Laguna Qualifying

Past KRJR, I'm not sure who's got the speed to run up front. No one seems to be super quick consistently. This is just an observation I had but I think it's possible Nicky is sandbagging. I was watching FP2 and noticed that Melandri pulled up behind Nicky. Nicky never sat up no did he make it clear that he was letting off the gas but he slowed down quite a bit and let Melandri through. Throughout the session he was running low to mid 1.25s and then his last three laps were 1.24.3, 1.24.9, 1.24.1. I think he's holding back.

Melandri, Pedro and Vermeulen have looked very impressive thusfar and Tamada, Stoner and Elias have looked better than they have in the past few rounds.

I expected a bit more from Edwards but I think he will find his way to the fron by tomorrow afternoon. Not too sure about Rossi, he was right with Nicky through the whole session struggling to get into the mid to high 1.24s until Nicky dropped him and did a 1.24.1. You can never count out The Doctor, though. Hopper had a disappointing FP2, hopefully he can regroup and find the speed his teammate has found by tomorrow.

8

Now you know what its like for us in america the whole season.

....! Look at Roberts! Check out his top speed compared to Nicky`s.

And Pedrosa, dosen`t appear like he`s having a hell of a lot of trouble. Vermulen ahead of Stoner (The way it should be), and Cardoso slowest by nearly a second and a half. No surprises there. Kawa are struggling. Not good. Ducati aren`t too hot either. Bridgestone`s best hopes this weekend are clearly with Suzuki.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (richo @ Jul 22 2006, 10:54 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>And Pedrosa, dosen`t appear like he`s having a hell of a lot of trouble.

Didn't expect that either.......a pleasant surprise i should say. Shall see how he does in FP3 and QP.

I just had to see where Rossi was...P11. Last 3 races he's finished 10 places ahead of what he qualified. 11-10=?

rossi didn't use new tyres in the second session explains why his first session time was quickest. haydon used new tyres for his 1 lap to go top of the sheets.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (mstar @ Jul 22 2006, 11:14 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>rossi didn't use new tyres in the second session explains why his first session time was quickest. haydon used new tyres for his 1 lap to go top of the sheets.

I had a feeling it was something like that, or testing something that didn't work. That team has a way of finding the right recipie sooner or later so I expect him higer up today.

Pedrosa was the big surprice here. He was in the top allready on FP1. I guess we can count him in among the podium fighters.

Checa one behind Rossi for 3rd race running

Hayden for pole, KRJR on 3/3 with Edwards 5/6. I think Melandri and Pedrosa will also be up there fighting for the fornt row.. Rossi in his usual 10/11.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (richo @ Jul 21 2006, 09:54 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>....! Look at Roberts! Check out his top speed compared to Nicky`s.

And Pedrosa, dosen`t appear like he`s having a hell of a lot of trouble. Vermulen ahead of Stoner (The way it should be), and Cardoso slowest by nearly a second and a half. No surprises there. Kawa are struggling. Not good. Ducati aren`t too hot either. Bridgestone`s best hopes this weekend are clearly with Suzuki.
I believe that the top speed differential is because Hayden is the only rider to pin the throttle while cresting turn one. Everyone else backs off there and I would assume that is the section where they are reaching these speeds. Thus, a rather large difference in top speeds. Funny thing about that, I was watching live video yesterday with live timing up as well and despite Nicky being the only one to be pinned over turn one, he still struggled to put up a red helmet through T1, generally a few hundreths off.

Pedrosa has been very impressive, same for Vermeulen and Stoner. Ducati have been saying that the surface is not getting on with their bike/tire package and I haven't heard much from Kawasaki other than they're having trouble.

And you meant to say Cardoso is 3 seconds off the pace, right Richo? He's only 1.5 seconds behind 18th placed James Ellison.

definately shaping up to be a cracking race then! the rookies have done well in practise so hopefully they'll come good race day too

fp3 from superbikeplanet.com

1 Nicky Hayden Repsol Honda Team Honda RC211V 1:22.843
2 Kenny Roberts Jnr. Team Roberts KR211V 1:23.038
3 Casey Stoner Honda LCR Honda RC211V 1:23.248
4 Colin Edwards Camel Yamaha Team Yamaha YZR-M1 1:23.391
5 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team Honda RC211V 1:23.402
6 Marco Melandri Fortuna Honda Honda RC211V 1:23.556
7 Carlos Checa Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha YZR-M1 1:23.558
8 Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki GSV-R 1:23.665
9 John Hopkins Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki GSV-R 1:23.667
10 Valentino Rossi Camel Yamaha Team Yamaha YZR-M1 1:23.760
11 Loris Capirossi Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati Desmosedici GP-6 1:23.970
12 Toni Elias Fortuna Honda Honda RC211V 1:24.114
13 Shinya Nakano Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR 1:24.369
14 Sete Gibernau Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati Desmosedici GP-6 1:24.403
15 Makoto Tamada Konica Minolta Honda Honda RC211V 1:24.519
16 Randy De Puniet Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR 1:24.794
17 Alex Hofmann Team D'Antin Pramac Ducati Desmosedici GP-6 1:24.913
18 James Ellison Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha YZR-M1 1:24.936
19 Jose Luis Cardoso Team D'Antin Pramac Ducati Desmosedici GP-6 1:26.047


ENDS

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Dazza @ Jul 22 2006, 06:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>As a reminder,
UK Qualifying will be shown at 10PM tonight on Eurosport and MotoGP.com for those that have access.

yeah trying to get hold of my mate so i can go round and watch it. race is at the same time tomorrow so me and ben are getting the lads together for a few beers to watch it

For qualifying i'm going to predict:

1) Hayden
2) KRoberts
3) Pedrosa

rossi tried qualy tyre in the 3rd session but came straight back in the pits, looks like he was trying set-ups? for qualy i think he wants to qualy higher for laguna, vale doesn't usually use FP 3 as a qualy set-up session, so expect rossi to give all for qualy to try and get high up the grid asa possible. I think we need to monitor vales pace on used tyres for the first 45mins i think vale needs to match haydon on used tyres if he has a chance so i be monitoring his laptimes hehe

My number one rider, first in free practice. My number two rider, second. My team, 8th and 9th. This is pretty damn good so far.