FIM Moto2 World Championship Valencia, Spain November 6, 2010 Qualifying Results (all using Honda engines and Dunlop tires): 1. Toni ELIAS, Spain (MORIWAKI), 1:36.141 2. Stefan BRADL, Germany (SUTER), 1:36.247 3. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (FTR), 1:36.255 4. Scott REDDING, Great Britain (SUTER), 1:36.343 5. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (MOTOBI), 1:36.413 6. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (SUTER), 1:36.443 7. Julian SIMON, Spain (SUTER), 1:36.515 8. Carmelo MORALES, Spain (SUTER), 1:36.572 9. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (FTR), 1:36.624 10. Thomas LUTHI, Switzerland (MORIWAKI), 1:36.821 11. Jules CLUZEL, France (SUTER), 1:36.875 12. Gabor TALMACSI, Hungary (FTR), 1:36.885 13. Kenny NOYES, USA (PROMOHARRIS), 1:36.905 14. Roman RAMOS, Spain (MIR RACING), 1:36.956 15. Javier FORES, Spain (AJR), 1:36.993 16. Hector FAUBEL, Spain (SUTER), 1:37.006 17. Dominique AEGERTER, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:37.011 18. Roberto ROLFO, Italy (SUTER), 1:37.047 19. Xavier SIMEON, Belgium (MORIWAKI), 1:37.108 20. Simone CORSI, Italy (MOTOBI), 1:37.140 21. Sergio GADEA, Spain (PONS KALEX), 1:37.237 22. Yuki TAKAHASHI, Japan (TECH 3), 1:37.252 23. Michael RANSEDER, Austria (SUTER), 1:37.262 24. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (BQR-MOTO2), 1:37.277 25. Alex DEBON, Spain (FTR), 1:37.307 26. Claudio CORTI, Italy (SUTER), 1:37.403 27. Raffaele DE ROSA, Italy (TECH 3), 1:37.511 28. Alex BALDOLINI, Italy (I.C.P.), 1:37.541 29. Axel PONS, Spain (PONS KALEX), 1:37.551 30. Mike DI MEGLIO, France (SUTER), 1:37.567 31. Fonsi NIETO, Spain (MORIWAKI), 1:37.577 32. Vladimir IVANOV, Ukraine (MORIWAKI), 1:37.587 33. Ratthapark WILAIROT, Thailand (BIMOTA), 1:37.697 34. Ricard CARDUS, Spain (BIMOTA), 1:37.727 35. Ferruccio LAMBORGHINI, Italy (MORIWAKI), 1:37.953 36. Anthony WEST, Australia (MZ-RE HONDA), 1:38.088 37. Joan OLIVE, Spain (PROMOHARRIS), 1:38.270 38. Robertino PIETRI, Venezuela (SUTER), 1:38.664 39. Valentin DEBISE, France (ADV), 1:39.100 40. Mashel AL NAIMI, Qatar (BQR-MOTO2), 1:39.182 41. Yannick GUERRA, Spain (MORIWAKI), 1:39.318 42. Hiromichi KUNIKAWA, Japan (BIMOTA), 1:40.686 More, from a press release Interwetten Moriwaki Moto2 Team: Constant Performance from Lüthi The qualifying for the Grand Prix of Valencia went better for Tom Lüthi and the Interwetten Moriwaki Moto2 Team than the starting position for tomorrow’s race shows. After a constant performance of the young Swiss, Lüthi finished the qualifying with a 10th position and will start the race tomorrow from the third row on the grid. The 24 year old already had worse places and could manage to be in the front group in the race after having a good start. If the start will be a good one for Lüthi also tomorrow in the season’s last race, everything is possible. Tom Lüthi, 10 – 1’36.821: “The qualifying was so and so. It’s a pity that I could not improve more in the end, but apart from that it was okay. We have been worse at some times during the season, but could end up much better than expected. But I think with the constant performance today and the lap times and also the choice of the tyres we are in a quite good place, as all went very well. I think even though I will start the race from the third row tomorrow I will have a good night sleep tonight.” Terrell Thien, Team Manager: “I am really satisfied with the qualifying. Tom showed a very constant performance. The bike is ready, the tyres are chosen and I am confident, that Tom can achieve a good result tomorrow. We already had much worse starting positions and were in front with the group at the end. If Tom has a good start all can happen tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Tech 3: The Tech 3 Racing Team is determined to finish the inaugural Moto2 world championship on a high note, despite a difficult qualifying session at the Valencia circuit this afternoon. This afternoon’s session didn’t go according to plan for Yuki Takahashi or Raffaele de Rosa at a sun-drenched Valencia, but both are confident they can bounce back and challenge for top 15 finish in tomorrow’s 27-lap race. Takahashi will start the season’s final encounter from 22nd on the grid, the Japanese rider unable to find a comfortable set-up with his Tech 3 Racing machine despite the best efforts of his crew to improve his pace. Highlight ing once again just how competitive the exciting Moto2 class has been throughout 2010, Takahashi was less than a second off the front row as he clocked a best of 1.37.252. Italian de Rosa was only 0.2s further back but he will start from 27th on the grid. Boosted by a fantastic first top six finish in last