Qualifying for Round 11 of the 2011 MotoGP World Championship took place today at Czech Republic; Brno Circuit. Dani Pedrosa took his first pole position of the year; he already has two wins this season, Casey Stoner lapped third fastest, with Jorge setting the second fastest lap time in qualifying; sandwiched between the two Hondas.. eh! Rossi did his best ever qualification of the season so far, lapping sixth fastest. Now, he could challenge for the victory tomorrow if it rains!
Dani Pedrosa had already showed fierce pace during the first two dry free practice sessions, with Casey Stoner; the current championship leader, set the pace the wet third free practice. Valentino Rossi lapped third fastest on his red Ducati in the wet practice session, however, Ducati has always worked well in wet, with the exception of Silverstone.
In qualifying, however, Dani could not match his pace from the first two practice sessions, while all other riders improved their lap times gradually, but he still secured the pole with a best lap of 1’56.591. Casey Stoner could not edge out Yamaha of Jorge Lorenzo, and settled for third. Valentino Rossi got dividends of changing the rider position on the bike, and got a better feeling with the front. He finished the hour-long QP session 0.766s off the pole man Dani Pedrosa; setting the sixth fastest time for his best grid start of the season so far. In the race tomorrow, I smell top-four finish for him in the dry and a win if it rains.
John Hopkins was ruled out of the Brno round due to the broken finger. You can read more on this on MotoGP.com . The qualifying results for Brno Round are as follows:
1. Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team Honda 298.0 1’56.591
2. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 291.4 1’56.704 0.113 / 0.113
3. Casey Stoner Repsol Honda Team Honda 295.5 1’56.860 0.269 / 0.156
4. Ben Spies Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 289.3 1’57.178 0.587 / 0.318
5. Marco Simoncelli San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 291.5 1’57.351 0.760 / 0.173
6. Valentino Rossi Ducati Team Ducati 289.9 1’57.367 0.776 / 0.016
7. Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team Honda 295.6 1’57.442 0.851 / 0.075
8. Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 291.7 1’57.676 1.085 / 0.234
9. Nicky Hayden Ducati Team Ducati 289.4 1’57.721 1.130 / 0.045
10. Hiroshi Aoyama San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 294.8 1’57.784 1.193 / 0.063
11. Cal Crutchlow Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 290.9 1’57.797 1.206 / 0.013
12. Toni Elias LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 294.3 1’58.245 1.654 / 0.448
13. Hector Barbera Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP Ducati 295.6 1’58.273 1.682 / 0.028
14. Alvaro Bautista Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 295.6 1’58.274 1.683 / 0.001
15. Randy De Puniet Pramac Racing Team Ducati 289.2 1’58.889 2.298 / 0.615
16. Loris Capirossi Pramac Racing Team Ducati 290.0 1’58.938 2.347 / 0.049
17. Karel Abraham Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati 292.5 1’58.946 2.355 / 0.008
(This timesheet was taken from MCN.com)