Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez turned the quickest lap during testing on Monday, the day after the MotoGP races at Jerez. Marquez’s best lap was a 1:38.824, putting him just ahead of Monster Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow at 1:38.916, Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo at 1:38.958 and Marquez’s teammate Dani Pedrosa at 1:38.979. The next five riders in the lap-time order were all in the 1:39s, led by Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi at 1:39.397, Gresini Honda’s Alvaro Bautista at 1:39.457, Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso at 1:39.524 and his teammate Nicky Hayden at 1:39.643, and LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl at 1:39.894. Hector Barbera was 11th on his FTR Kawasaki, quickest of the production-engined CRT-class riders taking part in the test, with a best lap of 1:40.197. American Colin Edwards was 17th on his FTR Kawasaki CRT-class bike, with a 1:41.591. More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: Repsol Honda Team continue momentum in Jerez test Today the Repsol Honda Team were back on track in Jerez after yesterday’s fantastic 1-2 at the GP of Spain. Marc solved some issues he had in the front with his bike from the weekend, and worked on some setup changes, again finding some improvement. He then spent some time on the electronics with different mappings and collected data working with a different suspension setup. He finished the day on top of the time sheets, completing a total of 63 laps with a fastest time of 1’38.824, one tenth faster than his qualifying time (1’38.971) on lap 27. Dani was 4th fastest for the day with a time of 1’38.979, just 0.155 from Marc, taken on lap 4 of 56. He also worked on the Öhlins suspension, electronics and with chassis settings ahead of next week’s GP of France in Le Mans. Marc Marquez, 1st, 1’38.824 “Today was a very positive day of testing for us. We started with the base from yesterday, to focus on some problems we had in the race and we managed to find solutions quickly. We tried some new settings with the front forks, rear suspension and electronics. Some things went better than others, but the important thing is that we were consistent, which is what matters in MotoGP. We hope that what we did today helps us over the next few races” Dani Pedrosa, 4th, 1’38.979 “In general today was a positive day. We worked on various aspects of the setup in order to find a bit more rear grip and stability exiting the corners. Some things went well and others could still be improved. We also tried out some things with the suspension and the electronics, but didn’t have any major new parts to work with. This is all good preparation for the next round of the World Championship” Testing Results 1 Marc Marquez 1’38.824 SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team 2 Cal Crutchlow 1’38.916 GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 3 Jorge Lorenzo 1’38.958 SPA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing 4 Dani Pedrosa 1’38.979 SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team 5 Valentino Rossi 1’39.397 ITA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing 6 Alvaro Bautista 1’39.457 SPA HONDA Go & Fun Honda Gresini 7 Andrea Dovizioso 1’39.524 ITA DUCATI Ducati Team 8 Nicky Hayden 1’39.643 USA DUCATI Ducati Team 9 Stefan Bradl 1’39.894 GER HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP 10 Bradley Smith 1’40.009 GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 11 Hector Barbera 1’40.197 SPA FTR Avintia Blusens 12 Hiroshi Aoyama 1’40.730 JAP FTR Avintia Blusens 13 Claudio Corti 1’40.958 ITA FTR-KAWASAKI NGM Mobile Forward Racing 14 Danilo Petrucci 1’41.029 ITA IODA-SUTER Came IodaRacing Project 15 Michael Laverty 1’41.045 GBR PBM Paul Bird Motorsport 16 Bryan Staring 1’41.181 AUS FTR Go & Fun Honda Gresini 17 Colin Edwards 1’41.591 USA FTR-KAWASAKI NGM Mobile Forward Racing 18 Yonny Hernandez 1’41.763 COL PBM Paul Bird Motorsport 19 Lukas Pesek 1’43.017 CZE IODA-SUTER Came IodaRacing Project More, from a press release issued by Dorna: MotoGP™ Official Test at Jerez Monday, 6 May 2013 Marquez tops day of testing at Jerez Marc Marquez set the pace in Monday’s single day of post-race testing at the Circuito de Jerez. He led Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow and Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo plus Repsol Honda Team partner and Sunday race winner Dani Pedrosa. To start with, conditions were very much the same as they had been in the pre-race Warm-Up session – far warmer than is usual in the morning at this time of year. Fresh from his third podium finish from as many races, Marquez was first out of the pits as his team worked in the areas of electronics and chassis. Following a short time in which Lorenzo topped the timesheets, it was the newcomer who moved ahead in the second hour and his best lap time of 1’38.824 stuck for the rest of the day. Crutchlow had no new parts to test and so focused on setup modifications, but did not push to the absolute limit as he remains bruised from his two heavy crashes of Saturday. The Yamaha Factory bikes sandwiched Pedrosa as Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi finished third and fifth, comparing two versions of their 2013 chassis with the goal being to establish one solid base setup; if achieved, this will allow the squad to rule out the time-consuming task of switching between chassis during race weekends. This exercise had not been carried out previously, as grip levels were too low in Qatar whereas Texas provided many unknowns when compared to familiar Jerez. GO&FUN Honda Gresini focused on the front and rear Showa suspension of Alvaro Bautista who finished sixth quickest, while on the team’s CRT machine Bryan Staring ran with a new frame. LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl had suffered a lack of front end grip for the entire race weekend, thus today the German hoped to modify the geometry of his bike in a bid to find a proper solution. He would end proceedings in ninth spot. Filling the void in seventh and eighth were the Ducati Team pairing Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso, who had been highly keen to sample the new GP13 Lab chassis for the first time. Both riders conducted back-to-back comparisons with the current GP13 bike, although test rider Michele Pirro – who had competed with the new machine over the weekend – was not on-track today. Bradley Smith rounded out the top ten on the second Tech 3 machine. A selection of CRT riders – such as those of NGM Mobile Forward Racing, Came IodaRacing Project and Avintia Blusens’ Hector Barbera – experimented