MotoGP Blog

It was wet today at Donington Park. Very wet. Huddled under a couple of golf umbrellas and clutching cups of hot tea to keep warm, the spectating was still good from the infield just after Starkeys’ Bridge. Free practice in the morning was miserable - there is no other word for it - a cold wind swirling the rain around the umbrella. The riders certainly earned their money this morning.

Even in the wet, the speed the riders carry through Schwantz curve up to McLeans is staggering. Schwantz would be the final undoing of Toseland’s qualifying effort, but more of that later.

Fastest in the free practice yesterday, fastest this morning in the pouring rain, Stoner made his point unequivocally. Wet or dry, he is strong here; very strong. When the qualifying hour came around, the rain abated but the track remained wet. Stoner remained very fast.

While Rossi, Vermeulen and Hayden all had turns as the fastest, in the end nobody could touch the Australian. He was right on the edge throughout the session, riding the Ducati as it seems only he can. As he applied the power to climb the hill through Scwantz Curve up to McLeans, the Ducati bucked and slid but Stoner remained unmoved, simply able to ride through the fishtailing. When Vermeulen tried something similar, he had a trip out of the seat landing back in the right place, feet stabilising the bike and riding the very greasy white line. Nobody else approached Stoner’s speed though this section of the track - nobody else could handle it.

By the end of the session, Rossi had closed to within 0.6 secs of Stoner, closely followed by Vermeulen, Hayden and Rossi. Stand out riders were Dovizioso and the much maligned West, both putting in impressively fast laps. Man of the day has to be Ben Spies: 8th grid slot for his first MotoGP qualifying, in the wet, shows that the guy knows how to handle a bike and stands a good chance of doing well if he gets the ride next year. It was good to see fellow countryman Hayden congratulating Spies on his performance at the end of the session.

And what of Toseland - much hyped at the circuit and in the run-up to the event? He never really troubled the top 10, and had three offs in the session: one of them a high side (at Goddards?) and one at Schwantz Curve trying too hard at the end of the session. Despite a performance he will be less than happy with, he was still mobbed by the crowd (including me) when making his way back to the paddock on the back of a scooter - the entire crowd still cheering him on.

Tomorrow is forecast to be drier than today, and may even end up being a completely dry day, perhaps even some sunshine. Wet or dry though, Stoner is without doubt the man to beat.