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Category: Moto GP
Moto GP, the Motorcycle World Championship
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Marquez annihilates Aragon lap record to seize seventh pole position in 2015; Rossi 6th, Lorenzo second
Round 14: Aragon MotoGP™ – QualifyingMotorLand Aragon,
Marquez takes Aragon pole 26sep2015. A Repsol Honda image 26 Sept. 2015:
Bridgestone slick compounds: Front: Soft, Medium & Hard; Rear: Soft (Symmetric), Medium & Hard (Asymmetric)Bridgestone wet tyre compounds: Soft (Main), Hard (Alternative)Weather: FP3 – Dry. Ambient 17-17°C; Track 18-23°C (Bridgestone measurement)FP4/QP – Dry. Ambient 24-24°C; Track 35-38°C (Bridgestone measurement)Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez beat his own Aragon Circuit Best Lap record by over half a second to take his seventh pole position of the season and maintain his perfect MotoGP™ qualifying record at MotorLand Aragon.Marquez set the quickest ever lap around the Aragon circuit – a 1’46.635 – on his first flying lap in Qualifying Practice 2 which ultimately was good enough to ensure the reigning champion will start from the front of the grid for the third consecutive time at Aragon. Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo was the only rider to get within half a second of Marquez’s time, his personal best lap time of 1’46.743 guaranteeing second place for the Spaniard. Rounding out the front row was Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone who despite suffering the effects of an injured shoulder, produced an impressive time of 1’47.178 to secure his fourth front row start of the season. All of the top three riders used the medium compound front slick for their time attack in qualifying but while Marquez and Lorenzo used the medium rear slick to set their best times, Iannone utilised the soft compound rear slick.Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez has taken a magnificent pole position – his seventh of the season – for tomorrow’s Aragon GP breaking his 2014 pole record (1’47.187) by over half a second. Teammate Dani Pedrosa had a provisional front row for the majority of the session but was demoted in the final moments and will start from 5th place.
The Repsol Honda’s have had a strong second day in Aragon, with Marc leading this morning’s FP3 session and Dani topping FP4. On his first flying lap of qualifying, Marc obliterated his own pole record by 0.552 seconds with his time of 1’46.635 (lap 2/7), sending him straight to the top, with Dani also taking a provisional front row place on his first exit.
On their second exits, Marc was unable to improve but remained in the top spot, Dani improved with a time of 1’47.357 (lap 6/8) and remained in third place. Marc then came in for another new tyre but on his flying lap he lost the front in turn two and the bike ended up in the gravel. His time remained unbeaten and Marc celebrated his fifth pole in six appearances at Aragon. Unfortunately Dani was not able to improve and was knocked off the front row in the final moments of the session. He will start from the second row of the grid in 5th.
The riders were blessed with more sunny and fine conditions today which provided ample opportunity to test their favoured tyre combinations. As expected, the morning Free Practice 3 session experienced very cool track temperatures, but the sunshine helped the asphalt reach a peak temperature of 38°C during Qualifying Practice 1. The varied nature of the MotorLand Aragon circuit makes tyres that can provide a good balance of cornering grip, braking stability and temperature retention a valued commodity and accordingly, the medium compound front and rear slicks emerged as the favourite slick options during race simulations today. It is expected that the vast majority of riders will use this tyre combination for the race, although a number of open-class riders will likely opt for the soft compound rear slick for tomorrow’s twenty-three lap Aragon Grand Prix.
The next MotoGP session is tomorrow’s Warm Up session at 0940 local time (GMT+2) in which the teams and riders will have 20 minutes to confirm their tyre choice and bike setting for the race which gets underway at 1400.Masao Azuma – Chief Engineer, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department“Weather and track conditions today were almost the same as yesterday so the teams could build on the work they did yesterday using their preferred slick tyre combinations. We expected some riders to try the hard compound front slick in FP4 this afternoon, but the medium compound front slick is working so well the riders decided to concentrate on using this tyre during their race simulations. I expect that almost every rider will select the medium compound front slick for the race as it offers such a wide operating range at this technical circuit. The medium compound rear slick has also emerged as the preferred race option although the soft compound will be used by some open class entrants. It was pleasing to see Marquez beat the Aragon Circuit Best Lap record so comprehensively in qualifying and from fourteen rounds this year this was the tenth new outright lap record set. It is very exciting to see the riders extract maximum performance out of our 2015 specification slicks in qualifying and I hope we will also see a new Circuit Record Lap time set in the race tomorrow.”Aragon MotoGP: QP2 times – Riders that qualified from QP1 shaded in greyPosRiderTeamQP2 TimeGap1Marc MARQUEZRepsol Honda Team1’46.6352Jorge LORENZOMovistar Yamaha MotoGP1’46.7430.1083Andrea IANNONEDucati Team1’47.1780.5434Pol ESPARGAROMonster Yamaha Tech 31’47.3340.6995Dani PEDROSARepsol Honda Team1’47.3570.7226Valentino ROSSIMovistar Yamaha MotoGP1’47.4920.8577Aleix ESPARGAROTeam SUZUKI ECSTAR1’47.5730.9388Cal CRUTCHLOWLCR Honda1’47.5740.9399Danilo PETRUCCIOcto Pramac Racing1’47.7751.14010Bradley SMITHMonster Yamaha Tech 31’47.8301.19511Yonny HERNANDEZOcto Pramac Racing1’48.5561.92112Maverick VIÑALESTeam SUZUKI ECSTAR1’48.6482.013 -
Marquez wins chaotic Misano GP in mixed conditions; Rossi 5th, Lorenzo crashes out
Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez took a remarkable victory in difficult conditions at the San Marino G
Marc Marquez celebrates as he takes the chequered flag on Sunday. A Repsol Honda image. P – one of just three circuits where he has not previously won in the premier class (along with Motegi and Phillip Island), but Dani Pedrosa was hindered from seeing his pit board clearly causing him to miss the prime window to swap bikes, a Repsol Honda release says.
