Category: Moto GP

The Repsol Honda rider lapped Le Mans over half a second faster than the rest of the pack to take first place on the grid.

A flying 1:32.246 lap put Spaniard Marc Marquez back on top and 0.503 sec clear of second place finisher Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team). Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) will start from third on the grid after lapping in 1:32.846 – 0.6 sec slower than Marquez.

British rider Cal Crutchlow (CWM-LCR Honda) will start from fourth on the grid after putting in a 1:32.897 lap – just 0.051 sec away from stealing third from Lorenzo.

Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) starts the French GP in fifth position, leaving Brit Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) in sixth. Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) & Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) will start from 7th & 8th respectively.

Danilo Petrucci (Pramac Racing) & Aleix Espargaro (Team Suzuki Ecstar) – who both made the jump up from Q1 – ended up in 9th & 10th place. That leaves Yonny Hernández (Pramac Racing) and Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) in 11th & 12th.

The MotoGP action continues on May 17 at 09:40 local time with the warm up session. The race will commence at 14:00.

A Bridgestone report:

Saturday, 16 May 2015

Le Mans, France

Bridgestone slick compounds: Front: Extra-soft, Soft & Medium; Rear: Extra-soft, Soft & Medium (Asymmetric)

Bridgestone wet tyre compounds: Soft (Main) & Hard (Alternative)

Weather:   FP3 – Dry. Ambient 11-12°C; Track 13-17°C (Bridgestone measurement)

                 FP4/QP – Wet/Dry. Ambient 14-16°C; Track 17-21°C (Bridgestone measurement)

In challenging conditions at Le Mans, Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez was half a second quicker than his nearest competitor in Qualifying Practice 2 as he claimed pole position for tomorrow’s French Grand Prix.

On a track surface that was far from ideal due to earlier rain, Marquez’s best lap time of 1’32.24 in QP2 was just two-tenths off his own Circuit Best Lap record at Le Mans and saw him comfortably take the top spot ahead of Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso, who managed a best time of 1’32.749. Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo is a three-time MotoGP winner at Le Mans, and he did his chances of claiming a fourth victory at the circuit no harm by qualifying on the front row, his time of 1’32.846 the third quickest in qualifying. Both Marquez and Lorenzo set their best times using the combination of soft compound slicks front and rear, while Dovizioso used the soft compound front and extra-soft compound rear slick to set his best time.

Rain began to fall prior to this afternoon’s Free Practice 4 session which was declared wet, and although a dry line was present for qualifying, conditions were far from ideal. Track temperatures throughout the day were low, ranging from just 13°C at the start of this morning’s FP3 session to a peak of 21°C at the end of QP2. The cold conditions resulted in riders using the extra-soft and soft compound front slicks in today’s dry sessions, with the medium compound front slick remaining unused. When attempting a quick lap during time attacks in qualifying, the majority of riders preferred the soft compound front slick and this is also likely to be the most popular race choice. The soft compound rear slick also emerged as the preferred race choice today, although some open-class riders are likely to select the extra-soft rear slick for the race, particularly if temperatures remain low. During the wet FP4 session, only the soft compound wet tyre was utilised, with no riders opting for the alternative, hard compound wet tyre.

Tomorrow’s weather forecast suggests slightly warmer conditions, with only a slight chance of rain. The next MotoGP session is the twenty minute Warm Up session at 0940 local time tomorrow (GMT +2) before the twenty-eight lap French Grand Prix gets underway at 1400.

Masao Azuma – Chief Engineer, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department

“The conditions at Le Mans today were extremely challenging for the riders, this morning we had the coolest track temperatures we’ve experienced in MotoGP in a long time, and so I am happy that our tyre allocation enabled the riders to manage the conditions safely. Quite a few riders were able to lap under the race lap record in this morning’s freezing FP3 session which indicates the tyres offered enough warm-up performance and feel in the conditions, which is what you need as a rider at this circuit. Although we had a disruption with the wet conditions in FP4, we’ve had enough dry track time for the riders to decide on which slick tyre combinations will work best for them in the race. The soft compound front and rear slicks are the most popular options due to their optimal combination of cornering and braking performance, and ability to retain temperature, but it is likely that the extra-soft rear slick will be chosen by some open-class riders for the race.”

