Even a burning engine couldn’t stop Jorge Lorenzo in today’s dramatic qualifying session at Sachsenring who got the pole position again for the fourth time this season.
Check out what all the riders had to say after the session.
Jorge Lorenzo – 1st“Since the new engine rule everyone has been starting to feel like these engines never have problems and it was honestly a surprise for me today when I came onto the straight and felt it stop! It was so hot and there was oil on my feet so I had to go into the wall.
I’m really sorry that Ben and Randy crashed and especially that Randy was slightly injured, it is good news that he will be able to race tomorrow.
This pole position was very hard because Casey and Dani were so fast; I had to push at the maximum and ride really well.
Well done to my team because we have improved so much since yesterday and now I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow.
”Casey Stoner – 2nd“We’ve gradually progressed over the whole weekend – we started off pretty competitive yesterday, the bike was going well and step by step we’ve made it better.
The track conditions were also a little better today with the lower temperatures and of course more rubber having been laid down on it so that certainly helped.
We managed to put a good lap together there at the end but I got caught up behind Colin Edwards in the penultimate corner and lost some vital time.
I was a little bit disappointed not to get pole by such a small margin but maybe I should have attempted to pass him earlier and things might have been different.
Having said that we have to be happy today – we’re starting from the front row and I’m feeling good about tomorrow so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
”Dani Pedrosa – 3rd“The main target today was to get onto the first row and we’ve achieved this so I’m happy.
It’s important to start from the front row because the first corner is close to the starting grid and also the first few corners are very tight, so it’s better to be up front and try to stay out of trouble.
Always at this track the lap times are very close and we often see a really hard fight in the race – and it looks like this could be the case again tomorrow.
We were lucky with the weather today and we got more dry practice time than expected.
Generally we did a good job in the two practice sessions and our race pace looks pretty reasonable.
I didn’t see the crash at turn one but I saw the smoke and I thought maybe there’s some oil on the track.
I think I was lucky not to be the first one through after Lorenzo’s problem.
We’ll have to be very concentrated during all 30 laps tomorrow because it’s a short lap and there’s no time to relax.
We’ll try to find a little something extra with the set-up in warm-up tomorrow but I’m confident we can have a strong race”.
Andrea Dovizioso – 4th“I’m pretty satisfied to have qualified in fourth and to be only four tenths from pole position.
We made constant improvements in both of today’s sessions and we’re in much better shape than we were yesterday.
Being fast on this track is really important for me because previously I’ve struggled here a little bit in all the categories, but today we could go quickly and qualified pretty well.
Fourth position equals my best qualifying position so far this season and I’m happy about this.
We have a good race pace too.
We are not as fast as the first three riders but I think we can improve in a few areas, close the gap, and fight for the top step of the podium.
One of the areas where we are still losing out is in the middle of the turn with the bike wanting to go straight, so we’ll continue to try to improve this particular part of our set-up.
I’m confident for tomorrow’s race”.
Valentino Rossi – 5th“I am really happy after this second day because I feel confident on the bike.
I have suffered more today because we’ve had two sessions instead of one and I have some pain and I’m more tired than yesterday, but I feel good and my movement is okay.
Also the shoulder feels fine so it’s definitely a positive return for me.
Unfortunately today at the end we tried a small modification to improve the setting but it made it worse, so I think we lost one position for this.
I don’t think the front row was possible because Lorenzo, Stoner and Pedrosa went under 1′22 and I don’t think I could have done that today.
For tomorrow of course there is a question mark but I hope to be able to finish; I think the podium will be difficult for me but top five would be a very good result.
”Hector Barbera – 6th“This is my best grid position so far – I’ve made up three rows in one go and it’s a result that gives me a lot of motivation.
It has come on the back of a lot of hard work, time, effort and enthusiasm and I’m feeling more confident in this class every day.
The last few races haven’t gone as well as we would have liked, we dropped off the pace a little, but we’re turning things around.
Sachsenring is a circuit I like and I hope to make the most of the opportunity to score a good result.
I felt strong over the last few laps and tried to follow Dani, which worked out perfectly.
At the end he got away from me but not before I set a good lap time.
I’m really happy with the way the weekend has gone so far because I have been very consistent and we’re doing things right.
Now we’re on the second row and I have to make the most of it.
The objective as always will be to finish in the top ten and if I can repeat my result from qualifying that would be perfect.
Now I’ve seen I can run near the front my goals have changed slightly but we have to keep our feet on the ground because the level is so high in this category.
”Randy de Puniet – 7th “What can I say? I am lucky because all my bones are whole! We have been working well with the new software and I was up there for the whole session.
I was on my last lap on a hard tyre and was ready to come in to swap to a soft tyre but suddenly Jorge’s engine blew on the straight and after few seconds the surface was full of oil.
It happened too quickly and nobody had the time to react or to display the flags.
Spies crashed in front of me and I did the same, hitting his bike and hurting myself heavily.
After last year’s left ankle fracture I was seriously worried about my condition but I have just a scratch to the right tibia.
But it aches very much! Of course I won’t be at 100 per cent for tomorrow but my race pace is quite good and I will do my best to take as many points as possible.
”Marco Simoncelli – 8th“Eighth place isn’t bad and I’m happy even though to be honest I was hoping to improve at the end of the session and qualifying on the second row.
It wasn’t to be and if we want to achieve our objective of running with the top five tomorrow we have to take another step forward.