As the race got underway, Marc (2nd) and Dani (4th) maintained their grid positions in the early laps, as rain clouds began to roll in. By lap five, rain flags were displayed and some riders began to pit for their wet setup bikes.
On lap seven, the rain intensified and the majority of riders entered the pits for their wet bikes and after emerging back on track, Marc found himself 6th and Dani 11th. Within a lap they had climbed up to 2nd and 8th respectively as the race began to find its rhythm once more. Marc dropped back behind Rossi with Lorenzo leading and the three riders opened up a gap over the field as Dani continued to improve and moved up to 5th by lap fourteen.
As the track began to dry, riders started to enter to change back to their dry bike setup. Marc came in on lap eighteen whilst Lorenzo and Rossi remained out on track. On lap twenty, Lorenzo and Dani came in to change bikes also, but Rossi continued on his wet bike, waiting until lap twenty one to come in to the pits.
With Rossi entering the pits Marc inherited the race lead and Lorenzo crashed out. He maintained his composure to take a convincing seven second win over Bradley Smith, with Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda rider – Scott Redding – completing the podium, despite a crash early on in the race. Dani – who missed his pit board message to come in sooner – was stuck in traffic after his second bike change and was unable to improve further than 9th.
Marc – 184 points – has closed the gap in the World Championship and is now 63 points behind Rossi and 40 points behind Lorenzo. Dani remains 7th on 109 points.
A Bridgestone view: Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez won his first premier-class Grand Prix at Misano today after expertly managing highly variable conditions in what was one of the most dramatic MotoGP™ contests in recent memory.
As the riders took position on the grid for the twenty-eight lap San Marino and Rimini Grand Prix, light rain began to fall and although the track was dry for the opening laps the rain soon intensified, leaving the riders with the option of changing to their spare bikes fitted with wet tyres. Marquez made his first pit stop on the seventh lap alongside Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi who comprised the lead group at the time. After changing from slick to wet tyres, Marquez re-joined the race in sixth place and as a dry line began to appear during the middle stages of the race the riders began to switch back to their bikes fitted with slick tyres, with Marquez doing so on lap eighteen. Once out on track on slick tyres again, Marquez turned up the pace to take the race lead by lap twenty and with track conditions stabilising, went on to win the race by 7.288 seconds ahead of Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Bradley Smith. Amazingly, Smith didn’t pit for wet tyres and after managing the wet track on slick tyres, carved through the field as the track began to dry to seize his best ever MotoGP finishing position. Taking third place a further eleven seconds back was Scott Redding aboard the EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda, the Briton claiming his first ever MotoGP podium despite crashing earlier in the race, thanks to some fantastic pace on his second stint with slick tyres.As well as the intermittent rainy periods during the race, the cloud cover kept track temperatures to a much lower level than yesterday, with a peak track temperature of just 31°C recorded; 13 degrees below yesterday’s high. The lower track temperatures and threat of rain resulted in some riders revising their original race tyre choices. At the start of the race, the medium compound front slick was the most popular choice with fifteen riders selecting this option, with the other eleven riders opting for the hard compound front slick. Rear tyre choice saw seventeen riders select the medium compound rear for the race, with the remaining nine riders running the soft compound rear slick at the start of the race. All riders used the soft compound front and rear wet tyres when making their first round of pit stops in order to ensure maximum grip and warm-up performance on the newly-laid asphalt with which they had no previous experience in wet conditions. On their second stint on slick tyres, most riders used the same compound of rear slick tyre they started the race on, but all riders who started the race on the hard compound front slick, changed to either the medium or soft compound front slick.Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi now leads the championship standings by twenty-three points after finishing fifth at Misano, with his teammate Jorge Lorenzo still in second place in the standings after suffering his first DNF of the season. Marquez’s fourth victory of the year sees him consolidate third place in the championship and closes the gap to Lorenzo to forty points with five rounds remaining.Hiroshi Yamada – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Department“The record race day crowd at Misano today of around 92,000 fans were certainly treated to an exciting race due to the changing weather; I don’t think we’ve ever had a race where the majority of the field has two bike changes! The conditions were challenging, but Marc and his Repsol Honda Team were very precise in the timing of their bike changes, and Marc rode fantastically to take his first ever win at Misano. Well done also to Bradley on his best ever result in MotoGP and to Scott for his first ever rostrum in the premier-class. The pace all weekend was quick with a new Circuit Best Lap record set in qualifying and a new Circuit Record Lap set in the race – despite it raining lightly at the time – so overall I am pleased with how our 2015-specification tyres performed at the revised Misano circuit.”Masao Azuma – Chief Engineer, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department“For the second race in succession the weather created track conditions vastly different from the practice and qualifying sessions. However, unlike the last race at Silverstone, for this Grand Prix no one had the chance to work on a wet setup before the race and so some riders found it difficult to find grip on the new Misano asphalt, which is why we recommended all riders use the soft compound wet tyres on their second bikes. Once the rain stopped, some riders opted for softer front slick options to better manage the cool and in parts, damp track so many different tyre combinations were used in the race. Overall, the riders felt our slick tyres performed well in the variable conditions during the race, but the lack of wet setup time means they couldn’t extract maximum performance out of the wet tyres on the new track surface here at Misano.”Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team – Race Winner“During the race I was behind the Yamahas trying to work out how the wet tyres were behaving on the drying asphalt. I could see that their wet tyres were degrading, and my bike was moving a lot at the time so I decided at that moment to change to slick tyres. However it was difficult to understand what parts of the circuit were wet, as the new asphalt was so dark, but it dried quickly. It’s nice to be on the podium, the target for this race was to get a victory and we did so I am really happy.”San Marino and Rimini MotoGP Top Ten Race ClassificationPosRiderTeamRace TimeGapFront specRear specTyres1Marc MARQUEZRepsol Honda Team48’23.819HardMediumBridgestone2Bradley SMITHMonster Yamaha Tech 348’31.1077.288HardMediumBridgestone3Scott REDDINGEG 0,0 Marc VDS48’42.61218.793HardMediumBridgestone4Loris BAZForward Racing48’50.24626.427MediumMediumBridgestone5Valentino ROSSIMovistar Yamaha MotoGP48’57.01533.196HardMediumBridgestone6Danilo PETRUCCIOcto Pramac Racing48’58.90635.087MediumMediumBridgestone7Andrea IANNONEDucati Team49’00.34636.527MediumMediumBridgestone8Andrea DOVIZIOSODucati Team49’01.25337.434HardMediumBridgestone9Dani PEDROSARepsol Honda Team49’03.33539.516HardMediumBridgestone10Aleix ESPARGAROTeam SUZUKI ECSTAR49’03.51139.692HardSoftBridgestone -
Bastianini roars to victory; Mapfre Team Mahindra’s Pecco Bagnaia finishes 8th at Misano: Moto3
A huge Italian party at a sold-out Misano kicked off in perfect fashion for the home crowd as an Italian rider took victory in Moto3. Enea Bastianini, who took pole position yesterday, was roared on to victory after an almighty battle with Fenati, Oliveira, Binder and Vázquez. Despite the skirmish in the lead group the pace was still a rapid mid-1’43 per lap, with a new record of 1’42.841 included. Oliveira tried to take the lead in the closing stages but Bastianini sealed victory with a brutal overtake as Antonelli provided further home joy behind them with the final podium position.
Pecco Bagnaia had already stated coming into the San Marino Grand Prix that a top ten finish in the Moto3 race would be a satisfactory result for him. Today the MAPFRE Team Mahindra rider met that objective but not without a huge effort. The Italian lost contact with the leaders due to a gearbox error but fought valiantly to cross the line in eighth place. Jorge Martín pushed hard early in the race to recover from a discreet start and despite not enjoying the same feeling that he’d had during practice here the MAPFRE Team Mahindra youngster fought to the end for a points-scoring finish. A final-corner battle with his team-mate Juanfran Guevara almost finished with both riders on the floor but as Martín stayed upright, Guevara was not so lucky.
Francesco `Pecco’ Bagnaia said: “Today was a tough race, probably the toughest of the season because I had to give 120% from start to finish. We were losing quite a lot compared to the other guys down the straights so we need to have a look at the telemetry to work out why that might have been and how we can fix it. I pushed hard at the start of the race and together with Masbou we did a good job to catch the lead group but once I got past him I hit a false neutral and lost a lot of time on one lap. Luckily Kent had to give up a position as a penalty so I was able to hang on to him for the last few laps, which allowed me to open a gap over the rest of the group. Masbou passed me again on the straight and I finished eighth. Tomorrow we have an important test here at Misano to try and improve on where we went wrong today.”
