FIM Moto2 World Championship Estoril, Portugal October 31, 2010 Race Results (dry conditions, all using Honda engines and Dunlop tires): 1. Stefan BRADL, Germany (SUTER), 26 laps, 46:59.723 2. Alex BALDOLINI, Italy (I.C.P.), -0.068 second 3. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (MOTOBI), -2.830 seconds 4. Scott REDDING, Great Britain (SUTER), -2.842 5. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (SUTER), -2.947 6. Raffaele DE ROSA, Italy (TECH 3), -3.311 7. Anthony WEST, Australia (MZ-RE HONDA), -3.385 8. Gabor TALMACSI, Hungary (FTR), -3.952 9. Dominique AEGERTER, Switzerland (SUTER), -4.284 10. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (FTR), -4.311 11. Hector FAUBEL, Spain (SUTER), -4.492 12. Julian SIMON, Spain (SUTER), -13.006 13. Axel PONS, Spain (PONS KALEX), -26.529, crash 14. Simone CORSI, Italy (MOTOBI), -27.760 15. Robertino PIETRI, Venezuela (SUTER), -28.259 16. Thomas LUTHI, Switzerland (MORIWAKI), -28.311 17. Jules CLUZEL, France (SUTER), -28.333 18. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (BQR-MOTO2), -37.873, crash 19. Claudio CORTI, Italy (SUTER), -38.092 20. Carmelo MORALES, Spain (SUTER), -38.227, crash 21. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (FTR), -46.976, crash 22. Sergio GADEA, Spain (PONS KALEX), -61.779 23. Xavier SIMEON, Belgium (MORIWAKI), -85.872 24. Fonsi NIETO, Spain (MORIWAKI), -86.029 25. Vladimir IVANOV, Ukraine (MORIWAKI), -111.690 26. Yuki TAKAHASHI, Japan (TECH 3), -1 lap, crash 27. Ferruccio LAMBORGHINI, Italy (MORIWAKI), -1 lap 28. Yannick GUERRA, Spain (MORIWAKI), -1 lap 29. Mashel AL NAIMI, Qatar (BQR-MOTO2), -1 lap 30. Ricard CARDUS, Spain (BIMOTA), -3 laps, DNF, crash 31. Roberto ROLFO, Italy (SUTER), -4 laps, DNF, retired 32. Dani RIVAS, Spain (BQR-MOTO2), -7 laps, DNF, crash 33. Toni ELIAS, Spain (MORIWAKI), -9 laps, DNF, crash 34. Ratthapark WILAIROT, Thailand (BIMOTA), -12 laps, DNF, retired 35. Valentin DEBISE, France (ADV), -13 laps, DNF, retired 36. Kenny NOYES, USA (PROMOHARRIS), -13 laps, DNF, retired 37. Michael RANSEDER, Austria (SUTER), -21 laps, DNF, retired World Championship Point Standings (after 16 of 17 races): 1. Elias, 271 points 2. Simon, 185 3. Iannone, 179 4. Luthi, 143 5. Corsi, 129 6. Talmacsi, 103 7. Cluzel, 101 8. Bradl, 97 9. Redding, 91 10. Takahashi, 86 11. De Angelis, 85 12. Shoya Tomizawa, 82 13. Rolfo, 75 14. Abraham, 71 15. Debon, 70 16. Aegerter, 67 17. Gadea, 59 18. Nieto, 45 19. Baldolini, 38 20. Di Meglio, 34 21. TIE, Wilairot/Hernandez, 30 23. West, 26 24. Corti, 20 25. TIE, Noyes/Faubel, 18 29. Sofuoglu, 11 32. Jason DiSalvo, 7 39. TIE, Pietri/Teshima, 1 More, from a press release issued by Interwetten Moriwaki Moto2 Team: Lüthi no Grip The Portuguese Grand Prix finished with a surprising result for the Interwetten Moriwaki Moto2 Team and Tom Lüthi. After the 24 year old Swiss was, apart from the second free practice always in the Top 10, the qualifying was cancelled, because of the bad weather and dangerous conditions on the track and he had to start the race regarding to the combined practice times from 12th position on the grid. The whole race Lüthi suffered of the lack of grip and could not gain confidence with his bike. Lüthi was the first Moriwaki with 16th place. Also the Moto2 world champion Toni Elias, who also rides with Moriwaki, had the same problems with the grip and crashed out of the race. If the reason for the problems is the bike or the tyres, the team has to check with either supplier later on today. Tom Lüthi, 16 – 47’28.034: “The whole race was a big disaster. I did not have any grip and could not find the confidence with my bike as usual. I still don’t have any idea what was going on today out there and we have to analyze and see what was happening.” Terrell Thien, Team Manager: “The Moriwaki today just wasn’t competitive with the grip problem. Elias crashed and had the same problem like Tom. Tom was the first Moriwaki with 16th position. We are not happy with the result, but I am glad Tom was able to keep the 4th place in the championship.” Daniel M. Epp, Rider Management: “Today, when it was not going well we fixed a new deal for Tom for the coming year and he will ride with Suter and I am happy that he will be able to test it already at the test after the Valencia race next week.” More, from a press release issued by Tech 3: Top six for de Rosa in Estoril Moto2 classic Raffaele de Rosa produced his best performance of the 2010 Moto2 world championship in Portugal this afternoon, the Tech 3 Racing rider putting up a heroic fight to finish sixth in a classic 26-lap race. After a weekend dominated by atrocious weather conditions, today’s race was run in bright and sunny conditions that provided a welcome respite from the heavy rain that caused severe disruption to practice and qualifying. The race started on a track littered with damp patches after heavy early morning rain, but conditions improved significantly as the pulsating action unfolded with a fierce wind rapidly drying the surface. Italian de Rosa briefly slipp ed out of the top ten in the early stages before he quickly found a fast and consistent pace in tricky conditions to play a starring role in one of the most exciting battles witnessed in the inaugural Moto2 world championship. As the race reached a nail-biting climax, de Rosa had superbly kept himself in contention for the podium with eight riders embroiled in a tense tussle for third place. The final stages provided non-stop action with the crowd entertained by some brilliant overtaking moves. Just five laps remained when de Rosa superbly guided his Tech 3 Racing machine into fourth position. But as the