MotoGP Silverstone: Starting Grids

MotoGP Grids

Jorge Lorenzo secured his first pole position of the 2010 campaign at the AirAsia British Grand Prix after an exciting qualifying practice at Silverstone. The World Championship leader battled with Randy de Puniet through the latter stages of a cold afternoon session, finally edging the Frenchman out with a best time of 2’03.308.

De Puniet had stunned the rest of the field with 15 minutes to go when he stripped half a second off Lorenzo’s top time, and the LCR Honda man looked on course for his first-ever premier-class pole when he again improved on that.

However, his 2’03.434 was eventually the second fastest time as Lorenzo took pole back, and the Frenchman was left to be satisfied with his first front row start since Assen 2007. In trying to reclaim pole, De Puniet also experienced a crash right at the end of the session as he pushed hard, injuring his right thumb in the process with a deep cut.

Completing the front row will be Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa who was 0.152s further back. The Spaniard set his fastest lap on his penultimate lap of the circuit, before also crashing out at Brooklands corner, which saw him stretchered off the side of the track.

X-rays at the medical centre confirmed that Pedrosa had only suffered bruising to his left and right knees after the bike ran over his legs, and luckily he will be able to take his position on the starting grid on Sunday.

Leading the second row will be another Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso, who was four-tenths of a second off his team-mate’s pace and the final rider to get within a second of Lorenzo (+0.687s). Ducati duo Nicky Hayden and Casey Stoner had just 0.062s between them as they took fifth and sixth spots on the grid respectively.

The top ten in the session was completed by Ben Spies (Monster Yamaha Tech3), San Carlo Honda Gresini pair Marco Melandri and Marco Simoncelli, and Spies’ team-mate Colin Edwards. Sunday’s MotoGP race will start at 1pm local time.

MotoGP Grid

Pos.	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time	Gap 1st/Prev.
1	99	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Fiat Yamaha Team	Yamaha	317.6	2’03.308
2	14	Randy DE PUNIET	FRA	LCR Honda MotoGP	Honda	320.1	2’03.434	0.126 / 0.126
3	26	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	323.9	2’03.586	0.278 / 0.152
4	4	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	322.0	2’03.995	0.687 / 0.409
5	69	Nicky HAYDEN	USA	Ducati Team	Ducati	316.9	2’04.332	1.024 / 0.337
6	27	Casey STONER	AUS	Ducati Team	Ducati	319.2	2’04.394	1.086 / 0.062
7	11	Ben SPIES	USA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	313.9	2’04.477	1.169 / 0.083
8	33	Marco MELANDRI	ITA	San Carlo Honda Gresini	Honda	321.9	2’04.555	1.247 / 0.078
9	58	Marco SIMONCELLI	ITA	San Carlo Honda Gresini	Honda	315.7	2’04.868	1.560 / 0.313
10	5	Colin EDWARDS	USA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	313.3	2’05.035	1.727 / 0.167
11	40	Hector BARBERA	SPA	Paginas Amarillas Aspar	Ducati	319.1	2’05.354	2.046 / 0.319
12	7	Hiroshi AOYAMA	JPN	Interwetten Honda MotoGP	Honda	320.5	2’05.712	2.404 / 0.358
13	41	Aleix ESPARGARO	SPA	Pramac Racing Team	Ducati	315.4	2’05.748	2.440 / 0.036
14	65	Loris CAPIROSSI	ITA	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	Suzuki	317.9	2’05.821	2.513 / 0.073
15	19	Alvaro BAUTISTA	SPA	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	Suzuki	316.8	2’06.607	3.299 / 0.786
16	36	Mika KALLIO	FIN	Pramac Racing Team	Ducati	312.9	2’06.980	3.672 / 0.373

Sliverstone: Moto2 Starting Grid

The Forward Racing team were celebrating a qualification one-two in Moto2 as Claudio Corti and Jules Cluzel took the top spots for Sunday’s Moto2 race at Silverstone. Corti’s first World Championship pole in just his fifth race was secured with a best lap of 2’09.624, making him the first rider under to go under 2’10” this weekend.