eom/Mapfre Team Mahindra release
Bagnaia of Mapfre Mahindra team finishes 8th in Moto3 on Sunday. A Mapfre team Mahindra image -
Record lap launches Lorenzo to pole position at Misano; Rossi on P3
Jorge Lorenzo will start on pole position for tomorrow’s San Marino and Rimini Grand Prix after the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider set a new Misano Circuit Best Lap record of 1’32.146 to finish one-tenth of a second of his closest rival, Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez.Lorenzo on way to pole in San Marino on Saturday. A Movistar Yamaha image Having finished yesterday’s practice sessions as the quickest rider, Lorenzo found extra pace during qualifying and his best lap time in Qualifying Practice 2 beat the previous pole position lap record at Misano by almost eight-tenths of a second. In QP2 Marquez set a time of 1’32.252 to qualify in second place and split the Factory Yamaha riders as clocking the third quickest time was Valentino Rossi, who circulated the Misano circuit in his Yamaha YZR-M1 in a time of 1’32.358. All riders that qualified on the front row used the combination of the medium compound rear and hard compound front slick to set their quickest times.The Misano circuit was once again subjected to warm and dry conditions today with a peak track temperature of 44°C recorded during qualifying. The favourable conditions allowed extensive testing of the different slick options available and certain compounds of the front and rear slicks firmed as the favourite race tyre choices for tomorrow’s twenty-eight lap race. For the front tyre, the grid looks set to be fairly evenly split between choosing the medium and hard compound front slicks, although the majority of the factory option riders look set to race the hard front slick. Rear tyre choice appears to show a considerable preference for the medium compound rear slick, although a number of open class riders look set to race the soft compound rear slick. A good sign for a close race tomorrow is that all slick options have shown the potential to provide consistent performance over race distance on the new Misano asphalt, with many riders able to lap under race record pace during their race simulations.The final chance for the teams and riders to confirm their setup and tyre choice for the race will be the morning Warm Up session at 0940 local time (GMT+2) before the 2015 edition of the San Marino and Rimini Grand Prix starts at 1400.Masao Azuma – Chief Engineer, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department“After an initial period of familiarisation with the new asphalt yesterday, today more work was made on refining tyre choice for the race and two front and rear slick options have shown to be well suited to the new track surface. The medium and hard compound front slicks are both working well at Misano, the medium compound option reaches its optimum operating temperature quicker and has better turn-in performance, while for others, particularly the factory Honda and Yamaha riders, the hard compound offers better braking performance and is more consistent. Unless track temperatures increase significantly tomorrow, I don’t think we’ll see any factory riders use the hard compound rear slick as in the track temperatures we have had this weekend, the soft and medium compound rear slicks are performing better. Generally, tyre performance during race simulations in FP4 was quite consistent so we hope to see a strong pace throughout the whole twenty-eight laps in tomorrow’s race.”San Marino and Rimini MotoGP QP2 times – Riders that qualified from QP1 shaded in greyPosRiderTeamQP2 TimeGap1Jorge LORENZOMovistar Yamaha MotoGP1’32.1462Marc MARQUEZRepsol Honda Team1’32.2520.1063Valentino ROSSIMovistar Yamaha MotoGP1’32.3580.2124Dani PEDROSARepsol Honda Team1’32.4340.2885Michele PIRRODucati Team1’32.7360.596Bradley SMITHMonster Yamaha Tech 31’32.8010.6557Andrea IANNONEDucati Team1’32.8210.6758Andrea DOVIZIOSODucati Team1’32.9340.7889Danilo PETRUCCIPramac Racing1’33.1691.02310Aleix ESPARGAROTeam SUZUKI ECSTAR1’33.1871.04111Cal CRUTCHLOWLCR Honda1’33.2201.07412Pol ESPARGAROMonster Yamaha Tech 31’33.2221.076 -
MAPFRE Team Mahindra rider, Bagnaia kicks off Misano weekend with 11th fastest time on Day One
The San Marino Grand Prix kicked off this morning at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli in spectacular conditions, and even though the track surface has been relaid since the last visit here t
Pecco Bagnaia 11th fastest in first FP in the the Moto3 on Friday. A Aspar Mapfre Mahindra team image here were several crashes for the Moto3 riders in the opening session. Local favourite Enea Bastianini set the pace this morning and the day looked set to be dominated by home riders until series leader Danny Kent produced a late afternoon effort that sealed stop spot by just 0.036 seconds from Bastianini and 0.074 from Romano Fenati.
Meanwhile, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo rode the quickest ever lap around the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli to lead a closely contested opening day of practice at the San Marino and Rimini Grand Prix.
In this afternoon’s Free Practice 2 session, Lorenzo set a 1’32.871 to finish the day fastest ahead of the Repsol Honda duo of Marc Marquez (1’32.924) and Dani Pedrosa (1’33.258) who were second and third quickest respectively. Overall, the combination of the new Misano asphalt and 2015-specification Bridgestone MotoGP tyres resulted in some extremely quick lap times, with the top 12 riders on the timesheets today able to set times quicker than the existing Misano Circuit Record Lap time of 1’32.915.In Moto3 MAPFRE Team Mahindra rider Pecco Bagnaia is one of the Italian riders looking for success this weekend and although he had the setback of a gearbox problem this morning he was competitive from the first lap of the second session this afternoon. The youngster is looking for more front-end performance tomorrow but he is confident after setting the eleventh fastest lap of the day on his fourteenth and final effort. Jorge Martín was twentieth after running into traffic and and Juanfran Guevara was twenty-first after an early crash.
