The MotoGP riders will hit the track soon for the USGP at Laguna Seca. Jorge Lorenzo earned the pole position, his second of 2011, yesterday during the qualifying session. Lorenzo will be joined by the Repsol Honda duo of Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa on the front row.
Jorge Lorenzo - 1st - "This pole position was unexpected for us after this morning, but thankfully I feel more pain walking than I do riding the bike. Of course I'm not in perfect condition on the bike and for sure I have to put more pressure on my arms and will get more tired. I think I was very lucky this morning that I had no big injuries. I think this pole position is for us an impressive result."
Casey Stoner - 2nd - "For the whole session we were trying to find the right set up. All weekend we've been struggling a little and we've not found anything I'm comfortable with, I've closed the front many times and we're still looking to find some balance on the bike to get it working on this track, where we expected it to work well. On my first soft tyre I encountered some traffic and was held up, also there was a crash and a yellow flag so I lost my chance on that tyre. Then on the next soft tyre we had one lap to find some pace and we managed front row which is important for tomorrow. I don't feel we're running with the pace of Dani and Jorge, they seem to be constantly one to two tenths quicker but we have warm up tomorrow morning to find something in time for the race so we'll see what we can do."
Dani Pedrosa - 3rd - "We couldn't improve as much as I'd like to in the final part of the practice, we tried some different settings and unfortunately we didn't find a good one, but to start from the front row is always important and here we are again. I felt more comfortable with the hard tyres, which it's positive because they will be the ones used for the race, but we still need to make another step forward tomorrow and hopefully find a little more grip in the rear. Lorenzo seems very stable and fast, so I hope to find something else with my mechanics tonight and to be able to fight for a great result tomorrow. The race will be very fast, there are many laps here, so it will be important to be focus on every lap and stay strong until the end. I know the race distance will be hard for me physically, you have to work a lot in this track, there are a lot of bumps and you need to be very focused not to make any mistakes. But I will try my best and I hope to stay strong and consistent until the end."
Ben Spies - 4th - "It wasn't a bad qualifying session, we tried a couple of things and the race set up is not so bad. We got in qualifying mode and got some pretty good laps in. I made a mistake and locked the front up on the brakes going in to turn three trying super hard to get on the front row. The Yamaha boss said to me last night that he wanted me on the front row so I was doing everything I could. Joking aside I was trying everything and just made a small mistake. I banged my hand up quite a bit but it will be fine and ready for the race tomorrow. I think we'll find a couple of things with the bike in the morning and hopefully it'll be a good day."
Marco Simoncelli - 5th - Overall it has been a positive day. We took our biggest step this morning and then built on that this afternoon, although we still have work to do to close the gap to the top three. Lorenzo is maybe in the best shape at the moment ahead of Stoner and Pedrosa but if we can find a couple of tenths in my race pace we can challenge for the podium. I had more confidence in the front today and held my line better through the corners, as well as improving acceleration out of the final turn. We could still find more time there though."
Andrea Dovizioso - 6th - "My target was to start from the first two rows, so finishing sixth is not too bad, but I hoped to start at least from the 4th position because it's external and gives more advantages from the start. Anyway, we are quite close and we need to work more to gain another two tenths in race pace. This afternoon we improved a lot thanks to some changes we made in the set up, moving the weight more to the back. This setting helps us to brake stronger and this suits more my riding style. We will continue working in the warm up tomorrow because the pace of Lorenzo and Dani is really high. I hope to make a good start and maintain contact with the front group. I will do my best to have a good race and get a good result."
Valentino Rossi - 7th - "This morning we made a change to the balance that helped me to find more grip with the soft tyre, as well as a feeling that was generally better. In the afternoon though, with the warmer temperature and the hard tyre, I didn't have the same performance and feeling. During the session we were able to change the settings again and make a small step, and when we put on the soft, we did a time that was good enough for the third row. Seventh place actually equals my best qualifying spot of the season. That was our goal, to be able to start further forward than we have lately, but for the race we must improve our pace again with the hard tyres because it's a little too difficult now and the rear is sliding a lot. We're focused and we're working very hard so we'll see tomorrow if we can take another step forward."
Héctor Barberá - 8th - "I am happy because I have improved my lap times a lot and we have worked well all weekend. I really enjoyed myself on the bike again today and we know exactly what we need tomorrow. We have found some really good form over the last couple of races and every day we improve a little more, which is helping me get more out of the Ducati. We are in line with the factory bikes and I think we can have a good battle tomorrow. No doubt Hayden wants a good result here, Valentino too, so my objective is to stick with them as best I can. The main thing is to finish the race because I only managed two laps here last year and I want to bury that memory. It is a case of getting a good start and staying focused to make sure nobody gets away from me over the opening laps."
Nicky Hayden - 9th - "We went back to the standard bike today. I was a little faster on the new one yesterday, but even though it has more potential and I like the gearbox, I don't yet have a great feel for where its limit is. For now, we prefer to go with what we know. This morning I was pretty strong and this afternoon I was consistently in the low-'22 range. I did two longer runs and came in to put in a new soft tyre and was ready to go for it. I felt good and was looking forward to going into qualifying mode. I wasn't pushing really hard on the out-lap, but you have to push this bike to load the front, and in Rainey Curve I skipped across the bumps and went down. It's a shame, because we had a chance to do our best qualifying of the year. I went out on the other bike, but the front tyre was 30 laps old. The team have worked like dogs switching back and forth between bikes. Now they'll have another long night, but I'll try to make up for it tomorrow."
Ben Bostrom - The two bikes couldn't be more opposite: tires, brakes, chassis...it's unbelievable! There's a lot to learn and I was trying to improve every time I get on the bike step by step because I do not want crash the bike. It's nice to have Lucio and the guys also watching so they can see the difference. The adjustments we have made this afternoon were better and our lap time improved a little bit. Probably I could have gone faster but I made race distance in the last session and I am racing two different bikes this week end so I am pretty satisfied so far."
[Compiled From Various Press Releases]
