2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha Factory Racing +0.051;
3. Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda LCR +0.058;
4. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha Factory Racing +0.084;
5. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team +0.122;
6. John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP +0.223;
7. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda +0.230;
8. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda Gresini +0.258;
9. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda Gresini +0.320;
10. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team Roberts +0.325;
11. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team +0.432;
12. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team +0.481;
16. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team +1.003
Circuit: Circuito de Jerez
Date: 24/03/2007
JEREZ PROVES CHALLENGING FOR KAWASAKI
Kawasaki's Randy de Puniet was disappointed to end today's qualifying session ahead of tomorrow's Spanish Grand Prix in twelfth position, despite lapping less than half-a-second off the pole position time set by Honda's Dani Pedrosa.
While de Puniet will start tomorrow's 27-lap race from the fourth row of the grid, his Kawasaki teammate, Olivier Jacque, is facing a much tougher challenge, as he tries to make up places from the sixth row of the grid, after finishing today's hour-long timed session in 16th position.
Subtle adjustments to the chassis and suspension set-up of de Puniet's Ninja ZX-RR during today's practice and qualifying periods led to a slight improvement in rear traction, with the Kawasaki pilot lapping consistently on race tyres before switching to the first of his three qualifying tyres halfway through this afternoon's timed session.
His first run saw him top the timesheet for a short time, with Jacque just behind in second place, but de Puniet soon found himself demoted to 12th position on the grid as his MotoGP rivals also switched from race tyres to soft qualifying rubber as the end of the session approached.
De Puniet will approach tomorrow's Spanish Grand Prix in the same way as always, aiming to get a good start and then trying to stay in contact with the leading group of riders for as long as possible. Tyre life will be critical in tomorrow's race, and the 26-year-old Frenchman will be looking to use the consistency of his Bridgestone tyres to maximum effect should any of his rivals start to suffer with tyre wear towards the end of the 27 laps.
Olivier Jacque was disappointed not to have made the same level of improvement today as his teammate. The 33-year-old Kawasaki rider worked his way through a number of different chassis and suspension set-up options today, but was unable to significantly improve his feeling on the Ninja ZX-RR.
Despite a rise in track temperature increasing available grip in the afternoon, Jacque was still complaining of a lack of confidence in the front end of his Ninja ZX-RR as the end of the timed session approached, leaving him with no option but to switch to qualifying tyres and simply ride the bike as best as he could.
Struggling to get the bike turned around the tight and technical Jerez circuit, Jacque was unable to take full advantage of his qualifying tyres and eventually had to settle for 16th position on the grid for tomorrow's Spanish Grand Prix.
The qualifying performance of both riders fell short of the targets set by Kawasaki's Racing Director, Ichiro Yoda, but the Japanese engineer had nothing but praise for de Puniet and Jacque, as they were forced to overcome handling problems that were absent during the IRTA test at Jerez just one month ago.
Both Kawasaki riders will be aiming to further improve their race set-up during morning warm-up tomorrow.
