FIM MotoGP World Championship Silverstone, England August 30, 2013 Free Practice Two Results: MotoGP (all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 2:02.734 2. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (HONDA), 2:02.958 3. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 2:03.192 4. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (HONDA), 2:03.463 5. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), 2:03.480 6. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (YAMAHA), 2:03.505 7. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (DUCATI), 2:03.658 8. Bradley SMITH, UK (YAMAHA), 2:03.750 9. Stefan BRADL, Germany (HONDA), 2:03.784 10. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (DUCATI), 2:04.089 11. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (ART-Aprilia), 2:04.145 12. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (ART-Aprilia), 2:04.476 13. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (DUCATI), 2:05.052 14. Randy DE PUNIET, France (ART-Aprilia), 2:05.069 15. Hector BARBERA, Spain (FTR-Kawasaki), 2:05.266 16. Michele PIRRO, Italy (DUCATI), 2:05.438 17. Colin EDWARDS, USA (FTR-Kawasaki), 2:05.484 18. Claudio CORTI, Italy (FTR-Kawasaki), 2:05.506 19. Danilo PETRUCCI, Italy (IODA/SUTER-BMW), 2:05.657 20. Michael LAVERTY, UK (PBM-Aprilia), 2:05.977 21. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (FTR-Kawasaki), 2:06.038 22. Bryan STARING, Australia (FTR-Honda), 2:07.854 23. Lukas PESEK, Czech Republic (IODA/SUTER-BMW), 2:09.209 Moto2 (all using Honda engines and Dunlop tires): 1. Johann ZARCO, France (SUTER), 2:08.209 2. Takaaki NAKAGAMI, Japan (KALEX), 2:08.240 3. Thomas LUTHI, Switzerland (SUTER), 2:08.340 4. Esteve RABAT, Spain (KALEX), 2:08.380 5. Scott REDDING, UK (KALEX), 2:08.506 6. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (KALEX), 2:08.517 7. Jordi TORRES, Spain (SUTER), 2:08.607 8. Danny KENT, UK (TECH 3), 2:08.705 9. Dominique AEGERTER, Switzerland (SUTER), 2:08.776 10. Xavier SIMEON, Belgium (KALEX), 2:08.987 11. Nicolas TEROL, Spain (SUTER), 2:09.058 12. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (SPEED UP), 2:09.204 13. Marcel SCHROTTER, Germany (KALEX), 2:09.360 14. Mattia PASINI, Italy (SPEED UP), 2:09.403 15. Simone CORSI, Italy (SPEED UP), 2:09.476 16. Gino REA, UK (FTR), 2:09.488 17. Toni ELIAS, Spain (KALEX), 2:09.492 18. Sandro CORTESE, Germany (KALEX), 2:09.594 19. Mika KALLIO, Finland (KALEX), 2:09.711 20. Julian SIMON, Spain (KALEX), 2:09.903 Moto3 (all on Dunlop tires): 1. Maverick VIÑALES, Spain (KTM), 2:14.615 2. Miguel OLIVEIRA, Portugal (MAHINDRA), 2:14.853 3. Jonas FOLGER, Germany (KALEX KTM), 2:14.886 4. Luis SALOM, Spain (KTM), 2:15.002 5. Alex MARQUEZ, Spain (KTM), 2:15.155 6. Alex RINS, Spain (KTM), 2:15.378 7. Alexis MASBOU, France (FTR HONDA), 2:15.475 8. Niccolò ANTONELLI, Italy (FTR HONDA), 2:15.904 9. Jack MILLER, Australia (FTR HONDA), 2:16.423 10. Isaac VIÑALES, Spain (FTR HONDA), 2:16.581 More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Factory MotoGP Team: Superb Start for Lorenzo at Silverstone Silverstone (Great Britain), 30th August 2013 Defending world champion Jorge Lorenzo made a strong start to this weekend’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone in today’s two free practice sessions. The Mallorcan wrapped up day one as the fastest rider overall, 0.224 seconds clear of closest rival Marc Marquez. His fastest time of 2’02.734 seconds takes him underneath the fastest race lap of last year’s Grand Prix, set by himself. Lorenzo led the entire second session and completed the morning practice in second, 0.219 seconds behind Marquez. Valentino Rossi made big steps forward over the course of today. The Italian nine-time world champion was 0.866 seconds off the fastest lap in the morning session in sixth place with a 2’04.682 lap. Some hard work over the day saw him improve by over a second to complete the afternoon practice in fifth with a 2’03.480 second lap. Jorge Lorenzo 1st / 2’02.734 / 18 laps “I started very fast because I improved almost one second and a half in the beginning; I was surprised with the improvement. At this track, when the rear tyre starts to drop it’s very difficult to keep the same pace so we have to work hard to make a constant bike that works over long distance. I’m satisfied because I think we have the possibility to fight for the victory this time.” Valentino Rossi 5th / 2’03.480 / 18 laps “I enjoyed today a lot, this track is great. If you are able to ride at the limit and have a good feeling with the bike, it’s very funny because it’s very fast, the track is so wide you go a lot of time at full throttle. I’m quite happy with the first day, especially because in the last two