FIM Moto2 World Championship Estoril, Portugal April 30 Qualifying Results (all using Honda engines and Dunlop tires): 1. Stefan Bradl, Germany (KALEX), 1:41.591, 92.083 mph 2. Thomas Luthi, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:41.754 3. Julian Simon, Spain (SUTER), 1:41.905 4. Marc Marquez, Spain (SUTER), 1:42.073 5. Dominique Aegerter, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:42.143 6. Michele Pirro, Italy (MORIWAKI), 1:42.219 7. Yuki Takahashi, Japan (MORIWAKI), 1:42.259 8. Kenan Sofuoglu, Turkey (SUTER), 1:42.307 9. Jules Cluzel, France (SUTER), 1:42.400 10. Pol Espargaro, Spain (FTR), 1:42.456 11. Aleix Espargaro, Spain (PONS KALEX), 1:42.493 12. Alex Baldolini, Italy (SUTER), 1:42.546 13. Scott Redding, Great Britain (SUTER), 1:42.563 14. Andrea Iannone, Italy (SUTER), 1:42.591 15. Bradley Smith, Great Britain (TECH 3), 1:42.743 16. Axel Pons, Spain (PONS KALEX), 1:42.746 17. Simone Corsi, Italy (FTR), 1:42.844 18. Raffaele De Rosa, Italy (MORIWAKI), 1:42.953 19. Mattia Pasini, Italy (FTR), 1:42.996 20. Ricard Cardus, Spain (MORIWAKI), 1:43.080 21. Xavier Simeon, Belgium (TECH 3), 1:43.120 22. Mika Kallio, Finland (SUTER), 1:43.140 23. Esteve Rabat, Spain (FTR), 1:43.189 24. Ratthapark Wilairot, Thailand (FTR), 1:43.286 25. Randy Krummenacher, Switzerland (KALEX), 1:43.346 26. Mike Di Meglio, France (TECH 3), 1:43.366 27. Kenny Noyes, USA (FTR), 1:43.399 28. Alex De Angelis, San Marino (MOTOBI), 1:43.472 29. Anthony West, Australia (MZ-RE HONDA), 1:43.660 30. Claudio Corti, Italy (SUTER), 1:43.674 31. Javier Fores, Spain (SUTER), 1:43.710 32. Valentin Debise, France (FTR), 1:44.010 33. Yonny Hernandez, Colombia (FTR), 1:44.090 34. Santiago Hernandez, Colombia (FTR), 1:44.355 35. Robertino Pietri, Venezuela (SUTER), 1:44.835 36. Mashel Al Naimi, Qatar (MORIWAKI), 1:45.100 37. Kev Coghlan, Great Britain (FTR), 1:45.380 38. Steven Odendaal, South Africa (SUTER), 1:46.555 39. Max Neukirchner, Germany (MZ-RE HONDA), no time recorded 40. Lukasz Wargala, Poland (MORIWAKI), no time recorded More, from a press release issued by Tech 3 Racing: Smith ready to fight for top ten in Estoril Tech 3 Racing Team rider Bradley Smith has targeted a third consecutive top ten finish in tomorrow’s Portuguese Moto2 Grand Prix after he ended as closely fought qualifying session with the 15th fastest time. The British rider was just 0.5s away from a place on the second row of the grid as he bounced back superbly from a crash in tricky conditions in this morning’s third and final practice session to post a best time of 1.42.743. Heavy overnight rain had drenched the 2.599 miles circuit and despite no repeat of the downpours for practice and qualifying, the track remained treacherously damp in some sections throughout the whole day. Smith was still able t o lap less than 0.3s away from the top ten and he is confident he can maintain his sensational start to his rookie campaign in the competitive Moto2 class. Smith will start tomorrow’s 26-lap race in sixth position in the World Championship rankings having claimed a stunning fourth position in the previous race in Jerez. Mike di Meglio will start the third round of the 2011 World Championship from 26th on the grid, the Frenchman still searching for a confident set-up with his Mistral 610 machine. The former 125cc World Champion ended with a best time of 1.43.366. Bradley Smith 15th 1.42.473 18 laps “The qualifying session was not too bad but I just felt that there was a couple of areas from the crash this morning that upset the bike and also knocked my confidence a little bit. It took me a while to build up my pac e and by the time I felt confident again I just ran out of time. It is a bit of shame because I felt pretty confident during practice and was hopeful of being a few places further up the grid. Starting from 15th is going to make it a difficult race and I’ve never been lower than the third row in Moto2. So I need to make sure I get a good start and keep out of trouble early on while pushing as hard as I can. I’m hoping for a dry race tomorrow but if it is wet then we have a really good rain setting too, so I feel we’re prepared for whatever the conditions throw at us.” Mike di Meglio: 26th 1.43.666 17 laps “I felt quite comfortable in the early part of the session and was able to do my lap time pretty easily. But then I lost the front at the last