FIM MotoGP World Championship
Jerez, Spain
May 2, 2015
Qualifying One Results (top two advance to Qualifying Two, all using Bridgestone tires):
1. Danilo PETRUCCI, Italy (DUCATI), 1:39.250
2. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (DUCATI), 1:39.427
3. Hector BARBERA, Spain (DUCATI), 1:39.569
4. Maverick VIÑALES, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:39.603
5. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (APRILIA), 1:39.612
6. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (HONDA), 1:39.866
7. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (HONDA), 1:39.974
8. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (HONDA), 1:40.025
9. Stefan BRADL, Germany (FORWARD YAMAHA), 1:40.166
10. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (HONDA), 1:40.177
11. Loris BAZ, France (FORWARD YAMAHA), 1:40.280
12. Jack MILLER, Australia (HONDA), 1:40.365
13. Mike DI MEGLIO, France (DUCATI), 1:40.817
14. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (ART-APRILIA), 1:41.108
15. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (APRILIA), 1:41.273
Qualifying Two Results (all using Bridgestone tires):
1. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:37.910
2. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (HONDA), 1:38.300
3. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (DUCATI), 1:38.468
4. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:38.539
5. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), 1:38.632
6. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:38.638
7. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (HONDA), 1:38.714
8. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (DUCATI), 1:38.823
9. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (DUCATI), 1:39.464
10. Bradley SMITH, UK (YAMAHA), 1:39.491
11. Danilo PETRUCCI, Italy (DUCATI), 1:39.789
12. Scott REDDING, UK (HONDA), 1:39.825
Combined Qualifying Results:
1. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:37.910
2. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (HONDA), 1:38.300
3. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (DUCATI), 1:38.468
4. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:38.539
5. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), 1:38.632
6. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:38.638
7. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (HONDA), 1:38.714
8. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (DUCATI), 1:38.823
9. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (DUCATI), 1:39.464
10. Bradley SMITH, UK (YAMAHA), 1:39.491
11. Danilo PETRUCCI, Italy (DUCATI), 1:39.789
12. Scott REDDING, UK (HONDA), 1:39.825
13. Hector BARBERA, Spain (DUCATI), 1:39.569
14. Maverick VIÑALES, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:39.603
15. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (APRILIA), 1:39.612
16. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (HONDA), 1:39.866
17. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (HONDA), 1:39.974
18. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (HONDA), 1:40.025
19. Stefan BRADL, Germany (FORWARD YAMAHA), 1:40.166
20. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (HONDA), 1:40.177
21. Loris BAZ, France (FORWARD YAMAHA), 1:40.280
22. Jack MILLER, Australia (HONDA), 1:40.365
23. Mike DI MEGLIO, France (DUCATI), 1:40.817
24. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (ART-APRILIA), 1:41.108
25. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (APRILIA), 1:41.273
More, from a press release issued by Movistar Yamaha:
Lorenzo Stuns with Record Jerez Pole
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP‘s Jorge Lorenzo again stamped his authority on the Jerez circuit today, setting a new pole position record and leaving everyone in his wake. Teammate Valentino Rossi qualified one row behind him, taking fifth.
Jerez de la Frontera (Spain), 2nd May 2015
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo continued his stunning return to form today, dominating the time sheets again at the Circuito de Jerez de la Frontera and setting a new pole position record. Teammate Valentino Rossi left it to the last lap to make his move, securing fifth on the grid for tomorrow‘s Gran Premio de España.
After ruling the standings yesterday, Lorenzo continued his strong and consistent pace right from the outset of today‘s scorching hot 15 minute qualifying session. In typically style, he was the first to leave the pits to be guaranteed an empty racetrack. He moved straight to the top of the standing with his first flying lap, a 1‘38.497, before immediately returning to the pits for a fresh set of rubber with over nine minutes remaining.
