Capirossi and Rizla Suzuki narrowly miss Brno podium

Rizla Suzuki racer Loris Capirossi missed a podium position at today's Czech Republic Grand Prix by less than a second as he battled to the line to try and repeat his third place from last year.

Capirossi had a fantastic first lap that saw him storm into sixth place from ninth on the grid. He stuck with Toni Elias and Andrea Dovizioso for the whole race and although he made a couple of attempts to get past them he never found the opportunity to make an overtaking manoeuvre stick. When Jorge Lorenzo crashed whilst leading, the trio of riders knew a podium was up for grabs and they all fought to take that third place On the last lap Capirossi used his wealth of experience to try and get through, but narrowly missed out on the line, bringing his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R home in fifth to equal his best result of the season.

Team-mate Chris Vermeulen didn't have such an eventful race. After getting blocked on the first lap and losing a lot of places, he found himself relegated to 15th after starting from 11th. He fought his way past a couple of riders and also benefitted from a crash between two other riders, to bring his bike home in 11th place and score some much needed championship points.

Today's race was held in hot and sunny conditions with temperatures reaching 29ºC. A huge crowd of over 138,000 people baked in the sun as World Champion Valentino Rossi coolly took his fifth win of the season to strengthen his lead in the title race.

Rizla Suzuki will now stay in Brno for a day of testing tomorrow, before it heads over the Atlantic to the Indianapolis Grand Prix on Sunday 30th August.

Loris Capirossi: "Overall it has been a good day for us, because we have been able to fight the whole weekend and were nearly rewarded with a podium. We had a big problem with chatter and we managed to resolve that for the race. We made the right choice of tyre today, but a couple of times I nearly lost the front which meant I didn't quite have the right feeling and that caused me to lose a bit of time. I managed to clean off the tyre by riding a bit less aggressive and then I was able to push again right till the end of the race. I lost out a bit to the other guys in front of me on acceleration and it was then difficult to overtake on the brakes because I was never quite close enough - even though I was faster through the corners. I really want to say a huge thank-you to the whole team because their effort this weekend was fantastic. I also want to thank Suzuki for giving us the chance to comeback with a better package; this is a really good thing and will help us for the rest of the season."

Chris Vermeulen: "I got quite a good start, but on turn one I got blocked and was then passed by a few people - that's what you get I suppose when you start from the fourth row of the grid! I then got pushed very wide on the first lap and lost a few more places. Everybody was going very quickly and it took me quite a few laps to get past the guys in front that I had more speed than and by then the main pack was well away in front. I am a bit disappointed with my own performance, I couldn't get down to the lap-times I expected to do. I kept pushing till the end and gave it 100% and caught up to De Puniet and Toseland near the end, but there was not enough laps left to get past. We got some points from today, but it hasn't been a great weekend again for us. We have made a significant step with the bike and I am looking forward to the test tomorrow and then getting to some good tracks for me and Suzuki."

Paul Denning - Team Manager: "We'd hoped that the changes that Suzuki introduced here in Brno would help our performance - and despite a difficult weekend with a number of problems - it was certainly the case for Loris. We have managed to get back to a more competitive situation and that is a positive to take away from here. The gap in pace to the factory Yamahas was far too big, but aside from that Loris's speed was quite competitive and the result was helped by an awesome first lap by him to force his way into the top-six. The podium was in sight and Loris was apologetic to the team and frustrated that he couldn't get there, but we now need to keep concentrating on the performance of the GSV-R on this 22-lap run, because it gives us some great data for the rest of the season.

"Chris had a difficult race, as he has been unable to find a comfortable rhythm all weekend. The team is now really glad that we have a test tomorrow where Chris and Loris will run through a significant test programme, but more importantly we need to boost Chris's confidence and give him a positive outlook for the next few races."

Brno front row for Pedrosa, Dovisioso 6th

Dani Pedrosa today fired his Repsol Honda RC212V onto the front row of the grid for tomorrow’s Grand Prix of the Czech Republic while his team-mate, Andrea Dovizioso, will start directly behind Pedrosa after the Italian finished in sixth position in this afternoon’s qualifying session at the beautiful Brno circuit.

With unbroken sunshine once again providing a welcome contrast to the erratic weather at the previous race in Britain, the Repsol Honda riders were able to take maximum advantage of two dry sessions today to hone their machine set-ups ahead of tomorrow’s 22-lap race.

Pedrosa looked menacingly quick in the morning practice and finished in a close second place, just 0.131s from the fastest time. He was quickest early in the afternoon session, setting a best lap of 1m56.528s which was well inside the circuit race lap record. Traffic in the final moments of qualifying when the riders traditionally set there quickest time prevented Pedrosa from challenging for pole position, but the Spaniard was satisfied to get on the front row and give himself an excellent chance of a clean getaway tomorrow.

