FIM MotoGP World Championship Sachsenring, Germany July 12, 2013 Free Practice Two Results (all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Stefan BRADL, Germany (HONDA), 1:22.030 2. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 1:22.239 3. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (HONDA), 1:22.251 4. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:22.252, crash 5. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), 1:22.395 6. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (DUCATI), 1:22.572, crash 7. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (ART-Aprilia), 1:22.763 8. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (DUCATI), 1:22.850 9. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (HONDA), 1:22.976 10. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (DUCATI), 1:23.008 11. Bradley SMITH, UK (YAMAHA), 1:23.040 12. Randy DE PUNIET, France (ART-Aprilia), 1:23.255 13. Michele PIRRO, Italy (DUCATI), 1:23.491 14. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (ART-Aprilia), 1:23.524 15. Hector BARBERA, Spain (FTR-Kawasaki), 1:23.627 16. Michael LAVERTY, UK (PBM-Aprilia), 1:23.636 17. Danilo PETRUCCI, Italy (IODA/SUTER-BMW), 1:23.866 18. Colin EDWARDS, USA (FTR-Kawasaki), 1:23.911 19. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (YAMAHA), 1:23.932, crash 20. Claudio CORTI, Italy (FTR-Kawasaki), 1:24.078 21. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (FTR-Kawasaki), 1:24.647 22. Bryan STARING, Australia (FTR-Honda), 1:24.862, crash 23. Lukas PESEK, Czech Republic (IODA/SUTER-BMW), 1:25.568 24. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (ART-Aprilia), no time recorded More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: Positive first day in Sachsenring for Pedrosa and Marquez Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez have enjoyed a productive first day at the GP of Germany. Track conditions weren’t very good in this morning’s cold FP1 session – only 15ºC with a track temperature of 21ºC, both Dani and Marc opted to use the soft compound front and rear Bridgestone tyres. On his last exit, Marc used a hard front tyre and improved his time slightly. In the afternoon the sun appeared and the ambient temperature rose to 21ºC and the track to 37ºC, and both riders chose to run the whole session with the hard front tyre. Dani spent some laps with the hard rear tyre but unsurprisingly posted his fastest time on the soft option with 1’22.239 on his final lap of 25. Marc, visiting Sachsenring for the first time on a MotoGP machine, remained on the soft rear for the whole session and was just 0.012 off Dani with 1’22.251 on lap 19 of 23. Dani Pedrosa 2nd 1’22.239 “Today we focused on tyres, in order to find out what the ideal choice will be for Sunday’s race and lately we have had some problems with the compounds being a little harder than normal. I had time to test all the options and in general things went well. However, tomorrow we have to find a slightly better setup for cornering. As for Jorge, let’s see how his condition is before commenting -we still don’t know details. At the moment it doesn’t look good for him, so I wish him well” Marc Marquez 3rd 1’22.251 “The day has been very positive and I’m very happy with how practice has gone so far, as I have been slowly improving. From the start I felt very comfortable – with it being a smaller circuit, the speed isn’t so different compared to when you’re riding a Moto2 bike. Of course, you reach your braking markers quicker and you have to use new references, but it isn’t that different to other circuits. This helps me to adapt a little more quickly. We have been working hard, but there are still some places on the track where I have to improve, be more consistent and find a good setup. Tomorrow we will try to continue in the same way, just as focused. I am sorry to see Jorge suffer another big crash, we wait to hear news and I send him my best wishes” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Hometown hero Bradl leads Friday practice at Sachsenring Round 8: Germany MotoGP™ – Free Practice One & Two Sachsenring, Friday 12 July 2013 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft & Hard. Rear: Soft, Medium & Hard (Asymmetric) Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Soft (Main), Hard (Alternative) Weather: FP1 – Dry. Ambient 16-17°C; Track 21-24°C (Bridgestone measurement) FP2 – Dry. Ambient 21-24°C; Track 36-41°C (Bridgestone measurement) LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl delighted his legion of German fans at Sachsenring by topping Friday practice with a benchmark lap time of 1’22.030 in this afternoon’s Free Practice 2 session. Bradl set the best time of the day on the combination of the softer rear and harder front slick to narrowly beat Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo’s – who set his best time in the morning FP1 session – by 0.017 seconds. Third quickest today was Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa who stopped the clocks with a 1’22.221 to finish within two-tenths of Bradl. Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro again set the pace among the CRT pack, finishing eighth overall with a time of 1’22.641. Ambient temperatures varied greatly today as cloud cover in the morning kept track temperatures low in FP1 before the sun emerged for FP2 to boost track temperatures to a peak of 41°C. The cool temperatures in the morning resulted in all riders using the softer rear slick options and only two riders evaluating the harder front slick option. As track temperatures increased for FP2, riders were able to evaluate both the harder front and rear slick options, although no clear picture on tyre choice for the race has emerged at this stage. Warm and mainly fine conditions are expected tomorrow, though there is a slight chance of rain. The next MotoGP session is scheduled to start at 0955 local time tomorrow (GMT +2). Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department “Today’s weather conditions were typical for this circuit, with early cloud cover keeping temperatures low before the sun came out in the afternoon. The cool track in FP1 meant most riders used softer slicks front and rear, before many riders switched to the harder front option when track temperatures increased in FP2. Today’s practice sessions showed how the layout of this circuit is so challenging as a few riders got caught out at turn eleven which is the first right-hand corner after a long sequence of left-hand turns. The chain of left-handed corners means the right shoulder of the tyres cool down substantially before the entry of turn eleven, which necessitates a precise approach by the riders. The lap times today were quite good – even in the cold FP1 session – with many riders lapping close to race lap record pace. If the weather stays dry, I think as teams refine their setup and track conditions improve we will see a very quick pace in qualifying tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Difficult start to Sachsenring weekend for Crutchlow and Smith The start of the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland today proved to be a difficult one for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team, with Cal Crutchlow and Bradley Smith unable to break into the top 10 on an incident-packed opening day of practice. Smith found the tight and twisty Sachsenring layout, which is dominated by left-hand corners, a tough physical challenge for his recovering left wrist injury. The scaphoid bone he damaged in a crash last month in Mugello is still not back to 100% strength and it was tested to the limit today, with the extra stress placed on the left side of his body only adding to the challenge of getting accustomed to the German venue on his Yamaha YZR-M1 machine. Gradually building up his pace and confidence in cool and cloudy conditions this morning, Smith was able to lap almost 0.7s faster in warmer weather for FP2 and climb from 15th to 11th in the rankings. The 22-year-old’s impressive pace of 1.23.040 was just over 0.1s away from the top 10 and less than 0.5s outside of the top six and on combined times he finished in an encouraging 12th position. Crutchlow’s bid to secure a fourth podium of 2013 got off to a tough start, the on form British rider suffering two fast crashes today. This morning’s FP1 had only a few seconds to run when Crutchlow crashed heavily at the first corner while he was attempting to improve on sixth position. Shaken but not stirred in that incident, the 27-year-old then fell again in FP2 at the Sachsenring’s famous Turn 11, which is a super-fast left-hander with a downhill blind entry taken flat-out in fourth gear. Crutchlow was able to walk away from the high-speed crash but he underwent checks on a suspected left arm injury before X-rays confirmed he had escaped any serious damage. He did suffer numerous cuts and abrasions to his hands and arms in the second crash but nothing that will prevent him from participating in tomorrow’s action. His best time of 1.22.469 in FP1 was still fast enough to keep him inside the top six after both practice sessions. Bradley Smith 11th 1.23.040 – 24 laps : “It was a positive day. The Sachsenring is a very physical track, especially for the left side of the body, but it is not giving me too much of a problem. That is great because it proves all the hard work with my physiotherapist back in the UK has paid off with my wrist. It is not at 100% but it is much better than in Assen and I can ride with less discomfort and pain. I’m a bit disappointed not to be inside the top 10 but I felt I didn’t quite put the best lap together today, so I am sure we can improve for tomorrow. We have a clear direction to improve the setting I have no doubt my Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew will improve our package for tomorrow. I am feeling confident and excited to improve tomorrow.” Herve Poncharal – Team Manager : “Obviously today was a very difficult one for Cal, but fortunately after two very big crashes he didn’t suffer any serious injury. He has no broken bones but in the second crash when he was sliding down the track, several pieces of gravel became trapped inside his right glove. They had to be removed by the medical staff at the Clinica Mobile and the wounds cleaned up. Cal’s forearm also suffered some friction burns and while it is nothing serious it is still very painful and uncomfortable. He is going to rest now but we are sure that he is going to be fine to ride tomorrow. Cal has incredible mental strength and he is a true fighter, so I have no doubt that he will bounce back from today and still put in a strong performance for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team over the rest of the weekend.” More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing: Day one of the MotoGP World Championship’s eighth round, hosted by the Sachsenring circuit, was marred by a large number of crashes. Just a few minutes from the end of FP2, Andrea Iannone clocked his best time of 1:23.008, less than a second from first-place Stefan Bradl, after he himself was a victim of a spectacular fall just after the start of FP1. The incident took place in the fast turn eleven, where the Italian’s bike tumbled before coming to a stop in the gravel. This is Iannone’s first race aboard the ‘lab’ version of the Desmosedici GP13, which the Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team worked hard to repair during the break between the two sessions. Andrea Iannone – Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team “This morning was quite difficult, as I fell when I didn’t expect it. It’s not an easy circuit with the tyres, as there are many consecutive left-hand corners and then a very fast right, after the right side of the tyre has cooled. Anyway, I tried to stay calm and confident this afternoon; I started to push pretty early, and I saw some results. I’m pleased because I immediately felt the changes we made to the bike today, which is quite positive. Now we’ll see what else we can do for tomorrow, but it will certainly be important to be able to repeat the time I did today and then improve upon it. A big thank-you to the team for the great work they did to get the bike ready for the second free practice.” More, from another press release issued by Pramac Racing: Day one of the MotoGP World Championship’s eighth round, hosted by the Sachsenring circuit, was marred by a large number of crashes. It was an unsatisfying day for Michele Pirro. Just as the Italian was regaining a good feeling with his bike, he suffered a fall after changing a tyre a few minutes from the end of FP2. This ruined his efforts to further reduce his gap to the top ten, who were all within a second of one another. Inside the Ignite Pramac Racing Team garage, work continues to find a more consistent grip throughout the duration of the race, as well as better stability on the relatively bumpy circuit. Michele Pirro – Ignite Pramac Racing Team The bike this afternoon was not bad, I had a good feeling, and I immediately saw a few improvements in my time compared to this morning. I started with used tyres, and, seven minutes before the end of the session we put in the new ones. I returned to the track but on my first lap I crashed at the second left-hand turn without being able to take advantage of the new rubber, and I’m really disappointed about that. It seems in any case that we are all more or less aligned on times. However, compared to the morning session, we made a big improvement and we hope to do even better tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: LOCAL FAVORITE STEFAN BRADL LED THE WAY ON DAY ONE AT SACHSENRING Sachsenring, 12 July: LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl has high expectations heaped on him by an excited home crowd and in today’s first day of practices at Sachsenring circuit the German talent gave to his local fans something to celebrate for as he topped the timesheets ahead Pedrosa and Marquez (1’22.030). The Bavarian rider made full use of his Honda RC213V at the 3.671Km race track where last year he finished a strong fifth. Stefan Bradl: “Obviously it’s a great feeling to be the first in the timesheets on Friday and this the best way to start your home Grand Prix. Actually I immediately felt comfortable with the bike this morning and, with a few adjustments, it has been even better in the afternoon. I am fast with both bikes (with short or long swing-arm regulations) and we are pretty convinced about the tyres we are going to use. So the overall package is good, I am in a good form and it’s nice to feel the support of your local fans”. More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: An eventful day of track action came to a close at the Sachsenring on the first day of the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland with local favourite Stefan Bradl topping the timesheets for LCR Honda MotoGP. Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo suffered another heavy accident in the afternoon session, landing on his injured shoulder, unfortunately putting him out of the Germany race and possibly the next. Bradl’s Friday-topping lap time came in the form of a 1’22.030, with Lorenzo ending the day second overall from Repsol Honda Team’s Dani Pedrosa and their respective teammates Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez. Completing the top eight were Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow, Ducati Team’s Nicky Hayden – who experienced a late crash at Turn 3, which followed a pair of earlier off-track moments – and Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro, the leading CRT runner. The most significant happening of the day came just oven ten minutes into the afternoon session. Having broken his left collarbone at Assen only 15 days earlier, Lorenzo lost control exiting Turn 10 and landed heavily on his already damaged shoulder. The session was briefly stopped as the stricken Yamaha M1 was lying in the middle of Turn 11, while the World Champion was checked over. Only three and a half minutes after the restart, Crutchlow suffered his second crash of the day – and both had come at the rapid Turn 11. When he was sliding down the track, several pieces of gravel became trapped inside his right glove, which had to be removed by the medical staff at the Clinica Mobile and the wounds cleaned up. He has been declared fit to ride tomorrow. In the morning, Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso and Energy T.I. Pramac Racing’s Andrea Iannone had gone down at the same corner. For Dovizioso the crash meant that he wrote off his only GP13 “Evolution” chassis, having to revert back to the regular GP13 for the rest of the weekend. Cardion AB Motoracing’s Karel Abraham was struck down with flu and fever and for that reason did not take part in the afternoon period, whereas Hiroshi Aoyama was back in action with Avintia Blusens for the first time since his hand-injuring crash on the Saturday of the Catalan Grand Prix. In Practice 2, GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Bryan Staring added his name to the list of fallers. Moto2™ Moto2™ championship leader Scott Redding set the pace as proceedings continued in Germany on Friday at the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland at the Sachsenring. The Marc VDS Racing Team rider set the quickest time in Free Practice 2, heading up the timesheets from NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Alex de Angelis and Tuenti HP 40’s Pol Espargaro, who had led the first session earlier in the day. Redding reduced the quickest time of the day to 1’25.152, leading De Angelis by just over one tenth of a second ahead of the San Marino rider’s MotoGP™ class outing at Laguna Seca next weekend. Espargaro and Came IodaRacing Project’s Johann Zarco also ended the day within two tenths of a second of the leader, with Mika Kallio next up to ensure Marc VDS riders are bookending the top five. Desguaces La Torre Maptaq’s Xavier Simeon made a good start to his weekend by putting his Kalex in sixth, ahead of Technomag carXpert’s Randy Krummenacher and Interwetten-Paddock’s Tom Luthi. Italtrans Racing Team’s Julian Simon will be pleased to have put his bike in ninth, while NGM’s Simone Corsi will hope to claw back some positions on his teammate in second. Simon’s teammate, Takaaki Nakagami ended the day in 14th, after getting on his bike for the first time since breaking his collarbone in Assen. He stated that he was not in pain or discomfort, and put his result purely down to set-up issues. Moto3™ Alex Rins and Estrella Galicia 0,0 set the pace on the first day of Moto3™ practice for the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland at the Sachsenring. This went further underneath the previous best lap from 2012, as Luis Salom and Efren Vazquez finished second and third for Red Bull KTM Ajo and Mahindra Racing, respectively. With Maverick Viñales’ leading Sachsenring lap of last season having been 1’28.159, Rins established the overall best lap of Friday by posting 1’27.208. This was a full three tenths of a second quicker than championship leader Salom, who had topped the opening session in the morning. Behind Vazquez, who recovered from a fall to finish third, the top five was completed by Ongetta-Centro Seta’s Isaac Viñales and Team Calvo’s younger cousin Maverick. Niklas Ajo was further down the order than is usually the case, ending the day in 30th place after sustaining a small fracture to his right wrist in a morning crash. Further fallers in the afternoon period were Kiefer Racing’s Toni Finsterbusch, Redox RW Racing GP’s Jakub Kornfeil and Ongetta-Centro Seta’s Matteo Ferrari, while San Carlo Team Italia’s Romano Fenati was forced to stop with a broken chain. More, from a press release issued by NGM Mobile Forward Racing: Edwards and Corti reducing the gap at Sachsenring The eighth round of the championship begins at the German circuit of Sachsenring where Edwards and Corti were able to ride today with the new parts that FTR has provided at the German GP weekend. The American rider used the first free practice session to test two different settings on his FTR – Kawasaki bike and seems to be reasonably happy with the work