Saturday, 3rd May 2008

All four Ducatis broke the 200mph barrier during qualifying at Shanghai on Saturday, but were the only machines to do so.

Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi were 16th and 17th out of the 18 riders in terms of qualifying top speed, with a best of 311.9km/h and 311.8km/h respectively. Only Andrea Dovizioso's satellite Honda was slower than the GSV-Rs.

Of course, top speed is only one factor that contributes to overall lap time, as illustrated by Capirossi qualifying in sixth position and Melandri only twelfth, but it's the 'simplest' way for a rider to go faster - and makes overtaking much easier in the race.

The fastest top speed in any session so far this weekend is 329.4km/h (204.7mph) by Stoner in FP1, while the highest top speed ever recorded in MotoGP is 343.7km/h (213.6mph) set by Makoto Tamada, on a 990cc Honda, during qualifying at Shanghai in 2006.

Advertisement [Go Advertisement Free]

Related Images

[Top of Article]