M2: Indianapolis GP: Tech 3 qualifying report

Resurgent de Rosa qualifies in top ten at Indianapolis

Tech 3 Team Moto2 rider Raffaele de Rosa continued his impressive recent form by claiming his best qualifying result since the opening race of 2010 at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway this afternoon.

The Italian, boosted by his first top 15 finish in Brno earlier this month, will start tomorrow's 26-lap race from tenth position on the grid after yet another incredibly close qualifying session.

American fans getting their first taste of the action-packed Moto2 class were not disappointed with just 1.7s covering the top 35 at the end of an enthralling session run in sizzling temperatures that nudged 36 degrees.

A crash did little to dent de Rosa's confidence and a best time of 1.46.739 was just 0.600s away from pole position and he's determined to claim his first top ten finish in the Moto2 class tomorrow.

Yuki Takahashi will start a further three places down the grid after he clocked a best time of 1.46.935. The Japanese rider made big strides in solving some of the set-up issues that prevented him from showing his usual fast pace yesterday.

The Catalunya race winner was contending for a second row start when he came across heavy traffic in the final stages as nearly 40 riders jostled for track position to post a fast time. He will start from 13th place.

Raffaele de Rosa 10th 1.46.739 -- 18 laps

"This is my best qualifying position since the first race in Qatar and while I am really happy about that, part of me is a little disappointed because I know I should be starting much higher. I feel like we have made some big progress with the bike recently and my first top 15 finish in Brno at the last race certainly helped my confidence a lot. Unfortunately at the end of the session when I was looking to improve my lap time, I found a lot of traffic and it became quite difficult to find a good spot to do a better lap. That was a shame because I'm convinced I could have been faster, but our potential for the race is very high and hopefully I'll be in the fight for the top six."

Yuki Takahashi 13th 1.46.935 -- 20 laps

"I can't be disappointed with my grid position because I was outside of the top 30 yesterday and struggling to find a good set-up with the bike. But the Tech 3 Team worked incredibly hard and we definitely made some big progress today that helped me show more of the level I know we are capable of. We made a lot of changes to make me feel more comfortable and at the end I was in the top eight and looking good for a place on the second row. But there was a lot of traffic and I got slowed quite a bit on my final soft tyre and ended up 13th. I'm still confident of a strong race tomorrow and hopefully we can put on a good show for the American fans seeing a Moto2 race for the first time."

-source: tech 3