years I suffered a lot here in Silverstone. We made a good step, but we still have to work to find the right setting to have a good balance form the beginning to the end of the race. I’m not so bad in braking and entry but I have some problems in other areas so we have to work. We modified the setting from Brno because in the last two races I wasn’t strong enough.” Yamaha Factory Racing Wilco Zeelenberg Team Manager “A very good first day. First of all because the weather is very stable and it’s a nice temperature compared with last year which helps the lap times. The pace is already there so it looks like we have to make some small adjustments but the bike feels good and we are looking forward to qualifying tomorrow.” Yamaha Factory Racing Massimo Meregalli Team Director “After a few Grand Prix we start this weekend in a really different way. We have been really fast since the beginning and the most important thing is the pace is really good. Both riders are quite satisfied with their set up, we know that we have to improve and we know which area to do it in. We also tested both tyre choices so we have completed a lot of work. We are pretty focused and we are very optimistic about the race.” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: Solid start for Repsol Honda team at sunny Silverstone After a slightly cloudy start to the British GP, Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez found himself at the top of the time sheets in FP1 with a time of 2’03.816 with teammate Dani Pedrosa in 4th on 2’04.431. In the afternoon’s FP2 session, the weather slowly improved and the times dropped by over a second as the air temperature rose from 17ºC to 21ºC and the track temperature from 23ºC to 34ºC. Marc recorded a fastest lap of 2’02.958 on lap 13 of 17, placing him 2nd fastest for the day and Dani, who made use of the variable conditions to test both the hard and rear Bridgestone tyre, was just behind him in 3rd with a time of 2’03.192 taken on lap 9 of 16. Marc Marquez 2nd 2’02.958 “I’m happy, because right from the start I felt pretty good. I was feeling a little uneasy about this circuit when I arrived, because last year I struggled a bit here and didn’t know what was in store for me on the MotoGP bike. I tried to stay calm and take it slowly and, in the end, I felt very comfortable on the bike. Jorge might be a little stronger than us so far, but we are closer to his times than we had expected. Tomorrow we will continue working in the same way to further improve the setup” Dani Pedrosa 3rd 2’03.192 “Today the weather was good and we were able to test the tyre range out in the early laps. Normally here at Silverstone it’s quite cold and we don’t get a chance to try the hard compound, but today we were able to do that. There wasn’t much in the way of a positive feel with that compound, because we lacked rear grip, but nevertheless we got some fairly good times with it. The goal for tomorrow is to improve grip and clock some faster laps” More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Crutchlow and Smith satisfied with encouraging start on home soil The biggest race of the 2013 MotoGP World Championship for Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team riders Cal Crutchlow and Bradley Smith got off to an encouraging start at the historic Silverstone track this afternoon. Crutchlow demonstrated his determination to be the first British rider since 2000 to finish on the podium in the British Grand Prix when he made a flying start this morning to end FP1 in third position behind current series leader Marc Marquez and reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo. Lap times tumbled in hotter conditions this afternoon and while home crowd hero Crutchlow was able to knock over 1.5s off his best pace, he slipped down the leaderboard into sixth, though he was less than 0.1s behind Alvaro Bautista in fourth. Roared on by a large home crowd soaking up glorious late summer sunshine, Crutchlow was hoping to be higher up the rankings and closer to the fastest pace but he is optimistic that he is yet to unleash the full potential of his YZR-M1 machine having experimented with a range of settings in both 45-minute sessions. Smith’s first experience of the long and technical Silverstone layout on a MotoGP machine saw him focus on the set-up of his YZR-M1 machine to cope with super fast sections and rapid changes of direction that make the British venue one of the toughest but most spectacular challenges on the schedule. The 22-year-old was ninth fastest this morning and less than 0.3s outside of the top six and like Crutchlow he was able to make big progress in FP2. He improved from a 2.05.108 to a 2.03.750 and that major improvement promoted