FIM Moto2 World Championship Sachsenring, Germany July 16 Qualifying Results (all using Honda engines and Dunlop tires): 1. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (SUTER), 1:24.733 2. Stefan BRADL, Germany (KALEX), 1:24.862 3. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (PONS KALEX), 1:24.900 4. Michele PIRRO, Italy (MORIWAKI), 1:25.085 5. Julian SIMON, Spain (SUTER), 1:25.189 6. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (MOTOBI), 1:25.223 7. Xavier SIMEON, Belgium (TECH 3), 1:25.235 8. Mika KALLIO, Finland (SUTER), 1:25.271 9. Bradley SMITH, Great Britain (TECH 3), 1:25.304 10. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (FTR), 1:25.310 11. Max NEUKIRCHNER, Germany (MZ-RE HONDA), 1:25.379 12. Thomas LUTHI, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:25.434 13. Yuki TAKAHASHI, Japan (MORIWAKI), 1:25.443 14. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (FTR), 1:25.453 15. Randy KRUMMENACHER, Switzerland (KALEX), 1:25.456 16. Jordi TORRES, Spain (SUTER), 1:25.465 17. Jules CLUZEL, France (SUTER), 1:25.495 18. Esteve RABAT, Spain (FTR), 1:25.510 19. Axel PONS, Spain (PONS KALEX), 1:25.515 20. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (SUTER), 1:25.579 21. Simone CORSI, Italy (FTR), 1:25.613 22. Mike DI MEGLIO, France (TECH 3), 1:25.616 23. Scott REDDING, Great Britain (SUTER), 1:25.637 24. Ricard CARDUS, Spain (MORIWAKI), 1:25.723 25. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (SUTER), 1:25.788 26. Kenny NOYES, USA (FTR), 1:25.806 27. Claudio CORTI, Italy (SUTER), 1:25.851 28. Dominique AEGERTER, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:25.870 29. Alex BALDOLINI, Italy (SUTER), 1:25.872 30. Valentin DEBISE, France (FTR), 1:25.900 31. Anthony WEST, Australia (MZ-RE HONDA), 1:26.130 32. Ratthapark WILAIROT, Thailand (FTR), 1:26.211 33. Mattia PASINI, Italy (FTR), 1:26.340 34. Robertino PIETRI, Venezuela (SUTER), 1:26.482 35. Santiago HERNANDEZ, Colombia (FTR), 1:27.166 36. Steven ODENDAAL, South Africa (SUTER), 1:27.591 37. Tommaso LORENZETTI, Italy (FTR), 1:27.816 38. Mashel AL NAIMI, Qatar (MORIWAKI), 1:28.412 More, from a press release issued by Tech 3: Xavier Siméon will lead third row of the grid at German Grand Prix tomorrow Xavier Siméon could show another time how quick he is learning his Mistral 610 bike by setting the 7th fastest time in today’s qualifying session for the Eni Grand Prix of Germany. Siméon started off the weekend with positions around 20th place in all three free practice sessions yesterday and this morning, but once again could show his determination to get his first Top 10 result of the season in this afternoon’s qualifying. The Youngster from Belgium is very pleased with his improvements and is aiming to improve furthermore in tomorrow’s race. Xavier Siméon, 7th – 1’25.235, 25 laps: “žI am very happy, because all the weekend we tried to find a good set up to make the 29 laps of the race tomorrow possible. I know I could go fast in one lap, but my settings weren’t perfect at the beginning to suit the race. Then we found something that can make me fast in one lap and also keep the pace during a race distance. The lap times are still very close here, so I need to give it all tomorrow. I was lucky because I could have a slightly faster lap time than the others this afternoon. But the race is tomorrow and here the race is very long. I will try to give my best and show another good performance and I will try to finish the race in the Top 10.” More, from another press release issued by Tech 3: Smith targets podium challenge in Germany Bradley Smith’s challenge for a fourth consecutive podium in the ultra competitive Moto2 World Championship will start from the third row of the grid at the tight and twisty Sachsenring track tomorrow. The British rider qualified his Tech 3 Racing Mistral 610 machine in ninth position at the end of a session run in gloriously sunny conditions that saw air temperatures peak at 25 degrees. Smith, who goes into tomorrow’s 29-lap race sitting in third place in the World Championship standings, was in contention for the front row throughout a closely fought session after he’d ended free practice in sixth place overall. He had clocked a best time of 1.25.304 on hi s 18th lap and was confident of improving his pace when a small mistake on his final flying lap saw him run off track at the high-speed Turn 8. Despite his best efforts to keep control of