Cluzel was 0.413s off his team-mate’s pace as the Frenchman achieved his third successive front row grid position this season. Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) – 0.376s further back – and Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar) were separated by just six-thousandths of a second as they completed an all Suter front row.

Yonny Hernández’s impressive weekend continued as the Blusens-STX rider set the fifth best time, and another rider who has stood out is Xavier Simeon. Riding as a replacement on the Holiday Gym G22 team the Belgian qualified with the sixth best time. Alex Baldolini (Caretta Technology Race Dept) and Arne Tode (Racing Team Germany) also put in strong displays to take second-row slots.

British rider Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team) will be on the third row having placed 12th, one place behind Shoya Tomizawa (Technomag-CIP) who is currently second in the World Championship standings. Leader Toni Elías (Gresini Racing Moto2) was 18th in the session.

Moto2 Grid

Pos.	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time	Gap 1st/Prev.
1	71	Claudio CORTI	ITA	Forward Racing	Suter	271.1	2’09.624
2	16	Jules CLUZEL	FRA	Forward Racing	Suter	269.1	2’10.037	0.413 / 0.413
3	65	Stefan BRADL	GER	Viessmann Kiefer Racing	Suter	273.6	2’10.413	0.789 / 0.376
4	60	Julian SIMON	SPA	Mapfre Aspar Team	Suter	269.8	2’10.419	0.795 / 0.006
5	68	Yonny HERNANDEZ	COL	Blusens-STX	BQR-Moto2	271.1	2’10.475	0.851 / 0.056
6	19	Xavier SIMEON	BEL	Holiday Gym G22	Moriwaki	269.6	2’10.492	0.868 / 0.017
7	25	Alex BALDOLINI	ITA	Caretta Technology Race Dept	I.C.P.	272.4	2’10.578	0.954 / 0.086
8	41	Arne TODE	GER	Racing Team Germany	Suter	271.8	2’10.634	1.010 / 0.056
9	12	Thomas LUTHI	SWI	Interwetten Moriwaki Moto2	Moriwaki	271.9	2’10.654	1.030 / 0.020
10	10	Fonsi NIETO	SPA	Holiday Gym G22	Moriwaki	269.1	2’10.668	1.044 / 0.014
11	48	Shoya TOMIZAWA	JPN	Technomag-CIP	Suter	271.5	2’10.688	1.064 / 0.020
12	45	Scott REDDING	GBR	Marc VDS Racing Team	Suter	268.8	2’10.768	1.144 / 0.080
13	77	Dominique AEGERTER	SWI	Technomag-CIP	Suter	272.6	2’10.773	1.149 / 0.005
