FIM MotoGP World Championship
Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya
Barcelona, Spain
June 12, 2015
Free Practice Two Results (all on Bridgestone tires):
1. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:41.158
2. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (HONDA), 1:41.443
3. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 1:41.789
4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (DUCATI), 1:41.823
5. Maverick VIÑALES, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:41.922
6. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (DUCATI), 1:41.938
7. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:42.034
8. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (HONDA), 1:42.044
9. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:42.313
10. Scott REDDING, UK (HONDA), 1:42.354
11. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), 1:42.367
12. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (DUCATI), 1:42.417
13. Bradley SMITH, UK (YAMAHA), 1:42.645
14. Hector BARBERA, Spain (DUCATI), 1:42.697
15. Loris BAZ, France (FORWARD YAMAHA), 1:42.968
16. Danilo PETRUCCI, Italy (DUCATI), 1:42.995
17. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (HONDA), 1:43.110
18. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (HONDA), 1:43.351
19. Jack MILLER, Australia (HONDA), 1:43.369
20. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (APRILIA), 1:43.463
21. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (HONDA), 1:43.562
22. Mike DI MEGLIO, France (DUCATI), 1:43.760
23. Stefan BRADL, Germany (FORWARD YAMAHA), 1:43.851
24. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (ART-APRILIA), 1:44.614
25. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (APRILIA), 1:45.323
More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3:
Home hero Espargaro confident after first day at Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya
Monster Yamaha Tech3 rider Pol Espargaro kick-started his home campaign in front of his passionate crowd by completing the opening day in 9th position in the combined standings. The 24 year old rider started his weekend by making the initial steps in setting up his Yamaha YZR-M1 for Sunday’s 25 lap sprint as he concluded the practice in 14th place. In FP2 the temperature increased and Espargaro continued his work whilst aiming to improve the setup of his bike. After undertaking 20 laps around the 4.7 kilometre circuit, he finished with a best time of 1’42.313 in the tightly contested opening day of action. Tomorrow he will intend to clinch a top grid position in the all-important qualifying session, for round 7 of the 2015 MotoGP World Championship in front of the ever-ecstatic Catalan crowd.
Meanwhile, Bradley Smith concluded the opening shake down at the Catalan Grand Prix in 14th position in the combined standings. The young British rider began the day by making the first alterations to his MotoGP bike with the Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team and finished FP1 in 15th place. As soon as free practice 2 began, Smith got straight to work and continued his relentless efforts in getting prepared for the 25 lap battle on Sunday, whilst completing a total of 21 laps around the circuit. This was the highest number reached in the MotoGP field and the young rider met the chequered flag in 13th with a best lap of 1’42.645. He now aims to make additional adjustments for his race setup tomorrow in preparation for the Monster Energy sponsored Catalunya Grand Prix on Sunday.
Pol Espargaro
Postion : 9th Time : 1’42.313 Laps : 38
“Overall, I am pleased with how the day went as we performed a lot better than the time sheets indicate. We have the same handicap as usual whereby the MotoGP open class bikes with the soft tyres, are in front of us. Furthermore, the Ducati’s have a clear advantage as well on the long straight because of their engines. Yet, we still did a solid job as we are only just behind Lorenzo and in front of Rossi. The bike is working well at this track and although we still have some margin of improvement to make, we are doing our best in getting ready for Sunday which is the day it really counts. “
Bradley Smith
Postion : 14thTime : 1’42.645 Laps : 42
“It was a slightly tricky opening to this round. This was due to the fact the track has a little less grip than in previous years, so we struggled a bit to get the optimum traction. However, we made a lot of setting changes in order to find a good direction to head towards tomorrow, which we now have, especially after I was able to check over both of the front and rear tyres today. At the end of the practice I focused more on getting a good rhythm with the soft tyre, instead of setting a hot lap time as I believe this compound will be the one for the race so I tried to remain in the 1’42’s consistently. Overall, I am pleased with the bike and now we just need to find a little bit of additional grip. If we achieve this, I believe we can have a strong showing and finish we were want to. “
More, from a press release issued by Cardion AB Motoracing:
We reached the 18th position on Friday
The World Motorcycle Championship now continues with seventeenth round in Barcelona, Spain. Czech rider Karel Abraham reached the 18th best lap time 1:43,008 of the Friday´s free practices in the morning already.
