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Tag: MotoGP
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Lorenzo produces perfection in crash filled French GP; Rossi 2nd
Le Mans (France), 8th May 2016 
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi repeated their 1-2 performances from Jerez at the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France, this time finishing in reversed order. Lorenzo started the 28-lap sprint exactly as he had planned. As the lights went out he had a lightning start from pole position and took the holeshot to create 0.4s lead after the first lap. Followed by Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso, he put his head down and dropped quick laps to keep a consistent gap of little more than half a second until, with 23 laps left, it was time to break away.
With clear track in front of him and behind him, the triple premier class World Champion rode consistently fast lap times in the 1’33s to manage the gap to his pursuers that had rapidly grown to more than two seconds.
Lorenzo was in a league of his own and remained unchallenged for the rest of the race. Leading the race from start to finish, the freshly turned 29 year old marked his birthday by securing a perfect victory, with a more than ten second margin, and to top off the celebrations he also took over the top spot in the championship standings.
Teammate Rossi brought the heat to the racing action today, fighting his way up the order from his seventh place grid position. The Doctor had a challenging start from third row but quickly moved into sixth position before getting involved in a scrap with Pol Espargaró and Bradley Smith in the opening laps.
After muscling his way past his fellow Yamaha riders with strong but fair passes, he quickly went on to take fifth place from Aleix Espergarò after the third lap. The nine-time World Champion then set his sights on Marc Marquez and increased his pace as he closed down the 1.3s gap, posting a 1’33.293s, the fastest lap of the race.
With 20 laps to go Rossi moved up to fourth place as Iannone crashed out, which spurred him on to fight for a place on the podium. Having saved his tyres, he lined up his Spanish rival and under loud cheering from the fans he made his move in the Garage Vert corner on the next lap.
Now in his element he overtook his next target, Andrea Dovizioso, up the inside in Musée corner. Though he was unable to stretch his lead when in second place, he kept pushing his YZR-M1 to the limit until Marquez and Dovizioso got caught out in turn seven while trying to keep up with his pace. With twelve and a half laps left to go, Rossi was no longer under pressure. Unable to close in on his teammate, who had a gap of more than 5.2s, he focused on managing his advantage over Maverick Viñales in third place and landed a second consecutive podium finish, taking the chequered flag 10.654s behind his teammate.
Lorenzo‘s first place earns him 25 points, while Rossi adds 20 points to his score. These results put the Mallorcan in the lead in the championship standings on 90 points, five points ahead of his closest rival. Rossi stays third in the rankings with a 78-point total, seven points from second place.
eom/A Movistar Yamaha release
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Lorenzo seals pole position while Marquez settles for P1
Le Mans (France), 7 May 2016: After keeping up the pace in Saturday‘s two free practice sessions on the second day in France, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi went straight through to the Q2 session to qualify on the first and third row for tomorrow’s fifth race of the 2016 MotoGP World Championship.
Marquez of Repsol Honda qualified second while teammate Dani Pedrosa had to settle for 11th place.
Lorenzo had his signature start to the qualifying session, waiting for all other riders to leave the pit lane before rushing out on hisYZR-M1. Having set a 1‘32s lap this weekend, the Mallorcan continued the trend dropping a 1‘32.437s, a best lap of the weekend at that time, for first place. He further extended his lead with a 1‘32.236s before heading back to the pits with more than seven minutes remaining.
There were mixed feelings for Repsol Honda today at Le Mans, with Marc Marquez emerging second-best from a demanding qualifying session and Dani Pedrosa forced to settle for 11th place after slipping off at turn 4 halfway through the session.
Marquez had found quite a good pace in the morning FP3 session, and he struggled to match that speed in his first run in qualifying. However, the Spaniard put in a couple of very fast laps during his second exit and finished in a strong second position behind pole-man Jorge Lorenzo.
Pedrosa was unfortunate to suffer a small crash after completing his first flying lap and so losing precious time and the chance to improve his lap time enough to do better than 11th.