14	17	Karel ABRAHAM	CZE	Cardion AB Motoracing	FTR	268.5	2’10.802	1.178 / 0.029
15	3	Simone CORSI	ITA	JIR Moto2	Motobi	269.6	2’10.821	1.197 / 0.019
16	29	Andrea IANNONE	ITA	Fimmco Speed Up	Speed Up	270.3	2’10.846	1.222 / 0.025
17	6	Alex DEBON	SPA	Aeroport de Castello – Ajo	FTR	273.1	2’10.864	1.240 / 0.018
18	24	Toni ELIAS	SPA	Gresini Racing Moto2	Moriwaki	269.8	2’11.050	1.426 / 0.186
19	2	Gabor TALMACSI	HUN	Fimmco Speed Up	Speed Up	273.6	2’11.177	1.553 / 0.127
20	80	Axel PONS	SPA	Tenerife 40 Pons	Pons Kalex	272.2	2’11.190	1.566 / 0.013
21	75	Mattia PASINI	ITA	JIR Moto2	Motobi	270.1	2’11.212	1.588 / 0.022
22	40	Sergio GADEA	SPA	Tenerife 40 Pons	Pons Kalex	272.9	2’11.221	1.597 / 0.009
23	9	Kenny NOYES	USA	Jack & Jones by A.Banderas	Promoharris	270.1	2’11.410	1.786 / 0.189
24	14	Ratthapark WILAIROT	THA	Thai Honda PTT Singha SAG	Bimota	271.4	2’11.421	1.797 / 0.011
25	52	Lukas PESEK	CZE	Matteoni CP Racing	Moriwaki	270.3	2’11.457	1.833 / 0.036
26	59	Niccolo CANEPA	ITA	RSM Team Scot	Force GP210	265.5	2’11.461	1.837 / 0.004
27	44	Roberto ROLFO	ITA	Italtrans S.T.R.	Suter	268.7	2’11.537	1.913 / 0.076
28	76	Bernat MARTINEZ	SPA	Maquinza-SAG Team	Bimota	265.0	2’11.613	1.989 / 0.076
29	39	Robertino PIETRI	VEN	Italtrans S.T.R.	Suter	270.9	2’11.684	2.060 / 0.071
30	54	Kev COGHLAN	GBR	Monlau Joey Darcey	FTR	276.9	2’11.694	2.070 / 0.010
31	63	Mike DI MEGLIO	FRA	Mapfre Aspar Team	Suter	271.6	2’11.815	2.191 / 0.121
32	55	Hector FAUBEL	SPA	Marc VDS Racing Team	Suter	273.1	2’11.948	2.324 / 0.133
33	8	Anthony WEST	AUS	MZ Racing Team	MZ-RE Honda	269.4	2’12.052	2.428 / 0.104
34	61	Vladimir IVANOV	UKR	Gresini Racing Moto2	Moriwaki	269.7	2’12.167	2.543 / 0.115
35	5	Joan OLIVE	SPA	Jack & Jones by A.Banderas	Promoharris	268.3	2’12.340	2.716 / 0.173
36	35	Raffaele DE ROSA	ITA	Tech 3 Racing	Tech 3	272.1	2’12.360	2.736 / 0.020
37	96	Anthony DELHALLE	FRA	Blusens-STX	BQR-Moto2	268.9	2’12.502	2.878 / 0.142
38	72	Yuki TAKAHASHI	JPN	Tech 3 Racing	Tech 3	273.0	2’12.568	2.944 / 0.066
39	53	Valentin DEBISE	FRA	WTR San Marino Team	ADV	272.6	2’13.106	3.482 / 0.538
40	21	Vladimir LEONOV	RUS	Vector Kiefer Racing	Suter	267.3	2’13.240	3.616 / 0.134
	15	Alex DE ANGELIS	RSM	RSM Team Scot	Force GP210

