Valentino Rossi scored his first victory of the 2009 season from fourth on the grid for Fiat Yamaha after overcoming Dani Pedrosa’s 1.4 second advantage to pass the Spaniard by lap 18 of the 27 lap race. With all of the riders choosing to race on Bridgestone’s hard front tire and only three using the softer of the rear slick options, round three of the MotoGP season delivered the third different winner in as many races.

The hard compound front and medium compound rear Bridgestones were clearly the favoured combination given the track temperature and the more abrasive nature of the resurfaced tarmac. Only Ducati Team’s Nicky Hayden and the Pramac Racing pairing of Niccolo Canepa and Mika Kallio, the latter retiring with rear brake troubles, opted for the soft rear Bridgestone in an effort to better match the characteristics of their bikes.

In front of his home crowd, Repsol Honda’s Pedrosa led for most of the race until overhauled by Rossi, and Ducati Team’s Casey Stoner finished third to claim his first podium at Jerez. Randy de Puniet claimed fourth on his satellite LCR Honda machine after polesitter Jorge Lorenzo fell four laps from the end, and in fifth was Marco Melandri who gave another strong performance for the Hayate Racing team.

Hiroshi Yamada – Bridgestone Motorsport – Manager Motorcycle Sport Unit
“It has been a good race today and I am pleased to see three manufacturers on the podium. It is great to see Valentino’s first victory of the season, and means that we have now had three different winners in three races, and three different championship leaders. I am also pleased to see Dani finish second at his home race, claiming his second podium of 2009 so soon after injury, and Casey score his first podium finish at Jerez.”

Tohru Ubukata – Bridgestone Motorsport – Manager, Motorcycle Race tire Development
“The hard front and medium rear Bridgestone combination performed well today and we saw very good consistency over the race distance, with the hottest track temperature we have seen this weekend. The winning race time this year was 17 seconds faster than last year and the consistency was better so I am happy. This situation clearly shows the wider operating range and improved consistency of this year’s one-make Bridgestone tires.”

Valentino Rossi, Fiat Yamaha, Race Winner
“I’m so happy. It was a strange weekend for me because on Friday I was very fast but on Saturday we had a lot of problems and I was quite slow. Already from this morning I was fast with the soft tire so I was confident for the race. The race was fantastic I think. With Casey it was a great battle, two or three overtaking so was fun. In the first part I was not able to chase a lot but in the last part of the race I was able to come back. In the last ten laps I had better pace, better feeling so was able to push and it is fantastic to get the victory.”

Valentino Rossi took a stunning win in Jerez today, his first of the season and the 98th of his career taking him 11 points clear at the top of the championship. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo had a disappointing home race, crashing out on lap 24 when closing on the final podium position.

The reigning World Champion had looked in trouble yesterday but an overnight set-up change saw him fastest in warm-up and he lined up confident that he would be able to mount a challenge. Starting from fourth on the grid, Rossi held his position at the start and managed to pass Lorenzo on the final turn of the second lap. Casey Stoner was the next target and the Italian quickly began to close the gap, setting the fastest lap of the race on lap four. Rossi and Stoner exchanged a couple of entertaining passes in the next few laps before the Yamaha rider made it stick at the end of the seventh lap, with the gap to Dani Pedrosa in the lead then standing at 1.2 seconds. The middle section of the race saw Rossi making little headway into the Spaniard’s lead but at two-thirds distance he suddenly found a new rhythm and started shaving tenths off the gap, making the definitive move and claiming the lead with 10 laps to go. From then on there was only one winner and the irrepressible 30-year-old brought his M1 home 2.7 seconds clear of second-placed Pedrosa. Ever the joker, Rossi took advantage of the moment to replicate one of his most famous post-race stunts ten years on, making a stop on his victory lap to pop into a track side portable toilet, to the delight of the 120,000-strong crowd.

After his dazzling pole position Lorenzo was fully expecting to challenge for the win but the higher track temperature today caused problems and he lacked the grip and pace of yesterday. The Mallorcan, who turns 22 tomorrow, spent most of the race in a lonely fourth position but in the final stages began to close on Stoner and looked like he might have a podium chance. With the gap down to under half a second the excitement began to build in the 99 side of the garage but with just four laps to go he lost the front and went down, emerging unhurt from the gravel trap but with damage to his foot peg and throttle meaning there was no chance to finish the race.

Rossi now leads Stoner by 11 points in the standings, whilst Lorenzo slips to third, 13 points adrift of the Australian. The MotoGP paddock will reconvene on French soil in ten days time for round four in Le Mans.