Francesco `Pecco’ Bagnaia clocked 11th fastest time at 1.44.084 and finished 25 laps. He said: “It was important to us to be inside the top ten today. We were quite fast but struggled to maintain a consistent pace. I set a good lap on my last lap and I was riding alone but we have to improve our pace tomorrow. We also need to improve the response from the front end because I am struggling to get into the turns on the brakes, the bike tends to fold and didn’t give me the feeling I was hoping for today. The mechanics worked hard all day to give me the best possible bike but it was a shame we lost time because of a problem with the gearbox. We could have done with six or seven more laps but I am happy, we are working well and we’re on the right lines.”
Teammate Jorge Martin struggled and was 20th in 1.44.584. He did 34 laps. He said: “We struggled to find a feeling this morning because there wasn’t much grip out there but then it got better and the second session went quite well. Once we had the set-up more or less in hand we tried to push for a lap but I got held up by another rider and couldn’t go any faster. Anyway, we have come here with a good base set-up and in general I am happy although we could do with finding some more front-end confidence tomorrow. We will try to improve our pace in the final free practice then push hard for a fast lap in qualifying.”
eom/Mapfre Mahindra press release
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Rain master Rossi claims brilliant British GP victory to take 4th win of the season: A Bridgestone view
Silverstone, 30 Aug 2015: A late change in the weather set the scene for a dramatic British Grand Prix and in the first wet race of the MotoGP™ season it was Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi who took a brilliant victory ahead of the Ducati duo of Danilo Petrucci and Andrea Dovizioso.The race was red flagged before a single lap was completed as the rain arrived just as the race was scheduled to start, with all riders swapping from slick tyres to wet tyres as the race was restarted. Having finished quickest in the wet Warm Up session earlier in the day, Rossi once again thrived in the wet conditions and after a good start took the race lead on the second lap and despite being challenged by a few riders over the course of the race, held on to take his fourth victory of the season. Finishing three seconds behind Rossi in second place was Octo Pramac Racing’s Danilo Petrucci who produced an impressive display of wet weather riding to secure his first ever MotoGP podium. The final podium place went to Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizoso who made a good recovery after a slow start to take his fourth rostrum finish of the year.The fine weather that graced Silverstone for the first two days of the race weekend gave way to rain today with both the race and the morning Warm Up session being subjected to wet conditions. The cloud cover also kept track temperatures at a low level, with the peak reading during the race being just 20°C. The cool and wet tarmac made the requirement for good grip and warm-up performance a priority and as a result, all twenty-five riders opted for the soft compound wet tyres front and rear, the hard compound wet tyres remaining unused during the twenty-lap race.Rossi’s fourth Grand Prix victory of the campaign means he re-takes the lead in the MotoGP championship and he sits on 236 points, twelve ahead of his teammate Jorge Lorenzo who finished in fourth place today at Silverstone. Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez had a DNF after crashing out of second place, but he holds onto third place in the championshop, 77 points adrift of Rossi.Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department“The rain finally arrived today but thankfully the Warm Up session this morning was wet which at least allowed the riders to work on a wet setting for their bike and get some track time on our wet tyres at this circuit. Some riders did consider using the alternative, hard compound wet tyre for the race but due to the cool track temperature and the rain becoming heavier, all riders finally decided on the soft compound wet tyres front and rear. Considering the cold, wet conditions and the bumpy track surface the performance of our wet tyres was quite consistent, with the majority of riders setting their quickest lap in the second half of the race. It was a very challenging race so well done to Valentino and Yamaha as they managed the difficult conditions very well on their way to victory today.”Valentino Rossi, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – Race Winner“When I saw that Marc had crashed I slowed down a little bit but in the end, this is MotoGP and you can’t relax as everyone wants to beat you. I saw Danilo was getting close to me so I had to keep my concentration, especially at the end of the race as it was difficult when the rain became heavier. My bike was working great and I enjoyed this victory very much.”British MotoGP™ Top Ten Race ClassificationPosRiderTeamRace TimeGapFront specRear specTyres1Valentino ROSSI Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 46’15.617 Soft Wet Soft Wet Bridgestone2Danilo PETRUCCI Octo Pramac Racing 46’18.627 3.010 Soft Wet Soft Wet Bridgestone3Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati Team 46’19.734 4.117 Soft Wet Soft Wet Bridgestone4Jorge LORENZO Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 46’21.343 5.726 Soft Wet Soft Wet Bridgestone5Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 46’26.749 11.132 Soft Wet Soft Wet Bridgestone6Scott REDDING EG 0,0 Marc VDS 46’41.084 25.467 Soft Wet Soft Wet Bridgestone7Bradley SMITH Monster Yamaha Tech 3 46’42.334 26.717 Soft Wet Soft Wet Bridgestone8Andrea IANNONE Ducati Team 46’45.010 29.393 Soft Wet Soft Wet Bridgestone9Aleix ESPARGARO Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 46’54.432 38.815 Soft Wet Soft Wet Bridgestone10Alvaro BAUTISTA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 46’57.329 41.712 Soft Wet Soft Wet Bridgestone -
Marquez smashes Silverstone lap record to seize British Grand Prix pole position; Rossi starts on P4
Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez smashed his own Silverstone Circuit Best Lap record to claim his sixth pole position of the MotoGP season ahead of Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo and his Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa.On his first flying lap in Qualifying Practice 2, Marquez set the quickest ever lap at Silverstone to take provisional pole position, but after fitting a new medium compound rear slick for this second time attack went even quicker, setting a 2’00.234 to slice 0.457 off the existing Circuit Best Lap record. Lorenzo’s best lap time of 2’00.522 was also under the previous Silverstone lap record and secured second place on the grid for the British Grand Prix, while Pedrosa claimed the third qualifying position by virtue of being the only other rider to set a time within half a second of Marquez, his 2’00.716 being 0.482 seconds off the pace. All three riders that qualified on the front row of the grid used the combination of the soft compound front and medium compound rear to set their quickest times.Silverstone was blessed again with fine and mild conditions throughout the day, with a peak track temperature of 35°C reached this afternoon during Free Practice 4; 5 degrees higher than yesterday’s peak. The fine weather allowed the riders to test a variety of tyre combinations and although race tyre choice will be determined by tomorrow’s weather, two tyre options emerged as the most likely race options. The soft compound front slick provides the best balance of cornering and braking performance at Silverstone and it is expected that it will be used by the vast majority of riders for the race. For the rear tyre, the medium compound slick is the most popular option although the soft compound rear slick is working very well for the Aprilia, Suzuki and open class riders and the hard compound option could feature on some Factory Honda and Yamaha machinery after Marc Marquez set some fast, consistent laps on this option during FP4.The twenty-lap British Grand Prix will start at 1300 local time tomorrow (GMT +1) with the next MotoGP™ session, morning Warm Up starting at 0930.Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department“It was very good that today’s weather conditions were the same as yesterday as it enabled the riders to do some comparison work with different front and rear tyres. The feedback from today shows that the soft compound front tyre will be the most popular race choice as it provides the best balance of cornering & braking performance and reaches its ideal operating temperature quickly. For the rear tyre, the medium compound rear slick – which is a different specification to the medium rear slick we brought to Silverstone last year – proved to be very popular, but the soft and hard compound rear slicks are also working well with some different machine and rider combinations. I think we will have to wait and see what the weather brings tomorrow before the riders will confirm their race tyre choice, but the positive aspect for Bridgestone is that all of our slick tyre specifications are working well so the riders have many viable options for the race.”British MotoGP QP2 times – Riders that qualified from QP1 shaded in greyPos Rider Team QP2 Time Gap 1Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 2’00.234 2Jorge LORENZO Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 2’00.522 0.288 3Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 2’00.716 0.482 4Valentino ROSSI Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 2’00.947 0.713 5Pol ESPARGARO Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2’01.031 0.797 6Bradley SMITH Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2’01.140 0.906 7Scott REDDING EG 0,0 Marc VDS 2’01.329 1.095 8Cal CRUTCHLOW LCR Honda 2’01.376 1.142 9Andrea IANNONE Ducati Team 2’01.874 1.640 10Aleix ESPARGARO Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 2’01.880 1.646 11Yonny HERNANDEZ Octo Pramac Racing 2’01.894 1.660 12Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati Team 2’01.979 1.745 -
Lorenzo hammers out fifth victory of the year at the Czech Republic Grand Prix; Marquez second, Rossi third
Brno (Czech Republic), 16 August 2015: Pole-sitter Jorge Lorenzo led from start to the finish to take his fifth victory of the year at the Czech Republic Grand Prix, the result meaning the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider now has equal championship points as his teammate Valentino Rossi.Bridgestone release adds: After exhibiting lap-record pace in qualifying Lorenzo proved he had the best pace over race distance as well, as he led into the first corner and steadily built a gap over Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez, who was the only rider able to keep Lorenzo in sight in the early stages. As the race went on, Lorenzo’s lead grew and he ultimately took the chequered flag 4.462 seconds ahead of Marquez who finished in second place. Finishing a further six seconds behind in third was Rossi who kept his perfect podium record in 2015 intact. All three riders on the podium used a different combination of Bridgestone slick tyres for the twenty-two lap Czech Republic Grand Prix. Lorenzo used the medium compound slicks front and rear, Marquez used the medium front and hard rear slick, while Rossi used the hard compound front and rear slicks.Movistar Yamaha release:Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo put on an incredible show today at Automotodrom Brno, keeping rival Marc Marquez at bay for 22 laps to cross the line with a convincing 4.462s gap. TeammateValentino Rossi also put up a strong fight at the early stages of the race when he battled with Bradley Smith and Andrea Dovizioso to take the chequered flag in third place.Lorenzo had a brilliant start, taking the holeshot from pole and immediately tried to break away with Marquez running closely behind him. After the opening lap the X-Fuera rider posted times in the low 1‘56s for the next eight laps. Riding faster than anyone on track, the pair created a gap to the group battling for third, but with 14 laps to go the Majorcan‘s pace proved to be too hot for his rival, and he managed to break away.In his element, Lorenzo remained unthreatened for the remainder of the race and continued to manage the gap to Marquez perfectly, claiming a first victory in Brno for Yamaha since 2010 by a convincing length.Starting the race from third on the grid, Rossi slotted into fifth place, but quickly fought his way back to the front, overtaking Smith for fourth, but he lost valuable time behind Dovizioso in their battle for third place. With Andrea Iannone looming in fifth, Rossi put extra pressure on the compatriot in front of him and made the pass stick at the end of the third lap.
