Catalunya Grand Prix debrief with Tohru Ubukata Round 7: Catalunya GP Post-race debrief Catalunya, Tuesday 6 July 2010 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Medium, Hard. Rear: Hard, Extra Hard (asymmetric) The Catalunya Grand Prix was sweltering, with an ambient temperature of 33 degrees Celsius and a track temperature that reached 55 degrees Celsius during the race. Catalunya is one of the most demanding circuits for tyres anyway, particularly on the right side of the tyres, and combined with the hottest temperature of the season so far the challenge for tyres was severe all weekend. The race itself got off to a nail-biting start as Dani Pedrosa led into turn one only to run wide, slipping back to 12th. Up front, Jorge Lorenzo, Andrea Dovizioso, Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner were locked in battle, Stoner himself fighting back from running wide. Dovizioso fell which gave Lorenzo breathing space at the front, whilst Dani mounted a remarkable comeback to climb to second, pushed by Stoner to the line. Randy de Puniet also scored his best finish of the season from the front row of the grid, whilst Alvaro Bautista claimed fifth for his best MotoGP finish just ahead of Ben Spies. Q&A with Tohru Ubukata – Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department How did the heat affect tyre performance this weekend? “Track conditions were hot and the ambient temperature was also high which leads to higher tyre temperatures, and this is why we needed to bring harder tyre compounds to Catalunya. Generally I am happy with their performance in the race we saw that both specifications of front and rear tyre worked, as the top three riders used the harder front and the softer rear, Randy in fourth used the harder rear, and Hector in tenth used the softer front. Our objective since last season has been to select two specifications of tyre per grand prix that can both be suitable for race distance at each particular venue, giving riders a choice of tyres for the race. I am happy that we have achieved that objective this weekend. Our selected tyre compounds were identical this year to last year so it was interesting for me that the rear tyre choice favoured by most riders was the softer option exactly the opposite of last year at Catalunya when every rider used our harder rear tyre option.” Why do you think this year the softer rear slick was the favoured option? “I think the fact that most machines could use the softer rear tyre in Catalunya this year shows how the teams have worked hard to improve the way their overall bike packages work with our single supply tyres. The track temperature was slightly higher this year yet still the machines and riders were able to extract relatively more performance from our softer compound rear and, importantly, make it last race distance which they could not do at this race last year. This also shows just how much influence on tyre performance the machine and rider package has, and the importance of a good setup that uses our tyres effectively.” What can you say about tyre performance in general this weekend? “Generally tyre performance was good, although the track condition was not ideal and this is one of the reasons that ultimately laptimes were slightly slower on Sunday. As we have seen already rear tyre choices were reasonably mixed, but front tyre choice showed much more preference for the harder front slick. Some riders commented that braking stability was affected slightly during the race because of the high temperature, but in these conditions and a circuit like Catalunya that features some heavy braking areas, this is to be expected. Heavy braking generates high loads on the front tyres which translate to increased tyre temperature, especially when the track and ambient temperatures are so high already. As the rubber gets hotter it starts to move more which has a direct affect on front-end ‘feel’. Importantly though, the laptimes show the tyre performance to be consistent throughout the race which I am pleased about.” More, from a press release issued by Tom Tunstall Racing: Rollercoaster Weekend for Tunstall The British Superbike Championship’s annual trip north of the border to Knockhill in Scotland proved to be an eventful weekend for Doodson Motorsport rider Tom Tunstall. Having fought through the field for points in race one, deteriorating weather conditions led to race two being cancelled. After struggling to find a bike set-up to suit the short and undulating 1.27mile track throughout the free practice sessions, the team made a breakthrough with suspension set-up for qualifying. Having missed reaching the second phase by only 0.05seconds Tunstall was still upbeat: “Ok I’m not exactly over the moon with my grid position [22nd] but I’m really pleased with the progress and my feeling on the bike. I dropped my lap time by around a second a lap and when you consider we’re only a second from pole, it reflects the steps we’ve made. But more importantly my confidence is back… I’ve now got a bike I can race with”. With the first two days practice sessions taking place on a dry track Race day saw heavy rain and strong winds delay the morning “Warm-Up” session whilst the standing water was cleared. The conditions had improved but were still challenging for race one. With crashes halting proceedings it took until the third start to get the race underway. At a reduced distance of 15 laps instead of the original 30, Tunstall struggled in the opening laps dropping to 25th. As the track continued to dry the Yorkshireman started to make inroads to the field ahead. On laps 10 and 11 Tunstall passed three riders per lap as his stormed his way through the pack. By lap 14 was lapping at top 10 pace as