Valentino Rossi – Position: 1stTime: 45′18.557
“This is a wonderful victory because yesterday we were really quite worried! I couldn’t ride how I wanted to and it was very hard. We had to work all together to understand how to fix the problem and finally we made a big change to try to make the bike feel how I like in the corner, which worked, so I have to say a huge thank you to Jeremy and all my guys. This morning we could tell immediately that things were much better and then we made a couple more small changes after warm-up, which made my M1 and my Bridgestone tires feel even better. The race was long and quite hard – I lost some time getting past Lorenzo at the start and then I had a good battle with Stoner, which I enjoyed. After that I wasn’t so fast and I couldn’t close the gap to Pedrosa for a while; he was very quick but finally things improved and I was able to catch and pass him. It’s great to win again and especially here in Jerez, which I love. It’s ten years since I made the joke with the toilet here and so I thought it would be funny to do it again if I won – I liked that a lot! Now I hope that the changes we’ve made here will help us for the rest of the season. Thanks again to everyone!”

Jorge Lorenzo – Position: DNF
“I am very sad, because I was so fast all weekend and on pole position. Unfortunately today the temperature meant that our setting did not work in the same way and at the moment we don’t understand why. This is really more disappointing than the actual crash. Fourth position wouldn’t have been so bad but when you’re in front of your fans, at home with so much adrenalin on the bike of course you try to do the maximum. I could see that the podium was possible and maybe the right thing would have been to go more gently and not push so hard in that moment, but I always want to do my best. Then I made a mistake and I threw all my good work away. We have to try to forget this and wake up feeling positive tomorrow because Le Mans is near. I’m sorry to all the fans who came to see me, to my team, family and to everybody!”

Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“This is a very important victory and after two second places everyone in the team was waiting for it and really wanted it. To win like this is something special; after being in trouble and quite sad on Saturday there was a lot of effort, long meetings, hard work by all the engineers, mechanics and technicians and finally we were able to give a good package to Valentino. If you can make Valentino feel happy on the bike then he will always give you this kind of performance and today it was wonderful to watch. This has to be our target every time. I am very happy and proud of all our guys, and of course of Valentino!”

Daniele Romagnoli – Team Manager
“We’re very disappointed for today’s result. After excellent practice and qualifying sessions we expected to be on the podium but with the warmer temperature Jorge lost grip on the rear. At the end he was catching Stoner but then he lost the front and that was that! Now we need to make a deep analysis of why we had these unexpected problems and make sure they don’t happen again. It’s bad luck but now we will look forward to Le Mans, where we had a great result last year.”

Seventh for Edwards in scorching Spain, Toseland battles to 13th

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team ended a scorching hot Spanish MotoGP race with hard fought points scoring finishes for Colin Edwards and James Toseland.

Texan Edwards starred in one of the most fiercely contested battles of the 27-lap encounter, dicing throughout with Italian duo Marco Melandri and Loris Capirossi in front of a sun-drenched crowd of 123,340 fans. Edwards expertly moved his Yamaha YZR-M1 machine by Capirossi to take seventh on lap ten, and four laps later he passed Melandri to set about securing his second top six in the opening three races. Small issues with his rear suspension setting though saw Edwards lose a superb last lap battle with Capirossi that left him only 1.3s away from a superb top five finish. Today’s result though keeps Edwards in the top six in the championship standings and leading non-factory rider.

British rider Toseland rode a determined race to finish 13th, the 28-year-old unable to progress any further through the field as he never found a comfortable set-up on his YZR-M1 machine. He showed his battling qualities though to fend off a persistent challenge from Alex de Angelis.

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team now takes a deserved break before its home race at the French Grand Prix in Le Mans on May 17, with expectations high after Edwards finished third in 2008.

Colin Edwards – Position: 7th Time: +0′34.421
“I got a really good start but right from the first lap I knew I wasn’t going to be able to run the pace I needed. The guys in front just gapped me immediately and I couldn’t get the bike to turn. We went in the wrong direction yesterday when it was hot, so for the race we went back to the setting I’d had in the morning when the track temperature was a bit cooler. In the cooler temperatures that setting was fine, but once the temperature goes up I just couldn’t get into the rhythm I want and know I was capable of. I wanted to be smooth and precise but I couldn’t do that. I was having to adjust my style to get some weight on the rear to help the bike turn, but it wasn’t enough for me to get into the top six and that’s a bit frustrating.”

