2010 MotoGP Indy qualifying
Sunday, August 29th, 2010Ben Spies will start a MotoGP race from pole position for the first time on Sunday after he laid down a fantastic hot lap in qualifying for the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix. The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rookie posted a best time of 1’40.105 on his final flying lap to delight the home crowd and mark another highlight in what has already been an eventful weekend following confirmation of his factory ride for 2011. The Texan celebrates a first pole after already having tasted podium champagne at Silverstone in June in what is quickly becoming an impressive debut season in the premier class of motorcycle racing.
Spies was 0.220s quicker than Championship leader and last year’s race winner Jorge Lorenzo who took his Fiat Yamaha M1 machine round in the second fastest time, and there was further joy for the American fans as Nicky Hayden took his first Ducati front-row place with third. Hayden was just a hundredth of a second behind Lorenzo on the timesheet in a typically action-packed and frantic hour-long session.
Riders who were quick in the morning session found the going tough as the temperature soared and grip levels decreased, with Andrea Dovizioso holding top spot briefly before his best time of 1’40.559 eventually placed him fourth on the starting grid, with his Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa fifth just under eight-hundredths further back. A visibly frustrated Casey Stoner, who had been fastest in both free practice sessions, could only qualify in sixth as he lapped 0.559s off the pace of Spies on his Ducati Desmosedici GP10.
The third row will be headed up by Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) with the Italian left bewildered but uninjured when he fell at turn six with little over five minutes to go – his second fall of the day following an earlier one in practice. The reigning World Champion has struggled to match the speed of the front-runners this weekend and will hope to find some improvements with his crew overnight.
Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) also had a crash in the final stages of the session but managed to secure eighth place, equalling his best qualification so far this season, with Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) completing the top ten.
Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP Team) was 13th in his first qualifying practice since returning from injury, whilst Aleix Espargaró (Pramac Racing) had a fall at turn 13 and subsequently qualified in 14th.
1 11 Ben SPIES USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1′40.105
2 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 1′40.325
3 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team 1′40.336
4 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team 1′40.559
5 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team 1′40.637
6 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Team 1′40.664
7 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 1′41.005
8 58 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1′41.092
9 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1′41.232
10 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1′41.512
11 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1′41.534
12 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1′41.623
13 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Interwetten Honda MotoGP 1′41.631
14 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pramac Racing Team 1′41.649
15 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing Team 1′41.856
16 40 Hector BARBERA SPA Paginas Amarillas Aspar 1′41.896
17 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 1′41.923

















