Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa today obliterated his MotoGP opposition to take pole position for tomorrow’s Indianapolis Grand Prix. The Spanish ace was easily fastest in both practice and qualifying sessions and looked completely untouchable aboard his factory Honda RC212V at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His best lap of 1m 39.730s this afternoon was more than a second inside last year’s qualifying lap record and 0.506s clear of his nearest rival - Jorge Lorenzo who will start from second on the grid.
As well as ultimate speed, Pedrosa displayed consistency too - and it was the same story in the morning session. His quickest eight laps this morning were faster than any other rider in the MotoGP field could manage and his best lap this morning was a full 1.015s faster than his closest rival - Jorge Lorenzo once again. This is Pedrosa’s second pole position of the season after he started from front on the grid at the French Grand Prix at Le Mans in May.
Pedrosa’s Repsol Honda team-mate Andrea Dovizioso will start tomorrow’s 28-lap race from eighth on the grid and will be looking for a good start to take him from the third row and into contention with the leaders. The Italian set his fastest lap of 1m 41.309s on the last of his 27 laps this afternoon after a slow-speed fall early in the session. Dovizioso and his crew will use tomorrow morning’s 20-minute warm-up session to make further improvements to his machine set-up - particularly the feeling from the front end - and the former 125cc World Champion is confident of making up places when the lights go out to start the Indianapolis Grand Prix at 15.00 (GMT -4hrs).
DANI PEDROSA – Pole – 1m 39.730
“I’m really happy with this pole position because we have been fast all weekend so far - in the we as well as the dry - so this is very positive. The lap times are quick and also consistent which should give us a good chance in the race tomorrow. I’ve been comfortable on the machine from the start and things have just clicked here - it’s not as if we’ve made any big changes for this race. We can’t relax at all though because I’m sure the other riders will improve and we know how strong our rivals have been this season. So we must make a few small adjustments to make sure we have the best possible package tomorrow. I’m really looking forward to the race because it looks like the weather should be good - a big contrast to last year - and it will be great to feel the race-day atmosphere at Indianapolis in more normal conditions than last year’s wash-out. Now we’ll just stay focused and concentrate on our preparation for tomorrow.”
ANDREA DOVIZIOSO – 8th – 1m 41.309
“I’d like to be further forward on the grid and I think eighth doesn’t actually reflect our potential here, so we’ll be aiming to improve the set-up for the race. My qualifying session didn’t go exactly to plan because I had a small crash near the beginning of the session in Turn 7. At that point in the middle of the turn there’s a change in the asphalt and you have to be more delicate on the brakes at the point. I didn’t change the lever pressure correctly which was the mistake that caused me to lose the front. In fact my feeling from the front end wasn’t perfect today, so this is what we’ll be working to improve for tomorrow. I think the front of the race is going to be run with laptimes below 1m 41s and I’ll need to get a good start from the third row to give me a chance of competing with the leaders. I’m confident we can take a step forward tomorrow.”
KAZUHIKO YAMANO - REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER
“I have to say well done to Dani because he’s done an excellent job this weekend and taking pole position was the natural conclusion of his progress so far. He’s been top in every session and looks in with a good chance of winning tomorrow. We’ve not made big changes to the machine so this performance was down to him and the team. Andrea’s a little bit further back than he wanted, but with some changes to his machine set-up tonight I think he can move forward tomorrow. Also, we know our rivals are very strong so we won’t be relaxing at all.”
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