FIM MotoGP World Championship

Circuito de Barcelona – Catalunya, Spain

June 3, 2016

Free Practice Two Results (all on Michelin tires):

1. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:41.712

2. Maverick VIÑALES, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:41.954

3. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (HONDA), 1:42.011

4. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 1:42.196

5. Scott REDDING, UK (DUCATI), 1:42.282

6. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), 1:42.296

7. Hector BARBERA, Spain (DUCATI), 1:42.308

8. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (DUCATI), 1:42.461

9. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (HONDA), 1:42.485

10. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (DUCATI), 1:42.490

11. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (DUCATI), 1:42.516

12. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:42.539

13. Danilo PETRUCCI, Italy (DUCATI), 1:42.830

14. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (DUCATI), 1:42.870

15. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:43.017

16. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (APRILIA), 1:43.292

17. Michele PIRRO, Italy (DUCATI), 1:43.461

18. Stefan BRADL, Germany (APRILIA), 1:43.502

19. Jack MILLER, Australia (HONDA), 1:43.621

20. Tito RABAT, Spain (HONDA), 1:43.648

21. Bradley SMITH, UK (YAMAHA), 1:44.171

More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing Team:

Bruising Barcelona practice for Miller and Rabat

The opening day of MotoGP practice at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya proved to be a challenging affair for Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS riders Jack Miller and Tito Rabat.

Gloriously sunny conditions resulted in exceedingly high track temperatures that meant Miller and Rabat’s primary target was to improve grip with their Honda RC213V machinery at the start of the seventh round of the 2016 World Championship campaign.

Australian Miller ended the day in 20th position, having walked away unhurt from a fall at the second corner this morning and a fast tumble at turn three in FP2. Miller will now focus on gaining more front-end confidence in the first and final sector of the fast and flowing 4.7km Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya in advance of tomorrow’s final practice and qualifying.

Tito Rabat was the hero of the day as the 26-year-old took to the track this morning just 13 days after fracturing his left collarbone in a practice crash for last month’s Italian Grand Prix.

Rabat luckily didn’t aggravate the injury when he fell at turn two in FP1 and his bravery and determination was rewarded with a big improvement in his lap time in this afternoon’s sun drenched second 45-minute session.

Rabat was able to lap 1.5s faster in FP2 to finish just 0.027s behind Miller and he brilliantly reduced the gap to the fastest pace from over three seconds down to under two.

Jack Miller: 20th – 1’43.621

“Today has not been an easy day and I have found it difficult to get a good feeling with the bike in the first and last sector. They feature a lot of corners where you roll into them and you need a lot of confidence on the front-end and we are just struggling so much. I lost the front in both crashes and I’m not happy about that but we know the reason why I went down and we need to find more confidence on the front-end. It is difficult but all the team and I can do is work to improve the feeling on the bike and try and be more competitive for the remainder of the weekend. We are definitely missing a little bit but hopefully we can find some improvements with the setting tomorrow.”

Tito Rabat: 21st – 1’43.648

“After all the hard work I put in to be fit for this weekend following my crash in Mugello, crashing again in FP1 and being more than three seconds from the front was the last thing I needed! I am happy with my performance this afternoon and we made a big step and the gap to the best pace here in Barcelona is the same as it was on Friday in Mugello, so this shows we did a lot of good work today. I am confident we can bring the gap down again tomorrow. Physically I don’t feel too bad and it is a great feeling to be riding in front of my home crowd.”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal

“It has been a difficult day and we have to admit we saw Tito and Jack on the floor a little bit too much today. We were quite worried when Tito crashed because he fell heavily on the left shoulder he injured in Mugello, and we can’t forget that Jack is still working to fully recover from his pre-season leg injury, so the positive is that both escaped any further damage. The position is not great but I think if we can improve by two or three tenths tomorrow then we are talking about a completely different picture.”

More, from a press release issued by Aprilia:

ALVARO BAUTISTA RIDES HIS APRILIA RS-GP JUST SHORT OF THE TOP-10 IN FP1, SECOND SESSION CONDITIONED BY A CRASH

IMPROVING SENSATIONS FOR STEFAN BRADL

The MotoGP Barcelona weekend, the second round of the 2016 season on Iberian soil, opened up with the two Friday sessions.

In FP1 Alvaro Bautista demonstrated a good pace straight away, riding his Aprilia RS-GP to thirteenth place with a time of 1’43.180, just over a second behind the top time. This is an encouraging start on his home track, a sign of the hard work carried out in the Aprilia garage. During the initial phases of the second session, Alvaro fell victim to a crash without any physical consequences, but compromising the planned performance for FP2. Back on the track with the second bike, with which he did not find the right feeling straight away, he was unable to improve on his time from this morning, and he finished with a 1’43.292 that places him in 16th place for the combined standings.

