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Tag: MotoGP
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Last lap heroics help Marquez clinch first premier class victory at Phillip Island; Rossi keeps lead with 4th
Phillip Island, 18 October 2015: Marc Marquez won his first premier class race at Phillip Island after the Repsol Honda Team rode an astonishing final lap to snatch victory from Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Iannone who finished in second and third place respectively. Rossi finished fourth to keep his championship lead.Today’s Australian Grand Prix turned into a four-way battle for the lead with Marquez, Lorenzo, Iannone and Valentino Rossi trading places throughout the twenty-seven lap contest. Such was the intensity of the fight for victory that Marquez’s finishing time beat the previous Australian Grand Prix record race time by thirteen seconds. Marquez’s final lap was completed in a time of 1’29.280 – the quickest lap of the race – during which time he managed to overtake Lorenzo at MG corner and power through the final two turns to take the chequered flag 0.249 seconds ahead of his compatriot. Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone rode a brilliant race and after challenging for victory, managed to resist the attention of Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Rossi on the final lap to take the final podium spot by just one tenth of a second ahead of his fellow Italian.The Australian Grand Prix took place in fine weather conditions with the track temperature peaking at 38°C at the start of the race and only dropping by a couple of degrees by the final lap. The conditions were almost a carbon-copy of what they were during Free Practice 4 and qualifying yesterday and so tyre choice for the race mimicked that of yesterday’s sessions. The newly-developed asymmetric front slick was the unanimous choice for the race, with all twenty-five participants selecting it for its balance of warm-up performance, braking feel and cornering stability. For the rear tyre, sixteen riders – including all the factory Ducati, Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha entrants – selected the medium compound rear slick for the race, with the remaining nine riders opting for the soft compound rear slick. Tyre performance during the race was quick and consistent, highlighted by the top seven riders completing the lap in quicker time than the previous overall race time record.Lorenzo’s second place in Phillip Island helps him close the points gap to the current championship leader, Valentino Rossi to just eleven points with two rounds remaining. Marquez’s win sees him consolidate third place on the points table, a further 63 points behind Lorenzo.The race began at a rapid pace, with Lorenzo, Iannone, Marc, Dani, Rossi and Crutchlow leading the way. Lorenzo pushed at the front trying to open a gap as the other riders jostled for position behind him. By lap seven, Marc had slotted in behind Lorenzo as the other riders continued to battle, constantly swapping position. By lap sixteen, Dani had established himself in 5th – fending off Crutchlow – as a small gap opened up to him and the leading four riders.
Despite constantly passing one another, Marc, Rossi and Iannone caught up with Lorenzo and on lap eighteen Marc took the lead briefly, but it only lasted three laps. Marc, Rossi and Iannone continued to fight and Marc dropped down to 4th with just two laps to go. However, he never gave up hope – passing Rossi on the penultimate lap into 3rd – and on the final lap making up two places whilst recording the fastest lap of the race and taking the victory by just 0.249 seconds over Lorenzo.
The top four riders crossed the line with barely a second separating them with Dani bringing home 5th place. Marc’s win here is his 50th in his career and his first in the MotoGP class at Phillip Island – only victory at Motegi eludes him – from circuits on the current calendar. Honda remain the most successful manufacturer at Phillip Island in the MotoGP era with six victories.
