FIM Moto2 World Championship Losail International Circuit Doha, Qatar March 17, 2011 Free Practice Two Results (all using Honda engines and Dunlop tires): 1. Yuki TAKAHASHI, Japan (MORIWAKI), 2:01.695 2. Scott REDDING, Great Britain (SUTER), 2:01.748 3. Stefan BRADL, Germany (KALEX), 2:01.800 4. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (SUTER), 2:01.983 5. Thomas LUTHI, Switzerland (SUTER), 2:02.143 6. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (SUTER), 2:02.348 7. Michele PIRRO, Italy (MORIWAKI), 2:02.498 8. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (PONS KALEX), 2:02.577 9. Julian SIMON, Spain (SUTER), 2:02.620 10. Claudio CORTI, Italy (SUTER), 2:02.673 11. Javier FORES, Spain (SUTER), 2:02.923 12. Esteve RABAT, Spain (FTR), 2:02.951 13. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (MOTOBI), 2:03.021 14. Mike DI MEGLIO, France (TECH 3), 2:03.105 15. Ricard CARDUS, Spain (MORIWAKI), 2:03.185 16. Bradley SMITH, Great Britain (TECH 3), 2:03.197 17. Jules CLUZEL, France (SUTER), 2:03.231 18. Mika KALLIO, Finland (SUTER), 2:03.336 19. Max NEUKIRCHNER, Germany (MZ-RE HONDA), 2:03.404 20. Randy KRUMMENACHER, Switzerland (KALEX), 2:03.722 21. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (FTR), 2:03.741 22. Ratthapark WILAIROT, Thailand (FTR), 2:03.837 23. Raffaele DE ROSA, Italy (MORIWAKI), 2:03.971 24. Axel PONS, Spain (PONS KALEX), 2:04.055 25. Alex BALDOLINI, Italy (SUTER), 2:04.178 26. Mattia PASINI, Italy (FTR), 2:04.184 27. Valentin DEBISE, France (FTR), 2:04.213 28. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (SUTER), 2:04.294 29. Kev COGHLAN, Great Britain (FTR), 2:04.654 30. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (FTR), 2:04.701 31. Dominique AEGERTER, Switzerland (SUTER), 2:04.923 32. Xavier SIMEON, Belgium (TECH 3), 2:05.223 33. Robertino PIETRI, Venezuela (SUTER), 2:05.467 34. Anthony WEST, Australia (MZ-RE HONDA), 2:05.646 35. Kenny NOYES, USA (FTR), 2:05.845 36. Nasser Hasan AL MALKI, Qatar (MORIWAKI), 2:06.337 37. Mashel AL NAIMI, Qatar (MORIWAKI), 2:07.235 38. Santiago HERNANDEZ, Colombia (FTR), 2:08.602 Not qualified (Out 107%) 2:10.213 39. Simone CORSI, Italy (FTR), 2:10.977 More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing Team: REDDING SHINES IN QATAR PRACTICE Marc VDS Racing Team rider Scott Redding produced a dazzling performance under the Losail International Circuit floodlights tonight, the British rider ending the first night of practice for the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar in second position. Redding quickly mastered unpredictably windy conditions that buffeted the 5.38km circuit to finish third quickest in the opening session, as he evaluated a range of Dunlop rear tyres ahead of the 2011 Moto2 World Championship’s much anticipated first race on Sunday night. Improvements to the front and rear set-up of his Suter MMXI machine saw him take another big step forward in the second session, Redding lapping 1.3s faster to finish with a best time of 2.01.748. That time moved him to the top of the timesheets with only four minutes of the session remaining, but just when it looked like the Marc VDS Racing Team would make a perfect start to the 2011 campaign, Yuki Takahashi snatched top spot by just 0.053s. Redding suffered a small crash at the end of the session when he lost the front-end at Turn 6. But the spill did little to dent his confidence that he will be a serious contender for the victory in Sunday’s 20-lap race, which is the start of a 17-round World Championship campaign. Finnish teammate Mika Kallio was 18th on the final leaderboard, the former MotoGP rider using his wealth of experience to improve turning performance with his machine during the night. He was able to knock close to two seconds off his best time and proving that the 2011 Moto2 World Championship is going to be another ultra-competitive fight, he was just over half-a-second away from the top ten. Scott Redding #45: 2nd – 2.01.748 “That was nearly the perfect way to start the season. It’s always nice to finish on top of the timesheets but it is the race on Sunday that matters and we are immediately competitive, carrying on the form I showed in winter testing. The first session went well and I wasn’t too bothered by the windy conditions. In the second session I concentrated on improving the set-up on worn tyres and at the end put a new set in to put in four fast laps. I thought I’d done enough to be fastest but Yuki just went a little bit faster. I had a small crash at the end but nothing to worry about. I’d been struggling a bit with the left-side of the front tyre and as I went to turn, I was turning and the bike wasn’t. It was a good start and I’m looking forward to the rest of the weekend to get the season off to a good start for the Marc VDS Racing Team.” Mika Kallio #36: 18th – 2.03.336 “It wasn’t an easy practice but at the end I am still quite satisfied. I was nearly two seconds faster in the second session but the gap to the front guys is still a bit too big. We made a big improvement with the setting of the front forks in the second session and I was much faster. In the first session I couldn’t turn the bike so well and I was losing most of my time in the first section, but it was much easier to ride in the second session and I felt more confident to push. We can obviously improve the bike but I still need to work on my own riding style to adapt to the Moto2 bike. If you look at the timesheets then all the fast riders were in this class in 2010, and that is a big advantage. I am still on a big learning curve but I feel l’m starting to show more of my true potential.” Michael Bartholemy: Team Manager “Tonight was a positive way to start the season. Scott was in the top three in both sessions and to be less than a tenth off first position shows his potential and the potential of the Marc VDS Racing Team’s package this season. It was a little bit like what happened a few times last year when we thought we were going to be fastest, only for somebody on the last lap to push Scott back into second. The bike is already looking very competitive so we have high hopes for the race on Sunday. Mika is starting to show his true potential and it is clear he is making big progress in adapting his style to the Moto2 bike. Unfortunately he’s still suffering a little bit with the right thumb injury he picked up at the last test in Jerez and we can see on the telemetry he still can’t brake as hard as he needs to. But we are confident he will improve his pace over the rest of the weekend and be fighting for the top ten.” High resolution images can be downloaded from the Marc VDS website by clicking here.