Moto GP

A Game Jorge Lorenzo Rockets to Pole Position on the Island

Author: Aaryn Minerds

Posted:

Saturday, October 19th, 2013

5:58 PM

A Game Jorge Lorenzo Rockets to Pole Position on the Island

Jorge Lorenzo has a secured pole position for the 2013 Australian Moto GP at Phillip Island after putting in a lap that he himself could only describe as only normally only possible on a Playstation.

On a freshly re-surfaced Phillip Island circuit and with the warm conditions on track, Lorenzo posted a time of 1'27.899, a time that was nearly a full two seconds faster than the pole time Australia's Casey Stoner set at the 2012 Australian GP.

It was a stunning lap that bought the crowd to their feet to applaud the Spanish rider at the end of the session.

"The track as been fast all weekend, yesterday and today, Lorenzo explained, "but to do this lap a 27.8 is a lap that you can normally only do with a Playstation.

"Today we improved seven tenths of a second from the first ride, so it is impressive how much faster we can go with new tyres."

Though Lorenzo has the number one spot on the grid and found plenty of grip out on track today, he knows that it is tomorrow that counts and is not 100% sure how the his tyres will last on the freshly resurfaced track.

"We have the pole position but that is not so important, tomorrow it is important but we have some doubts about the tyres lets say." Lorenzo concluded.

Championship leader Marc Marquez will start from second spot on the grid - Credit: Aaryn Minerds

Championship leader, Repsol Honda's Marc Marquez will start his first Australian Grand Prix in the premier MotoGp class in second place after setting a time of 1'28.120, .221 seconds slower the Lorenzo.

The Spanish rider heads into tomorrow's race with a strong 43 point lead over Lorenzo and will be trying his best to further extented that gap over his nearest rival.

"We knew the Yamaha guys with the new tyres are very strong, so our target was to finish on the front row." Marquez stated.

"Tomorrow will be difficult, everyone will struggle a little bit with the tyres, but it looks like we will be able to do the race quite well, but we will see. "I will try to do my best and try to beat them," he concluded.

Valention Rossi will round out the front row after setting the third fastest time in Qualifying - Credit: Aaryn Minerds

Rounding out the front row of the grid is Italian superstar Valentino Rossi after his finished just over a half a second behind Marquez at the end of Q2.

After finishing in seventh place at the Australian GP last year, Rossi knows it is once again going to be tough to make the podium in 2013 with so many riders riding fast and also due to the fact that most teams including his own are unsure which way to go with their tyre selection for the race.

"Phillip Island is great this year, the warm weather and the new asphalt is fantastic and starting the race one row one is great." Rossi enthused. "Every lap I have been right in my element.

"I am quite happy because I have been competitive during practice, especially this afternoon," he added.

"We had some confusion with the tyres and the situation for tomorrow is not very clear," Rossi continued regarding the tyre situation. "We concentrated on today and qualifying and I am happy with the front row for sure, it is the race in a row we will start from the front row, it means we are working well

"I fell good with the bike, but I know that tomorrow as usual will be very difficult as Marc and Jorge are very very fast but I expect also Pedrosa, Bautista and Crutchlow will ride hard, but will we try to do our maximum to fight for the podium," he concluded.

Go@Fun Honda Grisini rider Alvaro Bautista missed the front row by just .066 of a second and is well in contention of a podium finish tomorrow, while Dani Pedrosa rounded out the top five a further .035 of a second behind Bautista.

Australia's Bryan Staring will start his home race in 21st position after posting a best lap of 1'31.775, while Damian Cudlin who is racing aboar a Paul Bird Motorsport PBM machine will start two positions further back in 23rd with a lap time just over 1 second slower than Staring.

Australia's Bryan Staring will start form 23 position at his home Gp

2013 Australian Moto Gp Final Qualifying Results
1. Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing YAMAHA Q2 1'27.899
2. Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA Q2 1'28.120 6
3. Valentino ROSSI ITA Yamaha Factory Racing YAMAHA Q2 1'28.647
4. Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA GO&FUN Honda Gresini HONDA Q2 1'28.713
5. Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA Q2 1'28.748
6. Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA Q2 1'28.809
7. Bradley SMITH GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA Q2 1'28.941
8. Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team DUCATI Q2 1'29.295
9. Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team DUCATI Q2 1'29.660
10. Andrea IANNONE ITA Energy T.I. Pramac Racing DUCATI Q2 1'29.756
11. Colin EDWARDS USA NGM Mobile Forward Racing FTR KAWASAKI Q2 1'30.264
12. Randy DE PUNIET FRA Power Electronics Aspar ART Q2 1'30.735
13. Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Power Electronics Aspar ART Q1 1'30.081
14. Claudio CORTI ITA NGM Mobile Forward Racing FTR KAWASAKI Q1 1'30.530
15. Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Ignite Pramac Racing DUCATI Q1 1'30.641
16. Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Avintia Blusens FTR Q1 1'30.733 3
17 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Came IodaRacing Project IODA-SUTER Q1 1'30.894
18. Michael LAVERTY GBR Paul Bird Motorsport ART Q1 1'30.979
19. Hector BARBERA SPA Avintia Blusens FTR Q1 1'31.061
20. Luca SCASSA ITA Cardion AB Motoracing ART Q1 1'31.093
21. Bryan STARING AUS GO&FUN Honda Gresini FTR HONDA Q1 1'31.775
22. as PESEK CZE Came IodaRacing Project IODA-SUTER Q1 1'32.474
23. Damian CUDLIN AUS Paul Bird Motorsport PBM Q1 1'33.007
24. Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP HONDA FP1 1'33.165 3.998

Top Image: Jorge Lorenzo will start on pole for the 2013 Tissot Australian Moto Gp
Credit: Aaryn Minerds