weekend’s Grand Prix of Portugal at Estoril, de Rosa’s quest for a top ten grid position was ended by a heavy crash as he pushed hard trying to better his lap time of 1.37.511. Yuki Takahashi 22nd 1.37.252 23 laps “It has been quite a difficult weekend and I must admit that we expected to do a lot better because we have been at this track three times in the winter for testing. Now we are running a completely different bike and we’ve tried a few things without really finding a set-up that allows me to push with maximum confidence. We impro ved braking stability a lot but in finding those improvements we lost a bit of turning performance and that is crucial at a tight and twisty track like this. The race is going to be difficult starting from the sixth row but the target is to finish in the top ten and try and end with a positive result.” Raffaele de Rosa 27th 1.37.511 16 laps “This afternoon was a big shame because I know we had the potential to be much faster and higher up the grid than 27th. We improved the bike a lot in practice and for qualifying the bike was much better in acceleration, so I was confident of challenging for a top ten. But I pushed a bit too early on the first flying lap on a new tyre and I lost the front and crashed. I am sorry to my team because the bike was quite badly damaged but I know we have the pace to have a good race tomorrow. I was strong last weekend in Estoril and hopeful ly I can fight a lot here in Valencia to finish 2010 with a strong result.” More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing Team: REDDING TO START 50TH GRAND PRIX FROM FRONT ROW Scott Redding will become the youngest ever rider to reach the milestone of 50 Grand Prix starts, taking the record from new MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo, when he lines up on the front row of the grid for tomorrow’s 27-lap Moto2 race at Valencia. Hector Faubel will start from the fourth row of the grid, after finally making progress with the handling problems that have plagued him all weekend. Redding secured fourth place during a hectic 45-minute qualifying session that saw him involved in a six-way battle for pole position during the final few minutes. The Marc VDS rider was happy to be on the front row for the sixth time this season, but also frustrated that he was unable to mark his half-century of Grand Prix starts with his first pole position, after being baulked by riders cruising on the racing line. Having struggled to find a workable set-up during the three free practice sessions here at Valencia, Faubel and his crew switched back to the settings used in Australia and Estoril ahead of today’s all-important qualifying session. While the changes failed to alleviate the problems completely, they did allow the 27-year-old Spaniard to qualify 16th today, despite suffering pain from a shoulder injury sustained in a crash during free practice this morning. Marc van der Straten, the President of the Marc VDS Racing Team, who is at Valencia together with the Marc VDS GT1 and GT3 teams to lend his support to Redding and Faubel, will join the two Marc VDS riders on the grid tomorrow. Scott Redding #45: 4th – 1’36.343 “It’s good to finish qualifying with a front row grid position, because we’ve had to overcome a few problems this weekend. My only problem today was with riders cruising around on the racing line waiting for a tow. I had a big moment at the final turn at the end of the session and nearly crashed trying to avoid a rider who obviously thought he was on his own personal racetrack. Anyway, it’s done and dusted now and I’m focussed completely on tomorrow’s race. We’ve got a good set-up, I’m feeling confident and I’m looking forward to getting out there and blowing them all up. Full gas…” Hector Faubel #55: 16th – 1’37.006 “We’ve struggled all weekend with the bike, making very little progress during free practice, so we switched back to a previous set-up ahead of qualifying today. It was definitely better, but I still didn’t have such a good feeling with the bike. I also had some problems with my shoulder, which I damaged in a big crash this morning. Starting from the fourth row of the grid is never easy, but if I can survive the first two corners then I hope I’ll be able to fight my way through the field as I did last week in Estoril. To borrow a phrase from Scott, full gas is the only way tomorrow!” Michael Bartholemy: Team Manager “Scott put in yet another impressive qualifying performance today, to claim his sixth front row start of the season. The only place he was losing time was through the final sector and we will look to see if we can make an improvement there during warm-up tomorrow morning. I’m sorry for Hector, who