action intensified he dropped down to sixth despite an outstanding effort to clinch his first rostrum of the season. Sixth though was easily his best result of the season and reward for the tireless efforts of his Tech 3 Racing crew during the year. Yuki Takahashi’s hopes of putting himself in contenti on for a third podium finish of 2010 were ended by a small mistake on lap five. The Japanese rider was locked in a close battle for the top six after he’d made a fast start. But trying to defend his position at the first corner, he drifted slightly off line and hit a wet patch. He lost the front but remounted to finish 26th. Raffaele de Rosa 6th 15-points “That was an unbelievable race and it has been a long time since I had so much fun. You couldn’t pause for a moment and I’m really happy with my performance. I knew all season I was capable of producing a race like that and today I was able to show my true potential. I was in the battle for the whole race and it was really exciting. To be so close to the podium is fantastic for my Tech 3 Racing crew who did an amazing job. It was a bit of a gamble on the set-up for the race because we’d never tested in the dry but the team gave me a really good bike and I had the confidence to push, even though the conditions weren’t perfect. Sixth is easily my best result and it might have been a podium but everybody was changing places on the last lap. I’m really happy though and now I hope to finish the season with a positive result in Valencia next weekend.” Yuki Takahashi 26th 86-points “It’s a pity about the crash because I made a good start and I was fighting with the guys that finished on the podium. I was trying to defend my position at the first corner but I just had to go a little bit off line and I hit a wet patch. I lost the front very quickly and I had no chance to save it. I might have been able to recover some more places but the brake lever had suffered a little bit of damage.” Herve Poncharal Team Manager “That was a fantastic race and we expected some big surprises because of the way the weather had played such a big role in the whole weekend and I don’t think anybody was disappointed. I have to say big congratulations to Raffaele because he rode easily his best race of the season and he was fantastic. He was always able to keep himself in the fight for third place and we were dreaming that he might get a podium. He did a great job with his Tech 3 Racing crew and it was good to see them get some reward for all their hard work. It was a pity for Yuki because he was also looking very strong and he was confident that he could have been fighting for the podium. Raffaele’s result and Yuki’s pace though mean we go to the final race in Valencia confident of a double top ten finish to end the year.” More, from a press release issued by JiR Moto2 Team: Today we finally had a respite from the bad weather in Estoril and the Moto2 race could start on a wet track that dried lap after lap. It led to an exciting race where riders started out with caution but then became increasingly aggressive, leading to many duels up and down the field. Alex De Angelis started prudently in early laps, but then became more aggressive towards the end, going on to take 3rd place just behind Bradl and Baldolini, which is a good result considering the few races he has run in so far with the MotoBI. In the end it was 14th place for Simone Corsi, who had some issues in finding the right rhythm and managed the race wisely in order to take some points off Luthi who is ahead of him in world championship, as today the Swiss rider finished in 16th position. Once secured in 5th place overall in the classification, Corsi will have a last chance in Valencia to attack 4th place in the championship. Alex De Angelis – 3rd place “It has been a hard weekend and also the race was very difficult. We all started with slick tyres because it wasn’t raining but the track was still wet. I started with caution as I felt the risk of compromising the whole race, some other riders pushed hard from the very beginning but as long as the track got drier then the field evened out somewhat. Eventually I managed to be part of the fierce battle for 3rd place at the end. It is an outstanding result, also because it is the third podium in a row and we collected the biggest amount of points in last three races compared to the others. We now have only one race left in Valencia and I definitely want to close as best as possible this final part of the season.” Simone Corsi – 14th place “This weekend was not as good as I was expecting, weather conditions prevented us to test the machine and this influenced the race. We started without rain but the circuit was still wet and slippery, I didn’t want to take risks and I also had some issues in finding the right feeling to be aggressive, so I thought of the championship classification. Maybe I could have been more daring, but the best, grippy line was very hard to find. I secured my 5th place in the championship, but I have still some hopes for the final rush to 4th. We now go to Valencia where I hope we’ll find some better weather conditions to end the season with a good performance.” More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing Team: FANTASTIC FOURTH FOR REDDING IN ESTORIL THRILLER Scott Redding battled his way through the field to take a hard fought fourth place in today’s Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril, missing out on a podium finish by the narrowest of margins. Hector Faubel completed a good day for the Marc VDS Racing Team, picking up championship points for finishing in 11th position. Torrential rain at Estoril