Today’s MotoGP qualifying session at Misano was all about Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo, but Dani Pedrosa could put a wrench in the plans that these two have, if he finds that extra little something for his race pace.

For the rest of the riders, it’ll be about tire choice and management, fuel consumption for the heavier riders and if the weather decides to dump a bucketful of rain on the Italian circuit which could change everything around, while some would have liked to borrow Valentino Rossi’s new WTF helmet.

Here’s what all the riders had to say after qualifying:

Casey Stoner - 1st

It’s been a pretty good weekend for us here, steadily improving the bike each session. We struggled a little with the hard tyre this afternoon, trying to find the correct balance but then we made an improvement and got the bike feeling better. Then when we put the soft tyres on, we got a great lap in but the bike wasn’t working too well in the front, which is something we need to improve for tomorrow. It will be a tough race, Dani and Jorge are both running very well so I’ll try to get a good start but there are a few more overtaking opportunities here at Misano, it’s not a track with only one line. The weekend on a whole is going well, tomorrow we’ll have to decide on tyres depending on what the weather is doing, hopefully it will cool down a little which would be nice!”

Jorge Lorenzo - 2nd

“Today has been a good day for us. We wanted pole position but the first row is a good start for tomorrow. We have tried some things today and in QP we could almost always be in front. The bike is very good after all the great work of my crew and we have a fast pace. I think we can be competitive tomorrow and try to finish in front of Casey so that’s our aim. The weather conditions are being very tough this weekend, it might even rain tomorrow. The race will be very difficult in all aspects.”

Dani Pedrosa - 3rd

“We were working on tyres a lot this afternoon and in the last couple of laps I was pushing to be on the front row.We’ve made it, which is very important here because the first corners are very tight, and the times between the three of us are very close, so that’s positive. For race pace, Casey and Jorge are still slightly faster than me, but we will look for something more on the settings tonight and try to be with them tomorrow for whole race”.

Ben Spies - 4th

“It was honestly a lot tougher than expected this afternoon. I wasn’t really happy with it We’re trying a lot of stuff with the bike and I don’t feel all that bad riding wise, we just don’t have the right setting yet and we’re not comfortable at a few spots on the track. Some are really good, some are really bad. We had to ride way over the limit to be where we were today. I’m glad we got it done and got on the second row but I’m not happy about how many risks I had to take to get there. The bike’s there, we can see it, Jorge’s going fast and I feel good, we just have to get my setting comfortable. We’ve got all night to work on it and see what we can do for tomorrow. “

Marco Simoncelli - 5th

“I am quite strong here, but we need to be stronger because the front three are extremely fast. However, I am confident because I think I can be fighting with Spies and Dovizioso. We will make some more slight changes to the setting in the morning and try to improve it under braking. I’m sure with a harder front compound I would have had fewer problems, but this is the situation and we have to adapt. As for fuel consumption, which was our biggest worry yesterday, we have improved today and should be able to finish the race.”

Andrea Dovizioso - 6th

“Our target was to start from the first two rows, so the final result is not too bad. Tomorrow it will crucial to make a good start and try to stay with the front riders. Casey and Lorenzo are really strong and Dani is very fast off the start so it will be important to stay with them if we want to gain some points on Lorenzo and control Dani. We will continue working but the good point is that we are more competitive in the race pace than in using the soft compound for the qualifying. With these high temperatures and humidity the race will be really tough tomorrow. I hope that the Italian spectators will give me an extra boost”.

Colin Edwards - 7th

“I’m really happy with today and it was a shame all our hard work didn’t quite get us on the second row. We knew what the problems were yesterday and we changed the geometry on the front-end to create some stability through the high-speed sections. Once again I got to say a big thanks to my Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew because they rolled out an awesome bike for me. There’s not much between fourth and seventh and to be just over a tenth behind Ben (Spies) on the factory Yamaha proves what a good job we’ve done. I’m now looking forward to the race tomorrow. I’ve got to be looking at the top six though it is not going to be easy at all when you look at the calibre of those guys in front of me and the bikes they are riding.”

Álvaro Bautista - 8th

“This morning we made some changes to the gearbox, but after the practice we switched back to the settings from yesterday. In the qualifying I started with the harder tyre in the hot conditions to see if it worked well. It was not too bad, but the exit from the corner with hard gas caused me to slide and go wide. We changed to the softer rear we had been using in the morning and I had a good feeling with that compound, and could ride mid 34s all the time. At the end, I couldn’t make a best lap because there was a bit of traffic and some slower riders that I couldn’t get past, so I lost the chance to make a good lap-time. I think we have a good set-up for tomorrow and the grid position is even better than last week, so if I get a good start I think I can push right up there. I want to stay with the front guys for the maximum amount of time as possible and make a race and get a result like Indy – or even better!”

