Not looking too good for the Yamaha boys...
Top 10 for Westy is good!!
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Not looking too good for the Yamaha boys...
Top 10 for Westy is good!!
I think that if Nicky was trying to keep his seat at Honda he would be riding this weekend but I guess the Ducati deal is done and neither him nor Honda care much.
BTW Michelin is screwed this GP. Pedrosa and Lorenzo not fit, Hayden out. Only riders of satellite teams are left on Michelin
Kawasaki on front row with Stoner on pole by 1.2 seconds :eek:
Toseland and Lorenzo are out of the 107% Will they be allowed to race?
Of course, theres already a shortage of entrants.
BRNO, Czech Republic, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Australia's world champion Casey Stoner overcame a slight fever and wet conditions on Saturday to take pole position in the Czech MotoGP.
The Ducati rider, last year's winner at Brno, completed the 5.4-km course in two minutes 11.657 seconds to claim the 16th pole position of his career and his sixth in a row.
Yamaha's Valentino Rossi of Italy, this season's points leader, was second, 1.189 seconds slower. American John Hopkins, the 2007 Czech runner-up, rounded out the front row on his Kawasaki, qualifying 1.302 seconds slower on his return from injury.
The wet Brno track caused problems for the racers, with James Toseland of Britain crashing out midway through the session and failing to qualify along with Jorge Lorenzo of Spain.
Fifteen riders qualified for Sunday's race, the first since Rossi won the U.S. Grand Prix on July 20.
So there it is - no Toseland or Lorenzo.
Awesome effort from Hopper, but with a dry track prediction for the race (I think) he may not capitalise on his qualifying.
Hard to go past Stoner for the win - he raced solidly at Qatar in 06 with the flu.
Despite feeling less than 100% with a fever, there was no stopping Casey Stoner from taking a sixth successive pole position for the Cardion ab Grand Prix Ceske republiky, as the Australian imposed his will on his rivals in a wet qualifying session.
Stoner recorded a fastest time of 2´11.657 in the soaking session, giving him the longest pole streak since fellow countryman Mick Doohan´s twelve-in-a-row from 1997. In doing so, he relegated MotoGP´s self-styled `Doctor´ -World Championship leader Valentino Rossi- down to second on the grid.
Rossi was suffering his own ailment on Saturday, with an ear and sinus infection posing him problems. Even with their respective medical woes, both Stoner and Rossi can be expected to battle against each other once more in Brno when the red light goes out on Sunday.
http://www.paddocktalk.com
From MotoGPMatters (Kropotkin):
The 107% rule
Submitted by popmonkey on Sat, 2008-08-16 22:15.
that 107% rule should be thrown out from wet sessions. it seems totally ridiculous considering what happened as the conditions worsened. not to mention that this isn't the first time someone was outside the 107% (tamada last year) and the grid was "full" anyway. so what's the point?
great summation, btw, rossi is also sick, apparently suffering from a sinus and ear infection which could be really nasty if you've ever ridden with your sinuses f'ed up. your balance is effected the pressure in your head can be insanely painful when changing altitude, even a few dozen feet. brno is an up and down track so that could actually be quite an issue for VR46.
Popmonkey is also a good MotoGP commentator/observer... I agree with him re. the 107 rule.
From YRC_news@yamaha-network.com [racing@yamaha-network.com]
Disastrous wet qualifying for Lorenzo leaves him last in Brno
A soaking wet day at Brno brought about a depressing day's work for Jorge Lorenzo, the Fiat Yamaha Team rookie finishing the day in last place. It is a far cry from the consecutive pole positions with which the youngster started his year in MotoGP and he is faced with a difficult task tomorrow to make any kind of headway through the field.
Lorenzo was unlucky to miss the driest part of the qualifying hour, when he was inside the garage working on modifying his bike in order to try to find more grip. During the last forty minutes conditions deteriorated even more and there was no chance for him to improve his time, unable as he was to find any kind of grip or confidence in his tyres. His time of 2'23.701 left him outside of the 107% qualifying cut-off, but he will be allowed to race tomorrow at the discretion of Race Direction.
Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 17thTime: 2'23.701Laps: 12
"It's been a bad day! At the start of the qualifying it was drier and this is when I was in the garage trying to improve the bike with my team; I missed my chance and this is when the others set their fastest laps. I have had days almost as bad as this before, but I have to say that the fault is not all mine. I think that it is evident at the moment that our tyres are not working as they should. I am a professional however and I have to wait and have confidence in Michelin to find the right way forward. For tomorrow it's going to be important to get a good start and try to get in the top ten. The surface is very good but we don't have the grip we need, so whatever happens with the weather, it will be very hard."
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Phantom
I kinda agree and kinda don't.
I would suggest that maybe the 107% become 110 or 112% but it should not be thrown out or discarded as there would then be absolutely no reason or incentive to qualify.
On the flip side, should it also be thrown out if the weather changes (ie. strong winds) during a dry session, conditions which would and could also greatly affect lap times.
It should not be overlooked that the cut-off time was 2.20.873 (pole time of 2.11.657) but that both Toseland and Lorenzo had best times well outside the cut-off (JT 2.23.303, JL 2.23.701).
I do think that at all times whether wet or dry if there are extenuating circumstances (such as changeable conditions), then allowances should be made but IMO there should always be a maximum time and that there should be no 'free rides'. That said, I fully expect both to be allowed to rideand wonder how teams will feel if these riders take valuable points away from a rider who did qualify on times.
Garry