Honda’s RC212V MotoGP machine dominated today’s qualifying session at Le Mans for tomorrow’s French Grand Prix, taking the top four slots on the grid. Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda RC212V) was relentless and successful in pursuit of pole position, fighting off strong challenges from fellow Honda riders Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V), Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V) and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V).

Le Mans demands excellent braking stability, accurate turning and strong acceleration from a MotoGP bike, features that the 2011 RC212V would seem to have in abundance, especially considering the fact that the same four riders also headed the first three practice sessions here.

Stoner dominated all four sessions, just as he did at the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix, which he went on to win. This is the Australian’s first pole at Le Mans and his third from the first four races of 2011, following on from similar performances at Losail and Jerez. His speed today puts him in confident mood for the race, even though he has never scored a victory here. Stoner – currently third in the points chase – will race using 2011 Öhlins front forks for the first time.

Simoncelli closed to within 0.059s of Stoner during his final run, having made steady improvements to his RCV throughout practice. The spectacular Italian – on the front row for a second consecutive race – is still looking for more confidence in corner entries, but believes he can fight for a podium or maybe even a win. Most of all though, he wants to put behind him the disappointment of crashing out at Jerez and Estoril.

Dovizioso is delighted to be third fastest, which puts him on the front row of the grid for the first time this year. The Repsol rider worked hard during the first three sessions, ending up a close third behind Stoner and Simoncelli, and repeated that performance this afternoon, ending up just 0.468s off pole.

Pedrosa was unlucky to miss out on a front-row start, completing the session just 0.062s behind team-mate Dovizioso. The Spaniard – who is currently just four points adrift of series leader Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) – lacked some rear grip and was unable to make full use of a softer rear tyre at the end of the session. This is the first time that Pedrosa will have started off the front row so far this season.

Former 250 World Champion Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) wasn’t able to build on a useful first day’s work here and he slipped down the order as a result. The Japanese rider and his crew have a few ideas to try in morning warm-up, which they hope will increase their pace in the race.

Toni Elias (LCR Honda MotoGP RC212V) had a tough time in qualifying, ending this afternoon’s session in 17th, albeit only 2.280s down on pole position. His hopes weren’t helped by a heavy fall during the final stages, when he lost control while braking for the Garage Vert hairpin. The reigning Moto2 World Champion was unhurt, but the tumble robbed him of the chance to improve his lap times on his final run.


Casey Stoner, Repsol Honda: pole position – 1m, 33.153s

“We’re very happy with this pole. We focused a lot on race set-up this afternoon, going from one bike to the other, making small adjustments to improve the bike a little. The conditions aren’t perfect at the moment. It’s quite windy, so it’s hard to see if you’ve improved or not, but my Honda was working really well and I never found myself pushing to the limit too much which is always good. This is our third pole of the season but we’ve only converted one of them into a victory so we hope to have a little more luck here in Le Mans and fight for the win.”

Marco Simoncelli, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 2nd – 1m, 33.212s

“I got really close to my first-ever pole today – 0.059s is hardly anything! Strangely it is the same gap that I missed out on the podium by last year at Estoril. In any case I am happy and we are not in bad shape for the race. We have improved from session to session so I am confident. We have improved under braking today, but I still don’t feel 100% secure. My objective tomorrow is to get to the end of the race and bring some important points home. I won’t be pushing over the limit to get a result at all costs. I want to manage the race well.”

Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda: 3rd – 1m, 33.621s

“I’m very happy to start from the first row. Even though this was our target, I didn’t expect it. I was behind Simoncelli for two laps and this helped me because I followed his lines. This afternoon we did some small changes to the set-up and my feeling with the front improved. We arrived at this race very confident; I think we can fight for the podium. Tomorrow the race will be tough, Casey is very fast and he may try to run away. I have a good pace and I think I will fight with Simoncelli. I want to thank my team for all their hard work and hope we can get a good result tomorrow.”

Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 4th – 1m, 33.683s

“We improved quite a lot compared to yesterday, but we still feel a lack of traction in the rear and good grip to have the tyre working as we would like. At the beginning of this afternoon’s session we managed to find a good rhythm with the soft tyre, but these are not qualifying tyres anymore and in my last run of the session, with only five laps to push, I could not make the most of the tyre. In the warm-up tomorrow we have to improve the bike a little and for the race it’s important to get a good start. Here the first chicane is delicate and we need to avoid any trouble. The first laps will be crucial because the tyres are cold and it’s important to stay in front. Besides Casey, other rivals are closer here, such as Simoncelli and Dovi. Lorenzo has also improved, so we must be prepared to fight because the race will be demanding and long, but as in Estoril, we will try.”

Hiroshi Aoyama, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 13th – 1m, 34.612s

“I am not too happy with the result today. I haven’t improved much on my best lap from yesterday afternoon and for that reason I have dropped a few positions. Hopefully tomorrow in the race I can recover those positions and first of all find some set-up solutions in the morning that will help us have a good race.”

Toni Elias, LCR Honda MotoGP: 17th – 1m, 35.433s

“I believe we have made a step forward on bike set-up because my feeling was better than yesterday. I lapped on used tyres for the most of the session this afternoon, posting decent lap times and then I moved to a new rear tyre. Unfortunately on my last run I lost the front at turn nine, losing the chance to improve my lap time and my spot on the grid. Honestly, I believe we could have jumped few places and not being in the back of the grid this weekend, but the good thing is that the base set-up we have got now is pretty good.”