FIM Moto2 World Championship Sepang, Malaysia October 8, 2010 Free Practice One Results (all using Honda engines and Dunlop tires): 1. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (MOTOBI), 2:09.586 2. Scott REDDING, Great Britain (SUTER), 2:09.774 3. Toni ELIAS, Spain (MORIWAKI), 2:09.835 4. Julian SIMON, Spain (SUTER), 2:09.976 5. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (FTR), 2:09.983 6. Thomas LUTHI, Switzerland (MORIWAKI), 2:10.033 7. Roberto ROLFO, Italy (SUTER), 2:10.190 8. Simone CORSI, Italy (MOTOBI), 2:10.253 9. Dominique AEGERTER, Switzerland (SUTER), 2:10.492 10. Hector FAUBEL, Spain (SUTER), 2:10.505 11. Alex DEBON, Spain (FTR), 2:10.532 12. Claudio CORTI, Italy (SUTER), 2:10.535 13. Jules CLUZEL, France (SUTER), 2:10.618 14. Gabor TALMACSI, Hungary (FTR), 2:11.030 15. Stefan BRADL, Germany (SUTER), 2:11.051 16. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (BQR-MOTO2), 2:11.186 17. Fonsi NIETO, Spain (MORIWAKI), 2:11.202 18. Ratthapark WILAIROT, Thailand (BIMOTA), 2:11.327 19. Alex BALDOLINI, Italy (I.C.P.), 2:11.372 20. Sergio GADEA, Spain (PONS KALEX), 2:11.465 21. Mike DI MEGLIO, France (SUTER), 2:11.605 22. Valentin DEBISE, France (ADV), 2:11.672 23. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (FTR), 2:11.812 24. Mohamad ZAMRI BABA, Malaysia (MORIWAKI), 2:11.898 25. Raffaele DE ROSA, Italy (TECH 3), 2:11.989 26. Yuki TAKAHASHI, Japan (TECH 3), 2:12.291 27. Michael RANSEDER, Austria (SUTER), 2:12.354 28. Javier FORES, Spain (BIMOTA), 2:12.574 29. Axel PONS, Spain (PONS KALEX), 2:12.647 30. Anthony WEST, Australia (MZ-RE HONDA), 2:12.664 31. Kazuki WATANABE, Japan (SUTER), 2:12.728 32. Ferruccio LAMBORGHINI, Italy (MORIWAKI), 2:12.772 33. Vladimir IVANOV, Ukraine (MORIWAKI), 2:12.827 34. Kenny NOYES, USA (PROMOHARRIS), 2:13.029 35. Mashel AL NAIMI, Qatar (BQR-MOTO2), 2:13.157 36. Joan OLIVE, Spain (PROMOHARRIS), 2:13.306 37. Robertino PIETRI, Venezuela (SUTER), 2:14.308 38. Yannick GUERRA, Spain (MORIWAKI), 2:14.429 39. Hiromichi KUNIKAWA, Japan (BIMOTA), 2:16.026 More, from a press release issued by Interwetten Moriwaki Moto2 Team: First Free practice hold short for Lüthi in Malaysia caused by heavy rain Like already happened in Aragón earlier this season the first free practice on the Malaysian racetrack in Sepang was hold short today. Only 13 laps Thomas Lüthi was able to ride his bike around the difficult track and test settings, because a heavy rain shower stopped him from going any further. But the 13 laps were enough to achieve sixth position in today’s session. The Interwetten Moriwaki Moto2 Team was hoping for more time on the track as they planned to try many settings. Tomorrow they will continue to adapt the bike to the hot and humid conditions at the Sepang International Circuit. Tom Lüthi, 6 2’10.033: “The first free practice went well in Malaysia, we had a pretty good pace. Then it started to get darker and darker and thunder and flashes appeared on the sky and it was not long before the rain started to poor down. It was not enough to go out with a full rain set up, so I stayed in the pit box quite long, then it dried off and I went out again. Unfortunately I was not able to better my result, but I had a good feeling with the bike and we are on the right way.” Terrell Thien, Team Manager: “I cannot say much about the practice today as it was quite short, because of the rain. We wanted to try a couple of changes more, but couldn’t. Tomorrow we will continue where we stopped today and Tom is on the right way.” More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing Team: MARC VDS PAIR ON THE PACE AT SEPANG Scott Redding and Hector Faubel both made impressive starts in this afternoon’s opening practice at Sepang, with Redding finishing the hour-long session second fastest and Faubel claiming tenth position on the timesheet. Black clouds, lightning and thunder met the Moto2 riders as they took to the 5.548km / 3.447 mile Sepang circuit for the first time this afternoon, prompting many riders to abandon work on set-up in favour of getting in as many laps as possible ahead of the inevitable rain. Redding was