Well, it's another episode of the Lorenzo show. 1 48 Jorge LORENZO 1'35.715 2 2 Dani PEDROSA 1'35.948 3 46 Valentino ROSSI 1'36.199 4 69 Nicky HAYDEN 1'36.266 5 5 Colin EDWARDS 1'36.289 6 52 James TOSELAND 1'36.790 7 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO 1'36.998 8 14 Randy DE PUNIET 1'37.223 9 1 Casey STONER 1'37.253 10 21 John HOPKINS 1'37.346 11 56 Shinya NAKANO 1'37.664 12 65 Loris CAPIROSSI 1'37.786 13 7 Chris VERMEULEN 1'37.843 14 24 Toni ELIAS 1'38.561 15 13 Anthony WEST 1'38.775 16 15 Alex DE ANGELIS 1'38.823 17 33 Marco MELANDRI 1'39.115 18 50 Sylvain GUINTOLI 1'39.355 Lorenzo seems to be able to work a qualifier tyre to its limit, and beyond - after his pole lap, he carried on at the same pace, setting times for the first 3 sectors that were only a 1/10th slower - the grip only disappeared in the last sector, but this time would still have put him 5th. As at the Q sessions for the previous two races, Lorenzo also did a couple of runs with 5~6 laps on race tyres at a pace faster than anyone (mid 1'37"). Rossi and Pedrosa look like they can probably match this pace (each with a couple of laps about the same), and they're both experienced enough to know that if they can run a lap time once, they don't need to repeat it 5 or 6 times. So the race will probably run in the mid 37 to low 38 range. After Rossi, Hayden flattered with his Q tyre, his best race tyre time being a second off. Edwards ran some 37s too, so may go with the front guys to start with, especially now he has the pneumatic valve motor like the works team (previously, his Q times have been unrepeatable in the race because the thirstier spring valve engine needed to be turned down a little to make the fuel last). Toseland continues to impress in 6th, but his race tyre time is 38s; ditto Dovizioso. The big upset is Stoner, a second off the front pace on race tyres, and 1.5 off on a Q tyre. And his bike looked evil, bucking everywhere. Only he and Rossi are on Bridgestones in the top 10, so this is definitely a Mich track, but Rossi seems to be making them work. The big question in my mind is where would Rossi be now if he was on Michelins? Lorenzo hasn't raced as well as he's practised, and may lack race distance fitness (he is the youngest on the grid!), so I think tomorrow will be between Rossi and Pedrosa. Over to you, Mark
Lorenzo was 0.5s up on Rossi's pole from last year. And ISTR that was a blinding lap as well. Lorenzo apparently has an arm pump problem on long runs. Rumour that he's going to have the cut between this race and China. Bradley Smith got badly balked on each of his last attempts. There was a couple of accidents and some near misses in all classes from people cruising, but it's worst in 125 because there's so many people on track and people waiting for a tow and looking behind them. This track feels cramped as well with several flip flops where it's not obvious where you should be to stay off the racing line. Maybe time for some formal controls to discourage people from running slow, especially in the last 5 minutes and a bit more than just the talk at the rider's briefing.
