FIM Moto2 World Championship
Circuit of The Americas
Austin, Texas
April 11, 2014
Free Practice Two Results (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Johann ZARCO, France (CATERHAM SUTER), 2:10.839
2. Dominique AEGERTER, Switzerland (SUTER), 2:11.086
3. Esteve “Tito” RABAT, Spain (KALEX), 2:11.147
4. Maverick VIÑALES, Spain (KALEX), 2:11.156
5. Xavier SIMEON, Belgium (SUTER), 2:11.160
6. Mika KALLIO, Finland (KALEX), 2:11.329
7. Luis SALOM, Spain (KALEX), 2:11.444
8. Takaaki NAKAGAMI, Japan (KALEX), 2:11.502
9. Ricard CARDUS, Spain (TECH 3), 2:11.610
10. Simone CORSI, Italy (FORWARD KLX), 2:11.694
11. Thomas LUTHI, Switzerland (SUTER), 2:11.704
12. Sandro CORTESE, Germany (KALEX), 2:11.799
13. Julian SIMON, Spain (KALEX), 2:11.904
14. Jordi TORRES, Spain (SUTER), 2:11.979
15. Mattia PASINI, Italy (FORWARD KLX), 2:12.216
16. Marcel SCHROTTER, Germany (TECH 3), 2:12.277
17. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (SUTER), 2:12.408
18. Anthony WEST, Australia (SPEED UP), 2:12.431
19. Sam LOWES, UK (SPEED UP), 2:12.486
20. Gino REA, UK (SUTER), 2:12.533
21. Jonas FOLGER, Germany (KALEX), 2:12.858
22. Hafizh SYAHRIN, Malaysia (KALEX), 2:12.917
23. Nicolas TEROL, Spain (SUTER), 2:12.956
24. Louis ROSSI, France (KALEX), 2:13.136
25. Randy KRUMMENACHER, Switzerland (SUTER), 2:13.159
26. Lorenzo BALDASSARRI, Italy (SUTER), 2:13.427
27. Axel PONS, Spain (KALEX), 2:13.507
28. Franco MORBIDELLI, Italy (KALEX), 2:13.542
29. Roman RAMOS, Spain (SPEED UP), 2:14.360
30. Josh HERRIN, USA (CATERHAM SUTER), 2:14.793
31. Tetsuta NAGASHIMA, Japan (TSR), 2:15.141
32. Thitipong WAROKORN, Thailand (KALEX), 2:15.150
33. Azlan SHAH, Malaysia (KALEX), 2:15.175
34. Robin MULHAUSER, Switzerland (SUTER), 2:16.000
More, from a press release issued by AirAsia Caterham Moto2 Team:
Circuit: Circuit Of The Americas
Circuit Length: 5.513 km
Bike # 5 – Johann Zarco
FP1: P1; 2:11.788 – 17 laps
FP2: P1; 2:10.839 – 16 laps
Bike # 2 – Josh Herrin
FP1: P28; 2:14.361 – 20 laps
FP2: P30; 2:14.793 – 12 laps
Weather
FP1: (Conditions) Dry; (air temp) 21°, (track temp) 28°
FP2: (Conditions) Dry; (air temp) 28°, (track temp) 46°
AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing made a great start to the second round of the Moto2 Championship as Johann Zarco dominated in FP1 and FP2.
Determined to put the misfortunes of Qatar behind them both riders headed out onto the impressive Circuit of The Americas with a renewed confidence and high hopes for the weekend ahead.
Johann Zarco showed his pace right from the start, continually improving throughout and topping the timesheets in both sessions with a lap time of 2:10.839, just 0.262s off last year’s pole-position time.
Meanwhile American and Moto2 rookie Josh Herrin struggled with bike set-up and was unable to improve on his time of 2:14.361 around the 5.513 km circuit.
Johann Zarco: “It’s been a good first day. I’m really happy to be in first position after the crash in Qatar where we left with no points.
“In free practice one we finished with the fastest lap time which was good, so I just tried to keep relaxed for the next session. The team made some small adjustments to the bike and in FP2 we were able to try different tyres and continue to improve. It was quite hot, so not so easy but I really like the track and I have to be happy and just continue to concentrate on my riding style.
“It’s a long track with 20 corners, so if I can be comfortable everywhere this will help me for the race. The aim is to be prepared and to be consistent and this is the target for tomorrow.”
Josh Herrin: “I struggled in both sessions today and I’m disappointed in myself because I’m not further up front at my home race.
“In FP2 we made some adjustments which unfortunately didn’t work but and I’m glad that we did it as we were able to find out what worked and what didn’t.
“I feel now that I’m more comfortable with the track so tomorrow I just need to focus and work hard to improve my times.”
More, from a press release issued by QMMF Racing Team:
Anthony West starts with a bang – Román Ramos improves rapidly
QMMF Racing Team rider Anthony West started with a bang into the Grand Prix of the Americas. For almost half of the first free practice session, the 32-year-old Australian was on top of the Moto2 classification. And even though West dropped to ninth after a small crash, he felt strong and was convinced of his possibilities to again be within the front runners in the afternoon.