Silverstone: 125cc GP Starting Grid

Marc Márquez will start the 125cc race from pole position on Sunday after topping qualifying at Silverstone, a best time of 2’14.667 on his final lap of the 40-minute session securing him his third pole of the 2010 campaign.

The late effort from Márquez pushed him in front of home rider Bradley Smith (Bancaja Aspar), who had become the first 125cc rider of the weekend to go under 2’15” with his 2’14.966 on his penultimate lap. That placed the Brit second, 0.146s ahead of Pol Espargaró (Tuenti Racing), with Championship leader Nico Terol (Bancaja Aspar) nine-tenths off Márquez’s pace as he completed the front row.

Johann Zarco (WTR San Marino Team), Esteve Rabat (Blusens-STX), Tomoyoshi Koyama (Racing Team Germany) and British rider Danny Webb (Andalucia Cajasol) will all start from the second row as they placed fifth to eighth in the session.

125 Grid

Pos.	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time	Gap 1st/Prev.
1	93	Marc MARQUEZ	SPA	Red Bull Ajo Motorsport	Derbi	232.4	2’14.667
2	38	Bradley SMITH	GBR	Bancaja Aspar Team	Aprilia	228.7	2’14.966	0.299 / 0.299
3	44	Pol ESPARGARO	SPA	Tuenti Racing	Derbi	232.9	2’15.112	0.445 / 0.146
4	40	Nicolas TEROL	SPA	Bancaja Aspar Team	Aprilia	232.4	2’15.571	0.904 / 0.459
5	14	Johann ZARCO	FRA	WTR San Marino Team	Aprilia	225.8	2’16.208	1.541 / 0.637
6	12	Esteve RABAT	SPA	Blusens-STX	Aprilia	228.9	2’16.425	1.758 / 0.217
7	71	Tomoyoshi KOYAMA	JPN	Racing Team Germany	Aprilia	225.9	2’16.660	1.993 / 0.235
8	99	Danny WEBB	GBR	Andalucia Cajasol	Aprilia	227.6	2’16.689	2.022 / 0.029
9	7	Efren VAZQUEZ	SPA	Tuenti Racing	Derbi	229.2	2’16.714	2.047 / 0.025
10	35	Randy KRUMMENACHER	SWI	Stipa-Molenaar Racing GP	Aprilia	227.1	2’16.918	2.251 / 0.204
11	11	Sandro CORTESE	GER	Avant Mitsubishi Ajo	Derbi	227.3	2’17.192	2.525 / 0.274
12	23	Alberto MONCAYO	SPA	Andalucia Cajasol	Aprilia	227.5	2’17.248	2.581 / 0.056
13	39	Luis SALOM	SPA	Stipa-Molenaar Racing GP	Aprilia	229.6	2’17.406	2.739 / 0.158
14	53	Jasper IWEMA	NED	CBC Corse	Aprilia	229.5	2’17.669	3.002 / 0.263
15	15	Simone GROTZKYJ	ITA	Fontana Racing	Aprilia	227.2	2’17.873	3.206 / 0.204
16	50	Sturla FAGERHAUG	NOR	AirAsia – Sepang Int. Circuit	Aprilia	224.8	2’18.212	3.545 / 0.339
17	26	Adrian MARTIN	SPA	Aeroport de Castello – Ajo	Aprilia	227.9	2’18.832	4.165 / 0.620
18	5	Alexis MASBOU	FRA	Ongetta Team	Aprilia	225.2	2’18.948	4.281 / 0.116
19	69	Louis ROSSI	FRA	CBC Corse	Aprilia	222.2	2’19.090	4.423 / 0.142
20	78	Marcel SCHROTTER	GER	Interwetten Honda 125	Honda	223.4	2’19.299	4.632 / 0.209
21	84	Jakub KORNFEIL	CZE	Racing Team Germany	Aprilia		2’19.320	4.653 / 0.021
22	63	Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN	MAL	AirAsia – Sepang Int. Circuit	Aprilia	220.9	2’20.480	5.813 / 1.160
23	32	Lorenzo SAVADORI	ITA	Matteoni CP Racing	Aprilia	221.4	2’20.583	5.916 / 0.103
24	94	Jonas FOLGER	GER	Ongetta Team	Aprilia	221.4	2’20.936	6.269 / 0.353
25	60	Michael VAN DER MARK	NED	Lambretta Reparto Corse	Lambretta	222.4	2’20.989	6.322 / 0.053
26	75	Deane BROWN	GBR	Colin Appleyard/Macadam Racing	Honda	218.1	2’21.967	7.300 / 0.978
27	73	Taylor MACKENZIE	GBR	KRP	Honda	222.4	2’21.988	7.321 / 0.021
28	87	Luca MARCONI	ITA	Ongetta Team	Aprilia	221.8	2’22.073	7.406 / 0.085
29	52	Danny KENT	GBR	Aztec Grand Prix	Honda	213.2	2’22.279	7.612 / 0.206
30	72	Marco RAVAIOLI	ITA	Lambretta Reparto Corse	Lambretta	220.6	2’22.773	8.106 / 0.494
31	74	James LODGE	GBR	RS Earnshaws Motorcycles	Honda	212.8	2’22.885	8.218 / 0.112
	77	Andrew REID	IRL	Aztec Grand Prix	Honda	203.5	2’26.896	12.229 / 4.011