quickly on the pace, moving up to second on the timesheet behind Alex De Angelis and ahead of championship leader, Toni Elias, just 15 minutes into the session. Faubel was also quick to put in a fast lap, following his Marc VDS teammate up the order and into eighth place. The rain finally arrived halfway through the session, falling hard enough to soak the track and forcing all the riders back to pit lane, where they sat waiting for a break in the weather. With ten minutes of the session left to run, and with the track already starting to dry out, most of the field ventured back out to try and improve their times. De Angelis managed to improve on his final flying lap, increasing the gap back to Redding in second place to just over one tenth of a second. Tom Luthi and Dominique Aegerter also managed to improve their times right at the end of the session, pushing Faubel back to tenth position. Scott Redding #45: 2nd – 2’09.774 “It was obvious from the start it was going to rain at some point in the session, but we decided not to let the weather influence our practice plan. I went out on the Motegi settings to get some laps under my belt; the bike felt pretty good from the off and I was quick to find my rhythm. I had a bit of a scare three laps in when one of the wild-card riders braked early for turn one, but I just managed to squeeze past at full chat without collecting him! It was a good session, if a bit short because of the rain halfway through. We need to improve rear traction a little for tomorrow, as well as shortening the gearing slightly. Other than that the bike was pretty much spot on and I’m looking forward to a tomorrow morning’s practice, which I hope will be dry.” Hector Faubel #55: 10th – 2’10.505 “Today the bike felt like it did at Indianapolis and our recent Valencia test, completely different to Motegi. The front feels good, but we need to find a bit more drive at the rear for practice and qualifying tomorrow, because grip was difficult to find this afternoon. It’s a pity the session was cut short by rain; I only managed to put in ten or eleven laps and I need to do a lot more tomorrow. Already I feel more confident than Motegi and we only need to make a few small steps to improve the bike ready for the two sessions tomorrow.” Pete Benson: Scott Redding’s Crew Chief “Scott started the session on the settings from Motegi, putting in a few laps to find the best lines for the bike around the Sepang circuit. He was quick to find a good rhythm and his laps times were pretty quick from the start. We’ll make some changes overnight to improve rear traction and stability under braking; the bike’s not bad at the moment, but we can definitely make it better.” More, from a press release issued by JiR Moto2 Team: A promising start for Team JiR at the Malaysian GP that will be run at Sepang this weekend. Alex De Angelis ends the first free practice session with the best time in 2’09″586 that means the provisional pole. His team-mate Simone Corsi is in 8th place with a time of 2’10″253. The session has been made in two times as a rainstorm interrupted it 10 minutes before the end. Alex De Angelis, 1st time, 2’09″586 “We started with the same configuration we had in Japan and I managed to be immediately fast, which remarks that the MotoBI adapts itself well to every circuit. During the rainstorm we took advantage to make a modification to the suspension that paid back as during the last minutes of the session I managed to improve my provisional pole position. Tomorrow we’ll have to refine the last details, to further adapt the machine to the hot and wet weather we have here in Sepang.” Simone Corsi, 8th time, 2’10″253 “I managed to find a good pace and I ended the session in 8th. We knew that here in Malaysia the weather is an important factor and moreover the track is very long, so we’ll need to find a good equilibrium to be competitive and I still need to find the right lines. From a physical point of view the rider is very stressed with the conditions but I’m feeling in a good shape and tomorrow we’ll give all our best to gain a good position in the starting grid.”