In a session twice red flagged after Australian Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner and American Ducati rider Nicky Hayden fell heavily, Dovizioso produced a confident display to secure only his second front row start of this season.
A beautiful day, sunny conditions with temperatures reaching close to 25 degrees and the Italian started the session confident he could challenge for a top-three grid position. Dovizioso had worked closely with his crew to improve grip throughout the weekend and he ended practice this morning in a morale-boosting fifth place after clocking a best time of 1.40.018.
The satellite Yamaha rider was an impressive 0.8s faster in qualifying and his best lap of 1.39.235 clinched his first front row start since the Grand Prix at Le Mans, France.
His British team mate Cal Crutchlow will start from the third row on the grid after he qualified in seventh position. A small crash this morning left Crutchlow in ninth position at the end of practice but he too was able to demonstrate a significantly faster pace in qualifying to lap almost a second quicker. The British rider set a best time of 1.39.549 and he was only 0.112s away from the top five and he is optimistic that he will be in the mix for another strong finish in the race tomorrow.
Andrea Dovizioso
"Honestly I didn't really expect to be on the front row today because Ben and Casey have both been very fast all weekend and I knew it was going to be difficult to finish in front of them. I am sorry for what happened to them but I am really happy to be on the front row because that is always important. It is even more at this track because the first section is very tight and it will be important to try and break with the leading group. I'm sure I could have gone a little bit faster but I was just on a new tyre when Nicky crashed and the red flags came out again. I am looking forward to the race now because we have improved the bike in each session and made some really positive progress. I am confident that we can make another step forward for tomorrow but the race is going to be very hard. This track is very slippery and you really have to pay attention and at the end of the race there will be a lot of sliding. I am sure I can fight close to the front to put myself in contention for a strong result."
Cal Crutchlow
"I'm reasonably happy to be starting from seventh on the grid but obviously it would have been good to be further up the grid. The first couple of corners here are really tight, so you have to be pretty careful to avoid any trouble. If I can get away with those guys at the front I can do a good job but it is going to be a tough battle. There is a big group of guys close together, so there could be some close action out there tomorrow. For qualifying we made some good steps with the set-up of the bike but it was mayhem out there to try and go fast and get in a clean lap. Everybody was holding each other up and you'd waste a lot of time just cruising around trying to get space. That's why I'm seventh but I felt I could have done a better job but I've got no excuses. I've got to get a good start and try and get away with the leading group."
Press release courtesy of Monster Yamaha Tech 3.