However, a small change to the set-up of his Speed-Up prototype upset the balance of the bike and made it impossible for West to match his previous best time. On Saturday, West and his team engineers will evaluate more options to improve the behaviour of his bike in the fast corners of the track, with the aim of fighting for one of the top spots on the starting grid for the race on Sunday.
23-year-old team-mate Román Ramos, a first-time visitor to the Circuit of the Americas, liked the demanding 5.5 kilometre circuit with its up- and downhill sections immediately, but took a while to find the best line through the sweeping bends. 32nd after the first session, he managed to improve by a whopping 2,3 seconds in the afternoon and now holds 29thposition.
Anthony West –18th in 2.12,425
“This morning, the bike felt good and I felt good. I was relaxed, so everything was easy. I felt strong in the end, but then I had a small crash because I was trying to ride over the inside of the curb. I went a bit too far over the inside and lost the front. I came straight back, jumped on the bike and repeated the same time that I was doing before, which was good. Our only problem was that the bike wouldn’t turn easy enough in the fast corners. In one section, I was losing a lot for that reason. We thought we could improve the bike, but instead, we destroyed the handling. It was a small change, just a harder rear spring that shouldn’t affect the bike that much, but it upset the balance a lot. We wasted almost the entire session. Only at the end, we put it back to what it was this morning and I could match my previous best time again. Now we have to find another way of making the bike go around the fast turns easier!”
Roman Ramos – 29th in 2.14,360
“Every time we are taking to the track, things go better. We improved by more than two seconds from the first to the second free practice session, which was very important and shows that we are on the right track. We have been able to improve the settings and tomorrow we’ll try to fine-tune the bike even more so we can hopefully be a little higher up in the classification and closer to the riders that will be fighting for world championship points in the race. That’s our goal. The track is very difficult, but I like it a lot with all its up- und downhill sections. It is a lot of fun riding here, but it’s also very demanding because the track is so long and wide. I am still in the process of learning the best way around this circuit and I’m confident to be quicker tomorrow!”
More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing Team:
Austin, Texas – 11 April 2014: World Championship leader Tito Rabat and Marc VDS Racing teammate Mike Kallio made a positive start to Moto2 practice at the state-of-the-art Circuit of the Americas today.
Spaniard Rabat was third quickest in both 45-minute practice sessions, the opening round winner in Qatar finishing just over 0.3s off Johann Zarco’s best pace.
Rabat focussed on refining the race set-up of his Kalex machine and his best pace of 2.11.147 was almost 0.6s under Nico Terol’s 2013 lap record.
Positive work on worn tyres saw Kallio leap from 12th in FP1 to sixth this afternoon, the Finnish rider pleased to shave off close to 1.5s in the second session.
The most pleasing aspect of Kallio’s fast start was his best lap came on a rear tyre that he’d already completed well over race distance on, and but for a small gearbox issue on his fastest lap, Kallio is confident he could have finished behind Rabat in fourth position.
Livio Loi’s time on track was dedicated to learning the long and technical COTA venue, with the teenage Belgian not eligible to compete in the inaugural Texas event one year ago.
Loi made major progress in this afternoon’s FP2 session, cutting an impressive 2.2s off his morning practice pace, and he is confident improvements to the turning performance of his Kalex KTM machine will enable him to post more competitive times in preparation for Sunday’s 18-lap Moto 3 race.
Tito Rabat // 3rd // 2’11.147
“I am very happy with today because I was inside the top three in both sessions. We made a very good job with the team and we tried many different settings on the bike and already I am optimistic we have found a good base for the race. We still need to work in some areas, particularly the slower sections, to improve tomorrow. But I really like this track and I am sure if we can continue the good work of today we can battling for the victory again like in Qatar.”
Mika Kallio // 6th // 2’11.329
“This morning was strange because we know this track is very complicated and I found it difficult to get into a rhythm. The bike wouldn’t do what I wanted but for this afternoon we made a very big step and I am satisfied. My best time was set on the softer rear tyre that had done 25 laps because I used it at the end of FP1 and for the whole of FP2. We need to save the soft tyres though for qualifying and the race because to be honest the hard option is too hard and impossible for me to use. On my last lap second gear jumped out in one corner and put me into neutral, and that cost me 0.2s, so without that I’d be higher up the rankings and that means I can relax for tomorrow.”
Livio Loi // 26th // 2’20.067
“It is a very difficult track to learn and completely different to other tracks I’ve raced at. There is definitely a secret to going fast here but I need more time to learn all the tricks. It is a very long track too, so you can’t make a lot of laps. This morning was all about learning the track and this afternoon I made a big improvement by over two seconds but still I am too far away. I don’t feel so good on the bike and I can’t turn into the corner and hit the apex. Hopefully tomorrow I can make another big step and improve my position.”
Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“Today was a strong start to the weekend because we know this is a very complicated track to find a good set-up. There are many fast parts but also four corners taken in first gear, so to find a compromise with the bike is not easy. We saw last year the Suter bike was strong with Terol and again today the Suter was first and second, so it seems this track where our advantage is the not the same as other tracks. Tito was very close to the best time and Mika did a lot of laps of the same tyre to check the endurance for the race, which was a concern last year. For Livio it has not been easy. He walked the track for two laps yesterday and I think he thought it was going to be easier. Experience is crucial at this track so he needs more time and I think by the race he will show his potential.”