The MotoGP title holder, standings leader and 2008 Misano race-winner Valentino Rossi was highly satisfied with his qualifying performance on Saturday afternoon.
Having taken his sixth pole of 2009 on Saturday at Misano a delighted Valentino Rossi thanked his Fiat Yamaha crew for their nimble work which allowed him to make late dash to secure top spot on the grid.
A final effort on a new tyre paid off for the Italian who was under pressure again from his Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa and his own team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, who also ended up on the front row.
Afterwards an excited Rossi commented, “I am very happy to get the pole position here in Misano. I was able to do a great lap on my final tyre and that was enough for pole, and the team changed the tyre in the time of an F1 pit stop so thanks to them! We know that it's going to be a very tough race tomorrow, but we are in good shape.”
Describing his general Saturday work he added, “We expected it to be a bit cooler today but in the end it wasn't so different from yesterday and it's still very hard work for all the riders. This afternoon the grip wasn't great and we found it a bit harder with the race pace, but then we made a second round of modifications and everything felt very good.”
In his typically self-deprecating manner, Rossi explained the new helmet he is sporting this weekend, stating, “I have the donkey on it because in Italy, if you make a stupid mistake we say that you are a donkey. I made a mistake in Indy so this is why!”
G.P. CINZANO DI SAN MARINO E RIVIERA DI RIMINI
MotoGP Qualifying Practice Classification Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Motorcycle Lap time Km/h Gap 1 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1'34.338 267.790 2 3 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1'34.560 276.144 0.222 3 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1'34.808 268.656 0.470 4 24 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1'34.907 273.348 0.569 5 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1'35.184 266.600 0.846 6 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 1'35.223 267.459 0.885 7 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1'35.343 273.210 1.005 8 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1'35.492 269.865 1.154 9 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 1'35.554 268.523 1.216 10 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 1'35.561 270.135 1.223 11 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 1'35.601 273.903 1.263 12 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki 1'35.785 270.608 1.447 13 7 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 1'35.790 266.140 1.452 14 52 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1'36.070 266.930 1.732 15 44 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pramac Racing Ducati 1'36.228 266.732 1.890 16 88 Niccolo CANEPA ITA Pramac Racing Ducati 1'36.264 267.392 1.926 17 41 Gabor TALMACSI HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP Honda 1'37.091 265.682 2.753