Lagging a bit behind was his Aprilia Racing Team Gresini teammate, Stefan Bradl, who finished the day in 19th place, but improving from one session to the next (1’44.009 in the morning and 1’43.502 in the afternoon FP2). In any case, the 37 total laps the German put in represent a good base on which the Aprilia engineers will be able to set up their analysis and the related decisions for the set-up to use tomorrow, when the starting grid order will be decided.

ALVARO BAUTISTA

“We started off rather well. In FP1 we tested the tyres more than anything, tending toward the harder tyre for the front. And despite the fact that the track is brand new to the RS-GP, I felt at ease straight away. But FP2 began with a crash. Hernandez came alongside me and I ended up on the dirty part of the track and lost the bike, crashing out. With the second bike I didn’t have that good feeling that I had felt in the morning. In any case, with the new temperature in the afternoon, we continued testing various solutions for the front tyre. On the rear I always lapped with the medium solution, but I think that the hard one could provide more stability, especially in acceleration. We still have not taken a final decision. We need to see the data and then choose between performance and consistency”.

STEFAN BRADL

“A demanding day. With the high temperatures grip becomes quite critical. Both of the tyres, front and rear, tend to deteriorate very quickly and that makes it essential to be able to look after them in the best way possible over race distance. Today we did not make very drastic changes to the settings between the two sessions. The changes are definitely moving in the right direction, but since they are important changes, it takes a few laps to gain confidence. We have a good starting base, so all that’s left now is to keep working, keeping an eye on tyre management, which will be the key to the race”.

More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

Iannone eighth and Dovizioso tenth on first day of free practice for Catalan GP at Montmeló

The Ducati Team riders, Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso, were both classified inside the top 10 – in eighth and tenth place respectively – at the end of the first day of free practice for this weekend’s Catalan GP at the Montmelò circuit on the outskirts of Barcelona.

Iannone finished his 45 minute run in the morning’s first session in sixth place, with Dovizioso in thirteenth, while both factory Ducati men then went on to improve in FP2 in the afternoon: Iannone set a time of 1’42.461, which was 0.749 seconds off the pace of the quickest rider Lorenzo, and Dovizioso finished with a best time of 1’42.490.

Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team #29) – 1’42.461 (8th)

“I expected to be more competitive on this circuit and not to struggle so much, but the weekend has just begun so we still have time to work. We’re mainly lacking grip and despite being all more or less in the same condition with the rear, I’m struggling a lot with the front because the bike is unable to corner well and as a result my feeling is not the best. Now we have to focus on set-up work in order to obtain some more grip and improve tomorrow.”

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1’42.490 (10th)

“This afternoon we made a big improvement, and we managed to get the hard front tyre to work well, something that we were not able to do in the morning session. With the pace that we had at the end of FP2 we are not missing much to be able to stay with the frontrunners and I think I could even have done a better lap with a fresher tyre at the end of the session. Now we have to concentrate on the fine-tuning work, because there is not much grip for anyone and the difference in the race will depend on the work that we will all do tomorrow.”

More, from a press release issued by Avintia Racing:

Seventh place for Barbera after a strong start in Barcelona

Great start for Hector Barbera and Avintia Racing in the opening day of the Catalan Grand Prix. Although the day started with an early crash due to a cold tyre –following an electrical problem with the heater-, Barbera was able to get in the Top Ten at the end of FP1. In the afternoon he did another step forward to finish seventh just 0.596s from the fastest pace of the day set by Jorge Lorenzo in Barcelona. The goal for tomorrow will be passing into Q2, but it won’t be easy with six factory bikes behind of the Avintia Racing rider.

The day was also good for Michele Pirro. On his debut with Avintia Racing the Italian had a positive feeling with his crew working to adapt to the Ducati GP14.2, after he didn’t ride that bike for almost two years, and using different tyres. Step by step his feeling was getting better and he finished 17th after improving his lap times in FP2.

Hector Barbera | 1’42.308 | P7

“The beginning of the day was not good as we had a small crash, but then we were able to make it up. I went out with my second bike, but after crashing your feeling is not the best. In addition the second bike was set up with different ideas, it was like an experiment, so we had to push hard to get the best of it. The second session was really positive and my feeling was great from the first exit. We worked to set up the electronics because today the track was really slippery, and we have new tyres for this race, so finishing the day in seventh place is fantastic for us. We need to keep working hard tomorrow and try to get in Q2, but it will be difficult with so many factory bikes. I think that we’ll go faster with cooler track conditions during FP3.”

