FIM Moto2 World Championship Brno, Czech Republic August 14 Race Results (all using Honda engines and Dunlop tires): 1. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (SUTER), 20 laps, 41:13.255 2. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (SUTER), -0.161 second 3. Stefan BRADL, Germany (KALEX), -0.407 4. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (MOTOBI), -0.870 5. Thomas LUTHI, Switzerland (SUTER), -4.225 6. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (PONS KALEX), -13.636 7. Esteve RABAT, Spain (FTR), -13.647 8. Dominique AEGERTER, Switzerland (SUTER), -14.365 9. Simone CORSI, Italy (FTR), -14.617 10. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (SUTER), -21.383 11. Mattia PASINI, Italy (FTR), -26.235 12. Yuki TAKAHASHI, Japan (MORIWAKI), -29.726 13. Mika KALLIO, Finland (SUTER), -30.046 14. Claudio CORTI, Italy (SUTER), -30.380 15. Mike DI MEGLIO, France (TECH 3), -30.459 16. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (FTR), -31.691 17. Ratthapark WILAIROT, Thailand (FTR), -31.752 18. Michele PIRRO, Italy (MORIWAKI), -35.548 19. Jordi TORRES, Spain (SUTER), -40.270 20. Kenny NOYES, USA (FTR), -40.722 21. Valentin DEBISE, France (FTR), -40.803 22. Ricard CARDUS, Spain (MORIWAKI), -42.247 23. Xavier SIMEON, Belgium (TECH 3), -42.285 24. Axel PONS, Spain (PONS KALEX), -42.348 25. Robertino PIETRI, Venezuela (SUTER), -53.036 26. Scott REDDING, Great Britain (SUTER), -53.044 27. Santiago HERNANDEZ, Colombia (FTR), -66.674 28. Steven ODENDAAL, South Africa (SUTER), -67.935 29. Anthony WEST, Australia (MZ-RE HONDA), -90.360 30. Mashel AL NAIMI, Qatar (MORIWAKI), -90.499 31. Tommaso LORENZETTI, Italy (FTR), -1 lap, DNF, crash 32. Alex BALDOLINI, Italy (SUTER), -9 laps, DNF, retired 33. Jules CLUZEL, France (SUTER), -9 laps, DNF, crash 34. Max NEUKIRCHNER, Germany (MZ-RE HONDA), -13 laps, DNF, crash 35. Carmelo MORALES, Spain (SUTER), -17 laps, DNF, crash 36. Bradley SMITH, Great Britain (TECH 3), -19 laps, DNF, crash 37. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (FTR), -19 laps, DNF, crash 38. Randy KRUMMENACHER, Switerland (KALEX), -20 laps, DNF, crash World Championship Point Standings (after 10 of 17 races): 1. Bradl, 183 points 2. Marquez, 140 3. De Angelis, 95 4. TIE, Iannone/Corsi, 91 6. Luthi, 88 7. Smith, 79 8. Takahashi, 62 9. Krummenacher, 52 10. Simon, 49 More, from a press release issued by JiR Moto2 Team: An exciting race has entertained at the Czech GP at Brno, where Alex De Angelis gained a fourth place finish at the line, just a breath from the winner that gives him the third position in the provisional world rankings. Starting from the front row, the JiR Team rider was sewn into a group of five competitors who had a margin on the rest of the pursuers, setting a fast, smooth rhythm. While the Swiss Thomas Luthi held steady in 5th position, De Angelis was caught up in a fierce brawl with Andrea Iannone, Marc Marquez and Stefan Bradl for the first three positions. The quartet inspired a very heated battle, which was undecided until the checkered flag, which then saw the podium including the three riders in the order mentioned above. Another good performance by Gianluca Montiron’s Team, who after the performance at the Sachsenring has confirmed the effectiveness of MotoBI ridden by De Angelis, which gives good prospects also for future races. Gianluca Montiron A good performance by Alex, race after race we are reducing the gap from the winner and to finish in 4th place just 0.870 seconds behind the leader marks that we are working in the right direction. Brno is a challenging circuit, we will work to further improve and many small factors can affect the whole performance, as we have seen just as influential can be the rider’s style. Today is a good day, third in the World Championship with the hope of seeing every Sunday exciting races like today. Alex DeAngelis With the exception of the final result, today’s race was almost a photocopy of the weekend in Sachsenring. We worked well and produced a very effective MotoBI, the set-up and tyre consumption has given positive feedbacks that allowed me to be aggressive and fast in the sectors, enough to be able to stay always among the leaders. Unfortunately we have a gap in speed performance, while I can cope well with changes of direction and overtaking I cannot be as effective in defending comebacks on straights, in a circuit with lots of straights and a climb like Brno this has great influence. This deficit of course depends on many factors so far we failed to find the right one. Today’s competition establishes us among the top leadership of the World Championship has become almost a matter between Marquez and Bradl, but our level of competitiveness encourages me in dealing with GP after GP coming up. The result of today’s race gives me the third place in the world rankings, but up to seventh we are all grouped with just a few points so we have to maintain the consistency we’ve had that I believe could be the key to winning. More, from a press release issued by Tech 3: Tough weekend for Xavier Siméon in Brno The Cardion ab Czech Grand Prix finished as tough as it started for Xavier Siméon, ending the race in 23rd position and leaving the Czech Republic with no points. All weekend the 21 year old struggled with his Mistral 610, which he does not understand as his Tech3 B Team did not change much on the bike’s settings for the Brno circuit. Feeling very comfortable at Sachsenring, Siméon now complains about a lot of