Rizla Suzuki team-mates Loris Capirossi and Álvaro Bautista were both left to think what might have been as they were held-up on their final lap in qualifying at Misano this afternoon.

Bautista (P16. 1’35.629, 29 laps) was extremely annoyed that he had been baulked on his final fast lap, which would almost certainly have given him a much improved time and seen him move up the grid. He had made huge steps today with his Suzuki GSV-R as he shaved almost two-and-a-half-seconds of his lap-time from yesterday. Bautista was extremely unlucky not to be rewarded with a much better qualifying position after his impressive efforts today.

Today’s qualifying was held in very warm conditions as air temperatures got up to 26ºC and the track heated up to 42ºC. Spaniard Dani Pedrosa took his fourth pole position of the season on his factory Honda, with World Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo in second.

Tomorrow’s race is the 12th round of the season and will see Capirossi, Bautista and the rest of the field head off for 28 laps of action at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT).

Álvaro Bautista:
“This morning we improved the bike a lot from yesterday and I was able to get a good pace. In the qualifying it was a bit difficult at the start because I used the hard front tyre and I didn’t get the feel from it under braking. At the end of the session we put in the softer compound and that was much better. Unfortunately on the last lap some riders slowed me up and I couldn’t improve my lap-time – which I am sure I would have done. I feel good with the bike here and if I can get a decent start tomorrow I have a strong enough rhythm to be able to battle my way into the top 10.”

Source: Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

Pretty much a horrendous qualifying session for Alvaro today, finishing the session only in 16th position. But on a positive note, aside from Pedrosa at the front, the field is very close together and Alvaro is not too far off a possible fight mid-pack. He would need a good start and a decent first few laps tomorrow to get up to the positions where he can still fight with other riders, because he’s managed a decent enough race pace today.

Pos. Rider Team Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 1’33.948
2 Jorge LORENZO Fiat Yamaha Team 1’34.256 0.308 / 0.308
3 Casey STONER Ducati Team 1’34.397 0.449 / 0.141
4 Valentino ROSSI Fiat Yamaha Team 1’34.470 0.522 / 0.073
5 Ben SPIES Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’34.472 0.524 / 0.002
6 Randy DE PUNIET LCR Honda MotoGP 1’34.751 0.803 / 0.279
7 Colin EDWARDS Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’34.782 0.834 / 0.031
8 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team 1’34.826 0.878 / 0.044
9 Marco SIMONCELLI San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’34.934 0.986 / 0.108
10 Marco MELANDRI San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’35.018 1.070 / 0.084
11 Loris CAPIROSSI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’35.096 1.148 / 0.078
12 Hector BARBERA Paginas Amarillas Aspar 1’35.259 1.311 / 0.163
13 Hiroshi AOYAMA Interwetten Honda MotoGP 1’35.286 1.338 / 0.027
14 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 1’35.303 1.355 / 0.017
15 Aleix ESPARGARO Pramac Racing Team 1’35.438 1.490 / 0.135
16 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’35.629 1.681 / 0.191
17 Mika KALLIO Pramac Racing Team 1’35.724 1.776 / 0.095

Much better practice session for Alvaro this morning. Compared to yesterday he improved his laptime by 2,5 seconds and closed the gap to the front significantly. He finished the session in 11th position, only 0,8 seconds behind Lorenzo.
The conditions were a bit cooler than yesterday, but again in glorious sunshine. With slightly higher temperatures for the afternoon qualifying it’ll be interesting to see if it might suit the Suzuki even better. In any case it seems like Alvaro and his team were able to work out the grip issues from yesterday and maybe they’ll be able to improve even more for the qualifying.
Bati was posting very consistent laptimes in the second practice, improving bit by bit and never being far off his own fastest laptime. He looks in good shape for a mid-pack fight again tomorrow.

Pos. Rider Team Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1 Jorge LORENZO Fiat Yamaha Team 1’34.627
2 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 1’34.731 0.104 / 0.104
3 Casey STONER Ducati Team 1’34.763 0.136 / 0.032
4 Colin EDWARDS Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’34.774 0.147 / 0.011
5 Valentino ROSSI Fiat Yamaha Team 1’34.981 0.354 / 0.207
6 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team 1’35.053 0.426 / 0.072
7 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team 1’35.069 0.442 / 0.016
8 Hector BARBERA Paginas Amarillas Aspar 1’35.120 0.493 / 0.051
9 Ben SPIES Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’35.217 0.590 / 0.097
10 Loris CAPIROSSI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’35.222 0.595 / 0.005
11 Alvaro BAUTISTA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1’35.432 0.805 / 0.210
12 Marco MELANDRI San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’35.445 0.818 / 0.013
13 Randy DE PUNIET LCR Honda MotoGP 1’35.636 1.009 / 0.191
14 Aleix ESPARGARO Pramac Racing Team 1’35.790 1.163 / 0.154
15 Marco SIMONCELLI San Carlo Honda Gresini 1’36.040 1.413 / 0.250
16 Hiroshi AOYAMA Interwetten Honda MotoGP 1’36.089 1.462 / 0.049
17 Mika KALLIO Pramac Racing Team 1’36.207 1.580 / 0.118