Grand Prix of Aragon debrief with Tohru Ubukata Round 13: Grand Prix of Aragon Post-race debrief Motorland Aragon, Tuesday 21 September 2010 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Medium, Extra Hard. Rear: Soft, Medium The thirteenth round of the 2001 MotoGP World Championship was run at the new Motorland Aragon venue in Alcaniz, Spain. It is the first time the premier class has visited the circuit and so was a fresh challenge for everyone. To aid the learning process, and following a request from the Safety Commission, Friday morning practice was reinstated for the grand prix, having been scrapped at the end of the 2008 season, but each session was reduced to 45minutes to keep the overall track time the same. Whilst rain was forecast for two days, only the Friday afternoon practice was wet. Starting Sunday’s race from pole, Casey Stoner broke away and maintained his lead until the chequered flag, being chased throughout by Dani Pedrosa. Jorge Lorenzo led Nicky Hayden until the final lap when the American made his move three corners from the finish to claim his second podium on Bridgestone tyres. Q&A with Tohru Ubukata – Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department What can you say about the tyre compounds selected for Aragon? “The conditions gave the opportunity for riders to use all of the tyre specs we selected for this race, from the softer and harder front and rear slicks to our soft compound wet tyres too, so we got to test all our options. “We expected the temperature in this region to be cool in the morning so for these conditions we selected the medium compound front and the soft rear, especially with the addition of the Friday morning practice, and I am pleased with this selection as warm-up performance was good from the start of Friday. “In the afternoon we expected the temperature to be relatively higher, so as usual we selected harder compounds for extra durability and consistency. I can say that I am happy with the performance of all our tyre specs, and with our compound selection for this grand prix.” Why was there a step in front tyre compounds from Medium to Extra Hard? “Our initial analysis of the circuit and our discussions with the riders who tested at Aragon before the weekend showed us that front tyre stability would be crucial, especially under heavy braking into the downhill corners. The medium and the extra hard compound front slicks have a very similar temperature operating range, but we selected the medium compound slicks as they have better grip, and the extra hard compound fronts because they have better stability and resistance to graining that often occurs at circuits that are dusty or have new tarmac. “We saw especially on Friday that Aragon required a lot of cleaning, more so than other circuits, and this is why we chose the extra hard rather than the hard compound.” More, from a press release issued by Tim Reeves publicist: Reeves and Cluze edge ever closer to British F1 Sidecar Championship Tim Reeves and Gregory Cluze overcame difficult weather conditions at the weekend to edge ever closer to clinching the Eastern Airways ‘Battle of Britain’ British F1 Sidecar Championship. The Anglo-French pairing took two wins and a second from the 3 races held at the Anglesey circuit just off the coast of North Wales and, with two rounds remaining, now hold a 65-point lead over nearest rivals Allan Schofield and Steve Thomas. Held on the picturesque 1.550-mile coastal circuit, Tim and Gregory got their weekend off in fine style when they took yet another convincing pole position, a time of 1m08.901s seeing them over half a second clear of nearest rivals Ben and Tom Birchall. However, the good weather for the qualifying session was soon replaced by torrential rain and strong winds and all three races would be hard going for the strong 22-outfit field. A sluggish start in race 1 on Saturday saw Tim down in third at the end of the first lap and with it difficult to get heat in to the tyres and visibility severely reduced by the spray from the outfits in front, it was hard work getting close enough to pass but eventually he made it up to second on the 9th of the 14 laps. By this time, the Birchalls had opened up a significant lead and so Tim and Gregory had to settle for second place on this occasion. Sunday saw the usual two races held, again in treacherous conditions, and there was no question as to who dominated with Tim and Gregory leading both races convincingly. The first 9 lapper saw the Birchalls grab the holeshot but Tim took the lead just a couple of corners later and they promptly left their rivals trailing in their wake eventually taking the chequered flag some 14.7s ahead of the second placed pairing of Schofield/Thomas. The severity of the weather could be seen in Tim’s fastest lap of 69.664mph, some 11 seconds down on his pole position lap. The final 14-lap race was another demonstration by the duo and they were able to ease back in the closing stages to eventually come home almost 4 seconds ahead of the Birchalls. Speaking afterwards, a delighted Tim commented: “It’s been a hard weekend and the weather really was diabolical! It started off well in qualifying and it all looked good for a nice weekend but the rain soon came and it was a battle against the elements after that. I didn’t get the greatest of starts in the first race and it took a while to get enough heat in to the tyres and by the time I’d got past Allan, Ben had gone. He’d used tyre warmers just before the race, which clearly helped give him the grip he needed and whilst I’m not a fan of using them, I put them on for Sunday’s races and it made a huge difference to the amount of grip I was getting. In Sunday’s races I was able to hit the front on the first lap on both occasions and once I’d done that, I just got my head down and