2008 Phillip Island Qualifying Practice Report

After Phillip Island had been treated to a very mixed bag of weather on Friday, with balmy and dry conditions in the morning making way for a very cold and wet session in the afternoon, the paddock and fans were delighted to be greeted by much more stable conditions on Saturday. The morning free practice session, which saw Nicky Hayden nudge Casey Stoner off the top of the timesheets in the dying minutes, took place in cool but dry conditions, and the official qualifying practice started out under sunny skies, but not much warmer.

The opening minutes saw lap times drop down quickly down into the mid 1'30s, with Dani Pedrosa the first rider to crack the 1'31 barrier, and Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner taking another half a second off just a few seconds later. As is his custom, Stoner then chipped away at the times even further, perfecting his race setup to set the bar at a time of 1'30.124 after just 10 minutes of the session.

For the moment, Stoner's time was out of reach of the rest of the field, with everyone focusing on getting the bikes ready for race day. In the first 20 minutes, Stoner was clearly fastest, but he had Valentino Rossi, Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden all running not far off his pace, and as the session approached halfway, that group was joined by Jorge Lorenzo, Andrea Dovizioso and James Toseland.

With the existing pole position record standing at 1'29.020, it was clear that Stoner's time would not be good enough for pole, and we were left to wait for the first rider to stick on a set of qualifiers and make a bid to head up the grid. Just before the halfway mark of the hour-long session, Colin Edwards was the first to take the plunge, chasing round the track in a time of 1'30.088, gradually getting used to the mind-boggling grip levels provided by his soft Michelin qualifiers.

Edwards' time didn't look like it would last too long, as a minute later, Andrea Dovizioso was showing fastest times at all of the intermediate checkpoints, but as he exited the first of the final long left handers, and still going quickly, Dovi broke off his lap, and headed into the pits.

Edwards had been granted a little respite, but it would be only temporary. As the rest of the field ventured out of the pits on soft rubber for the first time, times started to drop rapidly. Still Edwards' time held, until 6 minutes later, Andrea Dovizioso went out on another fast lap, this time completing it to put in a more serious candidate for pole. His time of 1'29.675 looked much more like what it would take to start from the front of the grid, but there was still 23 minutes of the session to go.

A couple of minutes later, it was Nicky Hayden's turn to have a go at his own pole record. The Kentucky Kid, who has been strong all weekend, was quick enough to take pole from Dovizioso, but only by a few hundredths, setting a lap of 1'29.628.

By now, ever more riders were starting to approach the 1'29 bracket, with Colin Edwards improving his time to take 3rd, his team mate James Toseland a little slower, down in 5th. Valentino Rossi, on his first qualifier, was just shy of the 1'29 mark, setting a time of 1'30.014 to take a provisional 4th place.

That would not last long. A minute later, Randy de Puniet took Rossi's 4th spot from him, and The Doctor was pushed further down the running order by his team mate. Jorge Lorenzo knocked a signficant chunk off Hayden's pole time to take 1st, with a lap of 1'29.401.

The battle for pole position had now started in earnest. James Toseland took a shot, but came up short, setting 2nd fastest a  tenth slower than Lorenzo, while a couple of minutes later, Andrea Dovizioso got close to Toseland's time, but fell just short.

But Toseland's 2nd position was not safe. Casey Stoner had put in his first qualifying tire, and even at the first attempt, the Australian was fast, taking 2nd place by a few hundredths. Nicky Hayden then knocked Toseland off the front row, heading rapidly towards pole record territory, taking provisional pole with a lap of 1'29.281.

Hayden's time was impressive, but it was soon under threat. Valentino Rossi had started the lap on his 2nd qualifying tire, and was well under Hayden's time at the first intermediate timing point, when disaster struck. Rossi ran a fraction wide on the exit of the Southern Loop, running off the rumblestrip and onto the grass, still wet and muddy from the recent rain.

Unable to get the bike back onto the track, as it headed left for Turn 3, and with little in the way of braking, Rossi turned his attention to the rapidly approaching tire wall, and what to do about it. As he hit the gravel trap, that question was answered for him: His Yamaha M1 pogoed, bucking Rossi off, landing painfully on his shoulder and head, wrenching his neck and tearing some muscles. In the end, he avoided the fate of Fabrizio Lai, stopping just short of the unprotected tire wall, but it took Rossi a few moments to get up, The Doctor clearly dazed, and in need of The Other Doctor, Dr Costa of the Clinica Mobile.

Rossi took a few minutes to recover, then slowly started on the long trek back to the pits, to be checked over, and to decide on whether he would take another shot at qualifying. With a best lap in the 1'30s, if he didn't, he could end up a long way down the grid for the start, and completely out of reach of Casey Stoner. On the other hand, with the 2008 title already in the bag, he could afford to let this session go, without risking further injury.

While Rossi had crashed attacking Hayden's pole time, Hayden's Repsol Honda team mate was staying on board. Matching Hayden's times closely round each section of track, Dani Pedrosa crossed the line just a few thousandths ahead, snatching pole from his team mate with a 1'29.277.

