FIM MotoGP World Championship Misano, San Marino September 14, 2013 Qualifying Results (all on Bridgestone tires): From Qualifying Session One (top two advance to QP2): 1. Michele PIRRO, Italy (DUCATI), 1:34.678 2. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (YAMAHA), 1:34.694 3. Bradley SMITH, UK (YAMAHA), 1:34.869 4. Colin EDWARDS, USA (FTR-Kawasaki), 1:35.174 5. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (FTR-Kawasaki), 1:35.534 6. Randy DE PUNIET, France (ART-Aprilia), 1:35.596 7. Hector BARBERA, Spain (FTR-Kawasaki), 1:35.866 8. Claudio CORTI, Italy (FTR-Kawasaki), 1:35.885 9. Danilo PETRUCCI, Italy (IODA/SUTER-BMW), 1:36.027 10. Michael LAVERTY, UK (PBM-Aprilia), 1:36.788 11. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (ART-Aprilia), 1:36.844 12. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (ART-Aprilia), 1:36.877 13. Bryan STARING, Australia (FTR-Honda), 1:37.283 14. Lukas PESEK, Czech Republic (IODA/SUTER-BMW), 1:37.886 From Qualifying Session Two: 1. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (HONDA), 1:32.915 2. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:33.428 3. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), 1:33.573 4. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 1:33.726 5. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (YAMAHA), 1:34.014 6. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (ART-Aprilia), 1:34.028 7. Stefan BRADL, Germany (HONDA), 1:34.098 8. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (HONDA), 1:34.230 9. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (DUCATI), 1:34.338 10. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (DUCATI), 1:34.362 11. Michele PIRRO, Italy (DUCATI), 1:34.467 12. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (DUCATI), 1:34.519 Combined Final Qualifying Results: 1. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (HONDA), 1:32.915 2. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:33.428 3. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), 1:33.573 4. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 1:33.726 5. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (YAMAHA), 1:34.014 6. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (ART-Aprilia), 1:34.028 7. Stefan BRADL, Germany (HONDA), 1:34.098 8. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (HONDA), 1:34.230 9. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (DUCATI), 1:34.338 10. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (DUCATI), 1:34.362 11. Michele PIRRO, Italy (DUCATI), 1:34.467 12. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (DUCATI), 1:34.519 13. Bradley SMITH, UK (YAMAHA), 1:34.869 14. Colin EDWARDS, USA (FTR-Kawasaki), 1:35.174 15. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (FTR-Kawasaki), 1:35.534 16. Randy DE PUNIET, France (ART-Aprilia), 1:35.596 17. Hector BARBERA, Spain (FTR-Kawasaki), 1:35.866 18. Claudio CORTI, Italy (FTR-Kawasaki), 1:35.885 19. Danilo PETRUCCI, Italy (IODA/SUTER-BMW), 1:36.027 20. Michael LAVERTY, UK (PBM-Aprilia), 1:36.788 21. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (ART-Aprilia), 1:36.844 22. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (ART-Aprilia), 1:36.877 23. Bryan STARING, Australia (FTR-Honda), 1:37.283 24. Lukas PESEK, Czech Republic (IODA/SUTER-BMW), 1:37.886 More, from a press release issued by Yamaha: Double Front Row for Yamaha in Misano Qualifying Battle Misano Adriatico (Italy), 14th September 2013 Yamaha Factory Racing riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi will start tomorrow’s Grand Prix of San Marino side by side on the front row after an intense qualifying battle this afternoon at the Misano World Circuit ‘Marco Simoncelli’. As usual Lorenzo was the first rider away onto the track and immediately set the pace with a 1’33.824, the fastest lap of the weekend at the time. He went on to immediately improve, shaving a little off to lap in 1’33.797, beating last year’s pole time. With nine minutes remaining he relinquished pole position to rival Marc Marquez and returned to the pits for fresh rubber. With just over six minutes remaining he returned to the track and with his seventh lap brought his time down to a 1’33.428 to secure second place on the grid for tomorrow’s race. Teammate Rossi was quick to follow Lorenzo out at the beginning of the session but was forced to sit up in the opening lap due to heavy traffic, the Italian having to wait until there were just eight minutes remaining to find suitably clear track to climb from 12th to an impressive third position with a 1’34.025. He then returned to the pits for a fresh rear tyre and was back on track with just over five minutes remaining. The nine-time world champion then delivered a scorching 1’33.659 with two minutes left on the clock to take provisional