Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner takes pole for Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix – MotoGP news
Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner took the seventh pole position in the 2011 MotoGP season for the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix.
The Aussie rider crashed in the 2010 event but holds strong pace this season.
Stoner said, “I'm very happy with pole here in Indy, the team have been doing a great job under difficult conditions this weekend, but we will keep working right up until the last moment to try and get the set up right.”
Considering the new surface this time the free flowing tarmac is a great help. However, the grip is not satisfactory at the circuit. Most of the riders are feeling less grip on the front end. The traction is significantly poor. The bike loses grip while
riding over the patches. This has caused problems during the qualifying practice.
The setting have not been changed much since the first free practice session. The few amendments were made to increase the front-end feel. During the practices, Stoner has covered about the race distance and is confident about his pace. He used soft slicks
on both ends which gave him confidence. However, it depends upon the race conditions how it goes through.
On the other side for Aussie’s teammate Dani Pedrosa, it was hard to secure a seat in the front row. The Spaniard came fourth on the grid for Indy GP.
Pedrosa said, “We had some issues in the session with the front tyre, I didn't feel very comfortable with it and we couldn't get the most from it. I wasn’t going super fast and I missed the first row, but I'm not worried.”
The Spanish RCV rider claimed that he wants to be closer to Stoner and Ben Spies in pace. Both riders have done fast laps. Considering Sunday’s warm up session, Pedrosa’s crew will try new changes to improve the front-end feel. He feels that the race will
be a hard fight as the temperatures are high and tough on tyres.
The third Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso has scored fifth position on the grid just behind Pedrosa. Although he is starting the race from second row, still he is positive to race well on Sunday. His aim for the race is to ride with consistent pace.
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