Australian MotoGP Top Ten Race ClassificationPosRiderTeamRace TimeGapFront specRear specTyres1Marc MARQUEZRepsol Honda Team40’33.849AsymmetricMediumBridgestone2Jorge LORENZOMovistar Yamaha MotoGP40’34.0980.249AsymmetricMediumBridgestone3Andrea IANNONEDucati Team40’34.7790.930AsymmetricMediumBridgestone4Valentino ROSSIMovistar Yamaha MotoGP40’34.9071.058AsymmetricMediumBridgestone5Dani PEDROSARepsol Honda Team40’38.9115.062AsymmetricMediumBridgestone6Maverick VIÑALESTeam SUZUKI ECSTAR40’40.6496.800AsymmetricMediumBridgestone7Cal CRUTCHLOWLCR Honda40’43.2249.375AsymmetricMediumBridgestone8Pol ESPARGAROMonster Yamaha Tech 340’52.25018.401AsymmetricMediumBridgestone9Aleix ESPARGAROTeam SUZUKI ECSTAR40’53.88820.039AsymmetricMediumBridgestone10Bradley SMITHMonster Yamaha Tech 340’54.50620.657AsymmetricMediumBridgestone -
Miquel Oliveira takes fifth podium of his career in a day of crashes: Moto3
Phillip Island (Australia), 18 October 2015: Miguel Oliveira of Red Bull KTM Ajo won the MotoGP 3 here on Sunday clocking 37 minutes 34.742 to take his 5th podium of his GP career and moves to 2nd in championship, 40 points from Danny Kent with 50 points and two races remaining in the chamionship.
Spaniard Efren Vasquez of Leopard Racing came second in his Honda while Brad Binder came third. Oliveira had enough in hand around the final corners to win by 0.1s – a monumental margin by this race’s standards – but Vazquez just edged Binder and Navarro in a frantic dash to the line.
Miguel, the Portugal rider moved to the second position behind Danny Kent in the world championship Moto3 standings. Kent crashed out today along with nearest rival before the start of this race, Bastianini.
After the race Oliveira said: “I just realise now the championship is still on. What a crazy race. I noticed the group was not so big but I still wanted to be 1st or 2nd. I could defend the whole lap and I’m so happy, a great win.” On second thoughts, “I am sorry for the results, it happens…” he quipped.Second place Vazquez said: “I’m really happy with this race. The setting was perfect for the race and to get a podium is great.”Third-placed Binder feels lucky saying: “The front closed on me at T1, I was so lucky there was extra tarmac there. It was a good race although I’m a bit disappointed with 3rd. I felt strong and pulled back the gap. My bike was amazing, it handled really well. I’m sure I could have done better but…”eom/motogp.com results
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Marquez takes blistering pole in Australia with heartache for Pedrosa in 4th
Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez has taken an incredible pole position – his 30th in MotoGP – as he chases his first win in the premier class at Phillip Island, but unfortunately teammate Dani Pedrosa was demoted from second to fourth in the dying seconds of qualifying according to a Repsol Honda release.
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo rode as smoothly as ever around the Phillip Island circuit today, taking third position for tomorrow‘s Australian Grand Prix. Teammate Valentino Rossi also felt the tension build before the crucial qualifying session, and secured seventh place on the grid, adds Movistar Yamaha team release.
Since Saturday Honda notes of FP2, Marc has led every session here in Phillip Island and immediately shot to the top on his first exit in qualifying. On his second run, Marc was on track to improve his time again however, a big moment in turn four – where he was lucky to save the bike from crashing – forced him back into the pits for new rubber for his final third exit. Marc delivered an incredible lap, improving his first run by three tenths with a time of 1’28.364 and securing pole position.
Dani found traffic on his first flying lap but was then able to get a fast lap in. On his second run, he improved by half a second and his time of 1’28.712 placed him second with just a handful of riders remaining. However, in the final moments, Lorenzo and Iannone crossed the line with identical times just 0.032 seconds ahead of Dani and relegated him to fourth.
Tomorrow’s race will begin at 16h00 local time.