second place, only to be bettered by teammate Lorenzo soon after and moving to third. Another step on his final flying lap saw the lap time drop even further to a 1’33.573, securing third place and keeping him on the front row for the second time this season. Jorge Lorenzo 2nd / 1’33.428 / 8 laps “I expected to struggle less this weekend and go faster than last year but I couldn’t be faster and I couldn’t improve the bike so much. We improved a little but not enough to be closer to Marc. He made an amazing lap. We are struggling to stop the bike in braking and we have more spinning than normal in acceleration, that is why the lap time is not great. I will try to make a good start tomorrow and maybe the best strategy is to follow Marc and see how our performance is during the race.” Valentino Rossi 3rd / 1’33.573 / 9 laps “We are satisfied with yesterday and today because we worked very well during the practice, I was always strong and we improved the setting step by step. This afternoon my bike was fantastic; it had a great setting with a lot of grip. With the second tyre I was alone with no traffic and I pushed very much from the first corner with a great feeling with the bike and I improved my lap time a lot. I’m happy because it’s very important to start on the front row tomorrow as Marc and Dani are very fast and also Lorenzo is very strong and very fast. Tomorrow I want to arrive on the podium so starting with them from the beginning is important to fight for it. I want a great race and I want to be on the podium!” Yamaha Factory Racing Wilco Zeelenberg Team Manager “The second day is done in Misano and we qualified second on the front row, which is good for the race. Of course we would have liked to have gone a bit faster; we are still trying to find some solutions for some extra grip. Overall, we are on the front row, which is what matters but for tomorrow’s race we would like to improve a little bit.” Yamaha Factory Racing Massimo Meregalli Team Director “A really good qualifying session, having both riders on the front row is very important, especially here where it is difficult to overtake. For me we have done a really good job so far. We came here with important new items for the bikes and were able to make good use of them, although we still have some adapting to do. Tomorrow is going to be a really good race, it’s going to be a tough one but I think we are ready. Looking at the rhythm both riders have we should be confident.” More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Crutchlow digs deep to claim second row in Misano Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider Cal Crutchlow maintained his excellent qualifying form in 2013 to claim a fantastic fifth position on the grid for tomorrow’s 28-lap Misano MotoGP encounter in San Marino. For the first time since the new qualifying format was introduced for 2013, Crutchlow found himself having to participate in the opening 15-minute QP1 session. The British rider though comfortably advanced into QP2 with a best lap of 1.34.694. Still searching for the optimum set-up with his YZR-M1 to allow him to show the potential that has taken to four rostrum finishes and two pole positions in 2013, Crutchlow dug deep to find his best form of the weekend in a record-breaking QP2. In gloriously sunny and hot conditions at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, which lies just a short distance from the Adriatic coast, Crutchlow shaved another 0.6s off his best pace to claim a place in the middle of the second row for tomorrow’s 13th round of the campaign. Crutchlow’s brilliant performance this afternoon ensured in 13 qualifying sessions this season he has not yet finished lower than fifth position. British teammate Bradley Smith also featured in QP1 and he came tantalisingly close to making it through to the second session when a time of 1.34.869 saw him miss out on a top two place by just 0.175s. The 22-year-old was pushing hard on his final lap to try and join the battle for the top 12 grid positions when he suffered a small front-end crash at Turn 14. He was uninjured in the spill and he will start tomorrow’s race from 13th on the grid, and he remains optimistic that he can fight for a ninth top 10 finish in his rookie season. Cal Crutchlow 5th 1.34.014 – 9 laps : “It has not been an easy weekend at all and having to go into QP1 for the first time this season was proof of that. So considering how difficult it has been I am really pleased to be starting on the second row of the grid. This afternoon was much better and as I always do, I managed to pull something out of the bag in qualifying. I am always strong in this situation but I really had to be today to get myself out of trouble. We still need to find something else for the race because the gap to the front is pretty