James Toseland – Position: 13th Time: +0′53.683
“It has been a tough weekend and we have got some issues to sort out. We’re still trying a few things on the bike and I’m still searching for a comfortable setting over a race distance. I still need a second or so on race pace but I need to sort out qualifying too. I can do the same times as four or five guys in front of me, but when you’re all lapping at the same pace, it’s hard to come through. I’m giving myself too much to do from qualifying and being too far back. You don’t need to be too far off but if you start at the back you stay at the back in a competitive class like this. It has not been a great start to the season but I don’t feel we’re that far away. We’ve got a lot of information from this weekend and we’re eliminating things that we know don’t work. I’m confident we’re close to finding the setting I need and working hard with my guys to find it.”

Herve Poncharal – Team Manager
“It was a difficult race and in the first two races I have to say we were a little bit closer to the front. It’s a shame that Colin wasn’t quite comfortable enough with the setting to fight closer with (Loris) Capirossi and (Marco) Melandri at the end. A top six would have been well deserved for his hard effort and maybe fifth was achievable. It was also a tough weekend for James. His lap times in the race were not too bad but it is clear he must improve in qualifying. He is capable of a much stronger performance, but it is difficult when you don’t qualify well. The start of the race now is crucial and qualifying is something that he will work on with his team. Everybody at Tech 3 is now looking forward to our home race. We know Le Mans is very good circuit for Yamaha and last year Colin was on the podium behind Jorge (Lorenzo) and Valentino (Rossi). I’d also like to thank Mark Hall from Monster Energy for his support this weekend. The Yamaha Tech 3 team is delighted to have Monster Energy as our title sponsor, and I’m sure our partnership will bring success in the future.”

Danny Kent bettered Sturla Fagerhaug to win a superb and thankfully slightly less dramatic 2nd Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup race at Jerez on Sunday. The blustery Spanish wind still contributed to a number of falls but this time Daijiro Hiura learnt from Saturday’s error and came home third ahead of Florian Marino.

Kent, the 15 year old Briton, explained how the wind effected him; “Every time I got in front the wind just pushed me back, it was so much easier to stay in the slipstream. There was no real way to break away. I wasn’t going to make the same mistake as yesterday so I kept counting down the laps as I crossed the line and went for it on the last lap, it wasn’t an easy move, I was determined, it was ‘win it or bin it.’”

Passed by Kent in the classic Jerez last-corner braking move Fagerhaug tried still to win. “I wasn’t surprised that Danny came past there, I thought I could pull it back on the inside and drive past on the way out but I was just a bit too close and had to back off slightly or hit his back wheel … that was it. Still a win and a second is not too bad from the weekend, it could have been a lot worse.”

Hiura did not make a great start from pole position and was back in 5th at the end of the first lap. Though the 15 year old Japanese was always in the lead pack he just wasn’t close enough over the last few laps to challenge Fagerhaug and Kent when it counted. “It was very windy again, difficult, a lot of riders all trying to pass all the time. I am happy to get some points but I want to win in Mugello.”

Fourth man home was 15 year old Frenchman Marino and not happy to have missed out on the podium. His was a fantastic performance though, having been at the hospital at midnight before the race following his Saturday crash. Seemingly unhurt in the fall he had later felt sick and was only cleared to race after a precautionary hospital check. “I really should have been able to be in the first three at least but some of the other guys are just not clever in the way they overtake, too many times they came inside almost out of control and we’d both go wide, you lose too much time like that, it doesn’t make sense.”

7th place finisher Mathew Scholtz, the 16 year old South African, echoed Marino’s feelings. “I wanted to get away with Sturla and Danny but then Daijiro came passed and then Pardo who just pushed me wide, it was a bit crazy and I went from 3rd to 7th in a couple of laps. I’ve got a gouge in my knee slider from someone’s front wheel, that’s a bit too close.”

Not all the heroes of the race finished, yet could still be satisfied with their first weekend as Red Bull Rookies. Following his excellent 4th place finish on Saturday, Alex Kristiansson, the 15 year old Swede, stormed through to lead the first lap on Sunday. He was solidly in the battle for a place on the rostrum until he slid off on lap 5. “The wind just got under the bike and I couldn’t catch it. I was just going the same speed, doing the same thing as I did the lap before but it caught me out. I think also the rubber from the MotoGP race might have made the track a little more slippery in some places.”

Someone with even less experience on a road racer is 13 year old Australian speedway rider Arthur Sissis. He was in the thick of the hard fighting front group when he slid off going for sixth place on lap 11. “I braked late to get past one of the Italians (Pardo) and just lost the front. I was enjoying it up to then. My knee wasn’t causing me any trouble but then I tore the stitches I had after yesterday’s crash and it was bleeding quite a bit, but that’s OK.”

