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Sunday September 23, 3:47 AMMotorcycling: Pedrosa clinches Japanese MotoGP poleMOTEGI, Japan : Spain's Dani Pedrosa blazed to the MotoGP pole position on a Honda for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix at the Motegi track, a major proving ground for the Japanese marque.Pedrosa, who has won just one race this season, clinched his second pole position of the season by clocking 1min 45.864sec on the 4.8-kilometre Twin Ring Motegi in sun-drenched time trials on Saturday. Five-time world champion Valentino Rossi of Italy rode his Yamaha to the second starting position with a time of 1:46.255. Pedrosa's Repsol Honda teammate and reigning MotoGP champion Nicky Hayden of the United States was third in 1:46.575. MotoGP leader Casey Stoner of Australia, chasing his first world Grand Prix title for himself and Ducati, kept struggling with his bike and took the ninth starting position on the grid with a time of 1:47.121. The 21-year-old Stoner, in his second year in the premier class and his first with Ducati, is leading Rossi by 76 points in the standings with four races to go. Pedrosa, also 21 and who finished second behind Rossi at the last round in Spain a week earlier, has also dominated the three free practice sessions. "We tried to take the front row because it has been a long time since I sat there," said Pedrosa, who had also clocked the fastest qualifying time for the season-opening race in Qatar in March when he eventually finished third behind Stoner and Rossi. "Let's see if we can do well in the race too." Honda have struggled to adjust Michelin rubbers to the bike after rule changes which have reduced the engine capacity to 800cc from 990 and limited use of tyres. Ducati have made the most of the changes as they have successfully developed a fine package with Bridgestone rubbers. "It was a disaster yesterday," said Rossi, 28, who has won four races on Michelin-shod Yamahas against eight for Stoner. "I have to thank my guys for modifying the bike in some different way and now I'm able to use the throttle and the grip of the tyres is a lot better," he added. "Dani was a little faster in the middle of the course so we'll try something else for tomorrow." Hayden, winless this year with three third-place finishes, said: "I'm happy to be on the front row here on Honda's home race. "The bike, the tyres, the team. Everything is working not so bad. So hopefully we'll put on a good show." - AFP/ch |
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