big. I am definitely trying my hardest but I have lost some confidence on the bike since the middle of the season and now I have to improve to go faster. One area I definitely need to look at is T3 because I am not fast enough in that sector. I’ll try and get a good start and go with the leading group and I will be doing my best to deliver a positive result for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team.” Bradley Smith 13th 1.34.869 – 8 laps : “Unfortunately today didn’t go according to plan at all and being 13th on the grid is not ideal. I improved my pace from yesterday by over a second but clearly it is not enough. I’ve crashed twice now this weekend by losing the front, so it shows we have a problem and we will have a good look at the data tonight to find some improvements in that area. We made a really good step overnight with the bike for FP3, but this afternoon we didn’t really make any progress. It is going to be a very tough race and if I can get a top 10 finish I will class that as an amazing result.” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: Marquez shatters lap record clinching sixth pole of the season with Pedrosa in 4th Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez has taken his sixth pole position of his MotoGP career with a blistering time of 1’32.915, over half a second faster than second place Lorenzo. With this time he convincingly broke the pole record set by Casey Stoner in 2011 (1’33.138) but it wasn’t a totally straight forward session. Marc only had one bike to qualify on after a small crash in turn thirteen in this afternoon’s FP4 session and his crew didn’t have enough time to fix the damage before the 15 minute Q2. Teammate Dani Pedrosa also had a difficult day with a small crash in this morning’s FP3. However, there was enough time to fix the damaged bike in time for qualifying but Dani, who has had grip issues all weekend, was unable to progress higher that 4th for tomorrow’s race with a time of 1’33.726. Marc Marquez 1st 1’32.915 “I’m very happy with this pole position, as we had a really good hot lap! It’s a shame about the small crash that we had in practice this morning – which was completely my fault – but the important thing is that we know where I made the mistake. In qualifying I felt very comfortable every time on fast laps and was able to put in some quick times. We’ll see if we can fight with Jorge tomorrow, as he has a very good pace. Valentino will also be tough to beat, because it is his home race and he has been very strong in practice; I’m sure that he will be fast tomorrow as will Dani. The aim is to get a good start, try to ride in the lead group at the front and pick up more World Championship points” Dani Pedrosa 4th 1’33.726 “We had a bit of luck to take fourth on the grid, because we have been having problems with all the rear tyres that we have used. I don’t know exactly what happened, but I didn’t have any grip in any of the sessions today. In the final free practice session we changed the tyres twice, then in qualifying we again switched to new rubber, but there was never a good response. We don’t know if the problem is with the tyres, with the bike or with the track surface. In the final moments we made another change and suddenly I had some grip again, and it is thanks to this that we were able to take the fourth fastest time -although this position was certainly short of our aims for today. For tomorrow, however, we are confident that we can get a good start and have a good race” More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing: Andrea Iannone finished qualifying day at Misano World Circuit with a time of 1:34.519, over two-tenths of a second faster than the best time he registered in the morning warm-up session and good enough for the fourth row of the grid in tomorrow’s race. The third and final free practice session had proven decisive, as Andrea recorded a time of 1:34.731 just a few minutes from the end, putting him in eighth place and transferring him directly to Q2. Andrea and the Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team are satisfied with the small changes they made to the Desmosedici GP13 today, and they’re preparing for tomorrow’s race. Andrea Iannone – Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team “I’m a little disappointed because I could’ve been faster, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to take advantage of the first tyre. Still, I managed to make a big improvement both on the time I set during the test and session by session, so that’s positive. We did a good job, and I know I have to improve a lot in the first part of the track to drop a few more tenths. I’m fast in almost all the sectors except for T1, which is the goal for tomorrow. We made small changes to the bike that I liked, and I’m