him into eighth on combined times and reduced the gap to the best pace to just over one second after he was able to successfully evaluate soft and hard tyre options for both the front and rear today. In both sessions Smith set his best lap on his last lap, the rookie impressively building up his speed throughout to boost his confidence that he can battle for a top six in Sunday’s 20-lap race. Cal Crutchlow 6th 2.03.505 – 33 laps : “Firstly it was fantastic to see such a big crowd here at Silverstone today. The support from the British fans always gives you a boost and it was a special feeling to see so many here on the first day. It hasn’t been an easy start to my home race but I am sure we can make some big improvements. This morning wasn’t too bad and I was satisfied to be in the top three but it was a bit more a struggle in FP2. We were trying the bike with different settings and at the moment I’ve not made a decision on which is the direction to go. I need to improve in two sectors to be faster and more competitive and one area we need to work on is front-end grip because I had too much wheelie. We will have a good look at the data tonight to make sure I’m stronger tomorrow.” Bradley Smith 8th 2.03.750 – 34 laps : “It was great to ride in front of my home crowd today and the amount of people here was amazing. The British fans have always given me great support and today was no exception. It was a positive day because I found a good setting this morning and then it was a case of tweaking it to suit this track. For the first time all season I have tried all the tyre options for the front and rear in one day, so we have evaluated a lot and got a clear way to follow for the rest of the weekend. This track is certainly designed for MotoGP. It is so fast and open that you really get to explore the bike’s full potential. I will enjoy riding the YZR-M1 this weekend and as I get faster I am sure it will be even more fun.” More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing: Bright sunshine welcomed the first day of free practice to the Silverstone circuit, which is hosting the third and final round of a summer tripleheader. Just a few days after the last GP, held in the Czech Republic, Andrea Iannone used today’s pair of sessions for “reconnaissance,” as he is determined to continue the good work done with the DesmosediciGP13 during this busy period. His best time of the day was a 2’02.052”, posted on the thirteenth lap of FP2, putting the Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team rider in thirteenth position in the combined times. Work now continues in the garage in preparation for tomorrow’s final free practice session and qualifying. Andrea Iannone – Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team “Unfortunately, not being able to rest doesn’t help, but I’m pleased because I’m better than in Brno. My shoulder didn’t hurt too much, and I haven’t taken any medicine today. We’ll keep evaluating the situation over the next two days, and maybe I’ll take some painkillers on Sunday, but if so, only in very low doses. As for the bike, we’re not going too badly. This track is very long and wide, and knowing how to interpret the lines is essential in order to better be fast. It’s so easy to lose a second, so being a little more than a second behind the other Ducati riders doesn’t demoralized me too much. Now I have to figure out how much is the bike and where have I to improve my riding, as it’s possible that I still have to learn the ideal lines for this track. I was slower this morning than in the afternoon, when I improved by about one second without making too many changes to the bike. I’m okay for tomorrow. We’ll look at the data, and I hope that the few things we plan on changing will help me.” More, from another press release issued by Pramac Racing: Bright sunshine welcomed the first day of free practice to the Silverstone circuit, which is hosting the third and final round of a summer tripleheader. Just a few days after the last GP, held in the Czech Republic, Michele Pirro, substitute-rider for Ben Spies, used today’s pair of sessions for “reconnaissance,” as he is determined to find the feeling with the Texan’s bike. His best time of the day was a 2’05.438”, posted on the fourteenth lap of FP2, putting the Ignite Pramac Racing Team rider in sixteenth position in the combined times. Work now continues in the garage in preparation for tomorrow’s final free practice session and qualifying. Michele Pirro – Ignite Pramac Racing Team “I’m still struggling with the feeling with the front, and I can’t brake as I’d like. I used a new tyre on the second bike, and the lap time improved just a little, so I’m sure we can do more for