Karel Abraham
“I was completely happy with the bike setting in the morning. Everything worked well and how I needed. We were able to try a lot of different things without any limitations. It got worse in the afternoon. The back started to slide a lot and the same continued with the front. I couldn´t reach the better time. Anyway I´m quite satisfied with today´s results.“
More, from a press release issued by Movistar Yamaha:
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team Commences Catalunya Challenge
Today Movistar Yamaha MotoGP‘s Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi concluded the first free practice sessions in seventh and eleventh place respectively in the combined session times, as they prepare for another sizzling battle at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Montmelò (Spain), 12th June 2015
After a short break, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi were back on tarmac today for the first free practice sessions ahead of this weekend‘s GP Monster Energy de Catalunya.
Enjoying the support of his home fans, Lorenzo consistently upped his pace in FP1. Despite difficult track conditions due to the heat, he was quick to set a second fastest time with a 1‘42.458 lap. The local hero spent the remaining time of the session concentrating on perfecting his setting and ended the morning in fourth place.
The track conditions improved slightly in the afternoon. More comfortable aboard his YZR-M1, Lorenzo posted a fastest time of a 1‘42,034. This hot lap pushed him up to provisional second place in the time sheets, before the pace quickened in the final stages, moving him down to seventh.
Rossi also enjoyed the first outing in Montmeló. After quickly re-familiarising himself with the track he set the second fastest time on his first flying lap. Focused on the task at hand he bettered his time to a 1’42.938 as the pace quickened, wrapping up the first session in eighth position.
The Doctor had a similar approach in the afternoon. He wasted no time to shoot up to the second spot and used the remaining minutes on the clock to work towards a solid race set-up until the time attack in the final stages of the session. He dropped a 1‘42.367, moving him briefly up to third in the timesheets, and finished FP2 in eleventh place.
The results put Lorenzo in seventh in today‘s combined times, 0.876s from first, and Rossi in eleventh, 1.209s from the front.
JORGE LORENZO
I think we did a great job from the morning to the afternoon. In the morning the grip of the track was a lot worse compared to Mugello. The bike moved around a lot, especially in acceleration. We did a great job in making the bike more stable, so the performance improved a lot and we have a consistent pace. This will be very important for Sunday‘s race. Here, compared to the first lap, the pace can drop a lot in the middle of the race, so if we have a good set up we can have an advantage at the end of the race.
VALENTINO ROSSI
It wasn‘t a bad start. At the end of the practice we found a better setting and balance of the bike and I didn‘t feel so bad. I‘m just a little bit worried about the position, because I‘m not inside the top ten. The reality is that everybody rode incredible lap times and pushed very hard. I feel good with the bike and the pace is not so bad. We have to better our times and try to improve the position tomorrow. A lot of riders rode a very good lap time to stay in the top ten to secure a place in tomorrow‘s Q2 in case of bad weather conditions tomorrow. I went on track thinking 1‘42.3 was enough to guarantee me a spot, but unfortunately Redding overtook me and I‘m in eleventh place. However, the feeling with the bike is more important and we hope for some good conditions tomorrow.
MASSIMO MEREGALLI
TEAM DIRECTOR
Today, especially during FP1, the circuit conditions weren‘t great for the Yamaha, but it got better throughout the day. We improved the bike‘s set up even if the standing doesn‘t reflect our potential. We are quite happy with the consistency of the lap times, especially Jorge‘s. There is still a bit of work to do for Vale‘s side of the garage, but we are confident it will get done in time. We are going to work tonight to improve the areas where the riders are not completely satisfied. We are confident that we can achieve the performance we are looking for.
More, from a press release issued by Aprilia:
SEVENTH ROUND FOR MOTOGP
FIRST DAY OF PRACTICE AT BARCELONA
Barcelona (Spain), 12 June 2015 – On the Montmelò Catalan track the practice sessions for Sunday’s GP got underway. The Aprilia RS-GP bikes ridden by Alvaro Bautista and Marco Melandri are on the track.