Lorenzo was back on track with five minutes to go and had just enough time left for two more hot laps. Despite a slight error on his third hot lap, he made a stunning recovery. He waited until the last moment to show his blistering pace and became the fastest man everaround the Le Mans Bugatti circuit, posting a new circuit best lap record of 1’31.975s, extending his lead to 0.441s.
Valentino Rossi had a similar strategy to his teammate and was one of the last riders to exit pit lane as the lights went green. His first flying lap put him in third place until Lorenzo completed his first flying lap, pushing the Italian back to fourth. Eager to stay on the first row, he improved his time on his second try and moved back into the provisional top three with a 1‘32.829s.
eom/Press Releases from teams
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Rossi seals superb Spanish victory;
Rossi celebrates after winning Spanish GP. A Movistar Yamaha image Jerez, 24 April 2016: Movistar Yamaha MotoGP‘s Valentino Rossi highlighted why he is the most successful rider at Circuito de Jerez on Sunday and rode one of the strongest races of his career to receive a standing ovation as he jumped onto the top step of the podium for the Gran Premio de España. Jorge Lorenzo also put in a stunning effort under the Andalusian sunshine and made it a perfect 1-2 for the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team.
Rossi says: I think that this was the perfect weekend. We started to go faster from Friday morning and we worked very well. The bike, in the race, was fantastic and we worked very well with the team so I have to say “thank you” to the whole Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team, especially my crew. I had a good pace and a good start and felt good with the bike from the beginning, so I could push. Sincerely, it was a special taste to have a win like this, so thanks a lot! The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team dominated the scenes in Spain as Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo set off from first and second place of the grid. They didn‘t relinquish the first two places once to any other riders and gave Yamaha a perfect one-two podium.
Starting from pole the nine-time world champion had a strong start and took the holeshot with his team-mate following his every move like a shadow. Two laps of tense racing action followed as they pushed each other to the limit. Rossi tried to make his YZR-M1 as wide as possible as Lorenzo tried to steal the lead. He had a brief success, but Rossi immediately responded. Realising the threat that was coming from behind, the Doctor dropped the fastest lap of the race on lap three, a 1‘40.090s, and created a 0.7s gap to his pursuers. With clear track in front of him and behind him, Rossi put the hammer down and checked out.
Determined to look after his tyres, the Italian lowered his pace a little in the final stages of the race, yet made sure to keep enough space between him and Lorenzo by responding in the right moments. He finished his lonely ride by taking the chequered flag 2.386s ahead his closest rival and took home his 113th career victory.
Teammate Lorenzo had a strong start and tucked in behind team-mate Rossi in second place. The local hero is known for being strong on the opening lap and built on the pressure on his fellow Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider. He was eager to find a way past the number 46 rider after a few attempts that weren‘t to last, but soon he had to focus on protecting his second place from a fast approaching Marc Marquez.
However, the race was far from over. With 10 laps to go Lorenzo was able to turn the tables on Rossi and started to close down the margin. It looked like a second battle for the win was about to take place when suddenly the Spaniard suffered from wheel spin on the long straight just as he started to reel in his team-mate. Keeping his head cool, Lorenzo finished the race calmly and secured his100th premier class podium.
Rossi remains in third position with his first place podium finish, now on 58 points and seven points behind Lorenzo, who is in second place with a total of 65 points, 17 behind the leader in the championship standings.
The team will be back on track tomorrow at the Circuito de Jerez for a one-day test.
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Rossi takes pole; Lorenzo to start on P2
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo kept the pressure on in qualifying this afternoon for tomorrow‘s Gran Premio de España, taking first and second on the grid. Rossi was one of the favourites to claim a spot on the front row after dropping the fastest time, a low 1‘49s lap, in FP3 this morning.
As the last rider to take to the track at the start of QP2, he had clear tarmac in front of him and was quick to push out a strong time attack. His first flying lap of 1‘39.761s gave him initial third place. Over his next few tries he improved his time to a 1‘39.463s but he remained in provisional third position as he headed into the pits with five and a half minutes remaining.
