Spanish GP: Michelin qualifying report

MICHELIN MEN RULE JEREZ QUALIFYING

Michelin riders dominated qualifying at Jerez today, monopolising the front row of the grid, just like they did at Qatar three weeks ago. Michelin has strength in depth too, filling the first four grid positions and six of the first eight.

Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin) was in stunning form, the rookie recording his second pole position in his second MotoGP event! The Spaniard's final run was electrifying and gave him the fastest-ever Jerez pole, just over two tenths quicker than last year's pole sitter Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V-Michelin) who was second today. The front row was completed by Colin Edwards (Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1-Michelin), who also qualified third at Qatar.

Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V-Michelin) was also on fine form, going fourth fastest, just one tenth of a second off the front row. Randy de Puniet (Honda LCR RC212V-Michelin) was sixth, James Toseland (Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1-Michelin) was eighth. More than 120,000 fans are expected here for tomorrow's race, round two of the 18-race season.

"That was a really interesting and exciting qualifying session, with the times getting faster and faster," said Jean-Philippe Weber, Michelin's director of motorcycle racing. "We are quite happy with the result, Lorenzo's pace on qualifying tyres was especially incredible. We tested some new qualifiers here last month but in general we are using similar qualifying tyres to what we used last year.

"The race will be fast. Lorenzo's rhythm on race tyres was in the mid 40s, but the pace will also depend on the weather conditions because track temperature has a big effect on the lap times here, you can see that by comparing the morning and afternoon sessions. It's difficult to say who will race up front, it could be a few guys, so we're hoping for a great show for all the fans. We also have some very fast rookies with us now, and indeed all seven of our riders are going fast here."

Lorenzo, whose MotoGP debut produced a brilliant second-place finish in Qatar, was delighted with his pace. "Pole position and second place was a very nice surprise in Qatar," he said. "Now we've got another pole position and I'm very happy with my pace, my final fast lap was very good. Earlier in the session I wasn't so relaxed and didn't ride so well, but then I got a better feeling and was able to get the best out of my Michelin qualifiers. We have a good race setting and I am ready for a fight."

-credit: michelin