corner while I was pushing hard to improve and this knocked my confidence. It was a big slide of about 15 metres and I was lucky not to crash. After that we changed the front tyre as we thought the bad feeling was coming from the tyre. But I had another strange problem with the front, so it obviously was something different and we need to work on a solution for the race tomorrow. I expect to be faster for the race and see if I can challenge for the points.” More, from a press release issued by Tech 3 Racing: Satisfied Siméon after he qualified on 7th row on the grid Xavier Siméon is happy with the Portuguese Grand Prix in Estoril so far as he remarkably improved his feeling with the Tech3 Mistral 610 bike regarding to the difficult weekend he had at the second Grand Prix of the season in Jerez, Spain. The youngster from Belgium qualified in 21st position on the grid, which means he will start tomorrow’s race from 7th row and this is his best qualifying result in his first full Moto2 campaign so far. Siméon worked a lot on his physical condition and the setting of the bike with his team during the long break the MotoGP world championship had due to the postponement of the Japanese Grand Prix, that was meant to take place last weekend in Motegi, Japan. And he is very confiden t about the direction the improvements go to. Xavier Siméon, 21st – 1’43.120: “We improved a lot since Jerez. I did a lot of training during the break. We also worked on the settings of the bike to improve my confidence as I had a really bad feeling before. Now we are improving and this morning when it was half wet and half dry it was so much better than in Jerez already. We did not put new tyres, so we were still behind the classification, but for the qualifying we had enough tyres and then I could ride a better lap time. I am also not far from Bradley, only 4 tenths of a second, which makes me really happy. I am 21st on the grid, not 32 like at the race before. Now we have to keep concentrating as the more important is the day tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing Team: REDDING AND KALLIO AIM FOR POINTS AT ESTORIL Scott Redding and Mika Kallio are confident they can score the first points of the 2011 Moto2 World Championship for the Marc VDS Racing Team in tomorrow’s Portuguese Grand Prix. Having been one of the star performers during free practice, which Redding finished in fourth position overall, the British rider was confident of mounting a strong challenge for a place on the front row of the grid when qualifying commenced under grey and gloomy skies at the Estoril track this afternoon. Consistently running inside the top five in the opening half of the session, Redding looked poised to claim his best qualifying result of the season, having set a best time of 1.42.653 after only five laps. But the 18-year-old was unable to take full advantage of a new Dunlop rear tyre in a typically frenetic finale and he slipped down the rankings to 13th. Boosted by his impressive performance in practice though, Redding is supremely confident that he can register his first points of the campaign after a difficult opening two races in Qatar and Jerez. Finnish rider Kallio had also demonstrated his most impressive form of the season to date during practice and he was sixth overall on combined times. Torrential overnight rain though soaked the 2.599 miles Estoril circuit and despite no further rain falling throughout today, the surface was slow to dry and left tricky damp patches scattered around the circuit for the decisive qualifying session. The change in grip levels saw Kallio unable to lap with the same speed and confidence that he managed yesterday, as he worked tirelessly with his Marc VDS Racing crew to improve rear grip. But looking to improve on 19th position in the grid, Kallio lost the front-end of his Suter MMXI machine at Turn 6 in the final moments of the session. Unfortunately the late spill saw the Finn drop outside of the top 20 and he will start the 26-lap race, which is round three of the 2011 Moto2 World Championship campaign, from 22nd on the grid. Scott Redding #45 1.42.563 – 20 laps – 13th position “Practice had been going so well and I was feeling much more confident with the bike that I was expecting to be a lot higher up the grid than 13th. I felt good at the start of qualifying and was definitely aiming to be on