Less than a minute later the Doctor was back on his way and ready to step up his pace. Despite there only being a few minutes left of the session he was not rushed by the clock and calmly waited until after the flag had already come out to drop into the 1‘38s with a1‘38.736 and take his first pole position since last year‘s Dutch Grand Prix in Assen. This impressive achievement puts him in joint first place with team-mate Lorenzo in the most pole position rankings, as they both hold 62 first place Grand Prix starts over all classes.
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP‘s local hero Lorenzo finished at the top of the standings for three of the four practice sessions and had his eye fixed on the front row of the grid for the race. He was the first man to leave pit lane at the start of the qualifying two heat. He immediately dropped into the 1‘39s with a 1‘39.405 lap and took the lead, but was pushed back to second place as he headed into the pits for his first of two stops.
He returned to the track with more than nine minutes remaining, but quickly came back into the box after experiencing tyre issues and switched back to his first bike to make his final dash for pole. His next lap was a superb 1‘38.858s for provisional first place and it remained unchallenged, until Rossi took over at the front in the final minute with a margin of just over one tenth of a second.
Tomorrow the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team-mates will be on track for the fourth race of the season at 14:00 (GMT+2) local track time. (5.30 pm IST)
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Bagnaia takes brilliant third for all-new Mahindra: Moto3
Doha, 21 March 2016: Aspar Mahindra rider Pecco Bagnaia toughed it out for a brilliant third place under the floodlights in the opening round of the 2016 Moto3 World Championship in Qatar on Sunday..
The 19-year-old Italian fought every inch of the way in an eight-strong pack of the world’s best riders, using the MGP3O’s superb handling and his own intelligent tactics to be with the leaders as the chequered flag fell.
The new white-liveried Mahindra racer was just 0.148 of a second adrift of winner Niccolo Antonelli’s Honda, with Brad Binder’s KTM sandwiched between them.
Bagnaia had started the Qatar Grand Prix – the first of 18 rounds – from the fourth row of the grid, and finished the first of 18 laps of the 5.38-km Losail circuit in seventh position. From there to the end it was an action-packed 38 minutes, with eight riders exchanging blows at every corner, and swerving in and out of one another’s slipstreams down the kilometre-long start-finish straight.
Bagnaia held his own throughout, sometimes losing ground on the straight but then taking it back with interest in the corners. At the finish, the first seven riders were still within three quarters of a second of the leader.
It was a superb debut for the all-new Mahindra Moto3 machine, completely redesigned during the winter break; and justification also for a tactical change of bodywork during the weekend, after it was found that a different version of the fairing gave better results at the desert circuit.
With the agreement of its customer teams, the only Indian constructor in international racing made the one bodywork change allowed for the season even before the first race. The podium finish was the pay-off; in future races all eight Mahindra riders will have the choice of two different versions of the fairing.
FRANCESCO “PECCO” BAGNAIA – Third Place
This was a really, really difficult race. I had to push to the maximum on every single lap, and the pace was very strong. After practice and qualifying I didn’t think it would be possible to stay with the front group – but with the slipstream in the race, I realised I could do it. It was an amazing result for us. Mahindra and the Aspar team have worked really hard. The different fairing was definitely a help: it was easier to take the slipstream, and to close the line on the corners.
MUFADDAL CHOONIA – CEO Mahindra Racing
A podium is a fantastic way to start the new season after all the hard work from Mahindra Racing and our teams over the winter. Pecco rode magnificently to show the potential of the new MGP3O. Congratulations and thanks to him. He was the only rider who used the new aerodynamic package that we chose to homologate here. It improved stability and cornering speed, and the result certainly showed. Now we will work toward ensuring all the Mahindra and Peugeot Motocycles riders have the same opportunity: we’re committed to providing all of them with the new fairing from the next race in Argentina.”
ends
About Mahindra Racing
In 2016, Mahindra Racing is competing as a constructor in its fifth year in the Moto3™ class of MotoGP and remains the only Indian constructor in the series, having first participated in 2011. Mahindra Racing supplies the Mahindra MGP3O single-cylinder, 4-stroke, 250cc motorcycle to the factory Aspar Mahindra Team and three customer teams. Mahindra also supplies an official Peugeot Motocycles derivative of the MGP3O to the factory Peugeot MC Saxoprint Team.