Dovizioso’s sixth place this afternoon saw him move to within a second of the pole position time and translates into a second row start. After his maiden MotoGP victory at the last race, Dovizioso was hoping to be a little closer to pole today but riding with the new swing-arm in his RC212V he made significant progress this afternoon to bring his lap time down to 1m 57.108s, which was also inside the existing lap record of 1m57.199s. With more improvements in the
20-minute warm-up tomorrow, Dovizioso will be intent on getting away with the leaders when the lights go out.

Pole position today was taken by Valentino Rossi followed by Jorge Lorenzo, Pedrosa and then the Gresini Honda of Toni Elias in fourth. Tomorrow’s race, which again promises a close battle at the front, begins at 14.00 local time.

Dani Pedrosa: “I’m happy enough with today because we’re on the front row and that’s the most important thing to achieve in qualifying. I think I could have gone even quicker at the end of the session, but on my final run lap I had a lot of traffic and I had to do two slow laps until I found a clear track. Still, I think we had some more potential to go faster so this is positive. For tomorrow we still have to improve the set-up and achieve a little more consistency in our lap times so that I can run at the front. I like this circuit and I’ve had some good results here previously, so I hope I can make a quick start and fight for the win tomorrow.”

Andrea Dovisioso: “During the qualifying session we improved the race pace and reduced the gap to the leaders by about four tenths, so this is a positive move. We were further away than that yesterday and this morning so we’re going in the right direction. We are still need to go quicker if we want to fight for the lead in the race tomorrow so me and the engineers will be working on a few set-up areas that will, hopefully, give us an extra edge and allow us to compete at the front. In terms of the tyre choice we’ll be going for the hard compound Bridgestones. There’s only a small difference between the compounds but the hard tyre is the choice - no question. We’ll aim to get the most of the warm-up session and give it everything in the race.”

Kazuhiko Yamano - REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER: “Our positions after qualifying - on the front and the second rows - are fine and both Dani and Andrea have the chance to get to the front at the beginning of tomorrow’s race. We have many options here with regard to set-up and the crews will be working this evening to make the final adjustments, which we will test further in the warm-up tomorrow morning. The Repsol Honda Team is working well and our only target is to win. I know both riders will be fighting for that result in the race.”

Best qulifying of the season for Canepa who will start from the 4th row. Fabrizio 16th

Intense day of work for the Pramac Racing riders Niccolò Canepa and Michel Fabrizio. Niccolò has been really constant during qualifying session reaching the top ten half way through the session. For only a few tenths of a second he didn't make it to remain until the end and he finished in twelfth position. Like him also Fabrizio made it to sensibly improve his best lap times today conquering the sixteenth position. The Roman rider obtained really interesting lap times even if this is for him the first time on the Pramac Racing Desmosedici GP9 Sat. Tomorrow morning twenty minutes of warm up to make the last modifications on the bike to result competitive during the Czech Republic GP that will start tomorrow at 2pm local time.

Marco Rigamonti - Niccolò Canepa Track engineer: "I would say a positive day for us. Niccolò conquered his best qualifying position of the season and this demonstrates he is getting better at every race. He is very concentrated and he is riding quite clean: we are trustful that tomorrow he will be able to have a good race. Also Michel in the other side of the garage has improved a lot and we are really happy for him."

Niccolò Canepa - Pramac Racing rider - 12th in 1'58.208: "I am very happy on how things went today. In both sessions we have made it to be competitive maintaining good positions. I am only two tenth of a second from Mika and four from Nicky who is the fastest Ducati rider today. Apart the first five or six riders I believe we can compete with every other rider tomorrow in the race."

Michel Fabrizio - Pramac Racing rider - 16th in 1'58.680: "We have sensibly improve our lap times today. For sure is not easy to get to know and adjust a bike in only three hours of work, but we have done our best and tomorrow in the race we will try to obtain a good result. We have made it to adjust a bit the bike and tomorrow morning in the twenty minutes warm up we will try to make the final modifications on the bike to result even more competitive in the race."

Pole position hat-trick for Rossi in Brno, another front row for Lorenzo

Valentino Rossi became the first rider since the advent of the one-tyre rule to dip under an existing pole position record in the Czech Republic today, taking his third consecutive pole position despite sliding off into the gravel trap with just a few minutes remaining. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo qualified second, continuing his 100% front-row qualifying record for the season.

Lorenzo had ruled the standings in both previous sessions and it looked like being the same story again this afternoon, as the Mallorcan went straight to the top and then continued to improve his time around the undulating Brno circuit. Sitting just four thousandths of a second off Rossi's 2006 pole position record, Lorenzo looked likely to be the one to smash it but it was the World Champion who did so with a brilliant lap with eight minutes left on the clock, shaving 0.046 seconds off the time he set on the way to second place three years ago, back in the days of 990ccc engines.