with the first significant upgrade to the Magneti Marelli MotoGP ECU kit. This is aimed at providing a better interface for riders and teams when working on bike setup, while on the bike itself the main performance steps are wheelie control and an ‘anti-jerk’ strategy that cuts engine power when between off-throttle and on-throttle situations; this should allow for a more stable mid-corner ride. In the case of Barbera who was the leading CRT runner in 11th place, the Spaniard also looked at several new chassis components, whereas Avintia teammate Hiroshi Aoyama tried out a new frame and swingarm combination. At PBM, Michael Laverty – who on Sunday had scored his first points with the team’s own-built bike – ran new parts as well as looking into the ECU update, whereas on the outfit’s ART machine Yonny Hernandez was looking to solve several setup issues, having been one of five riders to crash out of Sunday’s race. Danilo Petrucci was 14th for Came IodaRacing Project, working on bike setting as teammate Lukas Pesek completed the 19-rider field. Not in attendance were Pramac Racing or Power Electronics Aspar. For the Italian outfit, Ben Spies remains out of action because of his pectoral muscle problem, whereas Andrea Iannone will undergo arm pump surgery in Barcelona on Tuesday. MotoGP™ track action continues next Friday, 17th May, as the field takes to the tarmac at Le Mans in Free Practice for the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Racing: Yamaha Complete Successful One-Day Test in Jerez Jerez de la Frontera (Spain), 6th May 2013 Following a hot and challenging race weekend in Jerez, Yamaha Factory Racing remained at the circuit to complete another hot day of riding today. Riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo spent the day continuing to evaluate the potential of the 2013 chassis whilst also working to improve tyre performance and grip life in the hot conditions. Lorenzo, who took his third consecutive podium of the year yesterday, finished the test as the third fastest rider with a 1m 38.958s lap. Teammate Rossi, who finished fourth yesterday, was not far behind in fifth with a 1m 39.397s lap. Jorge Lorenzo 3rd / 1’38.958 / 81 laps “It’s been a long day, it was not easy to finish the day on the bike because after three days full of stress of competition the only thing you want is to rest. I think the work was worth it because we improved some things. We tried many starts and finally I found again the same feeling I had last year. We improved the start, which is important for the next few races. I think we also improved the bike and I think we decided the new chassis so it has been a positive day.” Valentino Rossi 5th / 1’39.397 / 61 laps “At the end it has been a good test. It was important because we found some improvements in some points of view, small details but a good way to continue. It was important to try to understand the new chassis. We made a lot of comparisons between the two but at the end more or less the performance is very similar. In some places it’s better and some places it’s worse. We will decide next week what we will use in Le Mans. We are ready for Le Mans, now we take a rest and we will see next week.” More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: Jerez, 6 May: LCR racer Stefan Bradl was back on track today in Jerez for one day of testing after yesterday’s race which saw the German ending a very tough weekend with a DNF. The 23-year-old, riding the RC213V no. 6, began his intended test programme in sunny conditions working on front-end adjustments and Bridgestone tyres. At the end of the day Bradl finished 9th fastest with 1’39.894 (71 laps). Stefan: “Today was a very intense day for us. We worked on various aspects of the set-up trying to find a solution for our front-end issues. We did not focus on the quickest lap time but still we have to improve the bike as we lose too much time entering the corners. However I am optimistic that, in Le Mans, we can go back to our normal speed.” More, from a press release issued by Ducati: Dovizioso, Hayden test development bike at Jerez Fresh off of a long race weekend at the Circuito de Jerez, Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden remained in Spain today for an official IRTA test, where they joined the other MotoGP racers for another warm day of riding on a hot track. The test provided an opportunity for Dovizioso and Hayden to try the pair of development bikes that Ducati Test Team rider Michele Pirro had just campaigned in the Spanish Grand Prix. The Ducati Team racers confirmed Pirro’s findings with the bike via a back-to-back comparison to their own Desmosedici GP13 race machines, and the important data gathered will be brought back to the factory to further define the engineers’ development program for the coming months. The Ducati Team now heads to Italy’s Mugello Circuit, where Dovizioso and Hayden are scheduled to take part in a private test on Wednesday and Thursday. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) 7th, 1:39.524 (47 laps) “It was interesting to try the bike with the new frame, which we should have soon to use in the races, although I still don’t know exactly when. We were able to do a comparison with my current bike, and the lap time wasn’t bad at all, while corner entry is better, especially in fast turns. This is the first true change this year, and although it’s not as big as I’d hoped, we’re going in the right direction.” Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 8th, 1:39.643 (35 laps) “Today went pretty well. We knew that with my condition, we wouldn’t be able to test a lot, but it was important to compare the lab bike that Pirro raced yesterday with my own. The positive thing is that we confirmed that the development is going in the right direction. Corner entry is easier, and that leads to a small improvement with turning as well. Hopefully they’ve got some more good information today that will help them to continue improving the bike.” Bernhard Gobmeier – Ducati Corse General Manager “It was very good that Andrea and Nicky were able to try the Desmosedici that Pirro had ridden yesterday in the race. Compared to our race bikes, it has a different frame and some changes to improve power delivery, along with updates to the electronics. This is just the first step in our development program, but it confirmed that the work we’ve done so far has been in the right direction. Both riders did good lap times, and corner entry and corner speed are better. Now we go to Mugello, where Michele Pirro and Franco Battaini will try other updates, while Andrea and Nicky will focus on work on the setup of their GP13 race bikes to prepare for the race in June.”