Marc Marquez
1ST 1’28.364
“I am pleased with how the day went, and of course with pole position! Thanks to the team for all their work, we have a good pace
for tomorrow and we are ready to fight for the podium and hopefully the victory tomorrow. However we must wait and see what happens, because here every day is different; it can be sunny but then all of a sudden clouds can appear, and the key will be interpreting how the track conditions are, in order to have a good race.”Results Session
Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Time/Gap 1 MARQUEZ Marc 93 SPA Repsol Honda Team 1’28.364 2 IANNONE Andrea 29 ITA Ducati Team 1’28.680 3 LORENZO Jorge 99 SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1’28.680 4 PEDROSA Dani 26 SPA Repsol Honda Team 1’28.712 5 CRUTCHLOW Cal 35 GBR LCR Honda 1’28.912 6 VINALES Maverick 25 SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar 1’28.932 7 ROSSI Valentino 46 ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1’29.014 8 ESPARGARO Aleix 41 SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar 1’29.015 9 ESPARGARO Pol 44 SPA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’29.222 10 DOVIZIOSO Andrea 4 ITA Ducati Team 1’29.267 11 REDDING Scott 45 GBR Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS 1’29.499 12 SMITH Bradley 38 GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’29.626 13 PETRUCCI Danilo 9 ITA Pramac Racing 1’29.918 14 BARBERA Hector 8 SPA Avintia Racing 1’30.064 15 MILLER Jack 43 AUS LCR Honda 1’30.104 16 LAVERTY Eugene 50 IRE Aspar MotoGP Team 1’30.105 17 HERNANDEZ Yonny 68 COL Pramac Racing 1’30.135 18 BAUTISTA Alvaro 19 SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1’30.147 19 BAZ Loris 76 FRA Athina Forward Racing 1’30.173 20 HAYDEN Nicky 69 USA Aspar MotoGP Team 1’30.376 21 BRADL Stefan 6 GER Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1’30.634 22 DI MEGLIO Mike 63 FRA Avintia Racing 1’30.959 23 WEST Anthony 13 AUS AB Motoracing -
Mapfre Mahindra riders start weekend with strong pace at Phillip Island
Phillip Islands (Australia), 16 Oct 2015: Just five days after crossing the finish line in the Grand Prix of Japan the Mot
Guevara on Friday in Phillip Islands. A Mapfre Mahindra image 3 World Championship riders were back on their bikes today to begin the sixteenth round of the season at Phillip Island. The Australian Grand Prix kicked off in typically changeable weather conditions, with the first session taking place in the dry but the second session starting off in the damp after some intermittent showers. The riders opted to wait in their garages until the track dried, with some riders able to improve their lap times but many struggling to match their pace from the morning. Indeed, the fastest time of the first day here was set in the opening session by Miguel Oliveira.
MAPFRE Team Mahindra’s three riders made a solid start to the Australian Grand Prix. Juanfran Guevara built on his excellent feeling at this circuit in 2014, working to a similar plan today as he made improvements in the second session to lap eleventh fastest overall, a little over a second off the fastest rider today. Pecco Bagnaia was two positions further back, the Italian feeling satisfied with his bike but uncomfortable with the strong winds that were a constant feature today at Phillip Island. Jorge Martín also struggled with the conditions but otherwise adapted quickly to the circuit and he is confident of improving on eighteenth place ahead of qualifying tomorrow.
11th Juanfran Guevara 1.38.306 (28 laps): “We had a good race at Phillip Island last year so I was really looking forward to this weekend. We tried to start with the same plan of attack today. We worked well in the first session but this afternoon the conditions were strange and we could only ride for the final twenty minutes so we don’t know how much we could have improved. I am happy though, it was important to start the Grand Prix strongly and especially to see where we could improve. We have done a lot of laps on the same tyre today and that is positive for the race. We had a consistent pace this morning and dropped the lap time in the afternoon. The objective is to continue in the same way tomorrow.”
13th Pecco Bagnaia 1.38.339 (28 laps): “Today was positive, I am happy with how the bike is working, it was just a shame that the wind was such a problem today. The feeling for the first day was really good and I was running in the top ten, it was just a shame that I got held up on my final lap by a rider on a slow lap. Anyway, I am happy with the result today. Tomorrow we have to try and improve and work on reducing the effect of the wind. It caused a few crashes in turn one today, it is not a nice thing for anybody. We will work on improving our performance tomorrow and maybe try lowering the front end a little so that it doesn’t get lifted quite so much.”
eom
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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
