by Mark Appleton
Casey Stoner took his second pole position of the 2012 MotoGP season in sweltering conditions in which track conditions reached 52ºC.
The retiring Australian led the way after just three laps and remained on top of the timesheets until around ten minutes from the end when the soft compound tyres came out to play.
Cal Crutchlow, Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa had their turns at the top before, just two minutes later, Stoner put in a 1.41.295 to take pole, despite still suffering from chatter.
Both Repsol riders have been playing with setup and the softer tyres for the race with decisions seemingly still to be made.
“We used the qualifying as an extended practice session as we don’t always have enough time to do everything during the 45 minute sessions,” said Stoner. “This morning we did a lot of work with the hard tyre, so in the afternoon in these hot conditions, we worked more with the softer one to get a clearer understanding if we can run with it for race distance.
“We were in and out a lot during the session trying a few different things, hoping to reduce the chatter which is still proving to be a problem, as soon as I touch the throttle the bike starts to chatter in the rear and it’s making things very difficult.
“Towards the end of the session we managed to improve it slightly but I think we need to make another step before the race. Tomorrow, for sure tyre degradation is going to play a role so we’re going to have to wait and see but I’m happy to start from pole”.
Team mate Dani Pedrosa will start from the second row, despite leading the timesheets at one stage.
Pedrosa ran off the track at turn ten whilst trying to improve his time and eventually finished in fifth, three tenths off Stoner.
“It was a difficult qualifying session because I spent a major part of the hour testing the used soft tyres and I was down in the classification,” said Pedrosa. “But I was not worried because I knew that I had two new soft tyres for the end of the practice. When we put the first one on, I immediately improved my lap times and I jumped to second place then on my final flying lap I broke too late, I had a big shake on the bike and I ran wide.
“From this side it’s a pity because I missed my chance at pole position or, at least, the front row of the grid. Anyway, I’m happy with the work we did yesterday and today’s preparation for the race and for me this is always the most important thing. Let’s see if together with my team we can improve the bike slightly for tomorrow and be ready to give 100% in a hard race”.
Full Free Practice three results are available here, MotoGP Qualifying results are available here.