The Doctor put his head down to close the over two second gap to the frontrunners, but was unable to claw back the lost ground. Riding a lonely race, he focused on holding off his trailing rivals and crossed the line in third place, 10.397 seconds from the front, to make it his eleventh consecutive podium of the season.
Today‘s race results have Lorenzo take over the lead from Rossi in the championship as the pair are on equal points, each having earned a total of 211 points so far, but Lorenzo having two more GP wins this season.
Czech Republic MotoGP™ Top Ten Race ClassificationPosRiderTeamRace TimeGapFront specRear specTyres1Jorge LORENZO Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 42’53.042 Medium Medium Bridgestone2Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 42’57.504 4.462 Medium Hard Bridgestone3Valentino ROSSI Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 43’03.439 10.397 Hard Hard Bridgestone4Andrea IANNONE Ducati Team 43’06.113 13.071 Medium Medium Bridgestone5Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 43’08.692 15.650 Medium Medium Bridgestone6Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati Team 43’08.767 15.725 Medium Medium Bridgestone7Bradley SMITH Monster Yamaha Lorenzo after winning the Czech Republic GP on Sunday. A Movistar Yamaha image. Tech 3
43’14.863 21.821 Medium Medium Bridgestone8Pol ESPARGARO Monster Yamaha Tech 3 43’16.282 23.240 Hard Medium Bridgestone9Aleix ESPARGARO Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 43’36.826 43.784 Hard Medium Bridgestone10Danilo PETRUCCI Octo Pramac Racing 43’38.303 45.261 Hard Medium Bridgestoneeom/Bridgestone, Yamaha team releases
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All three MAPFRE Team Mahindra men in the points: Moto3
Brno (Czech Republic), 16 Aug 2015: The Moto3 race at Brno had barely started when the red flag came out on the first lap following a crash for four riders in the first corner and then four more in turn three. Half an hour later the race was restarted, cut from nineteen laps to twelve, and even though there was another pile-up this time it was not interrupted. However, it did allow a group of eleven riders to open a gap of two seconds over the rest of the field, with Niccolo Antonelli coming out on top of an intense battle for the win that saw Enea Bastianini and Brad Binder also finish on the podium.
Behind them all three MAPFRE Team Mahindra riders finished in the points together for the first time this season after leading the second group home. Jorge Martín, Pecco Bagnaia and Juanfran Guevara lost ground on the leaders after the crash in the restarted race and despite setting an identical pace to the front men throughout the race they were never able to recover the lost ground. However, it was a satisfactory finish to the weekend for the trio, with Martín scoring points for the third straight race, Bagnaia rediscovering his form after making a set-up breakthrough this morning and Guevara now putting the bad luck and injuries that hampered the first half of his season firmly behind him.
11th Jorge Martín: “The first start was really good, I was up to twelfth and ready to make some passes but then the red flag came out and we had to do it all over again. I tried to do the same thing in the restart but I got passed by a few riders and dropped back. By the time I got back to the front of my group the leaders had escaped. I tried to close the gap back to them but got involved in a battle with another rider and we tripped each other up. It would have been nice to be fighting for the podium because I think we had the pace today. In general I am happy because we have improved here, I won the battle in the group I was in and we have taken a top ten finish, which is important. Hopefully we can continue to improve and get a better result next time. Juanfran and I came together at the end but as far as I’m concerned there’s no problem.”
12th Pecco Bagnaia: “Today went well and we have finally managed to turn around the strange situation we have been going through. We completely changed the bike this morning and the results were effective. We made the bike easier to ride and I could pick my lines much more easily than yesterday. It took us a couple of laps to pick up the pace but in the end I am happy. It was a shame to have started from so far back because our pace was the same as the guys at the front. Overall, to make up fifteen positions and finish twelfth after a couple of bad results is a good way to end the weekend. We have to be happy and carry on like this.”