The 2016 Mahindra Racing line-up includes: Aspar Mahindra Team – Jorge Martin (SPA), Francesco Bagnaia (ITA); Peugeot MC Saxoprint – Alexis Masbou (FRA), John McPhee (GB); Platinum Bay Real Estate – Karel Hanika (CZE), Darryn Binder (RSA); CIP-Unicom Starker- Fabio Spiranellia (ITA), Tatsuki Suzuki (JPN); 3570 Team Italia – Stefano Valtulini (ITA), Lorenzo Petrarca (ITA).
Mahindra Racing made history in the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix taking the first-ever podium for an Indian constructor. The MGP3O recorded top-five finishes in 10 of the 17 rounds in 2013 as well as a pole position, three circuit lap records and third in the constructors’ rankings. The 2014 season saw a further three podium finishes for the Indian motorcycle, including second place at the Sachsenring. In 2015, the Mahindra regularly fought at the front of the ultra-competitive Moto3 class and recorded a podium finish at Le Mans.
As well as its commitment in the World Championship, Mahindra continues to supply MGP3O machines to Team Aspar to compete in World Championship feeder series, the FIM CEV Repsol Moto3 Junior World Championship in 2016.
Mahindra’s bold decision to take on the world’s best at the highest level of motorcycle racing has won the team a number of prestigious awards in India, including: the NDTV Car and Bike Awards – ‘Mobil 1 Motorsport Award of the Year’, 2012 and 2013; the Bike India Magazine – ‘Motorsport Award’, 2013; and ‘ZigWheels Motorsport Award of the Year’, 2012.
For further information please visit: www.mahindraracing.com.
eom/Mahindra press release
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MotoGP 2016 Calendar
Several rounds of the 2016 MotoGP™ World Championship have been rescheduled.
MotoGP’s provisional 2016 calendar has been updated, changes are highlighted in bold. The calendar is given here courtesy www.motoGP.com.
Be sure to check out the fully updated 2016 MotoGP Calendar page.
Round Date Grand Prix Venue 1 20/03 Qatar* Losail International Circuit 2 03/04 Argentina Termas de Río Hondo 3 10/04 Americas Circuit Of The Americas 4 24/04 Spain Jerez de la Frontera ** 5 08/05 France Le Mans 6 22/05 Italy Mugello 7 05/06 Catalunya Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya 8 26/06 Netherlands TT Assen 9 17/07 Germany Sachsenring 10 14/08 Austria Red Bull Ring 11 21/08 Czech Republic Brno ** 12 04/09 Great Britain Silverstone 13 11/09 San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini Misano 14 25/09 Aragon MotorLand Aragon 15 16/10 Japan Twin Ring Motegi 16 23/10 Australia Phillip Island 17 30/10 Malaysia Sepang International Circuit 18 13/11 Valencia Comunitat Valenciana – Ricardo Tormo * Night race
** Subject to contract
ends/david
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Lorenzo wins 2015 World MotoGP title; Rossi wins hearts, exits with dignity
Jorge Lorenzo is the 2015 MotoGP World Champion after the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider led from start to finish and rode at record pace to secure victory ahead of the Repsol Honda Team duo of Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa who finished in second and third place respectively. Valentino Rossi’s heroic effort of making it to the fourth place from last on the grid did not yield any results as he lost the world title to his teammate by five points.Starting on pole position after setting a new outright Valencia lap record in qualifying, Lorenzo got the holeshot to lead into the first corner and led the entirety of the thirty-lap race – setting a new Circuit Record Lap of 1’31.367 along the way. However, the race was by no means an easy contest as Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez pushed Lorenzo the whole way, with his teammate Dani Pedrosa also making a late push for victory. At the chequered flag though it was Lorenzo who would take his seventh victory, 0.263 seconds ahead of Marquez who in turn was a further four-tenths of a second behind in third place. The frantic pace the three riders that finished on the podium rode at resulted in a new race time record being set at the Ricardo Tormo circuit of 45’59.364; almost eleven seconds quicker than the previous record time.The final race of the year took place in warm and dry