his bike, Smith was unable to slow down quickly enough in the gravel trap and he crashed after making contact with the trackside air fence. The 20-year-old walked away unhurt and despite not completing his final lap, he was only just over 0.2s away from fourth and he’s confident he will be a serious challenger for the top three in round nine of the 2011 Moto2 World Championship. Mike di Meglio is still searching for improvements with rear grip on his Mistral 610 machine. The French rider clocked a best time of 1.25.616, but highlighting the competitive level in Moto2 this year, he was only 0.8s away from pole position but still down in 22nd position as less than 1.2s covered the top 30 riders. Bradley Smith 9th 1.25.304 23 laps: “The third row is not a bad place to start, but ideally I would have liked to be on the second row at least just because of the nature of this track. It is very tight and twisty and overtaking is very difficult, so getting a good start will be crucial. But I am quite happy still with the performance. We were struggling in a few places, especially on the final run and I was riding too hard rather than trying to ride as smooth as possible. The lap time dropped by over half-a-second compared to this morning, so I tried to push a little bit more. Obviously I am disappointed to bring the bike back on a trailer, but there won’t be too much damage because the bike just fell against the air fence. The weather looks like it is going to be hotter again tomorrow, so we’ve got a good set up for the second half of the race when the tyres are worn. We still need to improve in some areas, but generally I am quite happy with everything. I’m just excited now to try some more changes in the Warm-up and try to get the bike more ready for the race.” Mike di Meglio 22nd 1.25.616 22 laps: “We changed a lot on the bike for the qualifying session and I immediately felt better, but still I think we need to improve more. We understand that we have to keep this direction for the race tomorrow because I still don’t have enough rear grip and I can’t accelerate out of the corner like I want. I felt better this afternoon and was also faster than this morning, but it still does not feel like it is enough. We need to improve much more for tomorrow’s race, but the times are very close and I don’t think we are too far away. I’m sure I can get in the points and even fight for the top ten.” More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing Team: STUNNING LATE CHARGE ROCKETS KALLIO INTO TOP TEN A stunning late burst of speed from flying Finn Mika Kallio put the Marc VDS Racing rider on the third row of the grid for tomorrow’s German Moto2 race at the Sachsenring. The 28-year-old brilliantly converted promising practice times into a lap of 1.25.271 that saw him rocket from outside the top 20 into eighth position as the 45-minute qualifying session reached an exciting conclusion. With conditions a vast improvement on the cool and blustery weather that dominated yesterday’s opening two practice sessions, Kallio dedicated the majority of qualifying to improving his Suter MMXI in full race trim using worn tyres. Gradually building up his speed, the tight and twisty nature of the Sachsenring circuit meant it was difficult to find clear track in the decisive final minutes. But when he was able to find a clear line, Kallio capitalised in emphatic fashion and he was just over 0.2s away from securing a top four place on the grid to qualify in eighth. Today’s qualifying session provided further evidence of how closely contested the Moto2 class is with less than one second dividing the top 24 riders. High hopes that British teammate Scott Redding would also be able to challenge for a top 10 position unfortunately failed to materialise. The 18-year-old ended free practice with the seventh quickest time overall but he was unable to improve his pace from yesterday. Redding battled tirelessly to solve front and rear grip issues and a lap of 1.25.637 put him 23rd on the grid. Today’s result means he will need to demonstrate his overtaking prowess in the race with the Sachsenring track, which is the shortest on the Moto2 schedule, notoriously difficult to pass on. Mika Kallio #36 – 1.25.271 – 23 laps – 8th position “I’m happy because I was able to produce a fast lap time when I really needed it. The plan was to start qualifying on used tyres to gain some experience for the race and that’s why I