A minute later he was back and ready to put the hammer down. He extended his lead with another fastest time of 1‘38.234, but still had some margin left. With just under four minutes left the local hero had a second stop at his box, before starting his final run with less than two minutes on the clock. Having led the entire Q2 session, he saved the best for last when he ended the session by dropping 0,210s under the old pole position record with a spectacular 1‘37.910 lap to secure pole and send a clear message ahead of tomorrow‘s race.
Rossi had a more challenging qualifying. Leaving the pits right behind his teammate, he took fourth on his first hot lap with a 1‘39.179, before dropping three places. As the Doctor was also on a three-stint strategy, he quickly made his way back to the pits to start his second run with a fresh rear tyre and eight minutes remaining.
The nine-time World Champion posted a 1‘38.717 lap to take sixth before, with over four minutes left, he came in for a second time. He returned to the track one and a half minutes later for a final stint. His last last-minute flying lap of 1‘38.632 saw him jump two places up the timesheets from seventh to a fifth place grid start, 0.722 from pole.
JORGE LORENZO
A lot of people said that I had a crisis and I was down, it was one of my worst moments, but just two days later I rode this impressive lap time. That shows that in racing you can‘t say things like “this guy is down, he‘s finished” because the next day he‘s going to be at the front. The opposite is true too, you can‘t say you‘re the best, because the next day you‘re at the back, so we have to be humble and work to take profit of the opportunities. We arrived here with everything being fine and we took profit of it every session. Setting the new pole position record is unbelievable. I rode many impressive lap times in my career, but this one is very special. A 1‘37.9 with these temperatures is very impressive and I am very satisfied. Marc will be strong tomorrow as always and the Ducati’s too, but the race is going to be another story. However our pace is very good and I feel very comfortable with the softer tyre when it‘s dropping.
VALENTINO ROSSI
This qualifying was not so bad, because we improved one position in the last stint. I had to decide which front tyre to use and maybe I made a mistake. I continued with the soft, but for the second stint the second rear tyre had an issue on the right, so I think I could have done a little bit better. Starting from the second row is not so bad for tomorrow. I am especially happy because yesterday was quite difficult. Today we improved the bike a lot, but we are still not at the top.
MASSIMO MEREGALLI
TEAM DIRECTOR
We couldn‘t ask for more from Jorge today. He was very fast and rode an incredible lap time. He has been on the pace and consistent this entire weekend and it proves he is very focused and ready for the race. We need to improve Valentino‘s setting a little, so he can be fast and consistent in the last sector. We just need to make some final adjustments during the warm up tomorrow, but then we will be ready to fight for the front. It‘s very difficult to overtake here, so it‘s very important that we‘re starting from the first two rows. It‘s going to be a hot race, not only because of the weather, but also because of the racing action.
More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:
Front row start for Andrea Iannone in Spanish GP qualifying with third quickest time at Jerez de la Frontera. Dovizioso to start from row 3 with eighth quickest time.
Andrea Iannone produced a fine performance in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez de la Frontera, the Italian putting his Desmosedici GP15 on the front row, from where he will start the fourth round of the season alongside Lorenzo and Marquez.
The Ducati Team man from Vasto in southern Italy had finished the third free practice session in the morning in eighth place, thus earning direct access to Q2, while in the pre-qualifying FP4 run he proved he had established a good pace on the Andalusian track by topping the timesheets.
His team-mate Andrea Dovizioso did not have such a good day, and he could only go eighth quickest in qualifying. Andrea will start round 4 of the championship from the third row.
In the morning the rider from Forlì was able to notch up fifth time during FP3, which put him directly into Q2, and he also finished FP4 in third place.
Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team #29) – 1’38.468 (3rd)
“I am very pleased to start from the front row. It is never easy to get into this position, because all the riders are trying to push to their limit, but we succeeded in doing it again after getting on the front row in Argentina and it is a really important result because tomorrow it will be essential to start from the front. Probably we were unable to get the best out of our potential in qualifying, but I believe that in any case we have a good pace and so I think I can do a good race tomorrow.”
