MotoGP: Czech Republic Grand Prix – Dani Pedrosa takes Pole at Brno; Moto2: Shoya Tomizawa on Pole
The excitement was palpable in the Czech Grand Prix qualifying session as top ranked riders went all out to get the most important pole position before the start of the actual race on Sunday.
It was another successful session for Spain’s Dani Pedrosa, who was in fine form and eventually took the pole position in the qualifying session.
His efforts helped in denying the reigning MotoGP championship leader Jorge Lorenzo, who was aiming for a sixth consecutive pole.
Pedrosa made full use of his steam, clocking the fastest lap in qualifying to give his chances of a win in Sunday’s race a real boost.
The 24-year-old rider, who races for Honda, is a distant second in the championship running.
He is all of 72 points behind compatriot Lorenzo, yet he justified his number two billing in the race with an impressive run that made the pundits sit up and take notice of his potential.
His performance gave him the top spot with a best lap of one minute 56.508 seconds, on the track that had a length of 5.4 km.
Ben Spies from the United States is behind Lorenzo at the number two spot for the race day. Spies recorded an impressive run of one minute 56.846 seconds on his Yamaha.
The reigning MotoGP champion had a difficult time on the track as he crashed his Yamaha in the final minutes of the session. His crash has jeopardized his chances of a seventh consecutive win in the season.
Lorenzo still has an outside chance of recording a win, provided he hits the straps early and pushes on in his victory bid from the third spot on race day.
The qualifying session also brought misfortune for seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi, who is making a bid to recover fully after a horrific crash earlier in the year at the Mugello track.
Rossi, like Lorenzo, crashed in the final minutes of qualifying and will start the race on Sunday from a lowly fifth position.
He would be hoping that the first four riders perched ahead of him fail to hit their straps in order for him to win his first race since the Mugello accident that resulted in a fracture in his leg.
The 31-year-old Italian will announce his future plans once the race is over at Brno; he is apparently contemplating on a possible team switch for the next season.
Meanwhile, the qualifying session also saw Spain's Alvaro Bautista being taken for medical checks after crashing heavily on his Suzuki.
He subsequently hurt his back, and X-rays later revealed that he had bruised his back muscles badly but luckily avoided any breaks in his bones.
It remains to be seen if he is allowed to take part in the race on Sunday, and the organisers disclosed that that will only happen once the panel of doctors examine him before the start of the race.
In other news, in Moto2, Japan's Shoya Tomizawa grabbed his second pole position of the season.
Technomag-CIP’s Tomizawa registered a time of 2'03.452 on his Suter machine; he was 0.232 seconds clear of Italian Andrea Iannone (of Fimmco Speed Up).
On race day, championship leader Spain’s Toni Elías (of Gresini Racing) and Roberto Rolfo of Italtrans STR are set to start on the front row after ending up at the third and fourth spot respectively.
Qualification timings:
MotoGP:
1. Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 1:56.508
2. Ben Spies (U.S.) Yamaha 1:56.846
3. Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha 1:56.865
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