pulled away. I pushed hard for the first half dozen laps or so and once I’d got a good lead I just rode to my pit board and was able to ease off in the closing laps. It’s great to get another couple of wins and extend my lead again but Allan is being extremely consistent and putting in some strong drives at each round so I can’t relax just yet and will keep the pressure on at the next round at Donington.” Prior to the penultimate F1 round at Donington in October, Tim now heads to Silverstone this weekend where he’ll be back out on his F2 LCR outfit for the final round of the Swan Combi F2 Sidecar Challenge where the teams will also be competing for the prestigious Steve Norbury Trophy. More, from a press release issued by Josh Galster’s publicist: SUCCESSFUL WEEKEND IN PUEBLO KEEPS GALSTER AT THE TOP OF THE LEADERBOARD The penultimate round of the MRA season was in Pueblo, CO over the Sept. 18-19 weekend, where Josh Galster finished with very successful results. Getting the points he needed, Josh is now atop the leaderboard in 5 classes and is in a tight battle for 2nd place in the Race of the Rockies GTO, 1000cc, class. Over the weekend Galster claimed 3 wins, two 2nd place finishes, and a 3rd. After a less than ideal weekend the last time Galster raced in Pueblo, he was hopeful this round he would fair better. But Friday testing turned out to be a day of repairs, with clutch issues after just a few laps of practice. With the clutch repaired, Saturday morning practice was going to be the test to see how the bike, rider, and the set up would fair for the weekend and to see if Galster was going to be able to compete with a strong field of riders. With help from Mike Pesicka, fellow California Superbike School coach and suspension tech, Galster made the changes he needed without having to chase around to get the bike set up. Middleweight Supersport and Heavyweight Supersport were run on Saturday, and Josh was able to get a great start and keep the lead all throughout the race to finish with a very comfortable lead in both races. The direction of suspension changes were steadily making the bike a bit more comfortable over the very bumpy and narrow track, which made Sunday’s races look more and more inviting. Sunday was going to be a test for Galster because the caliber, speed, and horsepower advantage of the bikes he was competing against was tough with a 1/2-mile long straightaway. In Middleweight Superbike, Galster got a good start, slotting in behind Dalton Dimick and stayed there a few laps before Shane Turpin blew by him on his Boulder Motor Sports Ducati, Marty Cragill’s former AMA Formula Extreme 749R. With three laps left, Galster made the pass on Dalton and started to chase down Turpin, coming up just short as the checkered flag dropped with Galster finishing only a couple bike lengths behind. In Race of the Rockies GTU, the same three guys took to the front and pulled away from the field, dicing it out between them. The running order was Turpin, Dimick, and Galster at mid race, when Dimick ran a little too far to the inside, hit a dusty part of the track and tucked the front, leaving Turpin and Galster to duke it out again, head-to-head. Galster needed to be wise as to when and where to pass, because his bike was no match for the former AMA Formula Extreme Ducati. Galster jumped on a slight mistake that Turpin made and captured the spot and put his head down to put a gap on him. With only a few laps left and clear track in front of him, Josh was able to pull away from Turpin to take the win in Race of the Rockies GTU. It was becoming quite a battle between #14 Shane Turpin and #174 Josh Galster in Sunday’s races. In Heavyweight Superbike, Galster was able to get the hole shot and keep the lead before he made a slight braking error. Turpin was able to come up right beside him, and the two went around the corner with Galster’s arm and shoulder laying on Turpin’s leg and bike throughout the turn. Turpin was able to snatch the lead away out of that turn and headed onto the straight away, where Galster could not keep up to take the position back. Galster was able to bridge the gap under braking, and within a few turns was able to come right alongside the tail section of #14, but he couldn’t make the pass and finished right on Turpin’s coat tails. After the race, Galster said, “man, that was so much fun battling and racing with Shane. i have total confidence in Shane and his ability on a bike, so i don’t mind racing him bar-to-bar and elbow-to-elbow like we did around Turn 9 where i had my elbow on his leg the whole way around that turn.” For the last race of Galster’s weekend, he knew he was going to have to dig deep racing his 600cc bike against the 1000cc bikes. He had a blazing start and was able to out-brake several riders and also pass a couple riders on the outside of Turn 1 to be right in the mix in 4th place. with a fast, steady pace being set by his fellow Grandprix Motorsports rider Mike Applegate, who was in 3rd, Galster knew the #14 of Shane Turpin was close on their heals. On lap 5 of 14, Galster made the move to pass Mike Applegate in 3rd and put his head down and was now on the chase after Doug Kahl who was only a few seconds in front. Galster clawed his way closer but only by tenths of a second, and by race’s end, Galster was content with a third place against the bigger bikes. Overall, it was a fantastic weekend for Galster, who is greatly looking forward to the last round at High Plains Raceway October 9-10 in Byers, CO. Galster could not have finished so well without the help of Mike Pesicka, Oscar at Dunlop, Pueblo Brake and Clutch, his mom, and the rest of his sponsors, Slednecks, BAZI, Grandprix Motorsports, Dunlop, EDR Performance, California Superbike School, Bazzaz Performance, Arai, LeoVince, Attack Performance, and Lockhart Phillips.