Monday, November 1 2010
A relentless downpour of rain at bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal caused the cancellation of qualifying for the Moto GP, Moto2 and the 125cc classes at Estoril on Saturday.
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With track surfaces covered with excessive amounts of standing water, wind gusts and persistent heavy rainfall, after attempting to reschedule the sessions, at 2:30pm Race Direction decided to cancel the qualifying sessions. The end result will be that the starting grids for the races will be determined by the combined times of the racers during the three free practice sessions.
This starting grid determination will put Jorge Lorenzo of Fiat Yamaha in the pole position for the Moto GP race, making it his seventh pole position start of the season. Lorenzo will be joined by Nicky Hayden of the Ducati Team and fellow Fiat Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi on the front row. Rossi, in a similar situation where the qualifying was cancelled, started from the pole position in 2009 at Motegi.
Lorenzo, who is the new Moto GP World Champion, concurred with Race Directions decision to cancel the qualifying session. Lorenzo stated that with such bad track conditions, with the wind and standing water on the track, it would have been difficult to ride. Lorenzo also related that the cancellation worked out good for him and his team, giving him his seventh pole of the season and probably one of the easiest ones that he will ever get.
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