Pedrosa pips Lorenzo to Misano pole position

Round 13: San Marino and Rimini Grand Prix – Qualifying Practice

Dani Pedrosa will start on pole position for tomorrow’s San Marino and Rimini Grand Prix after the Repsol Honda rider set a time of 1’33.857 to qualify 0.018 seconds ahead of his main title rival Jorge Lorenzo.

• Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium, Hard. Rear: Medium, Hard (Asymmetric)
• Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Hard (Main), Soft (Alternative)
• Weather: FP3 – Wet. Ambient 20-19°C; Track 17-18°C (Bridgestone measurement)
• QP – Dry. Ambient 23-23°C; Track 31-31°C (Bridgestone measurement)

Pedrosa set his benchmark time on his penultimate lap using the harder front and softer rear slicks; the most popular tyre combination during the session. Starting alongside Pedrosa and Lorenzo on the front row will be Monster Yamaha Tech3’s Cal Crutchlow who was third quickest in qualifying, while the top CRT qualifier was Power Electronics Aspar’s Randy de Puniet who posted the twelfth best time.

The poor weather that plagued the first three sessions of the weekend lifted in time for qualifying, with the track temperature reaching a peak of 31°C during the afternoon. Track conditions improved throughout the one hour qualifying session, but the lack of dry setup time and rubber on the tarmac meant lap times were slower than expected.

Tomorrow’s Warm Up session at 0940 local time (GMT +2) will give the teams and riders a final opportunity to work on a setup for the race which commences at 1400.

Masao Azuma – Chief Engineer, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department

“Yesterday’s weather forecast proved to be accurate, with the morning drizzle clearing allowing the qualifying session to be run in dry conditions. The dry track for qualifying meant teams had their first chance this weekend to work on a dry setup for the race, though track conditions were still not at their best due to the earlier rain. With limited time to find a dry setup, most riders selected the same tyre combination for qualifying that was widely used at last year’s race; the softer rear slick combined with the harder front slick. This combination gives the best edge of rear edge grip for better drive out of corners combined with better cornering and braking stability at the front.”

source: www.bridgestonemotorsport.com, bsmotorsport.com