pleased. I hope I can continue like this.” More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing: Today was a tireless day for Michele Pirro, standing in again for Ben Spies, and the Italian ended up with a row 4 grid place at the Misano Circuit with a time of 1’34.467, just over a tenth of a second from the fastest Ducati rider, Andrea Dovizioso. A turn 5 crash for Michele about four minutes from the end of the last and decisive free practice session partly compromised the result of this long second day of practice and qualifying, but it was luckily without any serious consequences except for a slight increase in the pain in his shoulder that was injured during the British GP at Silverstone. Tenacity and new-found confidence, however, allowed the Ignite Pramac Racing Team rider to fight during Q1 with a determined Cal Crutchlow, and to improve on his fastest time clocked during yesterday’s FP2 by more than two-tenths of a second. Michele Pirro – Ignite Pramac Racing Team “Unfortunately, I had a crash this morning that affected the session and, as a result, qualifying. My time was good at that point and I would have gone straight to Q2. Then I was trying to save my tyres in Q1, but when I saw that Crutchlow had my same time, I went back out again; otherwise, I think I could have done better in Q2. It’s a shame, but I’m confident for tomorrow. My shoulder is bothering me a bit, especially because I aggravated it again this morning, but I know the support of my home fans will help me to forget it.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: New lap record set as Marquez dominates Misano qualifying Round 13: San Marino MotoGP™ – Qualifying Practice Misano, Saturday 14 September 2013 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Medium & Hard. Rear: Soft, Medium & Hard (Asymmetric) Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Hard (Main), Soft (Alternative) Weather: FP3 – Dry. Ambient 22-24°C; Track 28-32°C (Bridgestone measurement) FP4/QP – Dry. Ambient 25-26°C; Track 39-39°C (Bridgestone measurement) Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez resumed the dominant form he showed in yesterday’s practice sessions to smash the qualifying lap record on his way to pole position at Misano. Marquez set a scorching lap of 1’32.915 to beat the existing lap record by 0.223 seconds and take the first slot on the grid for tomorrow’s race ahead of the Yamaha Factory Racing duo of Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi who qualified in second and third place respectively. All of the riders on the front row set their best time on the combination of the softer rear and the harder front slick tyre and the San Marino Grand Prix is the fourth round in a row where a new Circuit Best Lap record was set in qualifying. Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro once again used the full potential of the CRT-specific softer rear slick to qualify directly for QP2 and claim sixth position on the grid for tomorrow’s race with a time of 1’34.732 to be the best CRT qualifier. The weather for today’s practice and qualifying sessions was practically the same as yesterday, with the same peak temperature recording of 39°C being reached during qualifying. The grip level of the circuit did not improve from yesterday and as a result the softer slick options were widely used today, particularly for the rear tyre. Although the softer rear slick was the preferred option, those riders that used the harder rear did report it performed well with only a slight reduction in edge grip compared to the softer rear. Both front slick options were used today with no clear preference emerging in today’s sessions. The harder front slick offers greater stability in the faster sections of the circuit, while the softer front slick offers an advantage in edge grip which helps compensate for the poor grip level of the tarmac. The MotoGP™ riders will be next on track at 0940 local time (GMT +2) tomorrow morning for the twenty minute Warm Up session before the twenty-eight lap San Marino Grand Prix gets underway at 1400. Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department “Weather conditions were almost exactly the same as yesterday and although the pace was quicker today, the comments from many riders indicate that the condition of the circuit is not as good as recent years, so this makes Marc’s new qualifying record even more impressive. The lack of grip also resulted in just a few riders evaluating the harder rear slick options in FP4, as they preferred the greater edge grip offered by the softer rear slicks. For the front tyres, there is no clear preference among the riders. Some prefer the greater cornering and braking stability of the harder front, while other riders prefer the better edge grip and feel of the softer front slick. It