conditions, with slightly cooler track temperatures than those experienced yesterday with a peak of 30°C recorded at the start of the race. As there was no significant change in the conditions compared to the earlier sessions, tyre choice for the race resembled that from Free Practice 4 yesterday with the medium compound rear, soft compound front pairing being the most popular combination. Twenty-three riders selected the soft compound front slick, with the remaining three riders opting for the asymmetric front slick option. Sixteen riders selected the medium compound rear slick for the race, with ten riders instead selecting the soft compound rear slick.Lorenzo’s Valencia victory sees him finish the 2015 MotoGP season on 330 points, five points ahead of his teammate Valentino Rossi who finished in fourth place today, and second in the championship standings after a valiant effort from the back of the grid. Marquez ends the season in third place in the championship standings on 242 points having taken five wins.eom/Bridgestone release -
Lorenzo makes his intentions clear with a magnificent lap for pole
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP‘s Jorge Lorenzo left no confusion this afternoon about his intentions of winning this years‘ MotoGP World Championship, setting a magnificent lap for pole position at the last qualifying session of the year. With no pressure to get a front start in qualifying, team-mate Valentino Rossi was steadily improving his pace throughout the session, but suffered a small crash at the final stages and ended the day having set the twelfth fastest time.
Fully focused on the task ahead, Lorenzo was calm and collected as he emerged from pit lane as the last rider to head out in the last 15-minute Q2 of the season. Once out on the relatively empty track, he stayed true to usual form and immediately dropped under the 1‘31s mark with a 1‘30.996s for provisional third position.
With a little less than nine minutes of the session remaining, he hurried back to the pits to start his second time attack a minute later. His next flying lap was a sensational 1‘30,011s for pole position, enough to break the circuit best lap record, creating nearly half a second margin to his closest rival.
Lorenzo quickly headed back to box for a second stop, but neither he nor any of his competitors were able to come close to his superb lap time.
Team-mate Rossi took a moment at the start of the session before he mounted his Yamaha YZR-M1 and had his first attempt of setting a hot lap. The Doctor clocked a 1‘32.840s on his first try and bettered his time to 1‘31.471s in the second before returning to the pits for a fresh rear tyre.
Back on track with five minutes remaining, he used his third flying lap to warm up his tyres to be able to push to the maximum on the next lap. Having picked up the pace, the nine-time World Champion had set a new personal best time for the first two sectors, but a small slide down the track meant the end of his session.
Though he set the twelfth fastest time, Rossi will be starting the race from last place on the grid, having collected a total of four penalty points on his racing license.
eom/Yamaha release
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Unstoppable Pedrosa takes dominant victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix
Repsol Honda Team’s Dani Pedrosa converted his record-breaking pace in qualifying into a race winning performance at today’s Malaysian Grand Prix, the Spaniard scoring his second victory from the last three races.Repsol Honda version of today’s race:
Pole man Dani Pedrosa led every lap of today’s Malaysian GP to take his second win of the season and seal the hat-trick of victories for the Repsol Honda Team in the fly away races. Unfortunately teammate Marc Marquez was involved in an incident with Valentino Rossi and crashed out on lap five.
Dani made a strong start off the line with Marc closely behind him however, after a small mistake on lap two Marc was passed by Lorenzo in turn four demoting him to third place and in front of Rossi. As Dani took control at the front, Marc and Rossi fought fiercely for third place and on lap four the two riders passed each other nine times, with Marc leading as they began lap five.