he charged his way into the points taking 15th at the flag. Tunstall explained: “At the start I was having massive issues with rear grip but as the track started to dry out the grip came back. I didn’t get greedy with my tyres and although they were overheating and sliding a lot it was controllable. If there had been more laps we’d have finished even higher”. With the difficult conditions continuing throughout the day – race two was reduced to 20laps around the still wet Scottish circuit. A multiple rider pile up exiting the first corner meant the race was red-flagged whilst the marshal’s cleared the track. Meanwhile the weather deteriorated further and in the interests of safety the organisers made the difficult decision of abandoning the race. “Obviously it’s a shame we didn’t get two races today not only for riders and teams but all the spectators and fans that had made the journey. The BSB organisers have had a tough day and they’ve got it exactly right which can’t have been easy… “It’s the third meeting in a row we’ve been in the points and we’ll certainly be looking to build on that at the next round”. Snetterton in Norfolk stages the seventh of the twelve round series over the weekend of 16th-18th July, and with the cancelled race two from Knockhill being re-run on the Saturday it promises to be a busy and exciting weekend! More, from a press release issued by TwoThree Public Relations on behalf of Gobert Motorsports: Gobert Motorsports rider Aaron Gobert claimed his first overall victory since returning to Australia in 2010 after a decorated career in the United States, winning the Supersport category at Eastern Creek’s third round of the Australian Formula Xtreme Championship on 2-4 July. The 29-year-old former AMA Superstock 1000 Champion took a clean sweep of race victories in the Supersport class on Sunday in the Australian championship round, also claiming the FX Nationals win overall on Saturday. It was a weekend of improvements for Gobert onboard his Yamaha Motor Australia-supported YZF-R6, the track time proving vital in the lead-up to the fourth round of the Australian Superbike Championship in Queensland next month. “I’m happy to get this victory and continue our improvements as the season progresses,” Gobert commented. “It’s been a lot of work to form our own team with the support of Yamaha in 2010, so it’s great that all the hard work is starting to be rewarded. “The development of the team’s R6s is coming along and we had Marty Ashmore, one of my former AMA guys from when I was on the factory Aprilia team last year, over for the weekend to assist with that. We saw a lot of improvements so now I look forward to moving on to the ASBK round at Queensland and continuing with the momentum that we have.” The ASBK Supersport series will continue at Queensland Raceway on 19-22 August. Gobert Motorsports is proudly supported by: Yamaha Motor Australia, YRD, Graves Motorsports, Bell Helmets, Alpinestars, Hotbodies Racing, Galfer, Bel-Ray and D.I.D. EASTERN CREEK AFXC SUPERSPORT RESULTS: 1. Aaron Gobert (Gobert Motorsports Yamaha YZF-R6) 2. Mitchell Pirotta 3. Ben Burke 4. Mathew Fyffe 5. Daniel Veitch More, from a press release issued by Team Velocity Racing: TVR/EBC Brakes Yamaha Third in Heavyweight Superbike at Slippery Grattan BELDING, Mich.””TVR/EBC Brakes Yamaha’s Chuck Ivey, James Vanderhaar and Scott Brown endured a slippery weekend at Grattan Raceway in Michigan, finishing fifth overall and third in Heavyweight Superbike during Saturday’s four-hour WERA National Endurance Series race. The team planned to get plenty of track time during Friday’s practice day on their Yamaha YZF-R1, but track events were cancelled due to a fresh coating of sealer that made the track treacherously slick. “No one knew on Friday morning that the track had just been sealed,” comments TVR/EBC Brakes Yamaha owner Ivey. “We went out for a few laps and people started falling down. Thankfully our Michelin tires really did their job and we came away safely.” The track was repaired in time for practice on Saturday morning, and by then the scheduled six-hour endurance race had been reduced to just four hours to give riders extra practice time. “During practice Saturday morning, we just tip-toed around and felt out the track,” says Brown. “We all got some practice time in and pretty quickly found a setup that was effective for all three of us.” Ivey took the green flag. “Grattan is a physically demanding track and it really tested my ankle,” says Ivey, who severely broke his ankle last year. “It took longer than I would have liked to get up to speed, but everyone had to ride conservatively in the opening laps to make sure the track surface was safe.” Vanderhaar rode the second stint after he, Ivey and Brown performed a pit stop: the riders doubled as the crew during the race. “Come race time, turns one and two were fine, but in turn three you had an eight- to ten-inch line you had to hit,” says Vanderhaar. “It was tricky. We had a lot more to lose than to gain.” Brown rode the third stint and found himself facing the wrong direction in turn three. He passed another bike for position, but the pass put him off the line of rubber that had been laid down. The outside of turn three was still slick with sealer, and the sudden loss of traction spun the Yamaha YZF-R1 180 degrees. “Suddenly I was backwards and looking at the bike I’d just passed,” says Brown. “The bike kept spinning, then the front tire came off the ground, and I just stepped off.” Fortunately, Brown was unhurt and the R1 suffered only minor damage. The Vortex rearsets absorbed a lot of the abuse, holding up under pressure and protecting the bike itself. Brown pitted and re-teched before continuing. Vanderhaar finished