Aprilia Racing Team Gresini also had a midweek track session with tests that Bautista conducted on Wednesday at the Misano circuit. Some of the solutions the Spanish rider tested were brought to Barcelona in keeping with the “test season” spirit that characterises the Italian team’s year.
Bautista finished today’s free practice sessions with the 21st best time (in 1’43,463), placing just behind a group of riders who are all grouped within a few tenths of a second of one another, so Saturday will be decisive in trying to gain positions. Melandri was lagging a bit behind, finishing in 25th place with a best time of 1’45,270.
ROMANO ALBESIANO (Aprilia Racing Manager)
“These were two very demanding sessions in terms of bike setup. Barcelona is a very complex track but toward the end of the session we made significant improvement with Alvaro, also trying some of the solutions we had tested at Misano. We’ll use some others tomorrow with the goal of increasing grip to the rear, which is currently our most important objective. Marco was also feeling a general instability with the bike, so we have a few different solutions there as well that we’ll try on the track Saturday.”
FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager)
“Today Alvaro worked a lot with his mechanics as usual. He rode in the morning session with the new frame he had tested at Misano before coming here to Barcelona and then he focused on the one he had been using up to now. He also improved his times in the afternoon, moving up in the positions. There are still a lot of little things that need to be improved for tomorrow and hopefully we will go down the right path so that they can work together in the best possible way for us to keep progressing.”
ALVARO BAUTISTA
“This was an important day because we wanted to try the frame we had tested at Misano straight away. I found some advantages there, but here the difference wasn’t quite as clear, so obviously it depends on the circuit. Now we need to improve above all in the braking sections and we need more grip on the fast turns.”
MARCO MELANDRI
“Today we worked on the setup and we had some difficulties, especially in terms of grip. So tomorrow we’ll try to make a few changes to the frame geometries, trying to reach a higher level of confidence with the bike.”
More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda:
Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya
MotoGP 2015 Round 7
Promising first day in Catalunya for Repsol Honda Team
Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa have enjoyed a positive start to round seven of the MotoGP Championship in Barcelona, finishing 2nd and 3rd after the first day of free practice.
With fantastic weather adorning the Catalunya track, the Repsol Honda duo finished this morning’s FP1 session first and second and carried this form into this afternoon’s FP2, improving their setup and subsequently their times. Only Aleix Espargaro was able to top them in the time sheets after his final lap, completed on the Bridgestone soft tyre that factory teams do not have access to.
Marc, who tested a new exhaust today, recorded a total of 18 laps, taking his best time of 1’41.443 on lap 17, placing him 2nd for the day. Dani worked on tyres and swing arm comparison and finished just behind him in 3rd with his time of 1’41.789 on lap 18 of 19.
Marc Marquez 93
2ND 1’41.443 [LAP 17/18]
“I’m happy because I felt pretty good on the bike. We are working with a focus on the second part of the race, because at this track the tyres degrade a lot, but it’s the same for everyone. We did some tests and it seems that we have solved a few of the problems we have had, but we must continue with this because I still don’t feel quite right. However, I think we have definitely taken a step forward. That is the important thing: Improving and getting increasingly closer to the top time. Anyway, we still have work to do to prepare the second part of the race when tyres drop down.”
Dani Pedrosa 26
3RD 1’41.789 [LAP 18/19]
“Thankfully the track dried after yesterday’s rain and we made the most of this to work a lot with the tyres. The asphalt was not in ideal condition but we tried some changes to the setup for the rear; tomorrow we will continue to see if we can improve both on the entry and exit of corners. Today we put on both the hard tyre and the soft compound and, although the grip was not perfect, both are very similar and there is not much difference, this will be key for the race. I also tested two different swing arms, and we will decide which one we will use after checking carefully the data, as both have pluses and minuses.”
More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:
Dovizioso fourth and Iannone sixth in first day of free practice for GP of Catalunya at Montmeló
The first two free practice sessions for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Catalunya took place today in fine weather conditions at the Montmelò circuit on the outskirts of Barcelona.
Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone ended the day in fourth and sixth place respectively, but both Ducati Team riders will still need to do a lot of work tomorrow in order to find an ideal set-up that will help them improve their feeling with the Desmosedici GP15 on the Catalan track.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1’41.823 (4th)
“Today was a bit of a strange day: the feeling I had with my GP15 was rather unusual and so we will have to check through the data to see what we need to modify on the bike. The track doesn’t have much grip and there are also a lot of dips created by the cars, which cause us a lot of bother. We’ve still got all day tomorrow to work on things, so we’ll have a look at the data calmly before deciding the right direction to take to improve.”
Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team #29) – 1’41.938 (6th)
“Today went differently to how I expected it to go: I didn’t think I’d struggle so much and thought I’d be quick right out of the box. Instead it was difficult for me to get into the right rhythm. For the moment I don’t have the feeling I want: probably the bike’s behaviour won’t change very much on this track over the weekend, but I am sure that we will find a way to be quicker and in any case today we’ve already improved the bike in the braking points. I’m not particularly worried because I’m working well with the team and I’m sure we will find the right direction tomorrow.”
More, from a press release issued by OCTO Pramac Racing:
Yonny: “I’m very confident”. Petrux: “I need to find more speed”
A lot of confidence for Yonny Hernandez. Danilo Petrucci needs more speed. These are the impressions after the first day of practice on the Montmelò circuit in Barcelona where the Catalunya GP will take place on sunday.
Yonny got a great feeling with his Ducati Desmosedici GP14.2 already during the FP1, ended in sixth position just 7 tenths of a second from the fast lap set by Marc Marquez. Feeling confirmed in the afternoon that made possible a 1’42.417 laptime with hard tyres, very close to the first positions. Yonny couldn’t take advantage of the soft tyre during the time attack in the last run due to a chattering problem, finishing in 12th position with an ideal time good for the 10th.
Hard Friday for Danilo Petrucci, who didn’t find a good confidence with the Ducati Desmosedici GP14, as he managed to do in recent times. Very constant pace in FP1 and FP2 for Petrux, but not sharp enough with soft tyres, ending up in 16th position with a 1’42.995 time.
12° – Yonny Hernandez – OCTO Pramac Racing Team #68
I am satisfied beyond time and place. Throughout the day, the feeling with the bike was very good. I’m disappointed for the problem I had in last run of the FP2. I felt a vibration, perhaps a problem with a small part of the chassis that has created a front chattering difficoult to control preventing me to exploit the soft tire. We’ll see what happened but I’m not worried: it is certainly an easy problem to solve. That’s why I’m so confident for qualifying tomorrow. I hope to run in 1’41, time that could be enough to get into the Top 10. And I have a good feeling for the race also, as I kept an incredible pace with the hard tire registering my best time.
16° – Danilo Petrucci – OCTO Pramac Racing Team #9
It has been a difficult day, perhaps the hardest friday so far in the season. During FP1 I had little confidence with the bike. In the afternoon things went a bit better, but we are still far from our standards. There isn’t a real problem, rather many small details to fix. We decided to change a bit our set up but we still lack much to be competitive on a circuit so difficolut as this one. We have some ideas for tomorrow and I hope to find more confidence in the front: I struggled a lot in corner entry. A good thing? Many say they have problems with the rear grip but this is not my case: it could be an advantage in the race. Also because I am very consistent with the race pace. I just need to find more speed.
More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone:
Aleix Espargaro puts Suzuki on top in Friday practice at Montmeló
Round 7: Catalan MotoGP™ – Free Practice 1&2
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Friday June 12 2015
Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium & Hard; Rear: Soft, Medium & Hard (Asymmetric)
Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Hard (Main), Soft (Alternative)
Weather: FP1 – Dry. Ambient 22-23°C; Track 29-30°C (Bridgestone measurement)
FP2 – Dry. Ambient 26-28°C; Track 45-50°C (Bridgestone measurement)
Aleix Espargaro once again showed he is a force to be reckoned with at his home circuit as the Team SUZUKI ECSTAR rider was the quickest rider in Friday practice at the Catalan Grand Prix for the second consecutive year.
