The Repsol Honda MotoGP remains very strong at Misano

The Repsol Honda MotoGP riders are back at the front at the Misano circuit, especially Casey Stoner, who has taken his eighth pole position of the season on the Italian track.

Just as he did seven days ago at the Indianapolis Circuit, Casey Stoner has smashed the lap record at the Misano Circuit, which he himself had held since 2008. The Repsol rider set a time of 1:33.138, 0.120 seconds ahead of Jorge Lorenzo and 0.180 seconds faster than Dani Pedrosa, who will also start from the front row. Andrea Dovizioso will line up on the second row after posting the sixth-best time of the timed session.

Stoner had already signalled his intentions in the third morning free practice session, in which, in just four laps, he was already almost four tenths quicker than yesterday. The Australian set a time of 1 minute, 33.567 seconds, a mark nobody could beat, with Pedrosa coming closest at 0.099 seconds behind, and Andrea Dovizioso repeating yesterday’s sixth position.

In the 60 minutes of the timed session, Lorenzo, Stoner and Pedrosa quickly took the initiative again, however, the Australian of the Repsol Team repeated his performance from seven days ago in the United States, setting a record lap in which he clocked a stratospheric 1:33.138, two tenths below his own record, which had stood since 2008.

Lorenzo finished 0.120 seconds behind, and Dani Pedrosa was third, 0.060 seconds behind his compatriot. The Repsol rider showed clear improvement over yesterday’s times, displaying consistent pace ahead of tomorrow’s race, in which Andrea Dovizioso will start sixth. The Italian set his time 0.888 seconds behind Stoner after completing 30 laps, which will allow him to start tomorrow’s race from the outside of the second row, just behind his teammate Dani Pedrosa.

Statements from Dani Pedrosa:

I am happy with qualifying. I spent practically the whole session working with the tyres, switching from the medium to the soft, to understand which is most suitable for the race.

Normally, before official practice you have almost decided, but here, because of the characteristics of the track and the heat, it has been more complicated to choose one. We have worked hard on this all afternoon and in the last two laps I went for it to be on the front row.

We achieved it, and it is important because the first corners here are very narrow, and besides, among the top three we are very close on times, which is positive.

As for race pace, Casey [Stoner] and Jorge [Lorenzo] have been a little quicker than me, but we will try to adjust the bike a bit more tonight and try to stay with them for the whole race.

Statements from Andrea Dovizioso:

This morning we worked a lot on the bike and reduced the stability problem we had yesterday. This afternoon we improved our pace with the hard tyre for the race. Our goal was to start from the first two rows, so the qualifying result is not bad.

Tomorrow will be crucial to get a good start and try to stay with the leading riders. Casey [Stoner] and Lorenzo [Lorenzo] are very strong and Dani starts very well, so it will be important to stay with them if we want to reduce the points gap to Lorenzo and keep an eye on Dani.

We will keep working, but the positive is that we are more competitive with the race tyre than with the soft tyre we used in qualifying. With these high temperatures and the humidity, tomorrow’s race will be very tough. I hope the Italian fans give me an extra push.

Statements from Casey Stoner:

We are having a good weekend; we have been improving the bike bit by bit in every session. This afternoon we struggled a little with the hard tyre, trying to find the best compromise, but then we improved and the feeling with the bike improved too.

When we fitted the soft tyre the result was a fantastic lap, but the bike was not working as well at the front, and that is something we have to improve for tomorrow. It will be a tough race; Dani [Pedrosa] and Jorge [Lorenzo] are going very well, so I will try to get a good start.

Here at Misano there is not just one line; there are several places to overtake. The weekend in general is going well, and tomorrow we will have to decide the tyres depending on the weather. With a bit of luck it won’t be so hot; that would be good.