chattering problems and lost his confidence due to them. For Indianapolis the Moto2 Rookie hopes he can get back to his old form and hit his target to finish the race within the points that are crucial in this championship. Xavier Siméon, 23rd – 41’55.540: “The whole weekend was very difficult for me. We changed the bike, but he times never really changed. The race was a bit more consistent, but still too slow as my target is to finish in the Top 15. I finished 23rd today and that is not what I had expected. We have to check the data now and see what is the problem. It is not normal that it changes so much from on track to another. I never had a good feeling with the bike this weekend, for which reason I also lost a bit of my confidence. I have to work with my crew chief now and try to explain why we could fight for Top 10 last race and not now anymore.” Hervé Poncharal, Team Manager: “We did not see the Xavier that we know he can be for all the weekend. The only highlight was on Saturday morning when the track was wet and we saw him within the Top 10. But Xavier did not find the right feeling with the bike and had a lot of problems this weekend. Let’s hope this is going to be a one-event problem and he is back as we saw him before when we go to Indianapolis. It was a tough weekend for him for sure.” More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing Team: DETERMINED KALLIO BATTLES BRILLIANTLY FOR BRNO POINTS Marc VDS Racing Team rider Mika Kallio produced a performance full of grit and determination to claim a richly deserved top 15 finish in this afternoon’s Czech Republic Moto2 race at Brno. After struggling to solve a persistent chatter issue in practice and qualifying that left him 30th on the grid, Kallio gambled on running a radically revised race set-up with his Suter MMXI machine. The decision reaped immediate rewards for the 28-year-old, who made a phenomenal start and after the first lap he had already manoeuvred his way to the brink of the points in 17th. Kallio needed only two laps to fight his way into the points and feeling much more comfortable with the modified settings, he then immediately embarked on a surge towards the top 10. As the fast pace settled down, the Finnish rider found himself engaged in a thrilling five-rider tussle that included Yuki Takahashi, Claudio Corti, Mike di Meglio and Pol Espargaro. Reeling off a series of fast laps, Kallio superbly guided his Marc VDS Racing machine to the front of the pack in 12th with just four laps remaining. Takahashi retaliated on lap 18 and despite a fantastic last lap of 2.04.227, which was his fastest of the entire weekend, Kallio was just unable to reclaim 12th position. The 20-lap encounter turned out to be a frustrating affair for Scott Redding, who was unable to mount his expected challenge for the points. Redding made a decent start from 20th on the grid and the 18-year-old quickly clawed his way into 17th. But just when it looked like he was going to maintain his climb up the leaderboard, he suddenly dropped back down the rankings to 25th on lap six. The British rider was unable to overcome a front-end grip issue and he eventually crossed the finish line in a disappointing 26th position. Mika Kallio #36 – 13th Position “Normally you can’t be happy with a result like that, but considering the chatter problems I had all weekend and starting from so far back on the grid, it is a positive outcome. We completely changed the bike for the race and we managed to reduce the level of chatter, but it was still a big issue. I just adapted my style and did my best to ride around the problem. The key to the race was the fantastic start I made and the first couple of laps I made a lot of overtakes and immediately got myself in a battle for the points. That gave me a lot of confidence instantly and it was important that I could stay with the group for 12th for the whole race and I learned a lot. I was riding right at my limit but I did my best lap of the weekend on the last lap, so I never gave up fighting and this is really satisfying. I really wanted to catch Yuki again but he had just enough of a gap to prevent me from attacking him. Considering how difficult Friday and Saturday were we can still be extremely satisfied to finish the weekend in positive fashion.” Scott Redding #45 – 26th Position “That was obviously very disappointing and the frustration continues to build because this is not where myself and the Marc VDS Racing Team should be. I struggled for front grip right from the start, even though we reverted to the set-up I ran in the Sachsenring where the feeling wasn’t so bad. But that didn’t work and I’m a bit lost because we’ve been trying lots of different solutions on the bike and I keep losing the front. I just have big long slides so I can’t get the bike turned and it is impossible for me to keep a fast pace. I don’t think I hit an apex in the race and I couldn’t get into any sort of a consistent pace. We need to have a sit down and try and find a solution for Indianapolis, which is a race where I scored a podium at last year.” Michael Bartholemy – Team Manager “I want to say a big thanks to Mika for the way he rode today because starting from 30th on the grid it is easy to think that the weekend is over. What pleased me more than anything was that he fought really hard for the whole race. He was never alone and he never gave up, setting some fast times and he did a very good job considering where he was on the grid. He still had a problem with