Pedrosa's time on pole position would be short. Just 35 seconds, in fact, before his archrival Jorge Lorenzo came charging. The Fiat Yamaha man was now seriously quick, and the pole record looked finally set to fall. And how: Lorenzo crossed the line nearly 3/10ths quicker than Pedrosa, taking pole with a time of 1'28.990, and the first man ever to lap Phillip Island in under 1'29.

There were 13 minutes in the session left, plenty of time for an assault on Lorenzo's new pole record, and the field were all back in the pits for fresh rubber. But the first wave of attempts fell short, no one able to match the Spanish rookie's pace.

With 7 minutes to go, the next wave struck. And this wave consisted of a pair of formidable warriors, Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden now on an all out charge. Stoner was the first to cross the line, but could not get into the 1'28s, improving his time and taking 3rd, but Hayden was close behind, and much faster. The Kentucky Kid rocketed accross the line to seize pole from Lorenzo, taking the top spot on the grid and another new record with a lap of 1'28.756.

Jorge Lorenzo would not take this lying down. On his next attempt, he improved his time once again, but only by a few hundredths, rather than the tenths that he needed to snatch back pole.

As the clock ticked down, leaving the riders just 5 more minutes to improve their starting positions, Valentino Rossi finally entered the pits. Rossi grabbed a new helmet while Dr Costa examined his neck, Rossi explaining just where it hurt. His spare bike was warmed up and waiting, while Rossi consulted with his team. The Italian seemed in no hurry, but all the while, time was slipping away.

The rest of the field seemed to be following Rossi's example. The track was quiet, as fresh tires were applied, and final adjustments were made, and a minute later, the growl of MotoGP bikes announced a mass exodus onto the track.

The final minutes saw the usual flurry of fast laps, riders giving it their all to improve their starting positions. As the last seconds of the session ticked away, Nicky Hayden's pole time came under serious threat. The American's time was looking ever more likely to stand, but Casey Stoner was pushing his last qualifying tire to its limit.

That limit was good enough for pole, Stoner crossing the line in 1'28.665, a tenth quicker than Hayden had been. Behind Stoner, more fast laps were coming. Jorge Lorenzo was quick, but not quite as quick as Stoner, just edging Hayden out for 2nd place, leaving the American down in 3rd on the grid.

James Toseland's final lap was impressive, taking him to 4th momentarily, before Randy de Puniet went fast enough to take 4th from the Englishman, pushing Toseland down into 5th. Toseland sits ahead of Dani Pedrosa on the grid, Pedrosa filling out the second row in 6th, unable to beat his earlier best time.

Colin Edwards heads up the third row, the Texan sitting in 7th spot ahead of Andrea Dovizioso. Shinya Nakano sits in 9th, ahead of his team mate Alex de Angelis, who completes the top 10.

Valentino Rossi did finally make it out for one last lap, but was just a few precious seconds late, crossing the line to start his flying lap after the checkered flag had been waved. This leaves Rossi down in 12th position, and with a mountain to climb.

Rossi's lowly grid position is a real shame, as the Italian's race pace is very good, easily the 2nd fastest man on race tires, and looking capable of taking the fight to Casey Stoner, whose race setup saw him setting the fastest times.  But that doesn't mean that the race is Stoner's for the taking: Jorge Lorenzo was also setting great times on race tires, while James Toseland wasn't far off either.

Add in Dani Pedrosa, who has the pace to match Lorenzo, and Andrea Dovizioso, who is similarly close, as well as Nicky Hayden, whose times are a fraction slower, but who is outstanding at Phillip Island, the track suiting his style perfectly, and we could well see a serious battle for the lead. Unless, that is, Stoner gets a trademark rocket-propelled start, and disappears straight from the line.

While Valentino Rossi's 12th place start would seem to put him out of contention, the pace he has on race tires should see him able to cut his way through the field. Even if Stoner runs away with the race, we look set for a feast of passing, Rossi scything his way forward.

The one question which hangs over this is whether those carrying injuries will be able to comfortably see through the race. Casey Stoner struggled midway through the Motegi race, as his wrist injury started to take its toll, but Phillip Island is slightly more forgiving on wrists than the stop and go Motegi. And exactly how Valentino Rossi's neck will hold up to race distance also remains to be seen, the bruised and torn muscles making moving his head difficult.

And besides the big names, others are hurting too. Randy de Puniet will start from 4th, but like Stoner, is carrying a wrist injury, while Sylvain Guintoli starts from much further down the field, and will be riding with a cracked shoulder blade.

But perhaps we should feel the most sympathy for Ant West. The Kawasakis are hopelessly off the pace, by over 2 seconds on race tires, and at what is likely to be his final home Grand Prix, West will be forced to circulate at the back. His only hope is that he can beat his team mate John Hopkins and Ducati's Marco Melandri, both of whom are trapped in the doldrums with West. It's going to be a long day for all three men on Sunday.

West's day is unlikely to be saved by rain. The weather forecast is for a cool but sunny day, with very little wind, unusual at the Island. But with fair weather, and the promise of close racing, the fans should be very happy. And if Casey Stoner can take the win here, they will be even happier.

Full Qualifying Practice times for the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island

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