Bridgestone: Last-lap surge from Rossi results in Valencia pole position

In blustery conditions at the Circuito de la Comunitat Valenciana, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi seized his first MotoGP pole position since the 2010 French Grand Prix as the nine-time World Champion sets his sights on a third victory in 2014.

On his last lap in Qualifying Practice 2, Rossi set the quickest time of the weekend so far, a 1'30.843, to beat Pramac Racing’s Andrea Iannone to pole position by 0.132 seconds. Qualifying in third place for tomorrow’s race was Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa who stopped the clocks at 1’30.999 and was the only other rider besides Rossi and Iannone to lap in the 1’30 bracket in qualifying.

The two soft compound front tyres, the asymmetric and symmetric options are both working well but it might take a final evaluation in morning Warm Up...

Shinji Aoki

Rossi and Pedrosa used the same combination of the medium compound rear and symmetric soft compound front slick to set their best times in qualifying, while Iannone set his best time using the soft compound rear in conjunction with the asymmetric soft compound front.

All of today’s sessions took place in fine conditions but strong winds in the afternoon created challenging riding conditions while also keeping track temperatures to a moderate level, with the peak reading of 28°C being two degrees lower than yesterday’s high. In a similar vein to yesterday, the medium compound rear slick was the most popular option in today’s sessions, with all the Factory Ducati, Honda and Yamaha riders preferring this option, as well as a few of the Open-class entrants.

Front tyre choice was more varied, with both the asymmetric and symmetric soft compound front slicks being widely used, although race tyre choice will depend largely on tomorrow’s weather, with cooler temperatures forecast for Sunday.

The potential for cooler weather means that the morning Warm Up session at 0940 local time (GMT +1) will be crucial in helping the riders to decide which tyres to choose for the thirty-lap race which commences at 1400.

Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department: “After a fast start to the day with FP3 this morning, conditions were more challenging for the riders this afternoon with strong winds, but overall it was a productive day for us and the riders. The riders have a good idea of what their preferred race tyre choice is, but I believe we will need to see what tomorrow’s weather brings as cooler conditions could result in some riders re-evaluating their front tyre choice.

The two soft compound front tyres, the asymmetric and symmetric options are both working well but it might take a final evaluation in morning Warm Up for the riders to see which option works best for them in cooler temperatures. Rear tyre choice looks pretty much set now, with the medium compound rear slick likely to be used by the majority of the riders.”

Bridgestone Motorsport