chatter during the race but he was obviously able to ride around the issue more today. And his crew worked non-stop to make him more comfortable on the bike, so they deserve a lot of credit too. It was a difficult weekend for Scott again and we have to try and understand what is going wrong. He was competitive and looked very strong on Friday morning, but every session after that he got slower and slower and that is hard to understand. The lap time he did on Friday morning would have put him in the top six in the race, but he was struggling to get within two seconds of that at times today. Like a lot of riders he had some issues with the front tyre, but that doesn’t account for so much time lost. We’ve got to find a solution and we need to find it quickly.” More, from a press release issued by Tech 3: Di Meglio battles hard in Brno, Smith frustrated Today’s Czech Republic Moto2 race at the Brno circuit ended with mixed emotions for the Tech 3 Racing Team. Mike di Meglio delivered one of the best performances of the race to secure only his second points-scoring finish of the 2011 World Championship campaign. Di Meglio made a super fast start and he climbed from 24th on the grid into 15th in brilliant fashion on the opening lap. By the end of the third lap, the former 125cc World Champion had made four further overtakes to bring himself into contention for the top 10. He spent the second half of the race, which was run in sunny and hot conditions, locked in an exciting five-rider fi ght that included ex-Tech 3 Racing Team rider Yuki Takahashi, Mika Kallio, Claudio Corti and Pol Espargaro. He had to settle for 15th but he was less than a second away from 12th, the Frenchman gaining valuable experience on the Tech 3 Racing Team’s Mistral 610 machine. The 20-lap race ended in bitterly disappointing fashion for British rider Bradley Smith, who was confident of a strong showing having set the fifth quickest time in pre-race warm-up session this morning. Starting from 16th on the grid, Smith produced his trademark aggressive first lap to gain nine places and force his way into seventh position. Smith’s brilliant early work though was unfortunately undone by a crash on the second lap while he was trying to force his way back into the points after narrowly avoiding Jules Cluzel’s first lap crash. The 20- year-old was able to walk away unhurt but he still lies seventh in the World Championship rankings on 79-points. Mike di Meglio 15th 8 points: “I made a brilliant start and moved up nine places on the first lap. In the first four laps, the bike was perfect. I just had a little bit of a chatter issue, which seems normal on this track. I tried to find a solution to get rid of the chattering by altering my style, but I made a couple of small mistakes and the group battling for 10th left me behind a little bit. It was really hard to stay with them and after Takahashi and Kallio opened a gap I tried to stay with that group. When I saw that there were so many riders fighting for the points, I did my best to stay with them. I rode at the limit in each corner and I was always close to crashing. I finished with one point, which is positive. I need to wor k on qualifying better in the future so I can be more in front from the start of the race. I will work on that to get a better final result in Indianapolis.” Bradley Smith DNF 79-points: “Obviously that is not the ideal end to a race and unfortunately that is two races in a row that we haven’t finished. From that point of view it is very disappointing, but we had so many positives this weekend. We struggled with the bike on Friday and a little bit on Saturday, but we were able to find big improvements for the race. I was a bit unlucky. I got a great start and put myself in a great position to fight with the group battling for the top six. I knew I had to pass (Jules) Cluzel early as he had already lost the front group on the first lap. Then he crashed in front of me and I was lucky I stayed on the bike. Then when I was recovering from that incident I got tangled with anoth er rider and I had nowhere to go and I went down. It is not a positive end to the weekend but once again we showed that we have the pace to fight at the front. The Tech 3 Racing Team did a fantastic job this weekend and we learned a lot of new things that will help us for the future and I’m sure we will get the results we deserve soon.” Hervé Poncharal Team Manager: “This was another disappointing weekend for the Tech 3 Racing Team. Bradley was very fast this morning in the Warm-up and we were looking forward to him having a strong race to forget the bad luck of Germany. He made an awesome start and recovered a lot of positions and he was immediately close to the top six. Unfortunately again he had a little bit of bad luck. Cluzel crashed in front of him and Bradley told me that it was a miracle that he did not go out with him. He recovered but then there was anothe r incident that he could not avoid and that is disappointing for the whole Team. When you have to push so hard in a class as competitive as Moto2, these things can happen, but we will look to bounce back strongly in Indianapolis and on a positive note he wasn’t injured. Mike had a solid weekend and he looked much stronger than before the summer break. He got only one-point, which is a shame, because his efforts probably deserved more. He was with Takahashi and Kallio and this is positive and I hope today gives him some motivation and a big boost for the next races.”