FIM Moto2 World Championship Phillip Island, Australia October 14 Free Practice Two Results (all using Honda engines and Dunlop tires): 1. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (MOTOBI), 1:34.466 2. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (SUTER), 1:34.568 3. Stefan BRADL, Germany (KALEX), 1:34.580 4. Claudio CORTI, Italy (SUTER), 1:34.600 5. Scott REDDING, Great Britain (SUTER), 1:34.783 6. Bradley SMITH, Great Britain (TECH 3), 1:34.956 7. Mika KALLIO, Finland (SUTER), 1:34.964 8. Thomas LUTHI, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:34.969 9. Mattia PASINI, Italy (FTR), 1:34.984 10. Yuki TAKAHASHI, Japan (MORIWAKI), 1:35.124 11. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (FTR), 1:35.181 12. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (FTR), 1:35.195 13. Anthony WEST, Australia (MZ-RE HONDA), 1:35.245 14. Michele PIRRO, Italy (MORIWAKI), 1:35.248 15. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (SUTER), 1:35.265 16. Max NEUKIRCHNER, Germany (MZ-RE HONDA), 1:35.278 17. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (SUTER), 1:35.291 18. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (PONS KALEX), 1:35.362 19. Jules CLUZEL, France (SUTER), 1:35.438 20. Dominique AEGERTER, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:35.459 21. Esteve RABAT, Spain (FTR), 1:35.522 22. Mike DI MEGLIO, France (TECH 3), 1:35.690 23. Raffaele DE ROSA, Italy (SUTER), 1:35.797 24. Axel PONS, Spain (PONS KALEX), 1:35.966 25. Randy KRUMMENACHER, Switzerland (KALEX), 1:36.004 26. Jordi TORRES, Spain (SUTER), 1:36.037 27. Xavier SIMEON, Belgium (TECH 3), 1:36.344 28. Joan OLIVE, Spain (FTR), 1:36.438 29. Ricard CARDUS, Spain (MORIWAKI), 1:37.278 30. Kenny NOYES, USA (FTR), 1:37.367 31. Robertino PIETRI, Venezuela (SUTER), 1:37.388 32. Valentin DEBISE, France (FTR), 1:37.575 33. Ivan MORENO, Spain (SUTER), 1:38.032 34. Santiago HERNANDEZ, Colombia (FTR), 1:38.506 35. Kris McLAREN, Australia (SUTER), 1:38.936 36. Mashel AL NAIMI, Qatar (MORIWAKI), 1:39.068 37. Blake LEIGH-SMITH, Australia (FTR), 1:39.090 38. Simone CORSI, Italy (FTR), no time recorded 39. Ratthapark WILAIROT, Thailand (FTR), no time recorded More, from a press release issued by ItalTrans/AGP Racing: Claudio Corti (1’34″600 – 4th) Robertino Pietri (1’37″388 – 34th ) A good working day delivered an excellent fourth time to Claudio Corti an a 34th to Robertino Pietri. Claudio set his best in the closing minutes, but all the practice, run by run, he clocked lap times that constantly put him among the top riders. The final result is just 124/1000 from the provisional pole. Anyway, more than that, it is because of the easiness of the pace and quality of the job done that the garage is quite satisfied and optimistic. Claudio Corti: “I love this track, and we found a good set-up pretty quickly. I struggled a little in the morning I haven’t ridden a bike for almost a month, and I suffered it, at the beginning. To be honest, I wanted a pace even better, but I’m happy with the one I got, if we think that I set a time under 1’35 with a rear tire that had already served for a lot of laps. Not too bad. I can still improve a lot in T1 I’m not able yet to manage it as I would I believe I didn’t ride twice the same line. If I can do that, our pace will improve dramatically. Robertino Pietri: “In the afternoon I improved, but have been slowed in my work when I went wide because of a problem with the gear, and had to let the bike go down to avoid the worse. I hurt a finger. But I’m convinced we are working in the right direction. Claudio Macciotta (Technical Director) “We modified the balance in a way that offered us a very different condition from the previous one. It is something I had in mind for a while, but only here I have been able to set it up. Claudio did a great job, very focused, with long runs that offered us a chance to work in a very productive way”. Errata corrige: in the Preview sent on the GP eve, it was reported that Robertino Pietri was at his debout at Phillip Island. It was a mistake Pietri had already competed on the Australian track. Apologies. More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing Team: FLYING START FOR MARC VDS DOWN UNDER The Marc VDS Racing Team kicked off preparations for the Australian Moto2 round at the breath-taking Phillip Island circuit today in stunning fashion, with Scott Redding and Mika