Pedrosa happy with race preparation work despite qualifying only for fifth after lost final lap

 In MotoGP, News

Photo: Ben Davies for smartfotos.co.uk

A scorching qualifying session for the Catalan Grand Prix, in which track temperatures reached some 52ºC, ended with Casey Stoner at the head of the standings. His Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa will take off from the second row after recording the fifth quickest time in qualifying.

The Australian began the session in strong fashion and led the way after just three laps, imposing his authority on the rest of the field. He dominated the session until, with ten minutes left on the clock, the riders put on softer compounds in order to fight for pole. Dovizioso and Pedrosa had their turns on top, but it was just two minutes later that Stoner clocked his definitive 1’41.295 lap which awarded him the prime spot for tomorrow’s race.

Dani Pedrosa earned a second row start, despite having led the standings with his last hot lap. He had a run-off at turn 10 when trying to improve his time yet further, and the Repsol rider eventually claimed fifth after notching up a time of 1’41.656, three tenths off Stoner as the Australian took his second pole of 2012.

Dani Pedrosa
FP3 – 1:41.646, 19 laps, 90 km.
QP – 1:41.656, 25 laps, 118 km.
“It was a difficult qualifying session, because I spent a major part of the hour testing the used soft tyres and I was down in the classification. But I was not worried, because I knew that I had two new soft tyres for the end of the practice. When we put the first one on I immediately improved my lap times and I jumped to second place, then on my final flying lap I broke too late, I had a big shake on the bike and I ran wide. From this side it’s a pity, because I missed my chance at pole position or at least the front row of the grid. Anyway, I’m happy with the work we did yesterday and today’s preparation for the race and for me this is always the most important thing. Let’s see if together with my team we can improve the bike slightly for tomorrow and be ready to give 100% in a hard race”.

Source: Repsol Media

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