Again they battled and passed one another five times with Rossi in front as they exited turn thirteen. With Marc on the outside, Rossi slowed them both down into turn fourteen and then extended his leg into Marc’s bike causing him to crash. Dani remained untouchable at the front, winning comfortably with a margin of 3.6 seconds over Lorenzo.
After the podium ceremony, Rossi and Marc were called to Race Direction for a hearing. Their decision – after speaking with both riders – was to give three penalty points to Valentino, resulting in him starting the final race of the season from the back of the grid, as he already has one penalty point after an incident in Misano. Yamaha appealed this decision and the FIM had their own hearing with both riders but the appeal was declined and the penalty stands.
With his victory, Dani moves up into 4th in the Championship Standings with just one race of 2015 remaining in Valencia.
Earlier, starting on pole position, Pedrosa got the holeshot to lead into the first corner and led for the entirety of the race, his overall race time setting a new record for the Malaysian Grand Prix, beating the old mark by over seven seconds. Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi finished in second and third place respectively, the result meaning that Lorenzo closes the gap to his teammate to just seven points with just one round left to decide the 2015 MotoGP™ World Champion.Race day at the Malaysian Grand Prix experienced similar weather to the previous two days of the race weekend, with hot, humid conditions. The peak track temperature during the race was 50°C, a figure only slightly warmer than yesterday afternoon and as a result, tyre choice was largely the same as seen in Free Practice 4. The medium compound front slick was used by every single rider for the race except for Octo Pramac Racing’s Yonny Hernandez, who selected the hard compound front slick instead. Rear tyre choice saw the majority of riders selecting the medium compound rear slick, with sixteen of the riders choosing this option, while the remaining nine entrants opted for the soft compound rear slick. Tyre performance over the twenty laps of the Malaysian Grand Prix was exceptional, with Lorenzo setting a new Sepang Circuit Record Lap time of 2’00.606, beating the old mark by over half a second, while three other riders also set personal best lap times quicker than the old record.Rossi holds a seven point lead in the championship standings over Lorenzo heading into the season finale at Valencia in two weeks’ time. However, Race Direction has given Rossi a penalty following an incident with Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez, meaning he will start from the back of the grid in Valencia. Marquez holds onto third place in the championship standings on 222 points despite suffering his fifth DNF of the season today.Movistar Yamaha Version of the race today:As of today‘s race Valentino Rossi holds the record of most starts in Grand Prix history with 329 starts in what is probably his most dramatic as of yet. The Doctor had a good launch from third on the grid and kept his position as he settled behind Pedrosa and Marquez into the first turn. As Lorenzo started to move up the order, Rossitried to respond, but was forced to let the Majorcan pass with nineteen laps to go and soon found himself trailing Marquez and one of the most heated scraps of the century ensued.For four laps the Italian and Spaniard bashed fairings and overtook in almost every corner. The fight was decided when with fourteen laps to go Marc crashed as the result of the two coming into contact at turn 13.Rossi continued the race in third place in a lonely ride and held his position over the line, 13.724s from the front.
Lorenzo‘s comeback from second row to second place earns him 20 points and leaves him second in the championship standings with 305 points. Rossi‘s performance sees him take 16 points and leaves him still leading on 312 points, just 7 points in front of his teammate in the battle for the World Championship Title.
Following the incident in turn 13, Race Direction has decided to impose 3 penalty points to Rossi, who will start the next Valencia race from the back of the grid. The following appeal by the Team to the FIM (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme) has been rejected.
