James Toseland produced an inspired qualifying performance in Qatar tonight to claim second place for tomorrow’s historic first floodlit MotoGP race.
Toseland was in contention to claim a stunning pole position on his MotoGP debut throughout the session. He first climbed to the top of the timesheets after 19 minutes, when a lap of 1.54.562 moved him 0.1s clear of reigning world champion Casey Stoner. (See below for rider reactions).
He briefly lost top spot to fellow Yamaha newcomer Jorge Lorenzo, only to seize the advantage back with 20 minutes left on the clock. His best lap of 1.54.182 was just 0.037s clear of Lorenzo, but 0.9s inside of Valentino Rossi’s 2007 pole position.
Excelling on the extra grip of Michelin’s dominant qualifying tyres, Toseland came within two minutes of becoming the first rider to claim a debut MotoGP pole position since Max Biaggi in 1998.
In what was a carbon copy of the finale to last week’s IRTA test, Toseland was denied in the closing stages by Lorenzo, who posted a best lap of 1.53.927 to beat the British rider by just 0.255s. American Edwards capped a great night for the Tech 3 team when his best lap of 1.54.499 secured third. He moved into third with 17 minutes remaining with his first Michelin qualifier, and improved his time with both of his last two qualifying tyres.
“I didn’t think I’d be in this position tonight. But why not do it again tomorrow? The team has been brilliant to teach me how to ride a MotoGP bike so fast in such a short space of time. It has been awesome," he said.
"I had seven years of a great life and a great career in World Superbikes and to become champion twice was amazing. Fortunately I made the gamble to come to MotoGP from that comfort zone and I wanted this success. But I know it can’t come without a great team behind you. The Tech 3 team has had a coupe of difficult years, but definitely not because of the team principal and mechanics. They are a great team and to have Colin also on the front row shows what quality we have.
"I just want to thank Herve Poncharal and all the boys, and also Yamaha. This is my first time working with this manufacturer and they have showed what effort they are putting into MotoGP. Michelin had a difficult year last season but they have worked really hard through the winter to get this success. I had three qualifying tyres and used one quite early. I didn’t know whether the humidity would get to a stage where there was a bit of moisture on he track like we had in the test last week. I wanted to make sure we got a decent lap in.
"On my fastest lap unfortunately I caught a couple of riders in a difficult part of the track in the last split and did a 54.1. I knew on a perfect lap there was a 1.53 in there but with one minute to go I could still see my number 52 at the top of the scoreboard. Credit to Jorge though for actually doing that 1.53. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and I will give it out best shot.”
1 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 1'53.927
2 James TOSELAND GBR Tech 3 Yamaha YAMAHA 1'54.182
3 Colin EDWARDS USA Tech 3 Yamaha YAMAHA 1'54.499
4 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 1'54.733
5 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP HONDA 1'54.818
6 Nicky HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1'54.880
7 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 1'55.133
8 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1'55.170 22 23
9 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP HONDA 1'55.185
10 John HOPKINS USA Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 1'55.263
1 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 1'55.540
12 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 1'55.692
13 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 1'56.070
14 Toni ELIAS SPA Alice Team DUCATI 1'56.251
15 Shinya NAKANO JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 1'56.434
16 Marco MELANDRI ITA Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 1'56.730
17 Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA Alice Team DUCATI 1'57.198
18 Anthony WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 1'57.445
Jorge Lorenzo: “Only in my dreams did I imagine being on pole at my very first MotoGP race; I can’t believe it! This is something great for all of Yamaha; there are three Yamaha riders on the front row and this shows how hard they have been working.
"Tonight my M1 was working very well and with the Michelin qualifying tyres it was excellent, but also our race pace is very good. Tomorrow will of course be very difficult; it’s my first MotoGP race so there is a lot to think about, but I am excited and of course we will try to do our best and see what happens! The team and Michelin have done a great job over the winter so this is a thank you to them.
"I will try to get a good start and I will have to concentrate very hard on the first lap when the tyres are cold, and then we’ll see what happens. Tomorrow is another day however and for the moment I just want to think about this and celebrate a special night for me and for Yamaha.”
Valentino Rossi: “Like Jorge says, tonight is like a dream for us and we couldn’t ask for more. We’ve done a great job with Yamaha and Michelin during the winter and the rider has adapted very well to a MotoGP bike. Also the team have done very well setting up the bike for him so well done and thank you to all of them.
"Today the Michelin qualifying tyres worked perfectly but we’re also consistently fast with race tyres, so it’s quite exciting. I want to thank Yamaha for doing a great job in the winter and giving us a very competitive bike, we’re in good shape for the first race and now we are just waiting to see what happens tomorrow!”
Colin Edwards: “It has been great this winter. We have been working really hard. That’s everybody in the Tech 3 team, Yamaha and Michelin. People ask me how I keep motivated for an old guy but when you have people around working hard for you and with you it is easy. We have all worked hard and this is a great start.
"But we can’t get carried away. We are still going to have to ride hard tomorrow. It is no secret we have a little speed deficit on the straight and we can't take any prisoners tomorrow. It will be a hard race and we will have to take a few chances and see what happens. But it will be a great spectacle. I love riding under the lights. It reminds of being a kid out on the motocross track.”
Casey Stoner: "To be honest I expected to be on the second row so I'm not too disappointed with the result, although I reckon that if I had another qualifying tyre like the one I set my fast lap on I could have comfortably been on the front. Anyway, sometimes there are certain things you can't plan for and the important thing is that we're in a good position for the race."
Dani Pedrosa: “In spite of trying with qualification tyres, I didn't manage to improve my times much today, so tomorrow we'll start out from the third row. We didn't train much this winter with qualification tyres, so we need to carry out more tests to improve that aspect.
"I'm not happy with my position on the grid, but at least we're in a better position than when we were training here last week. At least I'm satisfied with the fact that we managed to improve on the bike in such a short period of time."
Nicky Hayden: “We've improved a lot this afternoon, well, tonight. After my first two attempts with race tyres I improved a little, and in the end I was able to run a reasonable time with qualification tyres. Nothing spectacular, but it gives us a decent opportunity for tomorrow. The big problem for us is the long straight here, as we lose a lot of time.
"I'm running on the bike I used in Valencia. I'm looking forward to racing tomorrow, and though I'd like to maintain a better pace, this is what we've got, and we'll have to make do and fight with it. I'm enjoying riding at night, I think it's good and I hope more circuits decide to install lighting systems."
Randy De Puniet: “Today’s track conditions were better than yesterday but it was a long day for me and the team. In the free session I lost the front and crashed but my Team made a excellent work and the bike was ready for the qualifying. Firstly I went out on used tyre with the bike nr. 1: the setting was different but the lap times were consistent and fast. I came in to fit a new tyre but could not finish the run because of some technical problems. So I decided to swap on bike nr. 2 and the feeling was pretty good.
"We started to test the q-tyres and my pace was faster than last week testing days. On my last qualifying lap I came upon Elias who stopped my fast lap and decided to slow down. I feel quite satisfied but the feeling on race tyres could be better: we will work it out in tomorrows warm-up session."
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