Racing

MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo Takes Pole at a Damp Estoril

Google+ Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr

Jorge Lorenzo was the top dog today in Estoril, Portugal, as the Spaniard claimed the pole position for the start of tomorrow’s Portuguese GP. The top qualifying result is the fourth in a row for Lorenzo at Estoril, which according to Monopoly Rules means the Spanish GP rider can now build a hotel at the Iberian track.

Lorenzo’s result is undoubtedly impressive, but Italian Marco Simoncelli might be stealing some of the World Champion’s spotlight, as the sophomore MotoGP rider has ridden an impressive week thus far, and will start from the second grid spot on Sunday afternoon after being just a tenth of a second slower than Lorenzo.

Despite the pace of Simoncelli’s factory Honda, surprisingly the Repsol Honda crew was farther down the grid, with Pedrosa and Stoner taking third and fourth place spots respectively, while Andrea Dovizioso will start sixth, behind Ben Spies. The factory Yamaha Texan struggled earlier in the week, but was able to find a setting he liked on the mostly dry track, and qualify seven tenths of his teammate’s pace.

For the Ducati squad, Estoril has proven to be quagmire, as Ducati Corse has been unable to find a setup that gives Rossi and Hayden the feeling they need on the track. Despite their strong showing in the rain at Jerez, Ducati is hoping for a dry race tomorrow as they try and improve the Ducati Desmosedici GP11. Rossi will start 9th, while American Nicky Hayden wills start from the 13th position (behind both Hector Barbera and Karel Abraham). Check after the jump for the full qualifying results.

Qualifying Results from the Portuguese GP at Estoril, Portugal:

Pos. No. Rider Nation Team Time Diff.
1 1 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing 1’37.161
2 58 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’37.294 0.133
3 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team 1’37.324 0.163
4 27 Casey STONER AUS Repsol Honda Team 1’37.384 0.223
5 11 Ben SPIES USA Yamaha Factory Racing 1’37.866 0.705
6 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team 1’38.073 0.912
7 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’38.080 0.919
8 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’38.189 1.028
9 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Ducati Team 1’38.271 1.110
10 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP 1’38.363 1.202
11 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’38.497 1.336
12 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing 1’38.786 1.625
13 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team 1’38.922 1.761
14 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Pramac Racing Team 1’38.934 1.773
15 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’39.172 2.011
16 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Pramac Racing Team 1’39.378 2.217
17 24 Toni ELIAS SPA LCR Honda MotoGP 1’39.894 2.733

Source: MotoGP; Photo: Yamaha Racing

Comments