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Hayden snatches pole at Estoril |
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Posted by Staff
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Saturday, 15 September 2007 |
Whilst all talk in the run-up to the bwin.com Grande Premio
de Portugal focused on current World Championship leader Casey Stoner, it was
the reigning MotoGP World Champion who showed his quality as Nicky Hayden took
pole for tomorrow’s race.
Coming back from the disappointment of several
unfortunate first lap incidents, the American put himself in the best position
to avoid other riders' manoeuvres with a last gasp hot lap. A 1’36.301 dash in
the final minute of the session placed ‘The Kentucky Kid’ at the head of the
field for his first race in Estoril since the infamous collision with Dani
Pedrosa in 2006. Hayden was last on pole at Phillip Island in his title-winning
year.
The final 15 minutes of the hour long qualifying session were as
exciting as they come, with the reigning World Champion, the current top dog and
the five time title holder all staking their claim for pole position. Casey
Stoner put on his game face with 12 minutes left on the clock, but had to answer
back immediately when Valentino Rossi undertook his fastest lap of the day. What
had looked like a straight battle between the two title contenders was
eventually gatecrashed by Hayden, who denied Stoner his fifth consecutive pole
position.
The second row in Estoril will be headed by something of a
surprise package, as Makoto Tamada put in an astonishing display as one of only
two non-Michelin riders in the top six. Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3’s Japanese rider
had benefited from his having tested a qualifier yesterday afternoon, and took
his best qualifying performance of the season at a track where both he and his
current team took their best results last year.
After leading the
session before the qualifiers came on, Dani Pedrosa eventually had to settle for
fifth on the grid, alongside Yamaha man Colin Edwards.
Marco Melandri,
Sylvain Guintoli and last year’s winner Toni Elias start from the third row,
with John Hopkins completing the top ten. There were light crashes in the
session for both Shinya Nakano and Randy de Puniet, from which both were able to
return to the action immediately.
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