wasn’t so fast in the early part. For the last two exits we went with a brand new soft tyre each time and I was able to lap half-a-second faster than yesterday and it was a shame I didn’t quite keep the position on the second row. Qualifying inside the top 10 is important at any race with Moto2 being so competitive, but it is even more crucial because the first few corners here are very tight and you must try and break away with the leading group. I feel confident and we don’t have any issues with the bike, the set-up is at a good level and I’m expecting a strong result tomorrow.” Scott Redding #45 – 1.25.637 – 21 laps – 23rd position “I’m pretty disappointed because yesterday we made a really strong start and I was confident I could improve with some small changes to the bike. But this morning and this afternoon I just couldn’t really find the grip I needed from the front and the rear and I couldn’t run the lap times I managed yesterday. That made me a bit frustrated and in the end I was having to ride over the limit to get to the position I ended up, so it is clear we need to do some work tonight and try and fix the problems. We’ll check the data tonight and come up with a plan to give me more feeling but I’m still expecting to have a strong ride. This track is so tight that starting from where I am is far from ideal, but in Mugello I was aggressive at the start and I’ll adopt the same strategy tomorrow. It will be a case of getting my head down and going hard right from the off to get myself in contention for the top 10 as soon as I can.” Michael Bartholemy – Team Manager “Mika did a fantastic job right at the end of the session because when the pressure was on to produce a fast lap he delivered. The important thing too is that he made his lap time on his own without getting a tow, so this gives us a lot of encouragement for tomorrow’s race. He seems much happier with the bike this weekend and we know he really likes the Sachsenring, so we are confident he can get his best result of the season so far tomorrow. It is a shame that Scott was unable to improve his pace. He complained that the bike was sliding a lot and we will have to analyse what happened because he couldn’t go quicker today, even though there wasn’t a big difference in track temperature. Scott showed in Mugello that he can be very aggressive in the early laps and make a lot of overtakes, so we’ll be looking for a repeat of that tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by QMMF Racing Team: Cardús improves and is ready to fight for points – Al-Naimi struggles with the set-up of his bike QMMF Racing Team rider Ricky Cardús improved his lap time by more than one second from Friday and qualified in 24th place for the German Moto2 Grand Prix on Sunday. The 23-year-old Spaniard lost less than a second to Marc Márquez on pole position and is determined to fight for world championship points in the race. Team-mate Mishal Al-Naimi kept struggling with the set-up of his Moriwaki prototype and will have to start the race from 38th position. The 27-year-old from Qatar was close to crashing in the tricky and tight first part of the Sachsenring several times and decided to stay on two wheels safely rather than taking unnecessary risks. Mashel Al-Naimi 38th in 1.28,412 “I wasn’t able to find a good setting for this track. My biggest problem is the double left-hand corner in the first part of the track. I tried a harder suspension set-up on the front and on the back of the bike, but it didn’t help. I don’t know if my problems stem from my riding style, my position on the bike or from the bike’s settings, but I know that I am close to losing the front every time I am riding through these first turns of the track. I tried to go faster, but it was impossible and I didn’t want to crash. If I am fast and then I crash, it’s okay but I am very slow at the moment!” Ricky Cardús 24th in 1.25,723 “The times are vey close together on this circuit. Even though I’m in 24th position, there is a gap of less than one second to pole position, so really, we are not that far behind. Riding was tough for me towards the end of qualifying, because I had a big moment this morning and as a consequence I have some pain in my back. But no excuses: I still have to improve in some respects and I’m determined to give it all in the race and to fight for some world championship points. I’m sure it will be possible!” More, from a press release