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MotoGP Features & Interviews (2007)
MotoGP Feature - Stoner Dominates Misano Qualifying
01/09/2007
Bridgestone-shod rider Casey Stoner has claimed his fourth consecutive
MotoGP pole position and his fifth of the season at the new-look Misano
World Circuit in Italy today.
Stoner’s success represents the sixth pole position on Bridgestone
tyres in 2007, equal to the total number of Bridgestone-shod poles
recorded last season.
The last rider to enjoy a run of four unbroken pole positions in the
same season was today’s second-placed man Valentino Rossi with five
consecutive poles back in 2002, the same year that the first ever
MotoGP pole on Bridgestone tyres was scored by Jeremy McWilliams.
A total of five riders on Bridgestone tyres made it to the top ten for
tomorrow afternoon’s grid with Kawasaki’s Randy de Puniet and Suzuki’s
John Hopkins continuing their fine qualifying form in fourth and fifth
places respectively.
Australians Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) and Ant West (Kawasaki) finished the session in eighth and tenth.
After Friday’s deluge forced the cancellation of two free practice
sessions, an extended two-hour practice was held this morning to allow
riders, teams and tyre manufacturers to learn the nuances of this
new-look Misano track.
As teams honed the set-up of their machines around the 4.18km clockwise
circuit, Bridgestone was able to carry out the first evaluations of its
dry weather tyres for tomorrow’s 28-lap San Marino and Riviera di
Rimini grand prix.
We spoke to Tohru Ubukata, Bridgestone Motorsport’s Manager of
Motorcycle Race Tyre Development, for hi sviews on today’s events.
A good qualifying session for Bridgestone-shod riders with Casey
Stoner on pole and De Puniet and Hopkins on the second row, did the
qualifying tyres perform as expected?
“The results of qualifying were very good with Casey taking another
pole position. It is the sixth pole position on our tyres this season
which means that we have now equalled the number of poles from last
season.
Randy and John have both been consistently strong in qualifying this
season and today was no exception. A second row start for them will
hopefully be of benefit to them here where overtaking could be tricky.”
Specifically, what tyres have been tested today?
“We have been running mainly with a variety of compounds within our
medium specification range today and the results have been quite
pleasing. In dry conditions, the circuit is not as slippery as we
expected it to be which means that the asphalt has been less aggressive
on the tyres.
“The lack of dry running yesterday, though, has not given us the chance
to complete an unbroken long run today, so performance of the tyres
over the 28 lap race distance remains a slightly unknown factor. We are
nevertheless happy with the results from today and hope to enjoy a
competitive race with our five teams tomorrow.”
Bridgestone Qualifying Practice Session Results
Pos Rider Team Best Lap Time Gap
P1 Casey Stoner Ducati 1m33.918s Fastest
P4 Randy de Puniet Kawasaki 1m34.506s +0.588s
P5 John Hopkins Suzuki 1m34.536s +0.618s
P8 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1m34.717s +0.799s
P12 Marco Melandri Honda Gresini 1m35.236s +1.318s
P13 Loris Capirossi Ducati 1m35.283s +1.365s
P15 Toni Elias Honda Gresini 1m35.632s +1.714s
P17 Alex Barros Pramac d’Antin 1m35.897s +1.979s
P19 Alex Hofmann Pramac d’Antin 1m36.659s +2.741s
Weather: Dry track - Air 23°C, Track 42°C, Humidity 46% (taken from official MotoGP timesheet)
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