Kallio battling for the top three in both practice sessions. Taking full advantage of surprisingly warm and sunny conditions at the 4.448km track, Redding brilliantly utilised the complete 2012 Suter MMXII chassis he’s using for the first time in Australia to finish fifth on the combined leaderboard. Feeling the benefit of an improvement in turning and acceleration grip with the updated frame and swingarm package, Redding was an encouraging eighth this morning. Gaining more experience and understanding of the revised chassis, Redding was able to lap over 0.5s quicker in this afternoon’s second session and his best time of 1.34.783 was just over 0.3s away from second position. With more time to adjust to the different characteristics of the new frame tomorrow, the 18-year-old Briton is confident he can challenge for a second successive front row start in qualifying. Mika Kallio also enjoyed a productive and positive day, the flying Finn immediately on the pace at the Phillip Island track, which features some of the fastest and most technical corners on the calendar. With temperatures reaching a pleasant 23 degrees this morning, Kallio’s best lap of 1.34.998 placed him in a fantastic third position and only 0.029s away from second. Modifications to the front-end of his Suter MMXI helped him lower his lap time to a 1.34.964 this afternoon and he finished seventh overall, confident he can fight for his first second row start of the 2011 Moto2 World Championship campaign in tomorrow’s qualifying session. Scott Redding #45 – 1.34.783 – 38-laps – 5th position “I’m really happy with how today finished because it has not been easy to switch to the complete new Suter MMXII chassis. It is almost like starting from scratch and this morning I struggled initially to get a good feeling. But by the end of the second practice it started to feel like my bike and the new chassis is a definite step in the right direction. The bike turns better and it feels more stable on acceleration and with more time to adjust to how it reacts, I’m sure I can have a very strong weekend. I don’t think we were helped by the condition of the track though. It feels really bumpy and a lot more than last year, but the grip is not too bad. We now have to wait and see what will happen with the weather for the rest of the weekend. Today was awesome but we know it can change very quickly, so we need to be ready for whatever the elements throw at us.” Mika Kallio #36 – 1.34.964 – 37-laps – 7th position “That was a fantastic start to the weekend for me and this position is where I expected to be right from the start of the season. I suppose it is better late than never but I felt great this morning on the bike to finish third fastest. We made a change to the front-end this afternoon and I’d hoped it would keep me inside the top three. We wanted to make the bike more agile for the fast changes of direction but maybe the step was a bit too much. The bike became a little bit more nervous but I think we will keep this setting and I will try and adapt more because even if I didn’t like the feeling so much, the lap time was quicker. So if I get used to it the bike will be even faster and I’m very confident for the rest of the weekend.” Michael Bartholemy – Team Manager “I am really happy with the performance of Scott and Mika today and hopefully we can build on this and enjoy both of them fighting inside the top six on Sunday. We know Scott likes this track after he was second last year and he was looking strong again today. We know have the complete 2012 chassis package and while it took him a few laps to get comfortable, he can feel the improvements and with more time, I’m sure he will only get quicker. It was fantastic to see Mika third this morning. The conditions were incredible for Phillip Island and he demonstrated what a class act he can be. He was strong also this afternoon and looking really confident on the bike, so we have big expectations now that he can have his best result of the season on Sunday.” More, from a press release issued by QMMF Racing Team: Cardús adapts to fast and thrilling Phillip Island Al-Naimi chasing better set-up for the bumps QMMF Racing Team rider Ricky Cardús rode his first ever laps on the spectacular Phillip Island track on the Southern tip of the Australian continent. Whereas the fans flock to the unique venue not only because of the Grand Prix action