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Casey Stoner was involved in a three-way battle for pole position at Le Mans
this afternoon, with a trio of riders dipping under the 1'33 mark at the
legendary French circuit to lock out the front row of the grid.
The reigning World Champion has found a
good race set-up for his Ducati at this track and today he converted that pace
to a qualifying tyre, setting a stunning final lap to make a late challenge for
the front spot on the grid.
However, the flip side of the coin for the
team this weekend has been that Marco Melandri has been unable to pick up from
the progress he made at the last round in China and he struggled again today,
giving him another uphill task in tomorrow's race from 17th on the grid.
CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 3rd
fastest: 1'32.994
"First of all I want to say congratulations to
Pedrosa for a great lap. Myself and Dani go back a long way and he's been riding
phenomenally well this season so he deserves to be on pole. Having said that, I
think I should have been there instead today! Basically I made a mistake towards
the end of my best lap and I think it cost me pole position, so I have to accept
responsibility for that. The team have done a great job to get the bike working
around this circuit on race tyres and we've been fast all weekend. Bridgestone
have also been working hard on their qualifying tyres and they gave us something
really good today so it was a shame we couldn't translate that into another pole
for them. Anyway, from my point of view the qualifying position is not important
so long as we're in touch and a front row start gives us a good chance. The most
important thing is that we're in good shape in race trim and if it stays dry
tomorrow then we could be in for a good battle. Pedrosa and Edwards look like
they will be on the pace and you always have to expect Valentino to join in too
so hopefully the weather stays dry for the fans and we get a good race and a
good result."
MARCO MELANDRI - (Ducati
Marlboro Team) 17th fastest: 1'35.081
"Unfortunately here at Le
Mans we've been unable to progress as we'd hoped because the layout of this
track highlights the weak points in the set-up of my bike. In China, where the
majority of braking is done with the bike upright, we found a satisfactory
setting but here, where you have to tip the bike in under braking, I can't get
any feel for the rear and I can't go fast. I'm having to go in early and that is
making the corners longer. Unfortunately I think it's going to be a tough race
for us tomorrow."
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