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1’38.823 (8th)
“Unfortunately we did not find a good pace and now we still have to work a bit more in view of the race. We are actually not that badly off, but we have to improve if we want to be able to fight for the podium tomorrow. My qualifying lap was not perfect and it just might have been possible to get onto the second row: it’s a pity because a row 2 start is important here at Jerez. In any case now we have to understand where to improve and try something different in tomorrow morning’s warm-up.”
More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda:
Marquez earns courageous front row despite injury
Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez battled through the pain barrier caused by his broken little finger and netted a front row spot for tomorrow’s twenty seven lap race, starting in second. Teammate Hiroshi Aoyama will start from the 6th row in 16th place.
Temperatures rose again today in Andalusia to 31ºC and the Jerez track hit 48ºC. In this afternoon’s FP4, Marc had a small crash in the first turn – losing the front – but escaped unhurt. The team worked hard to have both bikes ready for qualifying and Marc was able to make the most of the 15 minute session. He recorded his time of 1’38.300 on his final flying lap, placing him second on the grid. Hiroshi gradually improved throughout the day and took 16th on the grid with his time of 1’39.866 also on his final flying lap.
Marc Marquez
2ND 1’38.300
“We knew it would be hard work to get onto the front row. That was the goal and we succeeded, so I am very happy about that, but we also know that tomorrow will be a difficult race and it will be hard to finish the 27 laps. On the other hand, today I was able to ride without painkillers and tomorrow I will be using them. We had prepared three sets of tyres to use in the qualifying session, however, after the crash, I preferred not to push things and we used just the two – but we could not make it onto pole.”
Hiroshi Aoyama
16TH 1’39.866
“We tried something different in the setup today but this morning we went in the wrong direction. Then this afternoon we changed things and I felt better on the bike again and was able to go faster. In qualifying we used the softer tyres and although I made a small mistake I still improved my lap time and took 16th on the grid, which is better than yesterday. I am confident with our pace for race distance as I feel better on the harder tyre so we will see how the conditions are tomorrow.”
More, from a press release issued by CWM LCR Honda:
CRUTCHLOW TAKES SEVENTH SPOT ON JEREZ GRID
Cal Crutchlow qualified in seventh place for the Spanish Grand Prix after another encouraging day for the CWM LCR Honda rider at a sun-soaked Jerez de la Frontera circuit.
Just as he did on Friday, the Briton went third fastest in Saturday morning’s free practice session. He was fractionally slower in the Q2 session where he was hampered by a front tyre issue. However, he was still the second quickest Honda rider on the track, trailing only world champion Marc Marquez who is second on the grid, behind pole-sitter Jorge Lorenzo.
Crutchlow – who has been suffering with flu symptoms this week – revealed his physical condition had improved on Saturday and believes the team are capable of a challenging for the top positions in Sunday’s race.
Cal Crutchlow #35 (7th – 1’38.714)
“Today went well, although I was disappointed with the qualifying position but I felt we chose the wrong front tyre for these conditions. It was one of those things and we have to look forward to tomorrow because I think our pace is quite good and I’m optimistic about the finishing position. Hopefully we can have a good race.
“My physical condition is a little bit better today and hopefully will continue to improve tomorrow. I hope to improve my feeling with the bike and then we will work hard as a team and see if we can get a positive result tomorrow.”
More, from a press release issued by CWM LCR Honda:
MILLER TARGETS MORE IMPROVEMENT AT JEREZ
Jack Miller qualified in 22nd position for the Spanish Grand Prix at a scorching Jerez de la Frontera and acknowledged afterwards that he was still trying to adapt to riding the Spanish circuit on a MotoGP bike.
The Australian – who started last year’s Moto3 race from pole – proved competitive in Saturday morning’s free practice as he went quicker than former world champion Nicky Hayden.
But he had to settle for a final position of 22nd on the grid, just over two seconds off pole pace, and revealed the team would be working hard before Sunday’s race to try and resolve some rear grip issues.
Jack Miller #43 (22nd – 1’40.365)
“We’ve been struggling all weekend with the bike, trying to get rear grip and we’ve not quite managed it yet, but we’re working hard. Last week we started 21st and this week 22nd which is not where I want to be, but we’re struggling a little bit on these European tracks. It’s difficult on these tight tracks with not much grip.
