Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC213V) will start tomorrow’s Japanese Grand Prix from second on the grid after holding the pole position until after time had expired at Honda’s Twin Ring Motegi circuit. It was only then that title rival Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) wrested what would have been Pedrosa’s fifth pole from his grasp.
Saturday’s qualifying weather in Motegi was ideal, as it has been all weekend, sunny and warm, though a chilly cloud came over the circuit near the end of the MotoGP session. With two days of dry, sunny track time, the riders were able to make the most of adapting to the stop-and-go circuit on the new 1000s. What they discovered is that the track was very hard on brakes, with temperatures exceeding 900C. And they also learned that the Honda RC213V was very fast in a straight line; Bradl had the fastest top speed of 309.1Km/h, with Pedrosa second at 306.9Km/h.
Pedrosa finished the three free practice sessions as the fastest rider and with a time that was approaching the existing track record. He continued that form in qualifying, taking turns at the top with Bautista and Lorenzo, and others, and taking control less than five minutes from the end. His 21st lap was faster than Stoner’s pole time from last year and good enough to put him top of the order. And he would lower it on his next lap, his 22nd.
But it was not as it seemed. The Spaniard suddenly had a recurrence of the chattering that has bedevilled the team most of the year and he was not able to attack at the very end. Still, he will start Sunday’s 15th round of the MotoGP World Championship from the front row for the 12th time in 15 races.
Stoner returned to racing for the first time since injuring his right ankle in qualifying for the Indianapolis Grand Prix at the end of the summer break. Since then he has been home recovering and gaining strength. Neither he nor his doctors knew what to expect: He did no riding at all while at home.
In qualifying, Stoner felt he had a shot at the front row, but a change in pit strategy left him with no rear grip. He was also finding it difficult to manoeuvre his foot on the predominantly right-handed track. The 2011 MotoGP World Champion was not able to move on the bike, use the rear brake, nor lean over as far as he needs. As to what he expected in the race, he said he really did not know.
Regardless of where he finishes in Sunday’s race, the weekend will serve to increase his racing fitness ahead of his final visit to his home grand prix at Phillip Island in two weeks’ time.
Dani Pedrosa, 2nd – 1m 45.215s
“In the end I didn't know the lap times of the others and I was just pushing as hard as I could to get a place on the front row of the grid, because on my last exit I was eighth. I had many problems with chattering in qualifying and we still don't know why. Everything was OK during the free practices, but this afternoon it was hard to do the lap time. Finally the second place is good enough and I hope we can avoid this chattering in the race tomorrow. The key point will be to choose the correct rear tyre and be consistent for the whole race because the pace will be fast.”
Casey Stoner, 7th – 1m 45.745s
“To be honest, I thought we had a shot at the front row today. The first soft tyre we used we achieved a pretty good time and I knew we had something extra in reserve, in both myself and the bike. We thought with the second soft tyre we would improve, but unfortunately we went in the wrong direction with the bike and I had no rear grip, so I decided to play it safe and not push too hard. Physically I'm a little sore but not so bad, I'm just struggling to lift the bike out of the right hand corners and it's making setting up the bike more difficult than it should be. My team can see that my lean angles are nowhere near what they usually are. I can't get my foot out of the way, therefore I can't lean the bike over enough or pick it up quickly on the exit of the corner. I'm not sure what to expect tomorrow. I'll try to get another good night's rest and do our best tomorrow.”
Repsol Honda Team Press Release
You can give your opinion on our Facebook page here
Get the latest update on our Twitter page here