On his final lap in the afternoon’s Free Practice 2 session, Espargaro set a stunning lap time of 1’41.158 – a time just three tenths off the Circuit Best Lap record – to end the day 0.285 seconds clear of Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez who was second quickest today. Third quickest was Dani Pedrosa on the other Repsol Honda Team RC213V with a best time of 1’41.789. The general pace on the opening day of action at Montmeló was extremely quick, with the top eight riders on the timesheets setting times quicker than the existing race lap record.
Fine and sunny conditions were present for both of today’s sessions, with a mild start to the day giving way to hot temperatures in the afternoon. The peak track temperature recorded was 50°C – making the quick pace shown by the riders in FP2 even more impressive. A feature of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is that in hot conditions, the tarmac becomes quite greasy and this year is no exception. In order to find a tyre combination that can effectively manage the tricky conditions, five of the six slick options brought this weekend were evaluated today. Today’s indications are that the medium compound front and rear slicks are the favourite amongst the riders, although the soft and hard compound rear, and hard compound front slicks also yielded positive results and are likely to be tested further tomorrow.
The weather forecast indicates that conditions tomorrow will be similar to today, so fine conditions should greet riders for the next MotoGP™ session, Free Practice 3 at 0955 local time (GMT +2) tomorrow.
Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department
“Conditions were as expected today at Montmeló, with the track becoming quite greasy this afternoon as the track temperatures increased. We’ve changed our tyre allocation for this year and the results have been good with the riders finding good points in many of our different compound options today. The medium compound front and rear slicks are the preferred options at this stage of the race weekend, but there will be more comparison work tomorrow during FP3 and FP4 before a decision on race tyre choice will be made. Despite the greasy and bumpy track surface, lap times in FP2 were extremely quick so I hope we see this trend continue in qualifying tomorrow and we see the Circuit Best Lap record challenged.”
More, from a press release issued by Team Estrella Galicia:
Encouraging start for Redding in Montmelo
Montmelo, Spain – 12 June 2015: Scott Redding enjoyed a solid start to the Catalan Grand Prix weekend, with the Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider ending the day tenth fastest and within 1.2s of Aleix Espargaro’s provisional pole position time.
Redding has had a difficult start to his first season aboard the factory Honda RC213V but the Englishman looked comfortable on track today as he completed 39 laps of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
With near perfect track conditions in the afternoon Redding was able to set his fastest time, despite a small crash entering the stadium section of the track leaving the 22 year old somewhat confused as to what had caused it. Having seen something fall off Yonny Hernandez’s bike Redding took avoiding action and stayed wide on the way into the corner but lost the front on entry.
The 22-year-old Briton felt that there may have been something on the track surface that caused him to crash but, even so, his performance on the opening day was encouraging for both him and the team.
Scott Redding: 10th – 1’42.354
“The feeling with the bike is getting consistently better and our lap times are more consistent also. But we’re still missing a bit to the front guys, so we’re working to improve rear traction, because I can make a good lap time on a new tyre but once the grip drops off I lose about half a second and that is too much. For the race we need to find something that isn’t as aggressive on the tyre. I crashed at turn nine after something came off the back of Hernandez’s bike. I stayed out of the way but then I just went down. It was like there was something on the asphalt but I couldn’t see anything there, so I just put it down to being a bit off line.”
Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“In general this wasn’t a bad day. Scott had a small crash because something came off Hernandez’s bike, but in the end, even though the second bike didn’t have an identical set up to his preferred machine, he still managed to get out there and set his fastest time of the weekend to go P10. This could be critical for qualifying if conditions change tomorrow, as many people are predicting.”
More, from a press release issued by Avintia Racing:
Positive start for Avintia Racing in the Catalan Grand Prix with the Spanish rider Hector Barbera finishing the day as the fastest Open Class rider on track. It was difficult to find the best set up, but in the last minutes of this afternoon session everything improved and the rider and the team are confident about tomorrow. The best news for Barbera and the team was that the arm pump problems disappeared after operation and his feeling with the bike is back.
