Monster Yamaha Tech3 duo tougher than Ducati duo for qualifying – MotoGP news
Monster Yamaha Tech3 duo Colin Edwards and Cal Crutchlow will be starting the race Gran Premio bwin de Espana in eighth and ninth positions respectively, better as compared to the Ducati duo Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi which are seated at eleventh
and twelfth places respectively for qualifying.
The American Tech3 rider Colin Edwards will have a start from the middle of the third row, benefiting from the new front end setup he posted his best time of 1:39.895 seconds. He was under 0.2 seconds off the pace to claim a second row start. He was
also in the count of riders who faced an accident at Jerez circuit. He was working to get a sixth place for qualifying; it was when he lost his front end at slow speed during the second corner, but was able to ride back to his pit garage.
Edwards said, “I'm never happy with eighth position but I honestly couldn't have put in any extra effort than what I did. It is hard to be disappointed when I know I rode as hard as I could do. It was obvious how hard I was pushing when I crashed late
in the session.”
Crutchlow claimed his second qualifying in top-ten slot. The Brit finished his final free practice session in seventh place ahead of his Tech3 teammate Edwards, even Yamaha Factory Racing rider Ben Spies. Champion of World Supersport 2009 marked his
best time of 1:40.019 seconds, being 0.124 seconds off Edwards’s pace falling in ninth place.
“I'm really happy considering I don't know this track at all and that there are a lot of talented riders behind me on the grid again. This morning in FP3 I was seventh and I've qualified ninth, so I'm obviously making big progress,” he said.
Crutchlow and his Tech3 crew were happy with the qualifying which also helped him to be more comfortable with a MotoGP machine. He was aiming for the sixth place but due to lack of experience at Jerez circuit he was satisfied and felt the bike more
responsive. The crew also changed the front suspension which came out with better traction but the rear end grip was sacrificed a bit. They are trying to get a setup which provides a better balance between front and rear traction ability.
The Ducati riders Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi are following the footprints of Tech3 duo with a single position separation by Hiroshi Aoyama of San Carlo Honda Gresini in 10th place. Hayden had a good start at the morning practice
session but could not manage to improve during the qualifying session with soft tyres on the bike including the hindering fast winds.
Valentino Rossi was held back by a fall at turn 8, which affected his qualifying finish. He was using the GP11 with a choice of setup in between two different setups, so the second bike was not able to perform at the required level, leaving him at
twelfth place to start the race.
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