Michele Pirro | 1’43.461 | P17

“Today was a difficult day because I didn’t ride this bike for two years and never before with Michelin tyres. But in every exit my feeling was better and in the afternoon I was able to improve one second. We have some ideas to test tomorrow with the aim to improve the feeling and I would like to finish tomorrow inside the Top 15. The team is working really well and we connected from the beginning. I want to say thanks again to Avintia and Ducati for being here, I will do my job in the best possible way.”

More, from a press release issued by Movistar Yamaha:

MOVISTAR YAMAHA MOTOGP TAKE CHARGE IN CATALUNYA FREE PRACTICE

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi battled the heat at the Circuito de Barcelona-Catalunya today during the first free practice sessions to secure first and sixth place respectively in the combined times ahead of this weekend‘s Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya.

Montmelò (Spain), 3rd June 2016

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP‘s Jorge Lorenzo was quick to return to his Mugello form at a somewhat dusty Montmelò circuit today and wrapped up the first day of the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya at the top of the combined free practice time sheets. Teammate Valentino Rossi was also fast in the sweltering conditions and showed a competitive pace throughout the day to take sixth place in the combined rankings.

Lorenzo had been looking forward to riding in front of his home fans again this weekend and immediately stormed to first place on his flying lap. Riding with a special, by Anna Vives designed, 99 rider number to raise awareness for people with disabilities and the importance of teamwork in ’connecting abilities‘, he did not relinquish his provisional lead until the final five minutes of the session. He secured second place with a best lap of 1’42.143s, just 0.078s from the front.

The afternoon practice saw the track temperatures go up to 26 degrees, changing the track conditions. Lorenzo remained unaffected and only took three laps to drop a 1‘42.281s to take the top spot again in the first minutes of FP2. He led until the pace picked up as the session came to a close. The local hero was quick to respond with a 1‘41.712s and regained first place to end the day 0.242s ahead of his closest rival.

Rossi has named Montmeló as one of his favourite places to visit on the MotoGP calendar and was clearly enjoying being back at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. He steadily improved his pace in the morning session to move up to second position, behind his teammate. He then put his attention towards improving tyre-life and finished FP1 in third place with a 1’42.536s, under half a second from the front.

In the afternoon he upped the pace further. He set a 1‘42.365s for second place on his third lap and maintained this spot throughout most of the session. He focused on bettering his bike‘s settings and testing various tyre options and was pushed back to sixth when various riders put in a hot lap at the end of the session. He wrapped up the day with a best time of 1’42.296s, 0.584s behind his teammate.

MASSIMO MEREGALLI

TEAM DIRECTOR

In terms of lap times, bike setting and also the pace we are in a quite good position, as displayed by Jorge‘s fastest lap times and also Valentino‘s competitive pace. However, we were not expecting to have this unforeseen tyre behaviour for both the front and rear. Even though we tried all the tyre choices, we still have a lot of doubts about which option would be best suited for the race. We have collected a lot of information in both sides of the garages because many things have been tested today. We will study the data deeply to prepare something for tomorrow‘s practice sessions, mainly to elongate the tyre life and rear grip.

JORGE LORENZO

I‘m very happy with the start of this weekend because from the first lap I was very fast and had a huge difference compared to our rivals on the first laps. In the other practice session, on new tyres, we also got close but the pace was fantastic this morning. This afternoon, with hotter temperatures, the conditions were more difficult; there was less grip on the track. We are trying some settings and all the tyres, and we still have a gap to the others, mainly in terms of pace, so this is very positive.

VALENTINO ROSSI

Here in Montmeló it‘s always difficult with the tyres because the asphalt has a low grip-level, so after some laps the performance of the tyre goes down a lot. It‘s very important to have a good balance of the bike but also have a good pace when the tyres have done more than five or six laps, so we worked on that. I‘m quite happy about my speed and pace and the bike is not so bad. We have to work, but the feeling is good. This weekend we have three fronts and three rears, because Michelin brought some new rubbers, so it‘s very important to know the way to work for tomorrow. We have three different tyres but the quantity is the same, so it will be crucial to have the right plan. For the Friday it wasn‘t so bad.

More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing:

Fantastic 5th for Scott in Friday free practices at Barcelona. Petrux finishes 13th

The weekend of Grand Prix of Catalunya started great for Scott Redding who managed to notch up the 5th quickest lap-time in afternoon FP2. For Danilo Petrucci a bit more difficult day due to lack of grip at the rear.

