Brno MotoGP: Pedrosa takes first pole of season

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) continued his dominant form at Brno to take his first pole position start of the season. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) was second fastest at the Czech circuit, whilst Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda), having led the early stages of the session, was unable to match Pedrosa’s pace and qualified in third.

Yamaha Factory rider Ben Spies leads the second row, qualifying fourth fastest, whilst both Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) upped their pace in the final minutes of the session to move into fifth and sixth respectively. The second row start is Rossi’s best qualifying result of the season so far.

Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso will start tomorrow’s race from seventh, ahead of Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) in eighth and ninth.

Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini) completes the top ten, leading Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Cal Crutchlow and Toni Elias (LCR Honda). Crutchlow crashed out of the session in the final fifteen minutes at turn ten in eighth and had to run back to the pits. Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) fell at the same corner moments later. Despite rejoining the session the Czech rider was unable to improve on seventeenth and will start tomorrow’s race from the back of the grid.

1. Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team Honda 298.0 1’56.591 
2. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 291.4 1’56.704 0.113 / 0.113
3. Casey Stoner Repsol Honda Team Honda 295.5 1’56.860 0.269 / 0.156
4. Ben Spies Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 289.3 1’57.178 0.587 / 0.318
5. Marco Simoncelli San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 291.5 1’57.351 0.760 / 0.173
6. Valentino Rossi Ducati Team Ducati 289.9 1’57.367 0.776 / 0.016
7. Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team Honda 295.6 1’57.442 0.851 / 0.075
8. Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 291.7 1’57.676 1.085 / 0.234
9. Nicky Hayden Ducati Team Ducati 289.4 1’57.721 1.130 / 0.045
10. Hiroshi Aoyama San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 294.8 1’57.784 1.193 / 0.063
11. Cal Crutchlow Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 290.9 1’57.797 1.206 / 0.013
12. Toni Elias LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 294.3 1’58.245 1.654 / 0.448
13. Hector Barbera Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP Ducati 295.6 1’58.273 1.682 / 0.028
14. Alvaro Bautista Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 295.6 1’58.274 1.683 / 0.001
15. Randy De Puniet Pramac Racing Team Ducati 289.2 1’58.889 2.298 / 0.615
16. Loris Capirossi Pramac Racing Team Ducati 290.0 1’58.938 2.347 / 0.049
17. Karel Abraham Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati 292.5 1’58.946 2.355 / 0.008