The drama wasn't over however as Rossi, pushing hard with two minutes remaining, lost the front in the second sector and slid into the gravel, luckily emerging unscathed. Lorenzo made a last minute assault on the Italian's time but was caught in traffic and the 22-year-old had to be content with second position. The pair are joined on the front row by Dani Pedrosa, with Tech 3 Yamaha rider Colin Edwards putting in another strong performance to qualify in sixth.

Today sees the launch of the Fiat Yamaha Team's official new fan website, www.FiatYamahaTeam.it, where followers of the team can keep up to date with team news, view the latest photos, enter competitions, follow a live blog and learn more about the team and riders.

Valentino Rossi - Position: 1stTime: 1'56.145Laps: 23
"Pole position is great, but the most important thing is that I'm okay after the crash. I have a bit of pain in my right thumb but that's all, so I think I've been quite lucky. I'll get it checked out at the Clinica Mobile later but I don't think it's anything bad. This weekend only one of the front tyres is working well for us, which means we only have four for the weekend, so we're putting quite a lot of stress on just a few tyres. I arrived to brake very deep and just lost the front, it was unlucky. Anyway, we did a great job in the session and being on pole again is important. We have a good race pace and I think it's possible to be competitive tomorrow."

Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 2ndTime: 1'56.195Laps: 26
"This morning we tried the softer Bridgestone tyre but I didn't feel so good on it. This afternoon we gave it another chance but again it didn't seem to work so well, so we decided to just concentrate on the harder tyre. I had a very strong pace and like yesterday I felt very comfortable on the bike, but I couldn't quite get the pole position today. Being on the front row is always important though and we've reached this target; we know that we're very fast. Everyone is excited and motivated as usual and we're confident that we have the race set-up to allow us to challenge tomorrow."

Davide Brivio - Team Manager
"We're in pole but Valentino's crash was unfortunate, on a lap that might have been even faster! The most important thing is that he is okay, which is a big relief for us all. By the end of the session we'd found a good setting and it looks like tomorrow could be another big battle, let's hope we're a part of it! Lorenzo and Pedrosa are very motivated and look very strong so let's see what happens."

Daniele Romagnoli - Team Manager
"It's very good to start from the front row again and we're happy about this. Unfortunately today we didn't improve our lap time on the soft tyres and so we decided to do the last minute 'time-attack' on race tyres, then Jorge also encountered some traffic on his final lap. Anyway we are positive for the race because our pace today was pretty fast, we're just looking at one or two small areas which we think we can improve for the race."

Edwards battles to second row, Toseland 14th in Brno

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider Colin Edwards produced a gritty qualifying performance this afternoon to equal his best grid position of the season at a hot and sunny Brno.

Despite being less than 100 per cent fit after he needed treatment for a swollen neck gland, the Texan secured his eighth top six grid position of the season in preparation for round 11 of the 2009 MotoGP world championship tomorrow. Edwards clocked a best time of 1.56.964 on his last lap, the 35-year-old finishing less than 0.5s from claiming his first front row start of the season. Working closely with his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew, front-end changes to improve turning on his YZR-M1 machine have bolstered Edwards' hopes of claiming a maiden top six finish in the Czech Republic MotoGP.

British rider James Toseland is confident he can challenge for a top ten position in tomorrow's 22-lap race. He will start from the fifth row of the grid having missed out on a top ten grid position by less than 0.4s. Toseland clocked a best time of 1.58.331 and the 28-year-old will focus on improving rear grip on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine as he looks for a fourth top ten finish in five races.

Colin Edwards 5th 1.56.954 - 23 laps
"I'm pretty happy considering how I felt today. The last couple of days, one of the glands in my neck was pretty badly swollen up, so I was given some medicine to help it. But the doctor told me to make sure I had a full stomach when I took it. But this morning I only had a bowl of cereal and then I took the medicine. And after that I felt awful. After practice this morning I was white as a sheet and not feeling great at all. My stomach and head were feeling pretty rough and I just felt way short of my best for the rest of the day. So considering that I'm happy to have qualified fifth. I'd say Dani Pedrosa's time was reachable in third but it would have taken a great lap to do that, and I'm not sure I had it in me physically today. I've been going great all weekend and my team have done a phenomenal job. We put some more weight on the front that has really helped get the bike to turn and that's crucial at this track. I've never had a top six at this track but hopefully I'll change that tomorrow and hopefully I'll be feeling better."

James Toseland 14th 1.58.331- 22 laps
"Obviously I'm not happy to be down in 14th and being that far back is going to make it a tough race. I'm fru strated because we changed the bike for the last soft tyre and I didn't have the rear grip I needed to push for a better time. I had a lot of wheelspin with the final soft tyre so I couldn't really push and I've given myself a hard job for the race. We'll try and make the bike more balanced for the race tomorrow because at the moment I don't have enough rear grip. I've qualified outside of the top ten a couple of times before this season and been able to fight my back into the top ten during the race. So I'm hoping to be able to do the same tomorrow."

Qualifying Results