issued by JiR Moto2 Team: GP of Germany, qualifying: De Angelis starts from second row The heat was turned up at the Sachsenring circuit in Germany, messing up the plans of the teams who have had to adapt their set-ups to the more than 45 degree temperature of the Tarmac. Qualifying was hot from many points of view, for both the temperatures and for the competitiveness on track. Fastest once again pre-race was Spaniard Marc Marquez, who with a best lap of 1’24.733 gained once again pole position, followed by the usual suspects of Stefan Bradl and Aleix Espargaro. As is typical of a twisty circuit like the Sachsenring the gaps are tight and the first three rows are covered by little more than half a second. Alex De Angelis has confirmed today to be one of the fastest, setting a best lap of 1’25.223s, which means 6th place on the grid. The extreme heat of the track has created many headaches for the engineers of the JiR Team, since it caused a different reaction to the tyres thanks to the high temperatures. The MotoBI, however, responded well to changes in set-up and has returned valuable data that is now under analysis to determine the optimum set-up that will be chosen tomorrow depending on weather conditions. Alex DeAngelis It was a very hard qualifying session because we have exceeded the 45 degree heat of the Tarmac, which has resulted in tyre behaviour different from previous practice sessions. We managed to find a good balance for my MotoBI that allows me to have traction, very important at a circuit like this, but I struggled to find the feeling with the front. A couple of corners taken to the limit led me to concentrate on race pace, which seems good as the qualifying time came out with a set of hard tyres. At the end of the session I took some more risks to earn positions on the grid, 6th place means the second row so I’m pretty satisfied. Obviously I will need a good start and to remain attached to the leaders, but we saw that we are on the pace pretty well so I’m confident. We still have the warm-up to try the latest solutions, during which we will decide even what kind of strategy to use depending on the temperature, which we assume will influence the race. More, from a press release issued by Kenny Noyes’ publicist: Solid Progress For Kenny Noyes Despite Practice Crashes Despite two crashes on Saturday, Kenny Noyes is having his best weekend of the season at the Sachsenring. The Avintia-STX rider has profited from two days of dry practice on his FOGI-Racing FTR to get comfortable on his bike and the results showed. For the first time this season, Kenny is within a second of the leaders and closing the gap every time he goes out. On race tires during qualifying, Kenny got to within 0.6 of the leaders, but a late crash when he switched to the softer tires left him unable to improve his time. The afternoon crash came on top a less fortunate crash on Saturday morning. A problem with the quickshifter saw Kenny crash on his first lap out of the pits, the quickshifter cutting power just as he flicked the bike over the top of turn 11, losing grip and washing out the front. That crash left Kenny’s Avintia-STX team with a ton of work to do, but their hard work put his FOGI-Racing FTR back together again in time for qualifying. The afternoon crash was all down to Kenny, though, pushing too hard in his eagerness to post a qualifying time. As a result, the American will start from the 9th row of the grid, but with his confidence in his FTR restored, he will be aiming to pass as many riders as he can come Sunday’s Moto2 race. 26th, Fastest Lap: 1’25.806 Kenny said, “That was the best Friday we’ve had all year! The bike’s working real good round here, and I’m feeling comfortable on the bike. Saturday wasn’t so great, what with the crashes, but it still feels good to know that there’s plenty more left in the bike, and I can get to it.” “The crashes were a shame, there was nothing I could do about the first one, but the second was all down to me. It felt kinda good to finally have a crash that was all my own fault! But I have to hand it to my sponsors, Arlen Ness and HJC, I’ve kept them real busy all year and they keep coming up with the goods to keep me safe.” “Starting from where we are isn’t great, but that’s not too important right now. The big thing is I’m happy with the bike and I know I can race on it. I’m going out to have some fun on Sunday, see how many passes I can make!”