Aussie one-two as rain wreaks havoc at Mugello

Casey Stoner and Chris Vermeulen will start first and second for tomorrow’s Italian GP in Mugello as a rain interrupted weekend continued in this afternoon’s decisive qualifying session.

World championship leader Stoner’s best time of 2:00.359 on a rapidly drying track was good enough to secure him a first pole position for Ducati in front of the Bologna factory’s senior management.

It was only the second pole of Stoner’s premier class career and his time on his 11th lap beat compatriot Chris Vermeulen into second by a massive 1.022s.

By luck or brilliant judgement, Stoner timed his pole-setting lap to perfection. The session started on a soaking wet track but a strong breeze and a rare sunshine break saw the circuit dry quickly.

But just at the point where most riders were contemplating switching to slick tyres with a dry line clearly visible, the heavens opened again with 25 minutes remaining.

While it only proved a mercifully short cloudburst, the track was part wet and part dry with the heavy rain only falling on half the track.

No sooner had the rain struck though and soaked parts of the circuit, the sun broke through again and home favourite Valentino Rossi took full advantage of the sudden improvement in conditions to the delight of a large and passionate home crowd.

There were just four minutes remaining when Rossi produced a brilliant lap of 2:01.695 to catapult himself into third place to claim the last place on the front row.

He had been languishing down in eighth place but saved Michelin blushes as before his late surge, rivals Bridgestone occupied the top seven places on the grid.

With 21-year-old Stoner on pole and Vermeulen alongside him on the front row, the chances of Australian riders continuing their incredible MotoGP run look in good hands.

Aussie riders have won five of the last six MotoGP races and Stoner goes into tomorrow’s 23-lap race holding a 21-point lead over seven-times world champion Rossi, who is undefeated in the premier class at his home track since 2002.

Stoner, who has won three of the opening five races in 2007, said: “I’d took my helmet off and was waiting to go out on slick tyres when it just poured down again.

“I was keeping my fingers crossed that it would continue so I’d get pole. The conditions were almost there at the end to better my time but luckily the time ran out and I managed to get pole position.”

Vermeulen and Stoner dominated the session, constantly swapping places at the top of the timesheets in the tricky conditions.
Vermeulen drew first blood in the Aussie battle when he posted a 2:05.864 on only his third lap to top the timesheets.

Only nine minutes had elapsed when he clocked a 2:03.778 to move 2.398s clear of Stoner in second. Stoner then hit back with a 2:03.727 to climb to the top as the Down Under duo moved over three seconds clear of the rest of the field.

Stoner’s spell at the top was ended moments later when Vermeulen set a 2:03.453 to reclaim top spot by 0.274s, and on his next lap clocked a 2:03.089 to edge 0.638s ahead of the factory Ducati GP7 rider.

Marco Melandri gave his home fans something to smile about despite the weather when he jumped to the top of the leaderboard after 19 minutes with a lap of 2:02.954. That was just 0.135s ahead of Vermeulen.

Stoner then began his assault with a 2:02.986 lap after 26 minutes bringing him to within 0.271s of Melandri. On his next lap a 2:01.191 put him a massive 1.524s clear of the Gresini Honda rider, and his next lap saw him set the 2:00.359 that secured him a brilliant pole position.

Rizla Suzuki rider Vermeulen, who triumphed in a rain-lashed French GP in Le Mans 13 days ago, showed his adeptness in the wet again today and he said: “I don’t know what you call those conditions. It was half wet and half dry and I went out and did that time that got me second.

“Like Casey I was just waiting to go out on slicks and two minutes later it poured down. At the end the track was drying really quickly and if I’d managed to get out about 20 seconds earlier I might have been able too have gone a bit quicker.

“The wet tyres were working great on the wet parts of the track but on the dry it was tearing it to shreds.”

Rossi was delighted to have bumped up five places at the end of the session to put himself in a position where he will at least be able to attack Stoner from the start.

The Fiat Yamaha rider said: “For sure they are the worst conditions to have a qualifying session. But at this track with a lot of wind the track dries very fast but it is difficult to understand the limit.

“When I was eighth the situation was quite bad but at the end we tried two wet tyres and I was fast. I am fast in the full wet and also fast in the full dry, but I hope the race will be dry.”

Japan’s Makoto Tamara has been given clearance to start tomorrow’s race, even though he failed to get inside the 2.08.784 time limit required to guarantee a starting position.

The Tech 3 Dunlop Yamaha rider only managed to clock a best of 2:09.080 in his 17-lap stint. But Race Direction confirmed after the session that all non-qualified riders would be permitted to start because of the exceptional weather conditions.

 

Qualifying results:

1 Casey STONER AUS DUCATI 2’00.359
2 Chris VERMEULEN AUS SUZUKI 2’01.381
3 Valentino ROSSI ITA YAMAHA 2’01.695
4 Olivier JACQUE FRA KAWASAKI 2’01.709
5 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA DUCATI 2’01.797
6 Marco MELANDRI ITA HONDA 2’02.001
7 Randy DE PUNIET FRA KAWASAKI 2’02.443
8 Dani PEDROSA SPA HONDA 2’02.776
9 John HOPKINS USA SUZUKI 2’02.932
10 Alex BARROS BRA DUCATI 2’03.025
11 Alex HOFMANN GER DUCATI 2’03.920
12 Shinya NAKANO JPN HONDA 2’04.185
13 Nicky HAYDEN USA HONDA 2’04.353
14 Carlos CHECA SPA HONDA 2’04.971
15 Toni ELIAS SPA HONDA 2’05.592
16 Colin EDWARDS USA YAMAHA 2’06.254
17 Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA YAMAHA 2’06.426
18 Kenny ROBERTS JR USA KR212V 2’06.660
19 Kurtis ROBERTS USA KR212V 2’07.571
qualified (Out 107%)    2’08.784
 Makoto TAMADA JPN YAMAHA 2’09.080