MotoGP: A Qualifying of Eras at the Valencian GP

With some cooperation from the weather at the track in Valencia, MotoGP enjoyed its last dry qualifying session of the season. Saturday’s afternoon session was a stark contrast to Friday’s Free Practice sessions, which had mostly been a wasted day for the GP riders. With nothing on the line for the Valencian GP, riders in MotoGP are mostly racing this weekend for pride and bragging rights.

Casey Stoner’s last race in MotoGP, the Australian is surely looking for a good result, though there are question marks regarding his ankle. His teammate Dani Pedrosa is also looking for a strong result in his home country, with the Spaniard now out of the Championship hunt, but looking to end what has been a stellar second-half of a season in the Repsol Honda squad.

The man to stop though is his once bitter rival Jorge Lorenzo, who will carry the #1 plate next year. For Lorenzo, Valencia is about winning the most races in the 2012 season, with him and Pedrosa tied at six a piece.

For many of the other riders, Sunday’s race marks the last time they will be in the premier class, with their current teams, or even on the same kind of race bike. Perhaps the biggest piece of anticipation for the race, is the post-season testing the follows it. But, first things first.

The names on the front row for tomorrow are surely familiar ones, though the biggest point of note is Dani Pedrosa’s dominating pole-position lap time. Setting an outright “Best Lap” record at Valencia, which had been resurfaced ahead of the Valencian GP, Pedrosa shattered the record that was previously held by Valentino Rossi.

This is important for two reasons: 1) The previous lap record was the last standing lap record that was set during the 990cc era, and 2) the previous lap record was the last record, set in either qualifying or racing, that had Rossi’s name on it.

The G.O.A.T., the Valencia test and his return to Yamaha Racing might not be able to come soon enough.

Qualifying Results from the Valencian GP at Valencia, Spain:

Pos.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	KM/H	Time	Diff.
1	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	326.4	1’30.844	–
2	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha	321.4	1’31.195	0.351
3	Casey STONER	AUS	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	322.9	1’31.428	0.584
4	Cal CRUTCHLOW	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	321.4	1’31.512	0.668
5	Stefan BRADL	GER	LCR Honda MotoGP	Honda	324.8	1’31.757	0.913
6	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	321.6	1’31.795	0.951
7	Nicky HAYDEN	USA	Ducati Team	Ducati	320.7	1’32.503	1.659
8	Alvaro BAUTISTA	SPA	San Carlo Honda Gresini	Honda	323.5	1’32.585	1.741
9	Hector BARBERA	SPA	Pramac Racing Team	Ducati	327.0	1’32.605	1.761
10	Aleix ESPARGARO	SPA	Power Electronics Aspar	ART	305.7	1’32.834	1.990
11	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	319.6	1’32.877	2.033
12	Randy DE PUNIET	FRA	Power Electronics Aspar	ART	306.4	1’33.346	2.502
13	Karel ABRAHAM	CZE	Cardion AB Motoracing	Ducati	320.3	1’33.442	2.598
14	Colin EDWARDS	USA	NGM Mobile Forward Racing	Suter	309.3	1’33.453	2.609
15	Michele PIRRO	ITA	San Carlo Honda Gresini	FTR	303.8	1’33.971	3.127
16	Katsuyuki NAKASUGA	JPN	Yamaha Factory Racing	Yamaha	315.9	1’33.979	3.135
17	Danilo PETRUCCI	ITA	Came IodaRacing Project	Ioda-Suter	300.0	1’33.980	3.136
18	Ivan SILVA	SPA	Avintia Blusens	BQR	300.9	1’34.407	3.563
19	Roberto ROLFO	ITA	Speed Master	ART	303.9	1’34.866	4.022
20	James ELLISON	GBR	Paul Bird Motorsport	ART	304.6	1’34.918	4.074
21	Hiroshi AOYAMA	JPN	Avintia Blusens	BQR	309.1	1’35.363	4.519
22	Claudio CORTI	ITA	Avintia Blusens	Inmotec	300.0	1’36.531	5.687