Finnish rider made it to position himself in sixth place for most of the session, but when it was the time to push more luck wasn't on his side. Tomorrow he will have to start from the fourth row and make a good start in the race. His teammate, Niccolò Canepa, isn't so far from him but has to be satisfied with the fourteenth position on the grid with only two tenth of a second from Mika's best lap time. The start of the Grand Prix of Portugal is scheduled for tomorrow at 1pm local time.

Fabiano Sterlacchini - Pramac Racing Technical Director

"We have been really consistent today by entering for the most part of the session between the fastest riders. Unfortunately at the end, at the last exit with a new soft rear tyre, Mika found some traffic that has limited his performances. A pity because if we would have start from the second row Mika could have done a really good race. Anyway nothing is lost, as we know that Mika can make a big difference in the race. Niccolò on the other side of the garage has registered interesting lap times and if tomorrow will make it to start well he will be able to enter the top ten riders group."

Mika Kallio - Pramac Racing rider - 10th in 1'37.813

"I felt really well today and my lap times can prove it. I have been really consistent until the end, but in the last few laps with Melandri and Talmacsi we slow down each other losing too much time. A pity, a silly mistake that have cost us some positions on the starting grid that we will have to recover tomorrow in the first few laps. I remain anyway trustful as the bike is going really well."

Niccolò Canepa - Pramac Racing rider - 13th in 1'38.042

"We had a lot of fun this afternoon. During the three sessions from yesterday to today we have sensibly improved and this give us a lot of hopes not only for tomorrow's race but for the rest of the season. We have worked really well with the Team today and the bike reacted perfectly to my moves. I am convinced that tomorrow we will be able to do a really good performance."

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Estoril enhancements encourage Capirossi

Rizla Suzuki's Loris Capirossi qualified for tomorrow's Estoril Grand Prix on the front of the third row after a promising session in Portugal today.

Capirossi (P7, 1'37.489, 30 laps) was pleased with the progress that his latest incarnation of the Suzuki GSV-R made during today's session, as he continued to make improvements. Capirossi was determined to test his bike to the full during this afternoon's hour-long qualifying session, recording more laps of the 4,182m Estoril circuit than any other rider. He is confident of a good race tomorrow and is sure that the advances made with the new bike will enable him to challenge for a competitive finish tomorrow. Seventh place on the grid signals Capirossi's best grid position for seven races - since he qualified in sixth at Assen in June.

Chris Vermeulen (P15, 38.342, 29 laps) was still suffering with his back injury today, but he wasn't hampered by it too much as he completed 29 laps during this afternoon's qualifying. Vermeulen was pleased with the improvements that were made to his bike, but disappointed to be back on the fifth row of the grid. He will be pushing as hard as he can from the start tomorrow to reconcile that grid position as he aims to score valuable championship points.

Today's qualifying was held in warm and sunny conditions with a gentle breeze keeping temperatures at a pleasant 25ºC. Jorge Lorenzo took his fifth pole position of the season on his factory Yamaha, with team-mate and World Championship leader Valentino Rossi in second place on the grid.

Tomorrow's 28-lap race is the 14th event on this season's calendar and it will get going at 13.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT).

Loris Capirossi:

"Overall it's been ok for us today, we made some improvements this morning and tried to continue with that this afternoon. We changed a few things on the bike and the whole team worked well to make things better for me. We have got a bit of vibration from the front and we need to resolve that, but other than that we are quite competitive. I want to say thank-you to Suzuki, because normally this is one of the worst tracks for us and we have improved a lot on the rear grip - which was a big problem in the past - and the new package we have is much better. We have improved on top speed as well, we are now quite competitive and for us this is great and a very important step forward."

Chris Vermeulen:

"We made some good changes to the bike today and consistently improved on the lap-time. We ran both the compounds of tyres on the front and rear this afternoon and we've got a reasonable race set-up. I'm a bit disappointed in actual performance because I just couldn't quite get the lap-time I wanted, but I was able to achieve the one I did quite easily so we should be able to run at that pace all race. Hopefully I'll get a good start and make up a few places early on and have a good race."

Paul Denning - Team Manager:

"We hoped yesterday that overnight changes would see both of the guys find a reasonable amount of lap-time and we've managed to achieve that. Chris has never been ?Captain Qualifier' and today was a disappointing result, which without any question he will improve upon tomorrow. With Loris we still haven't got the optimum set-up for the new GSV-R and we're struggling a bit with consistency as we go from track to track, but he showed a lot of determination to pull out a good lap at the end of the session. It was a bit ragged and you definitely wouldn't have wanted to be sitting on the back, but now we have achieved more outright speed we hope we can smooth some things out tomorrow morning in warm-up and then have a decent Grand Prix in the afternoon."

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