Strong winds were the defining factor during qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix today, creating a very challenging and unusual afternoon session during which Andrea Dovizioso qualified in ninth position. Dani Pedrosa also rode in both sessions today but reluctantly decided after qualifying that he has not recovered sufficiently from the injuries he sustained two weeks ago to take part in tomorrow’s race.
Dovizioso had qualified on the front row of the grid at the previous two races and took pole position for the Grand Prix of Japan two weeks ago. This time however the Italian will line up on the third row for tomorrow’s 27-lap race after struggling to find a machine set-up to give him sufficient confidence in the strong ocean winds that blew across Phillip Island. In fact, Dovizioso’s best lap time was only 0.632s from achieving a front row start in a session where the top three of Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies were separated by an unusually large margin of 1.279s.
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Dani Pedrosa was again faced with far from ideal conditions in which to make his return to MotoGP racing after breaking his collarbone two weeks ago in Japan. The 25-year-old completed 42 laps of the Phillip Island track in today’s two sessions and his lap time this afternoon came down to 1m 33.383s, which was a creditable 3.277s behind Stoner’s pole lap. But the Spaniard is still experiencing considerable discomfort from his injuries and found that he lacked the strength and endurance required to handle a MotoGP machine at this most challenging of circuits. After qualifying Pedrosa and HRC took a joint decision that he will not race tomorrow and will aim to come back stronger in Estroril in two weeks’ time.
After a 20-minute warm-up in the morning, Dovizioso will be looking for a quick getaway when the Australian Grand Prix starts at 16.00.
ANDREA DOVIZIOSO – 9th – 1m 32.018s +1.911s
“I struggled to ride in the high winds today and actually my body position on the bike was making things difficult in these conditions. The main reason for my grid position is that with the gusty wind I cannot control the bike as I want and hold the racing line, and we also need to find some more grip as well. I expected to be higher than ninth, but of course riding in a group during the race will be different and I hope we will have a better feeling tomorrow afternoon. We will look at the data we gathered today and try to come up with a solution for tomorrow, and also I will try to modify my riding if we encounter these strong winds again. I have been on the front row for the last two races so I’m not happy to be back in ninth, but with a good start from the third row we can get away with the leaders. We are fast in wet conditions so I don’t mind if it rains for the race. It’s a shame for Dani today. Riding injured is never easy and in these conditions it’s even more difficult.”
DANI PEDROSA – 15th 1m 33.384s +3.277s – (Will not start race tomorrow)
“After the operation in Spain my target was to come back in Australia. But having ridden in the three practice sessions here it’s clear that it is really impossible for me to maintain a high pace because I lose strength in my arm lap-by-lap and controlling the bike gets increasingly difficult - even more so with the strong winds here. Phillip Island is a very fast circuit, I have to grip the handlebars very tightly, and this makes me very tired and gives me a lot of pain. To ride around three seconds off the pace in the race tomorrow and maybe collect just a few points wouldn’t make much sense. But I think it has been worth it to at least try to ride here because we really didn’t know how I would be on the bike until we tried. Now, though, I don’t want to take more risks so that I can recover in time for Estoril. I discussed the situation with HRC Team Director Kazuhiko Yamano and we have the same opinion.”
KAZUHIKO YAMANO - HRC TEAM DIRECTOR
“Phillip Island has given us another challenging day today and the conditions on track were very hard for the riders. Unfortunately for Dani his physical condition is such that we have decided together that the best course of action is for him not to attempt to race tomorrow and instead to aim for a return in Portugal in two weeks’ time. It was worth Dani coming here and trying to ride because it was the only way to find out the real situation. But we have decided that a 27-lap race in conditions that have been very difficult all weekend would be too risky.
“It actually wasn’t easy for any rider today because the strong winds make it difficult to ride consistently and also increase the dangers of running off track or being blown off course, and for Andrea the wind was the main issue today. We have to work to improve his machine set-up in case we encounter this type of weather tomorrow - although I hope it’s a calmer day and that Andrea can get away with the leaders in the race.”
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