Thankfully the injury list was not lengthened by Sunday’s falls and everyone was buoyed by the good news from Harry Stafford. The 15 year old Briton was knocked unconscious in Saturday’s nasty crash but quite soon after the doctors became optimistic as he steadily improved. Taken to Cadiz hospital for a complete scan he fully regained consciousness and the doctors are confident he will make a complete recovery. He is due to be released from hospital on Wednesday or Thursday and will have a medical flight back to Britain where he should complete his recovery at home. He also broke his right collarbone. Considering his serious concussion he is not expected to race again for a couple of months.

Pedrosa Just 0.051 Seconds From Pole at Jerez. The sun-blessed Spanish crowd got what they came for at Jerez today – Spaniards first and second fastest for tomorrow’s Spanish Grand Prix, round three of the 2009 MotoGP World Championship. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) led much of the 45-minute session and was happy enough with his final position – second quickest, just 0.051 seconds off compatriot Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha).

Conditions were warm but very blustery this afternoon, Pedrosa nonetheless building on a successful morning session during which he completed an ultra-quick run which gave him the fastest free practice time. Pedrosa wasn’t the only Honda rider to feature well in the qualifying outing. Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V) also spent much of the session close to the front, ending the 45 minutes fifth overall. Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V) went well too, but struggled in the wind and had to be happy with a third row start, alongside Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V).

Pedrosa made crucial overnight improvements to his RC212V set-up and his speed throughout today’s sessions suggests he will be at the sharp end of the action tomorrow. Pedrosa’s Jerez MotoGP record is impressive – runner-up in 2006 and 2007 and a dominant winner last year. Despite suffering knee and wrist injuries during testing in March, Honda’s former 125 and 250 World Champion kickstarted his 2009 season with an impressive third-place finish in last Sunday’s Japanese GP.

De Puniet rode superbly throughout the afternoon session, running a strong race pace on harder-compound race tires after fine tuning his RC212V’s power delivery. On softer tires at the end of the 45 minutes he went fifth fastest. The Frenchman believes he can make the top six tomorrow.

Dovizioso had high hopes of a great qualifying performance but the windy conditions hampered his efforts to refine the set-up of his RC212V. Like many riders the Italian sometimes had to fight to stay in control when gusts of winds threatened to cause him to crash, most notably at the very end of the session when he was going for a fast time through the fast corners at the end of the lap. Dovizioso’s aim for tomorrow is straightforward – to improve on the fifth-place finishes he achieved in the opening two races in Qatar and Japan.

Elias has had a challenging start to his 2009 season but the local star is confident that he has now found a good direction with his factory-spec RC212V. The Spaniard has got his RCV working well here, his best lap this afternoon just four tenths slower than fourth-placed reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi (Yamaha).

The wind may have disturbed many riders today but Yuki Takahashi (Scot Honda) preferred to look on the bright side – at least conditions were better than they were in Japan, where torrential rain forced the cancellation of qualifying. Rookie Takahashi needs all the dry time he can get to keep moving forward aboard his RC212V.

Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) had a difficult day, the San Marino rider falling victim to the blustery winds. De Angelis fell when a strong gust of wind knocked him off line as he attacked a fast corner. Battered and bruised, he ended the session in 15th spot and will probably need painkilling therapy for a leg injury before tomorrow’s race.

The 250 qualifying session was even more frantic than the MotoGP qualifier, with the windy conditions causing bigger problems for the lightweight machines. There were several fallers, including Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT-SAG). Reigning World Champion Marco Simoncelli (Gilera) also fell, his second tumble of the day.

Following his brilliant ride to second at Motegi last Sunday, Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Honda) led the early stages of the session but struggled to maintain position in the blowy conditions. He will start from sixth on the grid, three places in front of Hector Faubel (Valencia CF – Honda SAG) who missed the second row by just 0.027 seconds. Raffaele De Rosa (Scot Honda) was 12th, one place ahead of Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT-SAG) who was taken to the Clinica Mobile after a fall at the hairpin.

MotoGP:

Second fastest Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) said:
“I’m happy because we’ve improved a lot from yesterday and we’re starting from the front row. This is always important – but especially at my home race. It was very windy this afternoon which made it quite difficult to ride with a consistent line and keep the rhythm, but still, my pace was good and I’ll go into the race with a lot of confidence. We still have some work to do to improve our set-up but I’m happy with how we’ve progressed so far this weekend. Tomorrow is the important day though. There will be a lot of fans out there supporting me and the team and I really hope I can get a good result for them. If I get a start like I did at Motegi then that will help!”

Fifth fastest Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) said:
“At the beginning of the session we ran with our race set-up and I am happy with that because we improved the engine mapping for better power delivery. Then, for the last few runs, we lapped on softer tires to improve our grid position, but that was difficult due to the strong winds. It was not easy to do one perfect lap and I made a few small mistakes as the wind pushed me outside and inside, but this second row makes me very happy. The team did a good job and we improved the bike step by step. Honestly, I aim to get a top-six finish tomorrow. We have a good chance to do it because we start from the second row and our package is pretty competitive.”