seems that the greatest variable in race tyre strategy among the riders for tomorrow’s race will be the front tyre.” More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: Challenging qualifying session for Ducati Team at Misano Qualifying day at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli proved unsatisfying for the Ducati Team, with Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden posting times that will have them starting tomorrow’s GP di San Marino e Riviera di Rimini from the third and fourth rows, respectively. Although neither rider was satisfied with his lap time or qualifying position, Dovizioso was relatively pleased with his race pace. Meanwhile, Hayden and his team will use tomorrow’s warm-up session to try to improve the performance of the Desmosedici GP13 over bumps and on changes of direction. Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team, 9th (1:34.338) “I’m really disappointed with qualifying because I wasn’t able to put together a perfect lap, and starting from the third row will make things difficult. It was important to try to make row two here because the first few corners are challenging, and it’s difficult to overtake riders. We might have the pace to fight for sixth place, which is something we haven’t had in recent races, so that’s fairly positive. It will be a long and difficult race, but we’re in a bit better shape than we have been for the other races.” Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team, 10th (1:34.362) “Obviously, things aren’t going as well here as we’d like, as tenth in qualifying is a long way from the top. The actual lap time wasn’t so bad, but nonetheless, the others are far away. We’re struggling a lot over the bumps and with edge grip, especially in the last corner. We’ve got some issues to sort out so we’ll definitely try something in the warm-up to see if we can improve the pace. We know tomorrow’s going to be a hard race, but anyway, we’ll line up and do our best.” More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: BRADL TO LINE UP IN 7th POSITION AT MISANO GP Misano, 14 September: second day of action at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli circuit saw LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl placing his RC213V in 7th place (1’34.098) ahead tomorrow’s 28-lap race. Still searching for the optimum set-up with his RC213V, Bradl dedicated the majority of his time on track today to improve his feeling with the front-end. Bradl admits that the adjustments, made since yesterday, helped him a lot but not enough to qualify in the second row. Stefan Bradl: “Even today it was very difficult for us to challenge the front guys. Honestly I am not confident enough and this front-end issue prevented us in taking the second row. I think that the Team made a very good job because we improved the bike a lot from yesterday and we definitely changed a lot of things in the bike and I could adapt quickly. I am definitely trying my hardest but with this limit I could not push myself beyond the 7th place today”. More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Marc Marquez has impressively collected his sixth pole position of the 2013 MotoGP™ season, beating Casey Stoner’s Misano lap record in the process. The championship leader will start alongside Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, with teammate Dani Pedrosa coming from fourth place on the grid. As qualifying drew to a close at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, it looked as though Marquez had beaten Lorenzo by just 24 thousandths of a second. The Repsol Honda Team man (despite having suffered an accident during the preceding fourth practice session) then delivered a crushing blow in the form of 1’32.915, establishing the new qualifying record and sealing his second consecutive pole by over half a second. Lorenzo was comfortably second ahead of Yamaha Factory Racing partner Rossi, both now running with seamless gearbox for the first time. In fourth spot, Honda’s Pedrosa – on pole last year – was clearly frustrated for the duration of the day and was eight tenths of a second off the pole position time. Cal Crutchlow delivered an inspiring lap for fifth place, having been outside of the combined top ten in practice, which meant he passed through Q1 for the first time. The Englishman will fill the middle of Row 2 ahead of Aleix Espargaro, again very much punching above his weight to qualify his Power Electronics Aspar ART machine in sixth position. Stefan Bradl starts seventh for LCR Honda MotoGP, ahead of GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista (who finished on the podium here last year) and Ducati Team duo Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden. A total of six Italians will start this weekend’s race, two being on Row 