the second row at least because I’ve been able to lap in the top six for the entire weekend. But when I put in a new rear tyre I couldn’t get the same feeling and confidence. I lost edge grip and then I started to push the front towards the end and unfortunately I lost a few places and I’m a bit annoyed about that. I definitely don’t think 13th is a true reflection of my potential but it is always hard in Moto2 to come from the fifth row and fight at the front. We just need to see what the weather will do tomorrow but a top six would be great, though the main focus will be on scoring some points and getting some momentum for the rest of the season.” Mika Kallio #36 1.43.140 – 17 laps – 22nd position “The crash at the end of the session was obviously not good, but even before that the qualifying hadn’t gone according to plan at all. I was slower than yesterday and this was not what I expected at all. When I went out on the slicks this morning on a damp track I didn’t have much grip, especially from the rear. The track improved for qualifying and while I had more grip, I still couldn’t push to the level I had yesterday and that is disappointing. The big problem was the rear grip but each time I tried to go faster I was pushing the front a lot too. I was trying to improve my position when I lost the front-end braking hard on the bumps at the end of the back straight. Starting from 22nd on the grid means it is going to be a difficult race but my target will be to get in the points. But I need to find one second to have a chance of challenging for the top ten.” Michael Bartholemy – Team Manager “We were very confident after Scott and Mika had performed so well in practice that both of them would be much higher up the grid. Scott started qualifying very well and was always in the top six like he has been for the whole weekend so far. So when he put in a new rear tyre we were very optimistic that he would be able to keep his place in the top six and start from the first two rows, which is so important in Moto2. It looks like he couldn’t get the same feeling with the new tyre and he was unable to go faster and that’s a pity. Mika was convinced that he could fight for the front row after the impressive speed he’d displayed in practice but unfortunately he was quite a long way off his target. The track conditions were certainly not easy with the track taking such a long time to dry, but we had expected him to be much higher. He was pushing hard to improve and unfortunately crashed but I am sure both of them can finish inside the points. That is our prime goal for tomorrow’s race because we must start scoring points on a consistent basis.” More, from a press release issued by ItalTrans Moto2 Team: Qualifying practice Claudio Corti (1’43″674, 30°) Robertino Pietri (1’44″835, 35°) Quite a few bruises, but nothing serious Claudio Corti is OK. He crashed because of a hidden wet patch difficult to detect, just out of the first corner. His crew was able to rebuild his bike in record time, but the rider could go back on track just in the closing stage of the session. Time enough to qualify the bike, but not sufficient to fine-tuning it and getting the really fast time he himself expected. Robertino Pietri benefited of a much more normal practice. Claudio Corti: “Easy to say lap number three, corner number one: I lost the bike. There is a tricky wet patch. I was pushing hard rain was expected, and I wanted to get a good lap time as soon as possible. I’m really sorry, because the bike is good and I feel that we can do well. It is difficult to preview what the race is going to be, tomorrow: it depends a lot on what my physical condition will be in the morning, after a good sleep. Moreover, starting from the back, makes everything more tough”. Robertino Pietri: “I damaged the frame of my bike in a test just before this GP. Here, we are using a different one, which means that we have to face a more complex tuning. So, we haven’t as much time as usual to fine set-up the bike. Anyway, I see a good potential our target is to improve our speed and rhythm”. Claudio Macciotta (Technical Director): “We deserved a better luck. We have a good bike, Claudio was totally confident and everybody expected a good result. About Robertino, his frame is slightly different we are going to continue the set-up in tomorrow’s war-up”. Luigi Pansera (team