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Chris Martin
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MOTOGP: Spies 13th, Hacking 17th in GP Qualifying
Written by: Chris Martin   
07/19/2008 - 06:25 PM
Monterey, CA
 
Rizla Suzuki wild card rider Ben Spies (Photo: Suzuki Racing) ยป More Photos

Reigning AMA Superbike champion Ben Spies qualified less than a second behind all-everything rider Valentino Rossi, who put his works Yamaha second on the grid for tomorrow's Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. However, in the ultra-competitive world of MotoGP, such an impressive feat only rewards you with a slot on the inside of Row 5.

Spies' 1:22.127 qualified him 13th for Sunday's 32-lap Grand Prix, which will get underway at 2:00pm local time.

Kawasaki star Jamie Hacking again outpaced his weekend teammate, Kawasaki Racing Team regular Anthony West, but the struggling Kawasaki squad was relegated to 17th and 18th on the grid. Hacking made major improvements to his Friday times but a drama-filled qualifying session made that difficult to demonstrate in the results. The British-born rider made a superb save only to run
off course moments later and later crashed coming down the hill, forcing him to run back to the pits in order to return to the fray prior to the conclusion of the session.

Hacking managed to improve despite jumping on his backup ZX-RR, posting a time of 1:23.309.

One again, defending MotoGP champion Casey Stoner dominated the day, re-establishing the Laguna Seca track record multiple times. He ultimately posted a 1:20.700, close to a half second better than anyone else could manage.

To help better put his gap in perspective, consider that Stoner's advantage over the third and final man on the front row, former AMA Superbike champ Nicky Hayden, is 0.730 seconds, while Hayden is just 0.697 seconds in front of 13th ranked Spies.

Injured title contender Dani Pedrosa did not qualify for tomorrow's race.
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