First day in Barcelona was also good for his teammate in the Avintia Racing, Mike Di Meglio. He continued with the working method he started in Mugello and the French rider was fast from the beginning and is confident of making a step forward in qualifying to get the best possible grid position for Sunday’s race.
HECTOR BARBERA #8 / 15th (1st Open) 1’42.968 @HectorBarbera
Since we got this new chassis we have been struggling to set it up with difficult weekends in Le Mans and Mugello. But it seems we found the way here, I feel confident and I stared to enjoy again riding the bike. We also solved my arm pump problem so I feel really strong and competitive. The stitches still there and I have little pain, but is normal as I got under the knife just 10 days ago! But once I start to go fast on the bike the pain disappears. Barcelona is a track I really like so I think we made a good start of the weekend.
MIKE DI MEGLIO #63 / 23rd (7th Open) 1’48.503 @Mikejpp63
The first day was not bad, my feeling with the front is good and this afternoon we start very strong. I was the best Open at the beginning of the session, but then we tried the harder tyre and although I improve my lap time a little bit, there was no grip. I almost got a high side twice during my flying lap and I think everybody used the softer option in the last minutes and that’s why we drop in the time sheets. But we needed to try it for the race and now we know the direction to follow tomorrow. We have to work more with full tank to avoid problems in the beginning of the race.
More, from a press release issued by CWM LCR Honda:
CRUTCHLOW EXPECTS IMPROVEMENTS AFTER DAY ONE
With the morning’s first session taking place under grey skies, the sun then came out for the afternoon MotoGP practice as the CWM LCR Honda Team began their assault on the Grand Prix of Catalunya today.
Cal Crutchlow improved his lap times by nearly a second between the two sessions, but after a brief off-track excursion in the afternoon, the Brit believes there is still much more to come in tomorrow’s qualifying.
Cal Crutchlow #35 – 8th (1.42.044)
“We’re a little disappointed with today, I feel we should have made some improvement in the afternoon session and especially the middle run. We were perhaps trying a few too many things comparing back-to-back runs, and tomorrow I think we need to concentrate on our own schedule and our own bike.”
“I think we can do a good job tomorrow, because I feel comfortable and happy on the bike and the CWM LCR Honda Team have done a really good job with it all today.”
More, from a press release issued by Forward Racing:
Good practice sessions for the Athinà Forward Racing team
The Athinà Forward Racing team was on track today to practice the Catalan circuit where this Sunday will take place the Grand Prix of Catalunya.
Stefan Bradl and Loris Baz went on track to try new solutions on the front that might improve the race pace. This weekend the two riders will be fighting again for the lead of the Open class.
After showing a good speed in the morning, Bradl could not find the right feeling with the bike on the corner entrance and he was not able to progress in the afternoon. His best lap time was 1’43.536 which earned him the 22nd position.
On the opposite, Baz found a good solution for the front in the second practice session where he managed to post a good 1’42.968 which earned him the 16th place.
Stefan Bradl
“This morning the practice was good, we tried to make some improvement on the bike but unfortunately I cannot flick the bike as fast as I would like into the corners and I think we are losing some speed there. We stay positive for tomorrow and we keep working”.
Loris Baz
“It was a long day of work, we had some new solutions to try and I feel we are going in the good direction. This afternoon we kept working on that and we found some improvement for the electronics. I’m happy as I was able to push hard with a fresh set of tires. We have to improve our pace for tomorrow but we made a big step compared to this morning”.
More, from a press release issued by Aspar Team:
Nicky Hayden, 13th, after achieving his best time in the morning session
The POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar rider had a positive start at the Circuit de Catalunya
Aleix Espargaró, Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa were the three protagonists of this first day of MotoGP’s annual visit to Catalonia. It is no secret that the Spanish riders enjoy performing on home soil in front of their fans. So today three Spanish riders dominated the opening day of the Catalan event. Aleix Espargaró was dominant in much of FP1 only for Marc Marquez to swipe the fastest time on the final lap. In the afternoon the situation was repeated and Marquez took the lead after getting the better of Espargaró, only for the latter to strike back and end the day as the fastest man at his home track. Despite the prevailing heat the MotoGP riders registered very fast times, and tomorrow the competition is sure to be fierce in qualifying.
