MotoGP – Estoril QP1 – Hayden on pole by surprise, front row with Stoner and Rossi

Incredible. Truly incredible. Ready to celebrate Casey Stoner's fifth consecutive pole position, here comes the reigning World Champion in Estoril, an amazing Nicky Hayden who has returned from several races now, the true rider deserving of the most important title in motorcycling. Thanks to a Honda RC212V that has finally become a bike up to par, Hayden today followed up with second place on the grid in Brno and third in Misano Adriatico, achieving his first pole position of the season (fifth in his career) and achieving an amazing lap in all respects. From “Curve 1” to the “Parabolica Senna” passing through the “Gancho”, Hayden brushed the Estoril with superb mastery, finding himself poleman ahead of Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi, who argued in the last minutes, bent by the luxury outsider on the dirt Portuguese.

It was enough, so to speak, 1'36"301, 40 thousandths below the time of the championship leader, 0"275 on Valentino Rossi, third and in "physical" (literal) difficulty with an 1cc M800 at his say in crisis in Estoril. An opinion that goes against the trend with the miraculous fourth time of Makoto Tamada with the Yamaha-Dunlop and the sixth of Colin Edwards, with Daniel Pedrosa in the middle who seems to be the only one from a race perspective who can remotely worry Casey Stoner. Both the Catalan and the Ducatista have a pace (shown between morning and afternoon) of 1'37"5, with Rossi and Hayden further behind, the conditions for a very heated round and in contrast with the soporific recent appearances between Laguna Seca, Brno and Misano.

We'll find out tomorrow with Nicky Hayden on pole, Stoner natural favorite (and with the first match point to be played for the title), Rossi and Pedrosa on the ball. Further back Marco Melandri, seventh ahead of Guintoli (excellent Dunlop progress in qualifying), unrecognizable Capirossi, 15th, 1 seconds from the top. Here we are already thinking about 4..

Alessio Piana