Eighth fastest Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) said:
“It has been a tricky session for everybody because it was really windy and this meant we couldn’t confirm some set-up improvements that we were testing. This morning we made some adjustments that gave us some positive feedback, and we wanted to keep working on them, but we couldn’t test properly this afternoon because of the strong wind. Still, we improved our race pace which is very important, it’s just a pity that we will start from the third row. I think I could have been on the second row but during my best lap I lost the front in T4 and I almost crashed. Tomorrow morning we will work on further improving the feeling of mid-corner stability at the front. For the race I’ll have to make a good start because we cannot afford to lose contact with the guys in front.”

Ninth fastest Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini) said:
“I think tomorrow could be a good race for me and I’m really looking forward to it. We’ve improved, not as much as we’d like yet but at least this small step allows me to dream of getting involved in the fight with a faster group or riders, closer to the front. I got a bad start to the races in Qatar and Japan so we’ve worked on that today because I think it could be the key to a good result tomorrow. I’m going to have to ride on the limit if I want to make up positions like I have done in past races here but the closer you are to the limit the higher the risk of a mistake, which would be expensive. Hopefully I won’t make any because I really want a good result here – for myself, for the team and especially for the fans because they give us so much here and it would be nice to be able to pay them back somehow.”

13th fastest Yuki Takahashi (Scot Honda) said:
“I’m quite happy. Good weather all the two days – great. It was windy, but wind is not such a problem as rain is. This morning I found a good setting, and we modified it just slightly in the afternoon. There was not enough time to do a long run, but I did my best lap running alone, and this means that that is a realistic pace.”

15th fastest Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) said:
“I’m disappointed with the crash and with the grid position. I just didn’t feel confident from the start of the session this afternoon after having made decent progress this morning and we need to study the telemetry to understand why. I’m struggling on the softer tire and I’m actually in better shape in race trim. I was coming through one of the fast corners towards the end of the lap when I was hit by a huge gust of wind. I tried to lean the bike over more to counter it but the front folded and I went down. It was quite a heavy fall and I’m not feeling too great right now. I also took a blow to my leg but it’s nothing a painkiller can’t solve.”

250cc:

Sixth fastest Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Honda) said.
“We worked very hard, but for some reason it did not pay off today. Other riders have been able to adapt better to the conditions. The wind was strong and it disturbed me a lot.”

Ninth fastest Hector Faubel (Valencia CF – Honda SAG) said:
“The bike is really good here – the engine is perfect, the rear end if perfect, it’s just the front end we need to work on, but I think much of our front-end problems come from the wind. The wind gets under the bike going into corners and I keep tucking the front. Despite this I am sure we can stay in front, fighting with the top guys. I need a good start and must not lose touch with the front group.”

12th fastest Raffaele De Rosa (Scot Honda) said:
“At the end, with new tires, I could ride faster better, but I had to brake and slow down because I ran into some heavy traffic. We still need to improve our set-up to make the bike better with used tires because in this condition, we are not as good as we should be. Today it was very windy, especially in a couple of places, it made difficult to race at the maximum.”

13th fastest Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT-SAG) said:
“I was riding very well behind Simoncelli, and I thought I could do a 1m 43.5s when something happened to the bike in one of the corners. The back end came around, I let go of the bike and landed on my left foot. The ankle is badly bruised and it hurts a lot, but hopefully there is nothing broken and I can go out tomorrow to race.”

17th fastest Shoya Tomizawa (Team CIP Honda) said:
“There was too much wind out there today! This track is already quite narrow, but with the wind it seemed even narrower, it was not easy to keep your line. We made a few minor suspension changes today and the bike is coming better. It is not easy for us in these kind of conditions, because this is only my second visit here, so we don’t have a lot of data to use for the race.”

22th fastest Bastien Chesaux (Racing Team Germany Honda) said:
“This morning’s free practice and then the qualifying session went better than yesterday. But I still have the same problem with not so good rear tire grip, mainly when I accelerate. Today I was able to go one second faster, but I still have to work hard. Tomorrow I will try to find a new line on the track to win more time.”

Lorenzo flying high in front of home fans after fifth MotoGP pole

Man-of-the-moment Jorge Lorenzo put in a blistering qualifying display at his home race in Jerez this afternoon to take his fifth pole with Yamaha in MotoGP. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi meanwhile qualified fourth on a blustery afternoon in Andalucia.