tomorrow. Unfortunately I can’t feel the bike in changes of direction, and I’m not confident on corner entry. The front doesn’t seem to be planted on the ground and I don’t feel like I can brake as I’d like, as I don’t have the grip that I need. Looking at the data, it’s strange to see that at Misano, I brake where the others do, whereas here I start about 50 meters earlier. I’m not fast because I don’t want to take risks, but of course I lose time. It will be another tough race but, as always, I’ll do everything possible in order to get satisfactory results.” More, from a press release issued by NGM Mobile Forward Racing: Edwards and Corti take it step by step at Silverstone The Hertz British Grand Prix welcomes NGM Mobile Forward Racing riders Colin Edwards and Claudio Corti at the Silverstone circuit. The American started off Friday at Silverstone positively, keeping the momentum from the last two races. Edwards feels good on the bike but knows that him and his team need to work on the final touches before they are ready for tomorrow’s qualifying. The Italian riders on the other hand did feel the “side effects” from the Brno crash and admits to have struggled a bit during the first few laps of the morning session. Corti remains confident and believes his FTR – Kawasaki bike will be ready to be competitive here at Silverstone after going over today’s data and making the modifications that his team has already in mind. Colin Edwards “Obviously coming off our last couple of weekends I was excited to be in Silverstone, I got a lot of fans in England. Everything started out okay this morning; everything seemed to work pretty good. We played around with the front fork springs because we were on a softer front tire than what we would normally use with this weather conditions. This afternoon we went out on the hard front and had to go back to our first configurations because of the matching frequencies. It was not as easy as I wanted it to be today, I would have liked to be a little bit quicker, I think the hard tire some of the guys used might be better. We have some ideas to improve the bike for tomorrow. We will be trying the hard tire tomorrow morning and we will go from there. I am quite happy with it.” Claudio Corti “Today it was my first time on the bike after the Brno crash and I can’t deny that this morning I struggled a little bit. My initial struggle due to the crash and the setup choices that we made for the morning session made me go slower than I expected. The afternoon session was much better, we have made an important step from the morning session improving considerably my lap times. I do struggle because I get tired but the Clinica mobile guys who have been taking really good care of me these past few days. I would like to say thank you to them, without them it would have been even harder for me today. We will focus on finishing to setup both the bike and myself for tomorrow to be more competitive. We are not far from the fast CRTs.” Sergio Verbena, MotoGP Technical Director “This morning we started off the first FP really well with Colin, we improved his lap times compared to the ones he had from last year. Claudio on the other had and some difficulties. In the afternoon Claudio made a step forward, improving his lap times by 1.5 seconds, Colin also improved his lap times by almost 1 second. We are still far from the fastest CRT; we have a bit of a problem in the change of direction. We have to try to find the best possible solution in order to be ready for tomorrow’s qualifying and provide our riders to be in the best possible conditions to be able to fight for best CRT.” More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: Dovizioso, Hayden seventh and tenth in Silverstone free practice Day one of the British Grand Prix took place in warm temperatures and under sunny skies at the Silverstone Circuit, and the MotoGP riders enjoyed the ideal conditions as they tackled the long, fast circuit during today’s two free-practice sessions. It was Andrea Dovizioso’s first time on the track aboard the Ducati Desmosedici GP13, and the Italian was relatively pleased to post the seventh-best time of the day. His Ducati Team companion Nicky Hayden was tenth best, but the American feels that his potential may be better than the lap time indicates. Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team, 7th (2:03.658) “Riding this track is really nice—very difficult to find the right rhythm, but quite thrilling nonetheless. Doing good times is a challenge for us, as we have to be quite physical, which really isn’t the best way to ride in the race. Still, we were able to improve since this morning and I’m happy with the time we did. I managed to find a decent feeling during the session and to do a good time at the end. It’s certainly not fast enough for the race but we started well today.” Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team, 10th (2:04.089) “The conditions are very different from what we’ve had here in the past, and the track seems a lot faster. Silverstone is a really good track and I enjoyed it today. I also think we might be better off than we have been at the last few races, as the bike is working pretty well in some spots, even if the lap time doesn’t necessarily show that completely. The biggest thing holding me back at the moment is that it’s very harsh over the bumps, so we’ve still got to sort some stuff out.” More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: BRADL 9TH FASTEST AT BRITISH GP OPENING DAY Silverstone, 30 August: the premier class runners enjoyed blue skies and completely dry track in today’s first outing at Silverstone circuit which hosts the twelfth round of the calendar. Despite the good weather, LCR racer Stefan Bradl’s performance on the British soil was not brilliant with the 23-year-old occupying the 9th position (2’03.784). Stefan Bradl “Actually our performance does not look so good on the paper but it’s not that bad. Today we worked a lot on the bike to find some more rear grip and we found a small improvement in the afternoon session gaining some more traction control out of the corners. But, on the other side, we lose a bit in the entry of the curves because I struggle to get the bikes stopped in the right place. It’s not the best way to start the weekend but we are working hard with the data and we will try to be faster tomorrow”. More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Lorenzo shines in Friday practice at Silverstone Round 12: British MotoGP™ – Free Practice One & Two Silverstone, Friday 30 August 2013 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft & Medium. Rear: Soft, Medium-soft & Medium (Asymmetric) Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Soft (Main), Hard (Alternative) Weather: FP1 – Dry. Ambient 19-20°C; Track 25-28°C (Bridgestone measurement) FP2 – Dry. Ambient 22-23°C; Track 35-36°C (Bridgestone measurement) Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo was the quickest rider in today’s practice sessions at Silverstone as the reigning MotoGP™ champion sets out to score a second consecutive victory at the British Grand Prix. Lorenzo’s set his benchmark lap time of 2’02.734 on this third lap in Free Practice 2 to head the Repsol Honda duo of Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa who were second and third quickest today, setting times of 2’02.958 and 2’03.192 respectively. Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro was the quickest CRT rider on the first day of action at Silverstone, his best lap time of 2’04.145 placing him in eleventh place on the timesheets. Conditions this morning for FP1 were changeable, with alternating sunny and cloudy conditions resulting in the riders mainly using the softer slick options while getting to terms with the grip level of the circuit. The sunshine in the afternoon was more persistent, resulting in warmer track temperatures up to a top of 36°C in FP2. The warmer afternoon temperatures brought with it greater variation in tyre choice with all specification of slick tyre being used in FP2. Most riders were able to set their personal best lap times using the softer rear slick in conjunction with the harder front slick, though the more consistent performance and durability of the harder rear slick resulted in approximately half the riders evaluating this option in FP2. Weather conditions for tomorrow are predicted to be dry, yet slightly cooler than today with the next MotoGP™ session being FP3 at 955 local time (GMT +1). Masao Azuma – Chief Engineer, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department “Today was a positive day with dry weather in all the sessions, although the presence of cloud in the morning meant that riders preferred the softer slicks in FP1 in order to evaluate the grip level of the circuit. With the race being held later in the year, we decided for this year at Silverstone that we would change our front tyre allocation, offering front slick options one step harder than last year, changing to the soft and medium compounds. This change has worked very well as the harder front slick was a good option when track temperatures were warmer, while the softer option gave good warm-up performance in the morning. All rear slick options were tested today and we got positive feedback on them all and if we have dry weather tomorrow and for the race. It is possible that we will see a real mix of tyre combinations being used. Lap times for this stage of the weekend are quite quick and I anticipate that the existing pole position record could be broken if we have fine weather tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo was fastest as the Hertz British Grand Prix weekend began at Silverstone on Friday. The Yamaha Factory Racing rider and last year’s winner led championship leader Marc Marquez and his Repsol Honda Team companion Dani Pedrosa. Lorenzo led the way with his best effort of 2’02.734, two tenths up on Marquez whose last Silverstone victory came in the 125 class three years ago. Behind Pedrosa, the top five was rounded out by GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista – the 2012 pole-sitter – and Lorenzo’s teammate Valentino Rossi. Many of the riders, despite favourable weather conditions, said they needed to get used to the track’s occasionally bumpy nature, and adjust the bike’s mechanical set-up to cope better with it. Home favourite Cal Crutchlow was sixth, two places ahead of teammate Bradley Smith as the pair of Monster Yamaha Tech3 riders sandwiched Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso into seventh place, with his own teammate Nicky Hayden completing the top ten behind LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl. Aleix Espargaro was 11th for Power Electronics Aspar, leading the way in the CRT ranks from the ART machine of PBM’s Yonny Hernandez. Some of the riders managed to try most of the tyre combinations, with the majority already favouring the harder option front, bar Hayden, whilst the harder option rear seems like a viable option should temperatures stay the same, or rise. Dovizioso in particular said this was the first track this year where the difference between the two rear compounds was less, and could give teams two viable options. Away from the track, the Power Electronics Aspar team confirmed that it would be staying with Aprilia in MotoGP™ for the following year, with the Italian manufacturer set to bring a much-enhanced package to the plate. Whilst no decision has yet been made on which riders the team will have or what electronics package it will field, pneumatic valves, upgraded frame and a new gearbox are just some of the improvements fans will see next year. Moto2 France’s Johann Zarco went quickest as Moto2™ free practice continued at Silverstone on Friday afternoon. The Came IodaRacing Project rider set the leading pace from Italtrans Racing Team’s Takaaki Nakagami and Interwetten Paddock Moto2 Racing’s Tom Luthi, with championship leader Scott Redding fifth. Bringing the day’s best lap time down to 2’08.209, Zarco was just 31 thousandths of a second quicker than Nakagami, with Luthi a further tenth in arrears. Tuenti HP 40 pairing Tito Rabat and title contender Pol Espargaro were fourth and sixth, sandwiching local favourite Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team) into fifth place. There was trouble for Redding’s teammate and Brno winner Mika Kallio, however, as the Finn made a mistake into Village corner and slid into QMMF Racing Team’s Rafid Topan Sucipto; both riders went down but were equally both able to walk away. This marked Sucipto’s second incident of the day, as in Free Practice 1 he had collided with Tech3’s Louis Rossi and Technomag carXpert’s Randy Krummenacher in a three-way collision at Vale. Australian debutant Jason O’Halloran was 26th quickest for JiR Moto2, covering for Mike di Meglio who was injured last weekend. Moto3 With record Moto3™ pace having already been established at Silverstone on Friday morning, championship contender Maverick Viñales went quickest in the afternoon practice session. Amid dry but breezy conditions, the Team Calvo rider led the way from Mahindra Racing’s Miguel Oliveira and Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3’s Jonas Folger. It was championship leader and morning pace-setter Luis Salom who topped the timesheets for much of the afternoon, but a late flurry of lap times resulted in the Mallorcan being demoted to fourth position. Viñales led the way with his best lap time of 2’14.615, almost 1.4 seconds quicker than the fastest weekend lap time of 2012. Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Alex Marquez and Alex Rins completed the top six as the field attempted to avoid running wide at Club Corner, which has resulted in the removal of some lap times. Light drops of rain fell during the morning but these were very much forgotten as blue skies graced the Northamptonshire circuit later on. Leading British rider John McPhee (Caretta Technology – RTG) ended Day 1 in 17th position with wildcard entrants Wayne Ryan and Kyle Ryde respectively 32nd and 35th, both competing under the Racing Steps Foundation KRP banner.