2011 MotoGP
For a man who calls Indianapolis Motor Speedway his “least favorite” circuit on the 2011 MotoGP Championship schedule, Casey Stoner couldn’t be touched Saturday.
En route to his seventh pole position of the year, Repsol Honda’s Stoner not only contradicted his views towards the American circuit, but also set a new pole record of 1:38.850. Stoner beat out last year’s pole sitter, Yamaha Factory Racing’s Ben Spies, by 0.523 of a second.
Taking the final spot on the front row will be Spies’ teammate, Jorge Lorenzo, who was the final person to post within a second of Stoner for the Red Bull MotoGP at the famed Brickyard, a 2.6-mile circuit that had its turns 5 through 16 repaved this summer due to bumps.
Heading up the second row will be Stoner’s teammate Dani Pedrosa, followed by the third Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso. The American Colin Edwards took the final second-row spot aboard the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha YZR-M1; Edwards was 1.248 seconds slower than Stoner.
San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Marco Simoncelli will began Sunday’s Red Bull Indy GP from the top of the third row, joined by Ducat Team’s Nicky Hayden and Rizla Suzuki’s Alvaro Bautista.
As for Valentino Rossi, the Ducati Team rider crashed early in qualifying, but finished the session on his backup GP11. Ducati reports that Rossi didn’t get the bike dialed in, the nine-time World Champion qualifying 14th.
The 17-rider MotoGP grid will be back on Indy at 9:50 a.m. (CDT) Sunday for Warm Up Practice, followed by the race at 2 p.m. SPEED TV will broadcast the Red Bull Indy GP live starting at 2 p.m.
2011 Indy MotoGP Qualifying Results
Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | 27 | Casey STONER | AUS | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 323.5 | 1’38.850 | |
2. | 11 | Ben SPIES | USA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 316.4 | 1’39.373 | 0.523 / 0.523 |
3. | 1 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 316.3 | 1’39.629 | 0.779 / 0.256 |
4. | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 320.0 | 1’39.947 | 1.097 / 0.318 |
5. | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 320.3 | 1’40.024 | 1.174 / 0.077 |
6. | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 314.4 | 1’40.098 | 1.248 / 0.074 |
7. | 58 | Marco SIMONCELLI | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 316.6 | 1’40.204 | 1.354 / 0.106 |
8. | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 322.5 | 1’40.244 | 1.394 / 0.040 |
9. | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | Rizla Suzuki MotoGP | Suzuki | 318.5 | 1’40.333 | 1.483 / 0.089 |
10. | 8 | Hector BARBERA | SPA | Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP | Ducati | 322.0 | 1’40.360 | 1.510 / 0.027 |
11. | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 314.8 | 1’40.620 | 1.770 / 0.260 |
12. | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 317.3 | 1’40.815 | 1.965 / 0.195 |
13. | 7 | Hiroshi AOYAMA | JPN | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 319.8 | 1’40.925 | 2.075 / 0.110 |
14. | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 318.2 | 1’40.975 | 2.125 / 0.050 |
15. | 24 | Toni ELIAS | SPA | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 319.2 | 1’41.030 | 2.180 / 0.055 |
16. | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 317.5 | 1’41.085 | 2.235 / 0.055 |
17. | 65 | Loris CAPIROSSI | ITA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 316.0 | 1’41.092 | 2.242 / 0.007 |