Manager): “I want to congratulate our crew they rebuilt the bike double quick. And I want to congratulate Claudio as well: he went back on track in spite of bruises, and was even able to improve. He is OK, and this is the most important news for us”. More, from a press release issued by Kenny Noyes’ publicist: Work To Do At Estoril For Kenny Noyes For the second year in a row, the weather at Estoril has thrown the Moto2 class a curve ball. Avintia-STX rider Kenny Noyes arrived at the track looking forward to unlocking more of the secrets of the Portuguese circuit, but the half-wet, half-dry conditions left the American a little short of practice and setup time. That meant that in the hectic pace of qualifying on Saturday afternoon, Kenny found himself further from the front row than the Avintia-STX rider had been hoping. Despite qualifying only 27th on the grid, Kenny is still happy with the progress he and the team are making with the FOGI-Racing backed FTR and the Bitubo suspension. His grid slot belies the race pace the team have found, with Kenny running close to the pace required to put points on the board, Kenny’s main aim at this stage in the season. The American will be aiming to make his usual rocket start and make up some places off the line, and trying to fight his way into the points. Kenny Noyes 27th, Fastest Lap: 1’43.399 Kenny said, “We’ve put ourselves in a bit of a hole again. Qualifying is definitely where we gotta improve, so we’re not where we want to be on the grid. I’ve got a pretty good rhythm, but those last laps where you’ve got to go a little crazy, I’m still not as confident as I need to be.” “The weekend is going better than it looks on the timesheet. We found some things on the bike with geometry that I really like, it’s just I wasn’t really able to get in a good lap, so we’ve got our work cut out for us tomorrow. Hopefully we’ll be able to get a good start and get into the top 15.” “I’m hoping the weather stays dry. What we need to do now is keep working on the bike setup and we’ll learn a lot more that way. Sure, it’s a lot easier to make up the difference in a wet race, but looking at it for the long term, I definitely want it to be dry.” More, from a press release issued by JiR Moto2 Team: GP of Portugal, qualifying: a hard session for De Angelis As expected the rain hit the Estoril track once more this morning. The result is a ‘back-to-front’ grid in many cases, but in particular it was a session that was hard on our rider Alex De Angelis who has had three crashes in the two sessions of the day. He managed only a few laps today and ended it in 28th position on the grid, a position that will force him to make a good start tomorrow and fight his way through the pack. In practice this morning De Angelis crashed at turn 11. After his MotoBI was brought back to the pits the team mechanics worked hard to get the machine back together so Alex could return to the track and take the 11th quickest time. Then, at the start of the afternoon qualifying session, the San Marino rider found a patch of damp Tarmac at turn 13 while he was off the racing line in an attempt to overtake a slower rider, triggering the second fall of the day. Following another quick re-build by JiR Team technicians, Alex was sent out once more, but the previous crash had damaged the rear brake system and this caused Alex’s third crash of the day. It occurred during the last lap of the qualifying session as Alex was improving his time. As his speed was so high, he went to use some additional rear brake but the system failed, and with his corner speed so high he lost the front, ruining his chances of a better grid position. The physical condition of the rider despite several falls isn’t too severe although he is experiencing pain in the right lower back and right ankle. It is hoped that with the expert care of the Clinica Mobile and Alex’s desire to make amends, he will surely be able to claw his way to a decent finish. So, today proved rather difficult for the Team headed by Gianluca Montiron. It highlights the team spirit and cohesion of the squad and now a desire to turn things around tomorrow in the race. Estoril is still a track Alex De Angelis likes, as well as giving plenty of opportunities for overtaking. Tonight both rider and team will ‘wipe the slate clean’ in time for a fresh start in warm-up tomorrow before the race.