French MotoGP QP 2 times – Riders that qualified from QP1 shaded in gray

Pos	Rider	Team	QP2 Time	Gap
1	Marc MARQUEZ	Repsol Honda Team	1’32.246
2	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	Ducati Team	1’32.749	0.503
3	Jorge LORENZO	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	1’32.846	0.600
4	Cal CRUTCHLOW	CWM LCR Honda	1’32.897	0.651
5	Andrea IANNONE	Ducati Team	1’33.001	0.755
6	Bradley SMITH	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	1’33.299	1.053
7	Valentino ROSSI	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	1’33.352	1.106
8	Dani PEDROSA	Repsol Honda Team	1’33.419	1.173
9	Danilo PETRUCCI	Pramac Racing	1’33.556	1.310
10	Aleix ESPARGARO	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	1’33.665	1.419
11	Yonny HERNANDEZ	Pramac Racing	1’33.714	1.468
12	Pol ESPARGARO	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	1’33.724	1.478

 

Jerez de la Frontera (Spain), 2 May 2015: Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo continued his stunning return to form today, dominating the time sheets again at the Circuito de Jerez de la Frontera and setting a new pole position record. Teammate Valentino Rossi left it to the last lap to make his move, securing fifth on the grid for tomorrow‘s Gran Premio de España. Reigning world champion Marc Marquez of Repsol Honda will start on P2.

Lorenzo became the first ever rider to set a sub 1’38 lap at Jerez by posting a 1’37.910 on his very last lap to secure his first pole position of the 2015 season. Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez qualified in second place with a personal best time of 1’38.300, while Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone took the final front-row grid slot with a time of 1’38.468. All of the top three riders used different tyre combinations in setting their best lap times. Lorenzo used the medium compound front and rear slicks, Marquez used the medium compound rear with the hard compound front slick, while Iannone selected the soft compound rear and hard compound front slick.

After ruling the standings yesterday, Lorenzo continued his strong and consistent pace right from the outset of today‘s scorching hot 15 minute qualifying session. In typically style, he was the first to leave the pits to be guaranteed an empty racetrack. He moved straight to the top of the standing with his first flying lap, a 1‘38.497, before immediately returning to the pits for a fresh set of rubber with over nine minutes remaining.

A minute later he was back and ready to put the hammer down. He extended his lead with another fastest time of 1‘38.234, but still had some margin left. With just under four minutes left the local hero had a second stop at his box, before starting his final run with less than two minutes on the clock. Having led the entire Q2 session, he saved the best for last when he ended the session by dropping 0,210s under the old pole position record with a spectacular 1‘37.910 lap to secure pole and send a clear message ahead of tomorrow‘s race.

Rossi had a more challenging qualifying. Leaving the pits right behind his teammate, he took fourth on his first hot lap with a 1‘39.179, before dropping three places. As the Doctor was also on a three-stint strategy, he quickly made his way back to the pits to start his second run with a fresh rear tyre and eight minutes remaining.

The nine-time World Champion posted a 1‘38.717 lap to take sixth before, with over four minutes left, he came in for a second time. He returned to the track one and a half minutes later for a final stint. His last last-minute flying lap of 1‘38.632 saw him jump two places up the timesheets from seventh to a fifth place grid start, 0.722 from pole.

Jorege Lorenzo speaks:

A lot of people said that I had a crisis and I was down, it was one of my worst moments, but just two days later I rode this impressive lap time. That shows that in racing you can‘t say things like “this guy is down, he‘s finished” because the next day he‘s going to be at the front. The opposite is true too, you can‘t say you‘re the best, because the next day you‘re at the back, so we have to be humble and work to take profit of the opportunities. We arrived here with everything being fine and we took profit of it every session. Setting the new pole position record is unbelievable. I rode many impressive lap times in my career, but this one is very special. A 1‘37.9 with these temperatures is very impressive and I am very satisfied. Marc will be strong tomorrow as always and the Ducati’s too, but the race is going to be another story. However our pace is very good and I feel very comfortable with the softer tyre when it‘s dropping.

ends/Yamaha release

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez has clinched his 24th MotoGP pole position – and second successive – for tomorrow’s twenty-five lap race in Argentina, with teammate Hiroshi Aoyama qualifying 15th.

With track temperatures almost doubling since this morning’s FP3 session, replacement rider Hiroshi was unable to find a better feeling with the Honda RC213V and did not manage to reach Q2. His time of 1’39.715 placed him 15th for tomorrow’s race. Marc, who has been fastest all day, opted for a three-stop strategy in Q2, in order to take maximum advantage of each new tyre. He was able to improve on each exit and his pole time of 1’37.802 was over half a second faster than second place Aleix Espargaro, and only 0.119 off his 2014 pole record.

Tomorrow’s race will start at 16h00 local time.