but also because of the magnificent scenery right at the shorelines of the Southern ocean, Cardús enjoyed the thrill of one of the fastest circuits of this year’s calendar. Since Phillip Island is also one of the most difficult and challenging tracks in the world, one day was not enough to find the best lines and the ideal braking points for Cardús. The 23-year-old from Barcelona, Spain, currently holds 32nd position in the time sheets, but is confident to improve and conquer a good grid position in qualifying on Saturday. Team-mate Mashel Al-Naimi also had a very busy first day of practice, trying various set-up solutions in order to improve his bike’s behavior over the bumps of the track. The Phillip Island circuit, that also hosts numerous other events like V8 Supercar racing, has become significantly bumpier in comparison to previous years. Al-Naimi still went about one second quicker than during the last Grand Prix of Australia, which was encouraging but not good enough to climb higher than to 38th position in the first day’s combined practice times. Mashel Al-Naimi 38th in 1.39,068 “This track is difficult. I like fast corners, because they suit my style, but I am not sure yet about how to get the best out my bike on this circuit. The track has become very bumpy and it seems to have become more difficult to hit the best lines. I still managed to improve by one second compared to last year, but this is not enough, I have to be much faster in order to be competitive. I need more corner speed but I don’t know why I lose so much through the bends. Today we tried both tyre options and I did two good laps at the end on the softer option. Tomorrow we will try more set-up solutions and see how we go!” Ricky Cardús 32nd in 1.37,278 “We did a lot of work in preparation for qualifying tomorrow. We’ve had a few races recently where we weren’t quite there on Friday, but today we packed lots into the two first practice sessions that should help us to get the confidence we need, to get a decent spot on the starting grid and to do a good race on Sunday. This circuit is a lot of fun to ride and a real thrill because it is so fast, but it is also one of the most difficult ones in the calendar and I am still missing the reference points that I need. There is still a lot of work to be done, on my riding as well as on the set-up of the machine, but I am confident that we can solve our problems and that we’ll be ready to put up a fight on Sunday!” More, from a press release issued by JiR Moto2 Team: GP of Australia, free practice The Phillip Island circuit looks to be the second home for our rider Alex de Angelis, who today reeled off fast times in practice. Finishing as the Australian GP winner in 2010, the JiR Team rider has found immediately the feeling with the circuit and finished with the second and first best times in today’s two sessions, resulting in second overall in the combined classification with a best lap of 1’34 .466s, only four-tenths of a second from Stefan Bradl. This is a very positive performance that comes from the great confidence that De Angelis has with this track but also from the top form showed by the MotoBI, which has performed well in the last two rounds. Today was just the beginning of the weekend so technicians and rider will work in tomorrow’s sessions to get even more performance over the single lap and simultaneously resolve the optimal set up to be carried to the race on Sunday. Gianluca Montiron We approach this race at Phillip Island with the hope of doing well and today’s practices have given positive signals, with the performance reported by De Angelis. The season so far has been exciting, it would be nice to find again our ‘edge’ on this track, this year we have always came very close to the leader, demonstrating our competitiveness in a balanced and fairly-fought Championship. The top speed of our MotoBI looks good, demonstrating that the consistency of performance of the rider on the various tracks makes a difference. Alex DeAngelis Today was a beautiful day in every way we have already run faster than last year. We tried two different compounds of tyres and we are confident about the choice for the race. Now we will try to further improve the set-up to find more stability in the fast corners. According to today’s events I am confident for the next two days, assuming that the climate and weather will not change.