eom/Mapfre team release
2015 Aspar Team during the Moto3 Championship 2015 race 11 in Czech Republic at Brno Circuit. Image by Mirco Lazzari for teamAspar.com -
Yamaha’s Lorenzo sets best lap record of Brno circuit on way to pole
Brno (Czech Republic), 15 Aug 2015: Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo cut half a second from the previous Brno Circuit Best Lap record to claim pole position for the Czech Republic Grand Prix ahead of his main championship rivals Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi.Lorenzo had already beat the outright Brno lap record in Free Practice 3 this morning, but on a new set of slicks set went even quicker during Qualifying Practice 2, setting a time of 1’54.989 to beat Repsol Honda’s Marquez to pole by just 0.074 seconds. On the other factory Yamaha machine, Rossi clinched the final front row grid spot by setting a time of 1’55.353 on his final lap in QP2. All three riders that qualified on the front row at Brno used the medium compound rear slick for their fastest lap, yet while Lorenzo and Marquez used the medium compound front, Rossi set his time on the hard compound front slick. Overall, the top five riders set times under the previous Circuit Best Lap record for Brno; a 1’55.527 set by Marquez last year.Quotes of top threeJorge Lorenzo of Movistar-Yamaha takes pole for the Czech Republic. Image by Bridgestone :
Lorenzo: I am really proud of my two lap times, because the first one was as impressive as the second but just not enough to make the pole position. In the end I had to improve the lap time by two or three tenths to keep an advantage over Marc. I didn‘t expect my time, but I didn’t expect those from Marc or even Valentino either, but everyone was pushing so much and they improved a lot. My pole position lap was very good, almost perfect, except maybe the last corner wasn‘t because I had a lot of wheel spin, but a perfect lap is impossible, so we have to be very satisfied. I am confident for tomorrow because I think we have a great base setting. We will see tomorrow what the weather is like, how our rivals are doing after some laps, but we are confident.”Marc Marquez: “Today we can be very pleased with how the day went, yesterday we were far off Jorge and Valentino’s pace but today we are much closer. It’s a good sign, but we knew it would be difficult to beat them over a single lap because it seems that they use the new tyre very well. I set a very good lap, but Jorge’s was fantastic. In terms of race pace I think they are a little better than us, but there isn’t much in it, so in the morning warmup we will try to make a step. We will give one hundred percent in the race and try to keep as close as possible and stick with them to the end.”Valentino Rossi: I think a first row start is going to be very important because Jorge and Marc will be very fast from the beginning and if you start from behind it will be impossible to stay with them, so I‘m very happy with this result, also because we worked very well with the team. Already this morning we found a good way to proceed, but this afternoon we improved the setting and were able to also have a good pace, and like I said it‘s very important to start from the front row, because it will be a very hard race.Movistar Yamaha MotoGP release adds:Jorge Lorenzo put maximum effort into this afternoon‘s qualifying session, delivering pole position for tomorrow‘s race at the flowing Automotodrom Brno.Lorenzo wasn’t the only Yamaha rider on fire either as teammate Valentino Rossi put in a stunning ride to secure third, just 0.364 seconds from pole, for a first double front row qualifying result for the factory Yamaha team since Misano 2014.
After he displayed a dominant form in the third and fourth free practice session this morning, Lorenzo again confirmed he is a force to be reckoned with during the qualifying heat.
The Spaniard was the last rider to head out on track at the start of the 15 minute session to be assured of some clear space to crank out a hot lap and went to work immediately. His first flying lap delivered a 1‘55.238, smashing his own lap record and shooting him straight to provisional pole.
He hurried back into the pits for fresh rubber with seven and a half minutes remaining and was back on track in confident mood with a little under six minutes on the clock, ready to raise the level even further. He broke another record with his next flying lap, the first ever lap under the 1‘55 mark with a 1‘54.989. He had time for two more laps, but was unable to further improve upon his incredible lap time and will start tomorrow‘s race from a well-deserved pole position.
Teammate Rossi also gave a strong performance this afternoon. Having been quick in today‘s practice session the Italian made best use of the qualifying tyres in the quick fire heat. He left pit lane as one of the first riders, but headed straight back after scrubbing in his new front tyre.
He returned to the track with twelve minutes left of the session, his first lap of 1‘56.345 putting him in seventh place. He kept pushing as everyone else was changing tyres and posted a 1‘55.856 for fourth before arriving back at the box for another tyre with four minutes of the session left.
He rejoined the fight less than a minute later for a final attempt to improve his grid position as a last minute flurry of activity pushed him back to fifth. He gave his all on his final lap and delivered a brilliant 1‘55.353 for third position on the front row of the grid.
Czech Republic MotoGP QP2 times – Riders that qualified from QP1 shaded in grayPos Rider Team QP2 Time Gap 1Jorge LORENZO Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1’54.989 2Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 1’55.063 0.074 3Valentino ROSSI Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1’55.353 0.364 4Andrea IANNONE Ducati Team 1’55.390 0.401 5Bradley SMITH Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’55.460 0.471 6Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati Team 1’55.935 0.946 7Maverick VIÑALES Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1’55.954 0.965 8Pol ESPARGARO Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’55.955 0.966 9Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 1’55.969 0.980 10Cal CRUTCHLOW CWM LCR Honda 1’56.192 1.203 11Hector BARBERA Avintia Racing 1’56.399 1.410 12Yonny HERNANDEZ Octo Pramac Racing 1’56.739 1.750