It was Lorenzo’s second consecutive pole at this track, having taken the top grid spot this time last year before finishing the race third. After last weekend’s win in Motegi the Mallorcan was disappointed to run into a few difficulties yesterday but all that was reversed today with a few set-up changes and the youngster hit form in style, setting a string of fastest laps this afternoon and looking happily in tune with his Yamaha M1 and Bridgestone tires. The only rider to get close to him was fellow countryman Dani Pedrosa, who qualified second to set up a mouth-watering Spanish showdown for the partisan 120,000-strong crowd in tomorrow’s race.

Rossi looked the man to beat yesterday but was unable to replicate a similar pace today, struggling to find the same feeling in the windy conditions. The reigning World Champion put in his best lap at the end of the session but was unable to knock Casey Stoner off the outside of the front row and will have to settle for starting at the head of the second tomorrow, directly behind his team-mate.

Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 1Time: 1′38.933Laps: 21
“It’s amazing to have the pole position here again, in my home country. Riding at this track is extra special for a Spanish rider and I felt a great motivation today. Yesterday we had some problems and I was a bit worried but we have worked well in the team and today we managed to resolve everything so that I could ride my Yamaha just how I wanted to. I felt very comfortable and I hope that this will be the same for the race. We’re starting in the best possible position; I know it will be hard tomorrow because everyone is close but I feel confident that we can fight to be on the podium again, as at the last two races. I hope it’s a bit less windy tomorrow though!”

Valentino Rossi – Position: 4Time: 1′39.642Laps: 21
“I’m a bit unhappy because we had a few problems and it actually hasn’t been such a good day, it was also very windy which made it more difficult! Yesterday we were very fast from the start and we hoped to keep going like this today but we have lost some feeling and now I can’t ride and push how I want to. At the moment I am not happy with the setting for the race and we need to work hard to understand the situation and try to improve it because we must be stronger tomorrow. Now we will make a long meeting and try to find some solution to try for the warm-up tomorrow.”

Daniele Romagnoli – Team Manager – 99
“We couldn’t ask for more than this as far as a qualifying performance goes! The team did a great job to fix yesterday’s problems and give Jorge a bike that enabled him to have a good pace for race conditions and also allowed him to be very, very fast for his flying laps this afternoon. It’s going to be a close race tomorrow because the top riders are all fast but we are confident that we can make it a good one for us.”

Davide Brivio – Team Manager – 46
“Missing out on the first row means that tomorrow’s race will be a bit more difficult in the early stages. Our race pace and rhythm are not so bad but we still need to make some adjustments because our potential is a lot better than this. We have to make Valentino more comfortable so that he can ride how he wants to, so now our engineers will study the data and look to come up with something to improve the setting.”

Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup – Jerez Race 1 – May 2nd

A rather too sensational start to the 2009 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup season saw Sturla Fagerhaug claim victory even though he crashed heavily and was half a lap behind the leading pack. The 17 year old Norwegian benefited from a restart following a 2 rider crash and pulled through to win an incredible 6 lap race 2 ahead of Mathew Scholtz and Danny Kent.

It was 16 year old South African Scholtz who rocketed away from the initial start into a 5 second lead only to run off the track when the extremely blustery wind took his front wheel away. He regained the track to cross the line 8th as the race was stopped. Featuring strongly in the first race and thus lining up for the restart in 2nd place the 15 year old Briton Kent was in the hunt for the win again after the restart.

Fagerhaug lined up at the back of the grid but with Scholtz unable to make the break-away that he did first time the battle that the South African had with 16 year old Frenchman Nelson Major and the rest of a 10 man lead pack slowed the race pace. That was all the help that Fagerhaug needed and he charged through.

Outbraking 2 or 3 riders a time into some corners Fagerhaug was unstoppable and finally stole the lead on the last lap. “When I crashed in the first day I thought it was going to be the worst day of my life. I couldn’t believe it when the race was restarted but you never want to see anyone get hurt so none of us were happy about it.”

“I’d made such a mess of the first start when I let out the clutch and the rear tyre slid sideways I just made sure I didn’t do it again. I was determined to get some good points and I saw the pack was not getting away. I started to realise that I really could get a good result but I never thought of winning it until the last lap when I saw I could do it,” concluded Fagerhaug.

It was the nasty fall of 15 year old Briton Harry Stafford that stopped the first race. He was right in the battle for the lead when the bike slid suddenly and highsided him right in front of the following pack, the front wheel of Florian Marino’s bike clipped the fallen rider and the 15 year old Frenchman also went down. Marino walked away but Stafford was taken by ambulance to hospital with a broken collarbone and severe concussion.