Seventh in the morning, just eight tenths off the best time. POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar rider Nicky Hayden had a great start. The afternoon session was affected by rising temperatures and Hayden could not improve, but still closed the day in 13th position and with positive feelings, through electronic improvements that the team is developing gradually. Nicky was pleased with his start, but tomorrow will continue to work on tyre life. Eugene Laverty was able to improve in the afternoon by more than six tenths on his morning time. Some data gather last time out in Italy has helped him gain more maneuverability or corners. Finally the Irishman ended up in 19th position.
Nicky Hayden 13th 1’42.623 (38 laps): “This morning things went well and we were able to keep improving throughout the first session. I got my best time on my own and with the soft tyre, but here that tyre does not provide significant advantages. In the afternoon we struggled to keep improving, I guess due to the high temperatures. The good thing is that this afternoon we ran for a long time with used tyres, which is important for the race. In the second session we lost a bit of speed cornering, something we have to correct tomorrow. We must also work on the durability of the tyres. Today we continued working with the swing arm I had in Jerez, and it works well in terms of stability, but does not really give us anything extra, nothing that makes us really change our times. This morning it was good to see us just eight tenths off the best time. The team is working hard both on and off the track and every week we improve the electronics a bit.”
Eugene Laverty 19th 1’43.351 (40 laps): “Today we improved a lot from one session to the next, something positive compared to the races in Italy and France, certainly this Friday has been more positive than those. In Mugello we learned how best to turn the bike in certain types of corners and that helped us today in the final sector. Thanks to that this afternoon we managed to improve our feelings and our times. We still have to continue to improve the maneuverability of the front end in some parts of the circuit. In addition, in the afternoon, with increasing temperatures, the rear wheel bounced a lot, so we will try to fix it tomorrow.”
More, from another press release issued by CWM LCR Honda:
MIXED EMOTIONS FOR MILLER IN CATALUNYA
ith the morning’s first session taking place under grey skies, the sun then came out for the afternoon MotoGP practice as the CWM LCR Honda Team began their assault on the Grand Prix of Catalunya today.
Australian Jack Miller had put in some impressive lap times during the later practice, running comfortably inside the top 15 for a while. However as other riders put in some one-off fast laps in the latter stages, he eventually ended the day in 20th position, just 2.2 seconds behind the lead rider, with front-end feeling his main bugbear.
Jack Miller #43 – 20th (1.43.369)
“I’m reasonably happy with the day, but there’s mixed feelings because whilst we did a good lap time, the position isn’t quite where I want to be. We need to make some improvements tomorrow.”
“Yet again we struggled with the grip on the front end, I just don’t feel too comfortable with it, so we need to try and work this out for qualifying and hope that we can do an even better job then.”
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
Team Suzuki Ecstar rider Aleix Espargaro lapped close to record pace to top the opening day practice timesheets in front of a delighted home crowd at the Catalan Grand Prix
A thrilling first day of MotoGP™ Free Practice action at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya in Barcelona ended with a sensational performance from Team Suzuki Ecstar’s home crowd favourite Aleix Espargaro. Espargaro took full advantage of an upgraded Suzuki engine to power his GSX-RR machine to an impressive lap time of 1’41.158, which was less than 0.3s away from Dani Pedrosa’s circuit best lap set in 2013.
