planetearth
There Can Be Only One
Number of posts : 3271
Registration date : 2007-02-03
 |  Subject: Roberts tenth after win/lose last lap.  Sun Mar 25, 2007 12:00 am | |
| - Quote :
- Kenny Roberts Junior took a big step forward in the closing minutes of qualifying for Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix, the American leapfrogging eight places on his final lap to qualify tenth.
But it could have been so much better. After the first three splits on his fast lap he was fourth fastest, but losing a couple of tenths on the final section dropped him back. Qualifying times were so close they set a new record, with the first ten qualifiers within 0.325 seconds of pole time set by Dani Pedrosa.
Roberts, the sole rider in his father Kenny Senior's team, had started the weekend perfectly, setting fastest time in Friday morning's first free practice session. He has been unable to recapture that form since, but after a disappointing 18th qualifying and 13th race place in the opening round at Qatar, today's position marked clear progress.
"That was more difficult than it looked," explained Kenny. "We think there was an error made going into qualifying with the rear suspension. According to the computer, it wasn't sitting where it should. The guys picked up on it halfway through the session, but I was already on my good tyre and had already done everything up until qualifying at that point. They made an adjustment, and I was able to do one lap, and it felt like it was in the right position, so then we just jumped right into qualifying.
"I shouldn't be in this position after what we were able to do Friday, but everybody in this garage is trying 100 percent. We're three tenths off pole, and on the fourth row!" he shrugged. "It could have been worse, but I'm proud of the guys. And we're better off than we were in Qatar. At least we were able to shine when everything was right on Friday. We have to keep plugging away and hopefully the sponsorship stuff continues to kick in. Everything looks good, the bike looks fine. I think it's going the right direction." Crash | |
|