really wanted to end the season with a good result in front of his home crowd, but he simply ran out of time today after struggling with set-up all weekend. Tomorrow I hope for two good results from Scott and Hector, to end both the year and our first season in the Moto2 World Championship.” More, from a press release issued by JiR Moto2 Team: The last qualifying session of 2010 was held at a warm and sunny Valencia circuit, where world champion Toni Elias took pole-position at his home circuit and where the JiR riders get ready for an exciting and engaging last race. Alex De Angelis is in good shape and aiming for a positive end to the season and today he took 5th place on gird just a few tenths of a second from pole. For him, little modifications on his MotoBI and hard work in the saddle have helped him accumulate experience and feeling with the bike and he’s confident in race condition. Unfortunately, it was more troubles instead for Simone Corsi, who is well focused on his objective of a good race to try and steal 4th place in the championship from the Swiss racer Thomas Luthi, who qualified in 10th today. For this reason he will have to make a good start and put in an aggressive race, thanks to his 20th place on the grid. Tomorrow’s warm-up will be very important to find a better feeling with his tyres. Alex De Angelis – 5th place – 1’36″413 “I think qualifying went well, as I am only two-tenths of a second or so from pole and even if this means the second row it also means that I’m close to the leaders. This morning I concentrated on race pace, I ran more than 20 minutes continuously in a race simulation and I managed to keep consistently good times. Of course we need to see also how our competitors are doing, but on our side I believe we are in a good condition for the race. My objective is to make a good race, without looking at the championship, therefore I will concentrate on being immediately aggressive.” Simone Corsi – 20th position – 1’37″140 “Today I had some trouble, I was expecting to be more competitive and instead we’ll start from the middle of the grid. On the whole practice was not so bad, I have a good feeling and I’m motivated, but honestly I tried to cut some tenths away from my time with the soft tyres but this didn’t happen. Anyway we still have the warm-up to apply some improvements and find the right feeling, then I’ll concentrate to make a good start recovering as much as possible and keeping Luthi as my target.” More, from a press release issued by Jack & Jones by Antonio Banderas: Kenny Noyes Produces Best Qualifying Since Barcelona The last weekend of the 2010 season is turning out extremely well for Kenny Noyes, the Jack&Jones By Antonio Banderas rider producing his best qualifying performance since July. A torrid session saw Kenny start close to the top of the timesheets, before ceding a few places to secure the front spot on the fourth row of the grid. The morning session had gone even better for the Jack&Jones By Antonio Banderas rider. The cooler conditions allowed Kenny to get more out of his Promoharris Moto2 machine and the American spent most of FP3 in the top 3, ending the morning in 6th. The afternoon saw the return of some chatter, which his team worked hard to ease, and Kenny was unable to improve his morning lap time. With cooler track temperatures expected for tomorrow’s Moto2 race at Valencia, Kenny’s plan for Sunday is simple. The American and his team will hope to find a few small tweaks to extend tire life during warm up, and from then, Kenny will be charging as hard as possible during the race and aiming to end the 2010 Moto2 season on a high. Kenny Noyes 13th, fastest lap 1’36.905 Kenny said: “This morning went awesome, it’s been one of the best sessions we’ve had for a long time, probably since Catalunya. We still have a couple of issues, but a track like Valencia where I’ve ridden a lot of different bikes, I’m able to kinda ride around that.” “This morning I did a good 13 laps in a row with the race tire and 11 of them were ’37s, we had a really good pace. In the afternoon, in the warmer temperatures, we had quite a bit of chatter, which really hurt us. I wasn’t able to put in a better lap time in the afternoon, and did the same lap time as the morning.” “I think our main problem is going to be tire wear, so after around lap 16, I don’t know how good we’re going to be compared to the rest. But we’ll try some stuff in the morning, and we should be good for the first 15 laps at least.” “The plan for the race is to be as far up there as possible, and when it starts to slide, just give it all we’ve got and see what we can do. We really want the last ride with the Promoharris to be a good one.”