the race, crossing the line in fifth overall and third in the Heavyweight Superbike class. It is the fourth class podium in four rounds for TVR/EBC Brakes Yamaha. TVR’s sponsors include EBC Brakes, Michelin, Yamaha, Aiken Motorcycle, XES Leather, MotoHeaven.com, Arai, Vortex, EK Chains, VP Fuels, and Dyno Jet. Keep up with the team’s season and find pictures online at www.TeamVelocityRacing.com. More, from a press release issued by James Westmoreland’s publicist: Knockhill, Round 6 We arrived at Knockhill looking forward to improving on our previous weekend at Mallory. We carefully studied the data, understanding what went wrong in the race, where I could be stronger, and how we could improve the package. Fp1 went well. Straight away I was happy with the bike, down to fast times and I had 0.3 on the rest of the field. FP2 was pretty similar. I again concentrated on our race pace, and did a 50.2 which is under my lap record after 30 laps. We were in good shape and ended up 2nd. Q1. We kept improving the bike throughout the weekend and I knew we had an advantage around here. With a new tyre I managed a 49.6 and was the only person in the 49’s. Q2. I kept my head down working hard to make sure we could win in dry conditions on Sunday. I went quicker and got down to a 49.5 and claimed my first pole position of 2010 by 2 tenths of a second. I was really comfortable and could do 49’s after 20 laps on a tyre. Warm up was wet and I built into it, ending the session 4th and feeling really positive. The race eventually got underway after many delays with the rain and wind, and I settled in after the first lap 4th. I didn’t want to do anything silly straight away and I was in the lead group. I got pushed wide a couple of times and lost some momentum and places but I worked hard to regain them and was comfortable in the top 6. The pace car came out on lap 5 for two laps . On the restart I made a good get away and was getting more comfortable and able to push harder each lap. At the end of lap 14 I was up to 5th and challenging 4th when the race was red flagged and the result went back a lap. I was awarded 6th. It was only a 15 lap race, and if it had been run for the remaining two laps we could have finished a bit higher. I was happy with how I had ridden and It was a good race for me in those conditions. I know I have lost my championship lead but we found something in the dry at Knockhill that will benefit us all season so I’m very positive. I always finish the year stronger than start it, and we go to some really good tracks for me now, so I’m ready to fight at Snetterton in two weeks. My team did a great job all weekend, I had a perfect bike in dry and wet conditions. It was the best my CAME Yamaha has felt all season. I would like to thank all my sponsors, my mechanics, the whole CAME Yamaha team, Raceways, CAME for everything they have done this season and it is going to be a great remaining 6 rounds. More, from a press release issued by John McGuinness’ publicist: McGuinness gets back on track at Knockhill John McGuinness got his short circuit season back on track on Sunday when he finished in fifth place at Knockhill in the latest round of the Metzeler National 1000cc Superstock Championship. The Padgetts Honda rider put in an excellent ride in difficult conditions and, having qualified in eighth place, he utilised his smooth riding style to move steadily forward during the race and was rewarded with 11 hard-earned Championship points. With free practice and qualifying being held in dry conditions, the riders were met with a very different proposition on Sunday with strong winds and heavy rain hitting the Scottish venue. With the race cut from 22 laps to 15, a good start was imperative and John got just that and moved up from 8th to 6th on the opening lap. In what was largely an uneventful race for John, he remained in sixth for the next few laps before being promoted up to 5th on lap 7 when Scott Smart dropped out of the race. Towards the end of the race more rain began to fall, just as John closed in on Tristan Palmer, and with the weather worsening all the time, organisers stopped the race on the 13th lap due to the inclement conditions thus denying him the opportunity of moving up to 4th although the 11 championship points for 5th came in very handy. Speaking afterwards, a pleased John said “I needed that! I’ve had a tough few weeks what with the disappointments at the TT and that so to come away with a top five finish is very pleasing and it’s great to be back mixing it with the front runners. My confidence had taken a bit of a dip after the TT and Silverstone and the missus (Becky) gave me a real good pep talk and told me to get my dummy back in, stop dwelling on things and just get on with it! I spent a bit of practice circulating with my team-mate Glen Richards and it definitely helped get me back in the zone so after qualifying well I was feeling in good shape for the race.” “I got a good start and was right with the front group and felt comfortable with the pace we were running at. Conditions were a bit sketchy with probably 80% of the track dry but the rest damp so you really had to concentrate hard to make sure you didn’t stray off line and I did just that. We’d opened up a bit of a gap to the riders behind and I was hopeful of moving up to 4th but the rain began to come down and it was the right decision to stop the race. Fifth is very satisfying and it’s got my short circuit season back on track so I’ll now look to build on this result and make sure we’re there or thereabouts for the entire second half of the season.” The result moves him back up to 10th overall in the Championship table with the next round taking place at Snetterton, Norfolk on July 16-18.