I’m half pleased and half disappointed.
Like yesterday we had difficulty finding rear traction when I open the throttle and I couldn’t find a good feeling.
Tomorrow in the warm-up we’ll try and find a solution to improve our race pace.
The crash this morning obviously didn’t help but these things happen and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.
”Aleix Espargarò – 9th“Compared to yesterday’s morning first practice session we have improved a little the front tyre grip even though my bike is not perfect yet.
Tomorrow during the warm up we’ll make some other changes.
With my engineers we have also decided to slightly change the saddle height, this should help me to have a better ride style in the first and last sector where we are slower than the others.
I am still very happy to start the race in third row.
” Marco Melandri – 10th “It was a really difficult session for us and we struggled to find the right way forward.
We went back to our setting from yesterday and things improved but I’m still not happy with how I’m riding the bike, so we will try to make a change that gives us a bit more feeling in corner entry, which is where I am slow.
Physically I feel quite good although the race will be a different story – it will be long and tough.
I haven’t really had any problems doing short runs in practice though.
”Mika Kallio – 11th “Finally a positive result in qualifying.
I am very happy to have significantly reduced the gap from the first rider and the other riders ahead of me.
We have worked hard yesterday after the first free practice to make sure that my bike was fast in the first sector where I had the biggest gap.
Tomorrow morning during the warm up we will try other changes to be even faster in that sector.
I have great confidence for the tomorrow race: it’s the time to gain a good result.
” Colin Edwards – 12th “That was not an easy session at all and I feel like I rode much better than 12th.
The amount of effort I’m putting in is not being reflected in the results and that is frustrating.
It is not through a lack of trying and I’ve got to thank my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3 because they have worked incredibly hard as always on the bike.
We’ve tried pretty much everything.
We put weight on the front and we took it off, we put weight on the rear and we changed the springs and pre-load and we did everything you could imagine and nothing was a big difference.
Tomorrow’s race is going to be tough because this track is so tight that overtaking is not easy.
At best I’d say I’m going to be fighting for seventh but I’ll be riding as hard as I can to give myself some confidence ahead of Laguna Seca next weekend.
That is a huge weekend for Ben and I and I want to arrive home in a positive frame of mind and ready for a good weekend.
”Ben Spies – 13th “It obviously wasn’t a good session when you look where I ended up and everything that could go wrong pretty much went wrong.
I really believe we have a good pace but now we’re starting way back and we’ve got to try and get a good start and come through the field.
But where we qualified today doesn’t reflect where we should be.
I’d only been riding one bike this weekend and that got tore up in the crash.
The lap times on my number one bike I definitely had something in the bag for qualifying to go faster than I did.
But the best I could do on the spare bike was match the times I managed on the number one bike.
The one decent lap I was on at the end that would have put me a row ahead, de Angelis crashed in front of me at the top of the hill and that just upset my lap.
Before that though the incident at the first corner was crucial.
I’d just finished my stint and was pulling in at the end of the lap to start going for a qualifying time.
All of a sudden I was on the ground and I hadn’t really tipped in.
I saw de Puniet’s bike fly right past me and.
I walked over to his bike and looked at the front tyre and saw it had oil all over it so I knew there was nothing I could do.
Luckily I’m fine and will give it my best shot tomorrow.
”Loris Capirossi – 14th “Today we worked a lot on setting and everybody tried their best, but we are still struggling to get it right.
The front feeling is still not right even though the bike has improved a bit since yesterday.
We also had to work with the electronic settings today as we struggled a bit there as well, we improved the traction control, but we still need to take a couple more steps.
In the warm-up we have a clear idea of something we want to try and we will have a meeting later to try and decide on what route we are going to take tomorrow.
”Nicky Hayden – 15th“Yesterday we started out well and I did a 1’22.
9, which would have been good enough for ninth on the grid today, but we lost our way a little and maybe went in the wrong direction with the setting.
Not to make excuses I did encounter a little traffic on some good laps and my ideal time has me tenth with a 1’22.
7 but the bottom line is I wasn’t fast enough anyway.
This is probably the last place where you want to qualify at the back so starting fifteenth is going to make it a long, tough race but a lot can happen in 30 laps.
I need to get into a good early rhythm and just try to go forward.
Yesterday we felt so positive and the feeling with the bike was so good, we were near the front, but this afternoon wasn’t a good session and I know I have to do better.
I apologise to the team because they deserve better than fifteenth and we’ll look to put it right tomorrow.
”Álvaro Bautista – 16th “We improved from yesterday, but the problem is so did all the other riders! We have stayed in about the same position as yesterday and the same difference between first and me.
The good thing is that I have good feeling with the used tyre and I was able to run at a consistent pace.
The problem is that I am starting from a long way back and it will be difficult because in this category the first few laps are very important.
I will try to get a good start and keep a good position in the first part of the race.
The good rhythm I have means I can possibly fight in the top-10, but it will be important to get a good start to be able to do that and I will try to get my best one of the season.
I feel I can go faster when the tyre is used so we are pleased with the setting and I will give it 100% tomorrow to do well.
” Alex de Angelis -17th“Of course I am neither happy nor satisfied with this result.
And that I crashed isn’t good at all.
But I am confident for tomorrow’s race.
The riders in front of me were very close and I think I can close up to the front a little bit more.
The set up of the bike needs further improvements to suit my aggressive riding style.
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