Hiroshi Yamada – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Department“Dani showed his amazing talent in the way he dominated the race today, so congratulations to both him and Honda on a thoroughly deserved victory. This race will be talked about for years to come and is yet another exciting chapter in what has been one of the most closely followed MotoGP seasons in years. We had a record race-day crowd of 88,832 at Sepang today and we are all set for a spectacular season finale in front of a sold-out Valencia circuit in a fortnight’s time. It was also an incredible Grand Prix for Bridgestone as all three Sepang records, the Circuit Best Lap, Circuit Record Lap and overall race time records were beaten by huge margins. It has been a busy three week period for our staff, but we head to the last race of the season in high spirits as we look to end our MotoGP adventure in the best way possible.”Masao Azuma – Chief Engineer, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department“We had a dry race today with similar conditions to yesterday, so tyre choice was largely as we expected with the medium compound front and rear slicks being by far the most popular choice. After the outright lap record for Sepang was broken yesterday, we could see that the riders were able to ride at a very quick pace during the race on our 2015 specification tyres, with a new race lap record and overall race time being set. Overall it was a good weekend for Bridgestone and we now look forward to finishing the season on another positive note at Valencia.”Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team – Race Winner“It was a really tough race physically, as the conditions were extremely hot and the track is very demanding. All weekend my pace was very good so I think my team did a good job and I’m happy that I could win the race and share it with them and all my supporters. We are progressing well and I’m very happy with the victory today and I’ll try to finish the season in the same way.”Malaysian MotoGP™: Top Ten Race ClassificationPosRiderTeamRace TimeGapFront specRear specTyres1Dani PEDROSARepsol Honda Team40’37.691MediumMediumBridgestone2Jorge LORENZOMovistar Yamaha MotoGP40’41.3033.612MediumMediumBridgestone3Valentino ROSSIMovistar Yamaha MotoGP40’51.41513.724MediumMediumBridgestone4Bradley SMITHMonster Yamaha Tech 341’01.68623.995MediumMediumBridgestone5Cal CRUTCHLOWLCR Honda41’06.41228.721MediumMediumBridgestone6Danilo PETRUCCIOcto Pramac Racing41’14.06336.372MediumMediumBridgestone7Aleix ESPARGAROTeam SUZUKI ECSTAR41’16.98139.290MediumMediumBridgestone8Maverick VIÑALESTeam SUZUKI ECSTAR41’17.12739.436MediumMediumBridgestone9Pol ESPARGAROMonster Yamaha Tech 341’20.15342.462MediumMediumBridgestone10Stefan BRADLAprilia Racing Team Gresini41’22.29244.601MediumSoftBridgestoneeom/Bridgestone Press Release
Dani Pedrosa on way to second win in three races at Sepang on Sunday. A Bridgestone image -
Dani Pedrosa smashes Sepang Circuit lap record: Malayasian Motorcycle GP; Mahindra’s Bagnaia P8 in Moto3
Sepang, 24 October 2015: Repsol Honda Team’s Dani Pedrosa produced one of his best ever qualifying performances to smash the Sepang Circuit Best Lap record and claim pole position for tomorrow’s Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang International Circuit, according to a Bridgestone release.
On just his second lap in Qualifying Practice 2, Pedrosa set a scorching time 1’59.053 to lop over half a second off the previous Sepang Circuit Best Lap record and ultimately end the session 0.409 seconds ahead of his teammate Marc Marquez who claimed second place on the grid. The final front row slot went to Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi who clocked a 1’59.726 on his final lap of the session to out-qualify his teammate Jorge Lorenzo by mere 0.011 seconds. All of the riders that qualified on the front row used the combination of the medium compound slicks front and rear for their time attack in qualifying.It was another typically hot and humid day at Sepang, although the smoke haze lingering over the circuit was thicker than yesterday which resulted in slightly lower track temperatures. Today’s maximum track temperature of 46°C was recorded at the end of Free Practice 4 and was 4°C below yesterday’s high. The combination of poor grip from the tarmac and heavy undulations in the braking zone at the Sepang circuit has steered tyre choice towards options that provide good bump absorption and cornering performance. Therefore, in race simulations during FP4 the medium compound front and rear slicks emerged as the favourite options amongst the riders today and are likely to be used by the majority of riders for the race. The soft compound rear slick is also likely be used by some open class riders for the race as it provides extra performance without a big penalty to durability, but