Honda dominated
qualifying at Le Mans for tomorrow's
French Grand Prix, taking the top four slots on
the grid with Casey Stoner the fastest.
The Repsol Honda rider was
relentless and successful in pursuit of pole
position, fighting off strong challenges from
fellow Honda riders Marco Simoncelli , Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa. Jorge Lorenzo was the first non Honda rider with the fifth fastest time.
Le Mans demands excellent braking stability,
accurate turning and strong acceleration from a
MotoGP bike, features that the 2011 RC212V would
seem to have in abundance, especially considering
the fact that the same four riders also headed
the first three practice sessions here.
Stoner dominated all four sessions, just as he
did at the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix, which
he went on to win.
This is the Australian's first
pole at Le Mans and his third from the first four
races of 2011, following on from similar
performances at Losail and Jerez. His speed today
puts him in confident mood for the race, even
though he has never scored a victory here. Stoner
‰ÛÒ currently third in the points chase ‰ÛÒ will race
"We're very happy with this pole. We focused a lot on race set-up this afternoon, going from one bike to the other, making small adjustments to improve the bike a little," Stoner said.
"The conditions aren't perfect at the moment. It's quite windy, so it's hard to see if you've improved or not, but my Honda was working really well and I never found myself pushing to the limit too much which is always good.
"This is our third pole of the season but we've only converted one of them into a victory so we hope to have a little more luck here in Le Mans and fight for the win," the Australian concluded,
Seven-time world Moto GP champion Valentino Rossi of Italy could only manage the ninth quickest time on his Ducati.
Lorenzo beat Rossi last year to win the French GP for the second straight year, with Dovizioso finishing third.
Lorenzo leads the overall standings with 65 points after three races, while Pedrosa is four points behind in second place. Stoner is third with 41, and Rossi fourth with 31.
Main Photo: Casey Stoner
Credit: HRC
Qualifying position
1 Casey Stoner 1m33.153s AUS HONDA Repsol Honda Team
2 Marco Simoncelli +0.059s ITA HONDA Honda Gresini
3 Andrea Dovizioso +0.468s ITA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
4 Dani Pedrosa +0.530s SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
5 Jorge Lorenzo +0.553s SPA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing
6 Cal Crutchlow +0.651s GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
7 Colin Edwards +0.910s USA YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
8 Ben Spies +1.053s USA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing
9 Valentino Rossi +1.053s ITA DUCATI Ducati Team
10 Nicky Hayden +1.124s USA DUCATI Ducati Team
11 Randy De Puniet +1.198s FRA DUCATI Pramac Racing Team
12 Alvaro Bautista +1.360s SPA SUZUKI Suzuki MotoGP
13 Hiroshi Aoyama +1.459s JPN HONDA Honda Gresini
14 Hector Barbera +1.497s SPA DUCATI Aspar Ducati
15 Loris Capirossi +1.713s ITA DUCATI Pramac Racing Team
16 Karel Abraham +1.857s CZE DUCATI Cardion AB Ducati
17 Toni Elias +2.280s SPA HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP
