Mugello MotoGP Qualifying 2011

Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner became the man to beat on Saturday after taking the 27th pole position of his career at the Mugello circuit. The Aussie posted a lightning-fast lap of 1'48.034 during the first 30 minutes of qualifying before weather ruined the final half of the hour-long session.

"After the two sessions yesterday and also in FP3 this morning, we weren't too happy with the set up we had, so we were looking to utilize all of this afternoon's session," Stoner said. "However, we made some changes to my second bike, which I made my fastest lap on and we've come out with a fantastic bike."
 
Stoner went on to outpace Yamaha’s Ben Spies as the American was nearly half a second off the pace. San Carlo Honda’s Marco Simoncelli will round out the front row for Sunday’s race after earning third on the grid, the Italian finishing just 0.006 seconds behind Spies in the timesheet to secure an excellent start at his home race.

“Everybody only got about ten laps in this afternoon, we only used one set of tires so we have plenty for tomorrow," Spies said. "We’re pretty confident we know which rubber we want to use after the qualifying session. I wish we could have had the whole hour in the dry but there you go, it was the same for everyone. We think we can make the bike a bit better for the race so we’ll work on it and I’m looking forward to challenging for the podium.”
 
Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso snagged a spot at the top of the second row after taking his fastest lap of 1'48.694. Just 0.062 seconds behind the Italian was Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo, who set a lap record during Free Practice earlier on Saturday but was more than half a second slower during qualifying. The defending champ was trailed by Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Colin Edwards, who will start from the second row after grabbing the sixth-fastest lap.

“I've been riding pretty good this morning," said Lorenzo. "The bike has been working well but at the end in qualifying I couldn't improve. It is very complicated riding in wet conditions and the pole has been for the rider who took more risks. It's a shame because I hoped for more! My aim is to try to be in front. For this it's important to get a good start." 
 
Edwards’ teammate, Cal Crutchlow, missed the second row by 0.047 seconds and was the final rider to come within a second of Stoner’s time. Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa claimed eighth in the charts, followed by Ducati’s Nicky Hayden and Mapfre Aspar Ducati’s Hector Barbera in ninth and tenth, respectively.
 
Once again Ducati’s Valentino Rossi was well off the lead pace. The Italian finished the session in 12th more than 1.8 seconds behind Stoner, and will have to start the race from the back of Row 4.

Mugello MotoGP Qualifying Results 2011:
1. Casey Stoner (Honda) 1'48.034
2. Ben Spies (Yamaha) 1'48.479
3. Marco Simoncelli (Honda) 1'48.485
4. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) 1'48.694
5. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1'48.756
6. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 1'48.974
7. Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) 1'49.021
8. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1'49.398
9. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) 1'49.509
10. Hector Barbera (Ducati) 1'49.663
11. Karel Abraham (Ducati) 1'49.678
12. Valentino Rossi (Ducati) 1'49.902
13. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda) 1'50.156
14. Alvaro Bautista (Suzuki) 1'50.460
15. Randy de Puniet (Ducati) 1'50.651
16. Toni Elias (Honda) 1'50.742

Moto2
 
Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol’s Marc Marquez claimed his second pole victory of the season in Moto2 at Mugello under wet conditions. The Catalan rider remained at the top of the timesheets throughout most of the session regardless of the conditions to beat out JiR Moto2’s Alex de Angelis by 0.585 seconds and Tech 3 Racing’s Bradley Smith by more than a second. Meanwhile, Tech 3 B’s Xavier Simeon had to settle for the second row after earning fourth on the grid 0.140 seconds behind Smith.
 
GP Team Switzerland Kiefer Racing’s Randy Krummenacher and HP Tuenti Speed Up’s Pol Espargaro nabbed the fifth- and sixth-best times. Viessmann Kiefer Racing’s Stefan Bradl appeared to have pole position in his pocket until his bike slowed in the middle of a hot lap, forcing the German back to seventh in the timesheets. Ioda Racing Project’s Mattia Pasini had the best time at the halfway mark, but eventually finished eighth in the charts with Marc VDS Racing’s Mika Kallio rounding out Row 3 in ninth.

Mugello Moto2 Qualifying Results 2011:
1. Marc Marquez (Suter) 2'05.312
2. Alex de Angelis (Motobi) 2'05.897
3. Bradley Smith (Tech 3) 2'06.617
4. Xavier Simeon (Tech 3) 2'06.757
5. Randy Krummenacher (Kalex) 2'06.941
6. Pol Espargaro (FTR) 2'06.963
7. Stefan Bradl (Kalex) 2'07.013
8. Mattia Pasini (FTR) 2'07.023
9. Mika Kallio (Suter) 2'07.147
10. Anthony West (MZ-RE Honda) 2'07.249
11. Esteve Rabat (FTR) 2'07.549
12. Robertino Pietri (Suter) 2'07.612
13. Kenan Sofuoglu (Suter) 2'07.692
14. Andrea Iannone (Suter) 2'07.728
15. Yuki Takahashi (Moriwaki) 2'07.780