the hard compound rear slick is unlikely to be used by the factory Honda and Yamaha riders unless track temperatures tomorrow are considerably higher.Tomorrow’s Malaysian Grand Prix will start at 1500 local time (GMT +8) with local weather forecasts predicting a moderate possibility of rain at this time. Before then, the MotoGP™ riders will next be on track for the twenty-minute Warm Up session at 1040 local time.Masao Azuma – Chief Engineer, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department“Thankfully both sessions were dry today which allowed the teams and riders to work on getting maximum potential out of our tyre allocation at Sepang. The condition of this circuit has degraded year-on-year and so it is important to find a setup which can deal with the bumps in the braking zones, while also limiting spinning of the rear tyre on corner exit. Today’s dry sessions provided the opportunity for the teams to find optimal bike settings for our slick tyres and the result was some very quick lap times during both the time attacks in qualifying as well as during race simulations in FP4. The vast reduction in lap times we have seen this weekend is a good indication that our 2015 specification slick tyres are working well here at Sepang and I am confident our tyres can help produce another thrilling race tomorrow.”Mapfre Mahindra Moto3 team adds:
Moto3 lap times edged towards record pace at Sepang this morning and the only question mark was whether or not the pace would be maintained as the temperatures rose for qualifying in the afternoon. Miguel Oliveira answered any doubts as he broke the 2’13 barrier on just the third lap and the Portuguese rider looked likely to stay there as qualifying ticked by with a whole host of riders tripping each other up as they looked for a tow, with slipstreams so crucial at Sepang. The traffic was so bad that it is hard to imagine Race Direction will not be handing out more penalties this evening, which could see changes to the grid before tomorrow’s race. On the final lap, Oliveira was edged out to third position by Niccolo Antonelli and Jorge Navarro.
MAPFRE Team Mahindra riders Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martín are hopeful of joining the battle at the front in tomorrow’s race after making constant progress throughout the weekend. After lapping ninth and eleventh fastest in final free practice this morning the pair went in search of strong grid positions from the start this afternoon, with Bagnaia moving up to third position on his third lap. It was only during the final few minutes, when he was held up by traffic, that he dropped a few spots to eighth, half a second off pole, but with the likelihood of moving up a position or two once Race Direction have intervened. Martín may also move forward from thirteenth place, the Spaniard feeling confident that he can meet his objective of a top ten finish tomorrow. The team’s third member Juanfran Guevara is hoping to find some set-up solutions tonight after struggling this weekend and qualifying back in 22nd.
8th Pecco Bagnaia 2.13.167 (13 laps): “I was able to set fast laps on my own in free practice this morning and in qualifying this afternoon. My race pace is strong and I was able to set a quick lap in qualifying, it was just a shame that when I was on course to go even faster I ran into a bunch of riders in the middle of the track. It has been happening a lot this season and Race Direction have had to get serious about it already. Anyway, I think when the lights go out tomorrow we will be able to make up a couple of positions. I am satisfied with the job we have done, the bike is working perfectly. The forecast is looking like it might rain but I would prefer a dry race. It will be difficult and I don’t think the pace will be so high because the tyres drop off dramatically here. The objective is to get into the lead group at the start and then be fighting at the end for the best possible result.”
13th Jorge Martín 2.13.573 (12 laps): “In general it has been a very positive day. I felt comfortable in final free practice and I was able to set a really fast lap. My pace is strong on used tyres and that is very positive for the race tomorrow. Qualifying didn’t go as well as I had hoped, I had a problem with my drinks pack at the start and then when we put the softest tyre in I ran wide in one corner but still set my fastest lap. Overall, even though I was hoping for more I am happy with our performance and the result today. I think we have good pace and I am hopeful of running in the front group tomorrow, fighting until the end. I think it will be a big group at the start and then not so big at the end. Our goal is to be there and at least finish in the top ten.”
eom/Bridgestone and Aspar team releases
Francesco Bagnaia to start on P8 in Moto3 for Aspar Mahindra Moto3. An Aspar Team image