overnight meant that, while the Moto2 riders took to a dry track for the first time this weekend, numerous damp patches remained during the early stages of today’s 26-lap Moto2 race. Redding, starting from 24th position on the grid following the cancellation of qualifying yesterday, made up positions on the run down to turn one, but then lost ground as everyone jostled for position in turn two. The Marc VDS rider then proceeded to battle his way through the field, passing riders on every lap, until he eventually made contact with the battle for third place, which was being waged by a group of seven riders. After pushing his way through to the front of the group Redding then fought it out with his nemesis, Alex De Angelis, for the final place on the podium, losing out by just 0.012s in a photo finish at the line. Faubel, starting just one place in front of his Marc VDS teammate in 23rd position, also got away from the line well and then proceeded to fight his way through the field into 15th place by mid race distance. The 27-year-old Spaniard was struggling to pass out of the slipstream on the main straight, but managed to pick off another four riders in the closing stages to take 11th position at the chequered flag. Scott Redding #45: 4th “With no dry track time this weekend the tyre choice for the race was a bit of a gamble. We opted to go with the harder option rear, but it was really loose in the early stages of the race, especially when you had to run through the damp patches on track. As the conditions improved and the track dried out the bike started to feel better and I could push harder. I had to take some chances and put in some hard passes to get to the front, but I got there eventually. I had a great battle for the final podium position at the end of the race, but just lost out on the line – I’m going to have to do something about Alex De Angelis, because he keeps doing this to me! I’m happy with the result though; we started with a big disadvantage, fought through the field and learnt a lot in the process.” Hector Faubel #55: 11th “Today I got a reasonably good start, but most importantly I managed to get through the first two turns unscathed for once! The bike felt better with every lap, as conditions improved and the rear tyres started to work for me. I was able to fight my way through, passing riders as the race progressed, and I thought it was going to be possible to finish in the top then. Unfortunately, with four laps to go, I started struggling to pass riders out of the slipstream on the main straight, which reduced the overtaking opportunities. For me it would have been better if the race had been two laps longer, because I was closing on tenth place, but I’m pretty happy to finish 11th after starting so far down the grid today.” Michael Bartholemy: Team Manager “I’m happy for both riders today. Scott rode what was probably his best race of the season this afternoon, showing great determination to fight his way through the field from 24th place on the grid and only missing out on a podium finish by the slimmest of margins. Alex De Angelis must spend his races waiting for Scott to appear now, as it’s like they’ve been glued together the last few weekends! Hector also had a good race, fighting his way up to 11th position in conditions we haven’t experienced previously this weekend. Each week we get stronger as a team and we now head for Valencia looking for that elusive first win in the Moto2 World Championship.” More, from a press release issued by Jack & Jones Presented by Antonio Banderas: Kenny Noyes Victim Of Tricky Conditions At Estoril A tempestuous weekend at the Estoril circuit in Portugal saw Kenny Noyes get within sight of World Championship points before getting caught out by the treacherous conditions at the track. Caught up fighting his way forward, the Jack&Jones By Antonio Banderas rider hit a hidden damp spot on the track and lost the front, damaging his Promoharris Moto2 bike too much to be able to continue the race. Strong winds and driving rain had seen much of free practice and all of qualifying lost to the weather, leaving Kenny in the middle of the grid next to riders usually involved at the front. Kenny showed his mettle by running easily with Scott Redding, Andrea Iannone, Thomas Luthi and Simone Corsi. Noyes was working his way forward with this group when he folded the front and crashed out. Despite the frustration of crashing out of the race, Noyes leaves Estoril with plenty of positives. Kenny proved he can run with fast guys when the opportunity presents itself, and heads east to Valencia, a track not far from his Spanish base in Barcelona. On a track that suits his Jack&Jones By Antonio Banderas Promoharris machine, and with the confidence gained at Estoril, Kenny will be aiming to end the 2010 season with a healthy haul of points. Kenny Noyes DNF, fastest lap 1’47.104 Kenny said: “It was pretty tricky having no dry practice and then a dry race, especially not knowing the track. I started off with a pretty good feel for the track at the beginning. It was especially wet after the chicane and coming on to the home straight, it was pretty tricky there, but the rest of it I pretty much had under control.” “I was with a good group, Ant West was just ahead, and I had Scott Redding and Simone Corsi behind me. I got up to about 17th for a while, then at the end of the straightaway, there was a damp spot that I’d being going over without having any problems, but on that last lap it tucked the front. I was in good company, but in the end I just lost the front. You’re never happy when you crash, but the race up until the crash was going OK.”