FIM Moto2 World Championship Le Mans, France May 22, 2010 Qualifying Results (all using Honda engines and Dunlop tires): 1. Kenny NOYES, USA (PROMOHARRIS), 1:39.234 2. Yuki TAKAHASHI, Japan (TECH 3), 1:39.265 3. Alex DEBON, Spain (FTR), 1:39.320 4. Jules CLUZEL, France (SUTER), 1:39.334 5. Fonsi NIETO, Spain (MORIWAKI), 1:39.402 6. Sergio GADEA, Spain (PONS KALEX), 1:39.501 7. Toni ELIAS, Spain (MORIWAKI), 1:39.517 8. Simone CORSI, Italy (MOTOBI), 1:39.598 9. Julian SIMON, Spain (SUTER), 1:39.622 10. Roberto ROLFO, Italy (SUTER), 1:39.695 11. Xavier SIMEON, Belgium (MORIWAKI), 1:39.761 12. Ratthapark WILAIROT, Thailand (BIMOTA), 1:39.783 13. Claudio CORTI, Italy (SUTER), 1:39.787 14. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (SPEED UP), 1:39.787 15. Shoya TOMIZAWA, Japan (SUTER), 1:39.795 16. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (FORCE GP210), 1:39.878 17. Thomas LUTHI, Switzerland (MORIWAKI), 1:39.900 18. Niccolo CANEPA, Italy (FORCE GP210), 1:39.920 19. Gabor TALMACSI, Hungary (SPEED UP), 1:39.973 20. Raffaele DE ROSA, Italy (TECH 3), 1:40.064 21. Scott REDDING, Great Britain (SUTER), 1:40.087 22. Lukas PESEK, Czech Republic (MORIWAKI), 1:40.093 23. Axel PONS, Spain (PONS KALEX), 1:40.163 24. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (BQR-MOTO2), 1:40.184 25. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (FTR), 1:40.185 26. Arne TODE, Germany (SUTER), 1:40.200 27. Hector FAUBEL, Spain (SUTER), 1:40.203 28. Alex BALDOLINI, Italy (I.C.P.), 1:40.262 29. Mike DI MEGLIO, France (SUTER), 1:40.315 30. Dominique AEGERTER, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:40.461 31. Mattia PASINI, Italy (MOTOBI), 1:40.585 32. Anthony WEST, Australia (MZ-RE HONDA), 1:40.632 33. Robertino PIETRI, Venezuela (SUTER), 1:40.666 34. Vladimir IVANOV, Ukraine (MORIWAKI), 1:40.746 35. Stefan BRADL, Germany (SUTER), 1:40.753 36. Bernat MARTINEZ, Spain (BIMOTA), 1:41.509 37. Joan OLIVE, Spain (PROMOHARRIS), 1:41.532 38. Valentin DEBISE, France (ADV), 1:41.649 39. Mashel AL NAIMI, Qatar (BQR-MOTO2), 1:41.789 40. Yannick GUERRA, Spain (MORIWAKI), 1:41.972 41. Vladimir LEONOV, Russia (SUTER), 1:42.118 More, from a press release issued by Jack&Jones by Antonio Banderas: Noyes on Moto2 Pole for French Grand Prix In only his third Grand Prix start and on a track where he had never raced, Moto2 rookie Kenny Noyes took the pole in the tightest grid in the 61 years of Grand Prix history. Only 0.969 of a second separated the top 27 riders at the 2.6 mile Le Mans circuit. Riding his Jack & Jones by Antonio Banderas Promoharris, Kenny was 28th in the first free practice on Friday with a best lap of 1:41.319, improving to 1:40.319 in the Saturday morning free session, but in the qualifying session he went to the top of the timing screen with a 1:39.239 with 8 minutes remaining. Kenny pitted and fitted a fresh tire, but when he came back for a final run he was slightly balked by heavy traffic and was unable to improve. When he came back to the pits he didn’t know he had the pole until he was directed to the number 1 position in the enclosure area. According to Dorna´s official statistician, Noyes is the first American rider to take pole position in the intermediate class (Moto2 has replaced 250cc) since John Kocinski at the Australian Grand Prix of 1990. Kenny Noyes Pole: 1:39.234 “We were worried coming here to a new track. We were fast in the pre-season but that was on Spanish tracks that I know from racing Spanish 1000cc Formula Extreme for the last few years. I have never raced here before and it was hard to get on the pace, but the team worked hard and gave me a great bike. We dropped a 2.3 seconds in two days and found some settings that help me get the bike turned easier. In Jerez where we led a few laps and ran at the front the bike was very stable but not agile enough. I think we have a good set up for tomorrow. “With the changes we made for the qualifying session I was able to ride more aggressively and hit my marks on the brakes and on the apexes. It certainly helped that I was able to follow Takahashi. I learned so much following him. In this class if you make a slight mistake you can lose ten places, but today we got it right!” More, from a press release issued by Tech 3 Racing Team: Grand Prix of France Qualifying Practice 22 May 2010 Tech 3 celebrate home front row for Yuki Takahashi Yuki Takahashi produced a brilliant performance today to claim a stunning Moto2 front row start for the Tech 3 Racing Team in its home race at Le Mans. The Japanese rider finished just 0.031s away from claiming a maiden pole position for the new Tech 3 Moto2 project, which was designed and built at the team’s French headquarters. A best lap of 1.39.265 was only beaten by American Kenny Noyes as Takahashi claimed second place in another extremely close qualifying session for the exciting new Moto2 class. Less than one second covered the top 28 and Takahashi continued his excellent early season form, working tirelessly to find a comfortable race set-up ahead of the third round to morrow. Today’s result has boosted hopes of a historic first Moto2 podium finish for Tech 3 Racing in the 26-lap race. Italian rider Raffaele de Rosa was unable to capitalise on an impressive performance in this morning’s free practice session when he finished fifth quickest. Changes to the rear set-up of his Tech 3 machine failed to deliver the expected positive result and he will start from 20th on the grid. Despite his lowly grid position, de Rosa was only 0.830s away from pole position. Yuki Takahashi 2nd 1.39.234 21 laps “I am really happy to be on the front row again because this is such an important race for the Tech 3 Team. I know how much hard work has been put into this project and I am desperate to get a good result in Le Mans. All weekend my team have given me a great package. I’v e improved the bike in each session, even though we started with quite a different set-up to Jerez. It would have been amazing to get pole position for Tech 3 in France, but the important thing is the race and I feel we are in really good shape. A lot of riders who are normally at the front seemed to struggle a bit today, so I’ve got a good chance to be fighting at the front and going for the win. Being on the front row is crucial because the first chicane here is very tight. With so many bikes it will be tricky further down the field, so I need to make a good start. As always we’ve concentrated a lot on race set-up and I feel confident we can be strong for 26-laps.” Raffaele de Rosa 20th 1.40.064 20 laps “It is a big disappointment for me to be down in 20th on the grid because this morning we made a really good improvement with the bike. We found a good setting wi th the rear but we decided to make another modification to the swingarm but it wasn’t the right way and I didn’t have the same confidence to push as hard. The problem is you only need to lose a couple of tenths in this class and that costs you a lot of places on the grid. I’ll go back to the set-up from this morning for the race and hopefully recover the good feeling I had. I know how important this race is for Tech 3 so I’ll be determined to fight for the points.”