4 as Pramac Racing teammates Michele Pirro and Andrea Iannone have qualified 11th and 12th. Bradley Smith struggled to 13th spot after a Turn 14 crash at the end of Q1, while Hector Barbera managed 17th place as the only Avintia Blusens rider to be running with a new pneumatic valve engine. The 24-rider grid will be completed by Came IodaRacing Project’s Lukas Pesek. As he also did at Indianapolis in mid-August, Marc Marquez has topped every season in which he has taken part so far this weekend. Sunday’s GP Aperol di San Marino e Riviera di Rimini, Round 13 of the season, begins at 2pm local time (GMT +2). Moto2 A last-gasp lap from Pol Espargaro allowed the Moto2™ title challenger to claim pole position for the GP Aperol di San Marino e Riviera di Rimini. The Tuenti HP 40 rider will start alongside teammate Tito Rabat and Italtrans Racing Team’s Takaaki Nakagami, with championship leader Scott Redding in fifth position. It looked as though the top spot would go the way of Nakagami, who led for most of the session and had locked out both of the opening practice periods on Friday. Espargaro had other plans, though, and posted 1’37.666 to collect his fourth pole of the campaign – and the Catalan is yet to be beaten when starting from pole this year. Although Rabat and Nakagami were also denied pole, the collective performance of the front row riders suggests Sunday’s race will be extremely close, as less than one tenth of a second covers the front trio. In fifth spot, championship leader Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team) will be sandwiched on the second row by Tom Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2 Racing) and Xavier Simeon (Maptaq SAG Zelos Team), while 11th placed Mattia Pasini (NGM Mobile Racing) was the top Italian in qualifying after recovering from an early fall at Turn 5. Arguably out of position is Redding’s teammate Mika Kallio, starting 16th ahead of Blusens Avintia’s Alex Mariñelarena who achieves his best qualifying result to date. Sunday’s intermediate class race will begin at 12:20pm local time (GMT +2). Moto3 Germany’s Jonas Folger will start the Moto3™ GP Aperol di San Marino e Riviera di Rimini from pole position, his second of the 2013 season. The Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3 rider will be joined on the front row by Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Alex Rins and Team Calvo’s Maverick Viñales, with championship leader Luis Salom tenth. As is so often the case in qualifying, a flurry of rapid lap times shook up the order and provided a dramatic climax to proceedings at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. Folger was rapid throughout, however, claiming pole number two of the year (and his second in Italy) with a leading effort of 1’42.707. This saw off Rins’ own best by less than one tenth of a second, while title contender Viñales cemented yet another front row slot. Critically, rival Salom (Red Bull KTM Ajo, who suffered an accident on Friday) could manage no more than tenth place, 1.2 seconds off the top spot, and will aim to avoid trouble on the opening lap of Sunday’s race. The second row positions will be occupied by a number of standout performers, as Ajo’s Zulfahmi Khairuddin and GO&FUN Gresini Moto3’s Niccolo Antonelli achieved fourth and fifth positions ahead of Mahindra Racing’s Miguel Oliveira. Row 3 is likely to be an equally happy place, as Eric Granado and Isaac Viñales delivered impressive performances to qualify seventh and eight for their respective Aspar and Ongetta-Centro Seta outfits. Rins’ teammate Alex Marquez will start ninth, having crashed early on in qualifying as Khairuddin had already done. In 21st place, it was a respectable result for Avant Tecno rider Niklas Ajo, as the Finn had returned from a CT scan in hospital following a heavy crash in morning practice. Further back, wildcard Luca Marini (Twelve Racing and half-brother of nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi) will start his first ever World Championship Grand Prix from 29th on the grid. Sunday’s race starts at 11am local time (GMT +2). More, from a press release issued by NGM Mobile Forward Racing: Edwards second best qualifying CRT at Misano Qualifying day at Misano World Circuit comes to an end with both NGM Mobile Forward Racing riders managing fantastic fast lap times: Colin Edwards managed a fantastic 1´35.174 today and qualified as second best CRT at Misano. Edwards will start the race from the 14th place on the grid and teammate Claudio Corti will start form the 18th place. The American and Italian rider seem to still have some trouble with the grip during this second day at Misano but will try to solve it during the warm up in order to be ready for the race. The Italian rider wants to do well at this home race and remains very