Octo Pramac Yakhnich ends up with great satisfaction the first day of activity in Barcelona. The British rider has found soon a good feeling with his Ducati Desmosedici GP managing in Fp2 to lower than 1 second his best crono set in the morning, mainly thanks to a stunning T1 (second overall). The time of 1’42.282 gives Scott the fifth place in the first day of the Grand Prix of Catalunya.

Danilo Petrucci has instead had to contend with a crash (with no consequences) in the last run of the FP1, which delayed the set-up on his moto-1. In the afternoon Petrux managed to lap under the wall of 1’42 but the lack of grip at the rear did not allow him to get close to the Top 10. The rider of Fiamme Oro finished 13th with a time of 1’42.830.

5th – Scott Redding

1’42.282

I’m really happy for this day. Since morning I had positive feelings even though the lap-time was not great. When i put the soft tyre in the time attack of the afternoon, I immediately had the feeling I could do well but I had to quickly understand the tire behavior. Today we made a good job but we have to work a lot for the race because I found grip over one lap but in a run of 6-7 laps I had some difficulties. Tomorrow I will try the hard tyre although Danilo has tried it today and things have not gone very well in terms of race pace.

13th – Danilo Petrucci

1’42.830

I do not like very much this track and this morning I have also crashed. I’m happy with how I rode with the hard tyre in afternoon but I would have done better with the soft one. The problem is that the rear tire seems to be competitive in the first 5 laps then the grip start to drop. We have to understand how to last longer the rear tire and we have to work a lot on this. The electronic does not help us much but this is a problem that also others riders have to deal with. This is a track where you slide a lot and during the race will be important to try to save the tire as much as possible.

More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3:

Espargaro bolts into action at home Grand Prix

Monster Yamaha Tech3 team riders Pol Espargaro confidently concluded the first day at the Cataluña circuit as he looks to impress at his home Grand Prix on Sunday. The young Spaniard launched straight into gear when the event got underway and completed the opening shakedown impressively in 4th. In the afternoon session, he continued the setup work on his Yamaha YZR-M1 as the track temperature increased at the physically demanding circuit. His time from free practice one leaves Espargaro in 13th in the combined standings, but only 0.513 of a second from 4th and he now intends to up his pace tomorrow morning ahead of the all-important qualifying shootout.

On the other side of the pit box, Bradley Smith methodically began to set up his Yamaha YZR-M1 for the 23 lap sprint as he aims to follow up his strong result at the previous round in Mugello with another determined performance on Sunday. The 25 year old tirelessly completed 20 laps in the morning session, more than another other MotoGP rider, and finished less than a second back from third. Smith got straight back into the groove in FP2 as he carried on the vital setup work whilst he sampled the various compounds of Michelin tyres. His personal best from FP1 leaves him in 16th overall and with a firm plan of action in place for tomorrow, where the young Briton will seek to bounce back strongly and seal a top tier grid position.

Pol Espargaro

Position: 13th Time: 1’42.709 Laps: 33

“Overall today was a positive opening to the weekend. The fourth position this morning showed that we are working in the right direction, but unfortunately I had a very strange feeling with my front tyre on the last run during the second session. As a result, this afternoon so we weren’t able to lower the lap time as much as we expected to. I think it was just this tyre, because we used the same compound before and it was working ok, but of course, if things like this have to happen, it’s better that they occur on Friday and not later in the weekend. However, overall my feeling with the bike was good even though the grip level wasn’t high, but that’s the same for everybody. Now I’m focusing on tomorrow morning’s session, which is the most important one for us and where my aim is to definitely pass straight through to QP2 so that I can get a strong qualifying position for my home GP on Sunday.”

Bradley Smith

Position 18th Time: 1’43.470 Laps: 40

“I think it’s been a bit of a tricky start for everyone in Cataluña today. We had three types of compound for both the front and rear so we wanted to try as many as possible. However, it looks like some of the compounds were a bit too soft for this conditions, and now it looks like we will have to use the harder option for the race and the rest of the weekend. As a result of assessing the tyres, we haven’t found the optimum chassis setting at the moment, because with sampling all the tyres, you have a different feeling and feedback and it’s time consuming. However, I am comfortable on the bike but we need to focus on the front turning for tomorrow and it’s a small change but it makes a big difference because there are a lot of high-speed corners at this racetrack. In addition, we also need to improve our corner speed. Overall, the bike balance is ok as well as the rear grip. We will analyse everything further tonight, but we currently have two clear options that we want to try tomorrow with bike one and two, anyway we are certain that we can lower the lap time and get back inside the top ten.”