Overnight thunderstorms meant grip levels weren’t ideal for FP1 this morning, but conditions improved throughout the day, with track temperatures soaring to 40 degrees Celsius for FP2. Lap times quickly tumbled, with mixed weather forecasts for Saturday placing extra emphasis on today’s second session as riders were anxious to secure an automatic place in Q2 in case of rain tomorrow. In a frantic last few minutes of FP2, it was Espargaro’s brilliant lap on the Bridgestone’s soft option Open spec rear tyre that secured him top spot ahead of reigning World Champion Marc Marquez. The Repsol Honda rider (+0.285s) was the only man to get within half-a-second of the leading Suzuki, as he debuted a new exhaust and updated electronics to improve the power characteristics on his RC213V. His teammate Dani Pedrosa (+0.631s) was in third ahead of Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso (+0.665s) who with his teammate Andrea Iannone ran modified aerodynamic winglets on the GP15 to avoid touching the raised curbs at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Team Suzuki Ecstar enjoyed a day to remember as Maverick Viñales (+0.764s) also showed good pace on the second GSX-RR to finish in fifth. Iannone (+0.780s) improved from eleventh in FP1 to end the day in sixth overall, with the big surprise coming from Jorge Lorenzo. The Spaniard has dominated the last three races in Jerez, Le Mans and Mugello but he found himself down in seventh on the Movistar Yamaha M1. Cal Crutchlow (CWM LCR Honda), Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Scott Redding (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) completed the top ten, despite Redding crashing heavily at turn 10 during the afternoon.
Nine-times World Champion Valentino Rossi ended the day down in 11th, while Nicky Hayden slipped down the order to 13th after the American was an impressive seventh this morning. That put the 2006 World Champion ahead of Bradley Smith (14th). Irishman Eugene Laverty set the 19th fastest time of the day, with Aussie Jack Miller in 20th, 2.211s behind Espargaro.
More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office:
ESPARGARO & SUZUKI LEAD CATALUNYA GP 1ST DAY
Team SUZUKI ECSTAR’s Aleix Espargarò and Maverick Viñales both put in stunning performances at the Catalan Grand Prix opening day in Spain with both riders secure in the top-five positions for almost the duration of both FP1 and FP2.
Espargarò scored today’s best time with a 1m 41.158s lap that gives him the provisional pole, as Viñales consistently-improved his lap-times and finally managed to find the confidence that allowed him to start exploring the pace further; setting a positive series of laps which resulted in an excellent 1m 41.992s-lap that puts him in fifth position.
Local riders Espargarò and Viñales have both enjoyed the Catalan circuit of Montmelò today, as they both started positively, albeit with different approaches: Espargarò immediately started to explore the engine updates brought to the circuit by Suzuki’s engineers in Japan, while Viñales was more conservative, working initially to find a confident set-up with his original machine and eventually only riding the new one in afternoon. The different level of experience of the two riders figured strongly in this choice, but both took advantage of knowledge of their home track and set their times in the higher echelons of the classification almost immediately.
Davide Brivio – Team Manager:
“Today has been excellent. Of course the highlight is that Aleix got the best lap time of the day, but we are satisfied also because his performance has been consistent throughout both the sessions. He stayed consistently in the leading positions and very close within the top riders; then he made an extraordinary quick-lap which gave him the best time. Maverick as well did a very good job; he continues to improve, session-after-session and lap-after-lap he learns and he improves and this is something very positive. He worked hard to find the best set-up and finally showed what he is capable of. Being in first and fifth place, even if provisional, says that we are working in the right direction and even if it’s only Friday – and tomorrow all riders will improve even further – for the moment we can enjoy this feeling.”
Aleix Espargaro:
“It’s a very positive feeling. This race means a lot to me and I feel very comfortable on this track, therefore it is emotional to be leading the pack. I know it’s only Friday but we’ve done a huge job, also because this track requires a very fine-handling machine and my GSX-RR excels at that. We mainly worked to find a good set-up and started immediately to use the new engine developments that arrived from Japan; I don’t feel an extraordinary difference but for sure we showed some improvements. Of course we still need to work on them to find the best set-up and electronics settings. Apart from the results, which are very satisfying, the best feeling is that Suzuki is giving me unbelievable support; everyone is working very hard and deeply believe in the project: This is something that makes me very proud and happy.”
Maverick Viñales:
“I’m happy for the day and for the job we’ve done. The track is unbelievable, I like it so much, even if I had to struggle a little to adapt my reference points compared to previous years. This is why my crew and I decided to start in the morning with my original machine and find a good set-up with it, which was then the base to introduce the evolution bike and engine in the afternoon. The feeling is very good, we did many laps, very fast and we now need to investigate further the set-up for overall pace. Tomorrow will be important to find a balance that makes me comfortable, both for the consistent race-pace and for the quick-lap attack in FP3 and in qualifying.”