Hector Barbera - 9th

“Things don’t happen by accident. We are setting fast laps times because we have been doing a good job over the last few races. The bike is working well, we have hardly touched it and I am just focused on getting the most out of my riding because I am comfortable with this setting. My pace on used tyres is in the high 1’34s and that should be the case for the race tomorrow. I did every lap alone and on used rubber, setting similar lap times to Stoner last year. I have lots of targets, one of which is to improve my starts and my pace over the opening laps. I think that is the key to the race – from there on I think we have the pace to finish quite high up the order. I haven’t gone into a race with such clear ideas as this before so we have to make the most of it.”

Hiroshi Aoyama - 10th

”I am satisfied that we have made notable progress – my only disappointment that I couldn’t put the perfect lap together to break onto the third row. I have my confidence back with the bike and my physical condition is much better. Starting from tenth place makes me think I can have a good race because my pace is quite good.”
“This morning we made some changes to the gearbox, but after the practice we switched back to the settings from yesterday. In the qualifying I started with the harder tyre in the hot conditions to see if it worked well. It was not too bad, but the exit from the corner with hard gas caused me to slide and go wide. We changed to the softer rear we had been using in the morning and I had a good feeling with that compound, and could ride mid 34s all the time. At the end, I couldn’t make a best lap because there was a bit of traffic and some slower riders that I couldn’t get past, so I lost the chance to make a good lap-time. I think we have a good set-up for tomorrow and the grid position is even better than last week, so if I get a good start I think I can push right up there. I want to stay with the front guys for the maximum amount of time as possible and make a race and get a result like Indy – or even better!”

Valentino Rossi - 11th

“Today went a bit better. We changed the setup a little compared to yesterday, and then we stuck with that, making small steps. There were no longer parts of the track where I lost a lot of time compared to the others, as we reached a steady level around the entire lap, although of course we’re still not as fast as we’d like to be. I was a little unfortunate on what would have been my fast lap, because after three good sectors, I came upon De Puniet going slow in the final hairpin before the last two left-handers, and there alone I lost half a second. Otherwise I could have done a 1:34.0 and started from the third row, which is what we had set out to do. Anyway, I’m not too bad in terms of pace, so we’ll see what we can do in the race tomorrow.”

Karel Abraham - 12th

“I’m satisfied with the result of the qualifying practice. Of course, it could be even better, but I am glad that the gap between me and the riders in front of me isn’t too big. We used a combination of the hard rear tire and soft front from the first free practice and it works well. We will make some adjustments on the set-up of the motorcycle tomorrow and then we’ll see.”

Cal Crutchlow - 13th

“The position on the timesheets looks like it was a bad session and it could definitely have ended a lot better- without the two crashes. But this morning, I was a second faster than yesterday and felt really comfortable on the bike after we made some overnight changes to improve the front. I think I was eighth on the timesheets when I had the first crash, so I know I could have been in the top 10 on the grid. The first crash, I’d just gone out on my first soft rear and there wasn’t enough heat in it, so it high-sided me and then turned into a low-side. It wasn’t a big problem and we put a new soft rear tyre in the spare bike. But the only front I had left was 25-laps old. I was on for a really good lap and the front pushed because it had close to race distance on it and I crashed again. That’s pretty annoying but they were both my mistakes and I hold my hands up for that. I’m still positive that I can be inside the top 10 tomorrow. I need to apologise to my Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew for giving them a bit of work, but it makes me more determined to give them a decent result tomorrow.”

Randy De Puniet - 14th

“I’m dissatisfied with how things went: I fell on the eighth lap when I was going quite well, maybe on my way to a very good time. I wasn’t able to find the same feeling on the second bike, especially with the front. We made additional changes, but there wasn’t enough time left for me to improve my time. I very well could have started from the third row, but unfortunately the early fall hurt my qualifying session a lot.”

Nicky Hayden - 15th

“This morning wasn’t bad to start with. I had used tyres from yesterday and was able to find a rhythm and do some decent laps. As has been the case lately though, things got worse in the afternoon. I was pushing the front, and I had a lot of front chatter, even with the soft tyres. It’s tough for Ducati here at their home, with the team trying hard and all the fans wanting to see us do something. I’ve got to believe the bike is better than fifteenth, so I’ve got to do a better job myself. It’s not the day we hoped for, and we’ll try to do better in the race tomorrow.”

Loris Capirossi - 16th

Today went the usual way: the final piece was missing. We’re all very close, and then when the time comes to cut away a tenth or so, I’m never able to do it, for different reasons. When I try to lower my time, I try to be more aggressive, but this bike doesn’t work with force. Instead, it becomes difficult to ride. It’s hard; I’ve been riding a certain way for 22 years, and changing now isn’t easy. We have a pretty good race pace, so tomorrow we’ll try to make some changes and see what happens.”

Toni Elias - 17th

“I am very frustrated and I can not believe I will start from the last spot on the grid on the circuit where I achieved good results in the past 4 years. This morning we have found a little adjustment which helped me to drive out of the corners and in this afternoon session we have been trying to improve rear suspension and chassis set. Basically we have been trying to improve the weight transfer loading the rear tyre to chase the correct temperature but we could not achieve what we were expecting and I am not comfortable with our overall package. Tomorrow I must take a good start trying to follow the group because I do not want to race alone because it’s gonna be very tough”.

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