hopeful for tomorrow knowing that he has a good pace that can allow him to be competitive tomorrow. Colin Edwards “This morning we started off with what we had yesterday and right at the end of FP3 we tried some different rear in the suspension and it worked good. Then we kind of got stuck on a pace and then right there at the end of FP4 we decided to try something else with the swing arm pivot and that made a big difference. It seems like we gained 3 or 4 tenths immediately, and without that little change we would have still be struggling a little bit. Thanks to my team, everybody did an awesome job. I am pretty happy of having been able to do 1´35.1 over here. We keep moving forward and finding little tricks to make this bike go fast.“ Claudio Corti “Qualifying was ok considering that we were able to improve a lot the race pace and that allows me to remain confident for the race. I lacked 3 tenths today on my fast lap, that would have been enough for me to qualify in 15th place. Unfortunately I have had grip problems all weekend on the rear tire, not allowing me to exit the corners as I would like to, not letting me open gas earlier. We will work on it tomorrow morning and try to find a bit more grip while turning to be faster. It looks like we might have bad weather conditions tomorrow but lets hope it doesn’t rain. It would be a real shame given the good job that the team has done this weekend on the dry setting of the bike.” Sergio Verbena, MotoGP Technical Director “Today we continues working on the good base that we had from yesterday. Colin has been able to do a fantastic lap time in 1´35.1s, which is an exceptional time for a CRT bike. He will start tomorrow’s race as the second best CRT on the grid. Claudio has made remarkable progress since yesterday, he wasn’t able to replicate Colin’s lap times but he does have a solid race pace for tomorrow. We will have to wait and see what the weather conditions are like tomorrow and try to finish with both riders in the points.” More, from a press release issued by Avintia Blusens: Hiroshi Aoyama is third CRT and fifteenth in the qualifying at Misano Barberá finishes seventeenth but with options to improve for tomorrow Misano, 14 September 2013. Good prospects for tomorrow’s race for the Avintia Blusens team, though the expected positions were not achieved in the qualifying. Despite the first use of the engines with pneumatic valves in Héctor’s hands was very positive, time is needed to adapt the electronics and the settings of the FTR bike to its use and that, somehow, took a toll in the qualifying session. Barberá tested an endless number of settings in search of ideal solutions for the race but when the qualifying session came he had not defined it yet and he was not able to obtain the desired results. Tomorrow he will use known configurations that allow him to ride without chattering and, this way, he will try to make the most of the greater response from his new engine. Hiroshi Aoyama had some problems with the engine during yesterday’s free practices that delayed the work to be in optimum conditions for the qualifying. Having solved that, the Japanese was fast and managed to be fifteenth, begin from the fifth row of tomorrow’s starting grid and be the third CRT bike. Without a doubt a good result, although Hiroshi thinks that he could have been more efficient without the lost time in the previous sessions. Both riders are very confident for the race in which they both hope to fight for a place among the top three of CRT and score points in the classification. 8 Héctor Barberá: (17th, 1.35.886): I am happy with the fact of having used for the first time the new engine but it has been a pity to not have been able to make the most of it. We have tested many things to adapt the settings to the response of the new engine but we have not succeeded. We have had a lot of chattering and that has not allowed us to be quick. It is a pity because the engine is better in all its range and I think that we can be very competitive with it, but today we have not been able to take advantage of it. For tomorrow we will go with more reliable solutions and, if we manage to have few rebounds on the front wheel, I am sure of doing a good race. 7 Hiroshi Aoyama: (15th, 1.35.534): Yesterday I had some engine problems and that delayed the whole set-up process that we had planned. Having solved that, I have had a good feeling with the bike and I have been able to make good lap times, although not at the level that I can do it. The wasted time affects the set-up and also the riding pace. In the qualifying session I have been riding increasingly faster and when I have begun to push it has appeared a chattering that has prevented me from lowering my times. Anyway, I think that if we get to improve tomorrow I can be competitive.