Honda: Hopkins cost Pedrosa pole

Repsol Honda believe their Spanish rider Dani Pedrosa would have taken pole position for the Turkish Grand Prix had he not come across John Hopkins’ Suzuki on his final lap.

Spaniard Pedrosa, 21, set the fastest time in the opening sector of the Istanbul Park circuit on his final flying lap of the session, but came across Hopkins’ Suzuki – which was also flying – a few corner later.

And Repsol team manager Manoto Tanaka believes the pair running closely on-track was all that prevented his rider from taking a second straight pole.

"It was a shame for Dani today because, without the traffic on his last lap, I really think he would have been on pole position," said Tanaka. "Still, he put in a very strong performance and his speed on race tyres is fast so he is looking in a good position for the race."

Pedrosa was far more philosophical about what really was a non-incident with American rider Hopkins, who qualified seventh.

"I think everybody had quite a lot of traffic at the end of the session because there were many riders going for a fast lap, so it wasn't just a problem for me," said Pedrosa.

"I slowed up and tried to get some free space for my lap but Hopkins came in front of me and I was with him for the whole lap. Without this I think I could have been a little faster, but I'm on the front row which is the important thing for the start of the race tomorrow.”

Pedrosa's world champion team-mate Nicky Hayden had a much better session than he has been used to recently, qualifying sixth.

But his high grid position – which came after a stunning lap launched him up from 16th – is unlikely to mean much for the race, with his long-run pace still clearly problematic.

"That's the best I've qualified this year so it's nice to be starting up near the front,” said the American.

“It would be good to get one the starts that I had at the last race in Jerez and get stuck in, though my race pace hasn't been as fast as I'd like which means it could be a chore tomorrow.

"We've made some changes to the bike to improve things and a big thanks goes to the team because they've definitely been working hard this weekend. But the race will still be tough.”

EuroSport