Colin Edwards beats Rossi for Donington pole
Edwards put the quality of the Michelin qualifying tire to excellent use as he snatched pole from team-mate Valentino Rossi on the 28th of his 29 laps with a hot time of 1’28.531s. Edwards was 0.146s quicker than his Italian colleague and will look for his elusive first ever Grand Prix victory tomorrow, at the English circuit where he earned his first podium when he finished second in 2004. Edwards’ only other career pole was at Le Mans earlier this season where he ended up 12th in a wet race, so the Texas Tornado aims to break the current nine race MotoGP pole jinx tomorrow at one of his favorite tracks. Rossi of course has a superb record in front of the British fans but there will be several contenders for victory, including Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa who starts from third – the young Catalan rider having won the MotoGP race here last year and also as a 250cc rider in 2004.
Pedrosa’s team-mate Nicky Hayden qualified in a much improved fourth place and the World Champion appeared to be pleased with the result after his difficult start to the season. Current World Championship leader Casey Stoner looked disappointed to have concluded the session with a second row start after making a mistake on the final corner of a flying lap when pole position looked well within his grasp, resulting in him taking fifth place on the grid.
Completing the second row is ‘Anglo-American’ John Hopkins of Rizla Suzuki who with English parents and a house close to the Donington Park circuit in Leicestershire is assured of great support from the stands in tomorrow’s race.
Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Colin Edwards Yamaha 1:28.531
2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1:28.677 + 0.146
3. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1:28.863 + 0.332
4. Nicky Hayden Honda 1:29.025 + 0.494
5. Casey Stoner Ducati 1:29.061 + 0.530
6. John Hopkins Suzuki 1:29.073 + 0.542
7. Carlos Checa Honda 1:29.281 + 0.750
8. Randy de Puniet Kawasaki 1:29.415 + 0.884
9. Marco Melandri Honda 1:29.498 + 0.967
10. Toni Elias Honda 1:29.711 + 1.180
11. Shinya Nakano Honda 1:29.718 + 1.187
12. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1:29.793 + 1.262
13. Loris Capirossi Ducati 1:29.900 + 1.369
14. Alex Hofmann Ducati 1:29.911 + 1.380
15. Alex Barros Ducati 1:30.071 + 1.540
16. Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha 1:30.271 + 1.740
17. Anthony West Kawasaki 1:30.718 + 2.187
18. Makoto Tamada Yamaha 1:30.800 + 2.269
19. Kurtis Roberts KR 1:31.543 + 3.012