done so far. The Italian rider was unlucky during this first day at Sachsenring, having to change bikes due to a problem with the engine. Despite the problems Corti managed to have a reasonable race pace, allowing him to remain confident. NGM Mobile Forward Racing riders will continue their work in order to reduce the actual gap of 1.8 seconds for Edwards and 2.0 seconds for Corti. Colin Edwards “This morning we had two different bikes, the settings were a little bit different and I wasn’t quite sure. Went out this afternoon with our normal setting and felt that the morning setting felt easier. So went out on our newer setting later in that session and couldn’t get the bike to turn so made some changes and got it to turn a little bit better. I then considered coming in and change to a new tire but ended up stayed out there with what we had. I am kind of glad I did just to get some laps in, we got a bit of a problem with what I would call fueling, down low, just the very bottom end of from OFF throttle to ON throttle, we have an issue that we need to sort out for tomorrow because it doesn’t work right now. We need to get to be smoother on the pick-up. We will be looking at some data and figure it out. I am reasonably happy with the new setting that we’ve got.” Claudio Corti “Today it didn’t start off very well because I had many little problems that slowed me down. This afternoon we finally understood what was the cause of the problems and it seems that we are getting close to having a more or less good setting. We had a serious problem with the bike that I usually prefer and had to go out with bike2. We are trying to figure out what the problem is and make sure to be ready for tomorrow. Its been a few races now in which little problems happen and slow me down in the process of setting up the bike. Even if the bike was far from having the ideal setting the pace was not bad at all and that makes me confident for tomorrow. We will keep working on it and see how things go tomorrow.” Sergio Verbena, MotoGP Technical Director “We had a pretty good start today with both riders, we were immediately faster than we were here last year with Colin. The gap is of 1.8 and 2.0 with Colin and Claudio respectively, so we are there; we are very close to the other FTR – Kawasaki bikes. We need to work and we just hope we get similar weather to the one we had today. Today we tried some new parts and both riders seem to be happy so we need to keep working on the fine-tuning of the setup of the bike. It looks like Claudio might have had a problem with one engine and we will check to see what was the actual cause of the problem.” More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: Complicated opening day at Sachsenring for Ducati Team As was the case for many of the MotoGP riders on the event-filled first day of the German Grand Prix, Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso both suffered falls on their way to seventh and ninth places, respectively, in the combined times of the first two free-practice sessions. The Italian’s fall came early during FP1 in the fast turn 11, damaging the one example of the updated frame that he had at his disposal and thus forcing him to revert to the standard version. Hayden’s FP2 fall, which occurred in the slower turn 3, was much less costly, and the American is generally pleased with his pace. Both riders are optimistic that with adjustments to their Desmosedici GP13 race bikes, they’ll be able to improve upon their lap times tomorrow. Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team, 7th (1:22.572) “I’ve had a pretty good pace today, especially compared to Assen. For my fast lap, a half-second from the front is a lot on this short track, but my ideal time is a couple of tenths better. When it’s difficult to put heat in the front tyre, turn 11 is tough for everybody, especially us. We’ve made a couple of little improvements during the day, but we need to sort out a few more things with the bike. In particular, I’ve had a couple of big moments when the rear to let go too aggressively. I also had a small crash in the slow turn 3, where the front folded with no warning. Anyway, our pace is certainly better than it has been, and we’ll see what we can come up with for tomorrow.” Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team, 9th (1:22.850) “We’d have liked to do some tests with the new frame, but unfortunately, it was bent in my crash—and there were many of those here today. That means we can’t use it, and instead we have to run the one we’ve used all season. It’s tough here, as this track is always strange. You have to be really smooth, and the bike needs to be able to change direction easily, which is difficult for us. We’re a bit closer to the front, and I think we can improve a bit, although not a lot because we can’t take wide lines like the others and pick the bike up on the exits. Still, if we respect our bike’s characteristics and take tight lines, maybe we can improve by a couple of tenths, and here, a couple of tenths makes a difference over thirty laps.”