“It’s not going to be an easy race, but we’ve shown that we’ve been strong in the latter half of races so we’ll try to make sure we can do that again tomorrow. But it’s a hard track on a MotoGP bike, we’re trying to adapt and we’re not too far away, just over two seconds.
“We’ve got a couple more plans to try before warm-up tomorrow and we’ll see what we can do. The race is going to be hot and long so we’ve got to prepare ourselves for that and hopefully we’ll still have some tyre at the end of it.”
More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office:
UPS AND DOWNS FOR TEAM SUZUKI ECSTAR AT JEREZ
Qualifying at the Circuito de Jerez saw both Team SUZUKI ECSTAR riders suffer the ups and downs of motorcycle racing during today’s sessions while trying to improve their performance and fight for the best positions on the grid for tomorrow’s fourth round of the MotoGP™ World Championship.
Aleix Espargaro started the day with a very consistent pace, putting him towards the top of the time sheets, finally ending FP3 in fourth place with a best lap of 1m38.653s, more than six-tenths-of-a-second better than his best from yesterday. In Q2 he struggled a little finding the perfect set-up for his attack on a final grid position and this was made more difficult because of the hot weather that made the track very slippery. Qualifying ended for him with sixth place on the grid – and a second-row start – with a best lap in qualifying of 1m38.638s.
Maverick Viñales worked hard to finalise his GSX-RR’s set-up and to best-learn how to adapt his riding style to the Suzuki around the Jerez track. He was consistently in the top-10 for the whole morning’s session, even if this was not enough to give him direct access to Q2. His FP3 session ended with a 1m39.196s lap that gave him 11th place and only a 0.045s gap from 10th place. His attempt in Q1 was just enough to make the cut and he was scheduled for second place up until the second intermediate, but a mistake at the last corner took him out of the fight for the top-12. Eventually, his qualifying time was 1m39.603s which puts him in 14th place on the grid.
Davide Brivio – Team Manager:
“I think after Argentina Aleix has been used to better results and maybe we were expecting something more from today in qualifying, but at the end of the day we must say that the conditions were very hard with a very hot track which effects grip and we still need to improve when it comes to the bike’s set up, not only for him but for both riders. Maybe both of them couldn’t exploit the qualifying session to its best. It’s a pity that Maverick couldn’t get into Q2 but we have to say that he has improved his approach to qualifying and he is getting better and better in using and managing the soft tyre. Looking to tomorrow, we know that Aleix will start quickly from the second-row, which is good, while Maverick will have a tougher race as he comes up from 14th. We still want to try little improvements on both their GSX-RRs to see if we can give them both even more confidence and performance.”
Aleix Espargaro:
“Of course sixth place was not my objective, as I expected a better position, but thinking about the race we are in a good place overall. The race will be tough because it is very hot and how it effects this bike is that it moves around a lot. It won’t be easy but we want to try as hard as we can. We still lack a final decision about the tyres for the race; today we tested both and the difference is not so evident, therefore we have to analyse the data and opt for the more-consistent tyre out of the overall choice.”
Maverick Viñales:
“I’m quite disappointed because I made a mistake at the last corner of my final lap in Q1 that prevented me entering Q2. It’s a pity because I was not far from the fastest rider and the lap-time was good overall. I think starting from 14th place will be hard but I’ll try to do as much as I can to recover. In FP4 we did some testing for overall consistent pace and we are pretty satisfied. Let’s see what happens.”
More, from a press release issued by Aspar Team:
POWER ELECTRONICS riders place seventeenth and eighteenth for Spanish GP
Eugene Laverty and Nicky Hayden set for race at Jerez in tough conditions, and battle with rear grip issues
Qualifying at Jerez on Saturday decided the grid for the fourth round of the MotoGP World Championship. No doubt the man in form this weekend so far is Jorge Lorenzo, and the Spaniard has topped almost every session of the Spanish GP so far. He took his first pole of the season today, fending off challenges from Andrea Iannone and Marc Márquez in the closing stages with a perfect lap. He left his rivals almost four tenths behind. The Espargaró brothers, Iannone, Valentino Rossi and Márquez are all likely to pose him problems tomorrow, as will the stifling heat and the effect it can produce on tyres.
The second day in Jerez began strangely for Eugene Laverty, who suffered a crash in the penultimate free practice and, immediately afterwards, had a bird fly into his bike. The Northern Irishman did not lose his composure and in the final free practice session he completed a long run. This helped him to improve his feelings with the front, but not with the rear. Overall he was happy with the setup of his bike, but is still looking for more rear grip. Laverty has set a target of scoring points for the first time this season, starting from seventeenth position.
Nicky Hayden had to start from scratch on Saturday, having completely lost his good feeling from Friday in the first session of the day. The American rider used his second bike to return to yesterday’s setup, and felt more secure in qualifying. A lack of grip through the fast corners is proving a hindrance, but Hayden hopes to overcome this tomorrow as he starts from eighteenth.
17th Eugene Laverty 1.39.974: “The day started a little eventfully with a crash in the middle of free practice. Then, in the same session, a bird hit my bike and broke the bubble. It was a pretty heavy hit. In the final practice session we did a long run of twelve laps, about half race distance. The feeling was quite positive. The problem with these temperatures is that after a few laps our safety is compromised, because I lose grip on the rear. I’m skidding a lot and I cannot stop the bike well. Fortunately, we are in better shape than in Argentina, but we still suffered a lot. Luckily, this is our only setback, and the rest of the bike is working well. This morning after the crash we found some very satisfactory solutions with the front end. I am sure that we will have a hard race because of the conditions, but our main objective will be to push hard and try to pick up points.”
18th Nicky Hayden 1.40.025: “This weekend is definitely harder for us than we expected. Yesterday afternoon we found a good way to take things, but today we seem to have taken a step back in the final free practice sessions. So we went back to the setup we had before, I changed my bike and in qualifying I felt more comfortable. Fortunately we were able to improve in the areas we expected, and mainly we gained grip. Today we learned a lot; in the qualifying session I had the best feeling of the weekend so far, which will have to confirm tomorrow. We still have to improve our line through the fast corners, which if we had done so today would have taken us into the 1’39 target we had for today. It will be a tough race tomorrow, we will have to fight hard against our rivals and some harsh conditions. I hope we can score a few points.”
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
Jorge Lorenzo sets new lap record to claim Jerez pole
Lorenzo produced the fastest ever lap by a motorcycle around the Circuito de Jerez to take his first pole of the season.
Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo sent the Spanish fans into rapture by setting a 1’37.910, the only time anyone has ever been under the 1’38 mark on two wheels at the Spanish circuit, beating Marc Marquez’s previous record from last year by over two-tenths of a second.
Despite track temperatures reaching over 50 degrees the Spaniard, showing renewed determination in Jerez, led from the outset and never looked like missing out on pole. Marc Marquez will start from second on the grid after riding through the pain once more with his broken finger to finish 0.390s behind Lorenzo.
Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone (+0.558s) outshone his teammate to start from the front row, while Pol Espargaro was the leading satellite rider on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 M1 and will start from the head of the second row.
Current Championship leader Valentino Rossi (+0.722s) will start the race from fifth, with the Team Suzuki Ecstar GSX-RR of Aleix Espargaro (+0.728s) only six-thousandths of a second further back in 6th.
CWM LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow heads the third row in front of the second Ducati Team GP 15 of Andrea Dovizioso and Pramac Racings Yonny Hernandez.
Bradley Smith completes the top ten, ahead of Scott Redding (11th) and Danilo Petrucci (12th).
Earlier it was the Pramac Racing duo of Petrucci and Hernandez who made it through from Q1, while Hector Barbera on the Avintia Racing Ducati will start the race from 13th on the grid as the leading Open class rider.
Check out the full MotoGP™ Qualifying results and grid, the race is due to start at 14:00 local time on Sunday in Jerez.