Scholtz had good reason not to try and repeat his attempted run-away in the restarted race. “The wind got under my bike and pushed the front wheel away in the first race. It was even worse after the restart and I had to make sure it didn’t happen again. I couldn’t believe it when Sturla caught us. One minute I looked behind and Danny was there then suddenly on the last lap… it was Sturla.”

Scholtz actually thought that the board said it was the second to last lap as did Kent. “I thought there was another lap to go,” said the Briton. “Still it was a great race and I’ll just have to see if I can go and win the race tomorrow.”

Fourth man home and strongly featuring throughout the two races was 14 year old Swede Alex Kristiansson. “I enjoyed myself so much, I really had fun. I wanted to get on the podium but it didn’t work out on the last lap, I’ll have to do it tomorrow.”

Similarly hoping for a better result in Sunday’s race, pole man Daijiro Hiura ended Saturday with no points as he crashed after pulling through to second following a mediocre start in the first race. “The wind was so hard, it just took my front wheel away,” explained the 14 year old Japanese who was unable to restart because of the damage to his KTM RC125.

Edwards secures seventh, Toseland 14th in hot Jerez

Colin Edwards rode his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine to a brilliant seventh place in today’s Spanish MotoGP qualifying session at a sun-drenched Jerez circuit. A thrilling 45-minute session run in sunny but breezy conditions saw American Edwards post a best time of 1.39.926 in the final minute to claim a place on the third row of the grid for tomorrow’s 27-lap race.

The 35-year-old encountered some small front-end grip issues this afternoon but was only 0.5s away from a front row start in an exciting session, the top seven riders split by less than a second. Edwards is confident he can be a strong contender in tomorrow’s race having set a consistently fast pace throughout practice on his YZR-M1 machine.

British rider James Toseland had a frustrating afternoon, a best lap of 1.40.670 leaving the 28-year-old in 14th on the grid for the first European race of 2009. Toseland is still searching for a comfortable set-up on his Yamaha YZR-M1 machine. He’s confident he can run a much faster pace in the race with his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew working tirelessly to improve his feeling.

Tomorrow’s race will carry extra importance for the Tech 3 Team, with Monster Energy President Mark Hall making a special visit to the Spanish MotoGP race, which is traditionally one of the showpiece events on the calendar.

Colin Edwards 7th 1.39.926 – 20 laps
“I was really happy with the bike this morning. I was able to run a fast and consistent pace that only the top three were able to better. But we changed a couple of things on the bike for qualifying and it was the wrong direction unfortunately. Those changes probably cost me a place on the second row. I kept tucking the front and that has never happened before on Bridgestone. I’ve not had the front move on me once since I first tried Bridgestone back in November. The front tire is magic but for some reason I wasn’t comfortable this afternoon. We’ll just revert back to the set-up we had this morning for the race because I had no issues at all really. I’m still confident for the race. It is going to be hot and tire endurance will be crucial as always. I did nine laps on the hard compound and it was spinning but it always does that. It’s just how you manage it from that point and I think the setting we had this morning and yesterday will be fine. I’m determined to put on a good show for Mark Hall from Monster Energy and my guys at Tech 3 who have been working hard to give me a good bike as always.”

James Toseland 14th 1.40.670 – 19 laps
“It has been a frustrating day. We have been working a lot on the bike and when we cure one problem we create another. That session was almost like a test than a qualifying session and it is frustrating because I feel like I can definitely run the pace around the top six. I’m just trying to find a compromise between good braking stability and acceleration exiting corners. We seem to improve in one area but then sacrifice something in another area. My pace wasn’t too bad on the hard compound race tire, so if I can get a good start and get away with the pack in front I’m sure I can have a good race and be in there fighting. We’ll definitely be working hard tonight to improve for the race. I’ll be giving it my all as always and hope to show Mark Hall how strong the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team is.”

Valentino Rossi signalled his intent for a return to the top of the podium with a commanding performance in free practice today, (yesterday) topping the time sheets at a sun-soaked Jerez de la Frontera. Jorge Lorenzo, making a triumphant return to home soil following his victory in Japan last weekend, finished the session in fourth.

After the bad weather at the last two rounds the paddock breathed a sigh of relief today to see blue skies and Spanish sunshine and the Fiat Yamaha Team riders were delighted to be riding in such conditions once again. Rossi, who currently lies one point behind his team-mate in the championship standings, made a few changes to his base setting and reaped the rewards immediately, finishing 0.364 seconds ahead of his compatriot Loris Capirossi.

Having been consistently fast at the test here in March, Lorenzo was expecting to make a good start but the Mallorcan encountered a few unexpected problems in acceleration and wasn’t able to match the pace of his team-mate. He will be looking to considerably reduce the gap to the Italian tomorrow during the second practice and qualifying sessions.

Valentino Rossi – Position: 1stTime: 1′39.647Laps: 21
“Today there’s no prize, like at the test here, but anyway it’s really good for our work to start in such a positive way. During the first two races we’ve had a couple of small problems and today we made a change in our setting in order to improve things and straight away we could see it was working. I could ride how I wanted with both the soft Bridgestone tire and the hard one, and I was the fastest for the whole session. It’s very hot today, which is for sure better than the rain of recent races but it means if it’s like this on Sunday then the race will be quite hard on the tires, so tomorrow we need to concentrate on refining our setting to help them as much as possible.”

Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 4thTime: 1′40.441Laps: 20
“It’s nice to be back in Spain and in the sunshine, but I am a bit disappointed about the day. I had a problem at the start with my helmet and we were delayed to go out on track. Once I got started I felt good with the soft Bridgestone tire, but when we tried the hard one later we had a few problems and the bike didn’t feel completely stable. Tomorrow we need to come back to a different setting and I hope things will be better.”

Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“This has been a very good opening session! We focused on trying a few different settings with the bike and looking at improving the overall balance based on our experience from the first two races, and it looks like we’ve found something good. We will continue to evaluate this tomorrow and hopefully we will then be set for the race.”

Daniele Romagnoli – Team Manager
“The session was not so bad but we encountered a few small problems that we didn’t expect, in acceleration. Now we need to compare the data with that from the test and we are quite confident that tomorrow we can fix these problems and be back to our recent form.”

Hiura leads global tussle in Spain

A thrilling two sessions of qualifying for the first Red Bull Rookies MotoGP Cup race of the year ended with Daijiro Hiura on pole for Saturday and Sunday’s races in Jerez, Spain. The 14 year old Japanese just held off the challenges of Mathew Scholtz, the 16 year old South African and French 15 year old Florian Marino. It is Alex Kristiansson, the 15 year old Swede who completes the globe-wide front row.

“I am very happy with that,” said Hiura with his characteristic grin. “I was not so happy that I crashed in the first qualifying when another rider suddenly slowed in front of me but I wasn’t hurt and I really enjoyed the second session. The bike is working well and I can’t wait for the race, I want to win.”

Scholtz is also keen to get on with the competition. “I think we’ve got a good race set-up, we changed a few things during the day and I experimented with some different lines, I was concentrating on getting things right for the race and not worrying too much about the lap time. I might have gone a little faster.”

Another who saw working on bike set-up pay off was Marino. “I had quite a lot of front end chatter at the start of the second session and I came into the pits and Rob, the WP guy, adjusted the front. It fixed it completely and I really enjoyed myself then, so I think it could be a good race too.”

There were those for whom practice did not go so well. “I just made a silly mistake,” said Sturla Fagerhaug, who crashed in the first qualifying and damaged the bike so that he could take no part in the second session. “I was going for a quick lap and just missed my braking marker completely,” admitted the 17 year old Norwegian with typical frank honesty. “I should have just run off but I tried to get into the corner and lost the front. I’m just fed up with myself and I know I’ve got a lot to make up for in the race. They should put the on-bike camera with me, it’s going to be exciting.”

The pre season favourite lines up on the 3rd row in 10th place with some stiff opposition ahead of him. One of those is 16 year old Frenchman Nelson Major, who was second fastest in the first qualifying but then crashed and missed the second to end up 5th. “I don’t know what happened, I got on the gas but there was no slide, no warning, it just threw me off. I’m OK though and I still think I can have a great race.”

Another to watch is 15 year old Briton Danny Kent, who was 4th fastest in the first session but slipped to 7th in the second. “It was strange, there was something wrong with the front in the second session, the front tire, the suspension, we don’t know, the guys are checking now. As long as that is sorted I think we are in good shape for the race. Another Brit on the second row is 15 year old Harry Stafford and alongside them the 16 year old Czech Jakub Kornfeil.

Fastest of the Americans is Benny Solis, the Red Bull AMA U.S. Cup holder, in 18th place but the 14 year old Californian is expecting more from the race. “We got the bike so that the front is perfect but the rear is moving around a bit in the fast corners and that loses time. We are going to try and fix that then I think it will make a difference and I can get going a bit more in the race.”

With the first race of the season run on Saturday and the second on Sunday the Rookies Cup kicks off in style in front of the huge Jerez crowd. There is now an even bigger audience as TV companies are picking up the race and everyone can watch it live at 16.20 CET Saturday and 15.30 Sunday on the Rookies Cup website www.redbullrookiescup.com