FIM MotoGP World Championship

Circuito de Jerez, Spain

April 22, 2016

Free Practice Two Results (all on Michelin tires):

1. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:39.555

2. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (HONDA), 1:39.900

3. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:40.093

4. Hector BARBERA, Spain (DUCATI), 1:40.229

5. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), 1:40.282

6. Maverick VIÑALES, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:40.448

7. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (DUCATI), 1:40.737

8. Scott REDDING, UK (DUCATI), 1:40.860

9. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 1:40.925

10. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (DUCATI), 1:40.925

11. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (DUCATI), 1:41.017

12. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (DUCATI), 1:41.028

13. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (HONDA), 1:41.112

14. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:41.167

15. Stefan BRADL, Germany (APRILIA), 1:41.178

16. Bradley SMITH, UK (YAMAHA), 1:41.287

17. Loris BAZ, France (DUCATI), 1:41.320

18. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (APRILIA), 1:41.573

19. Michele PIRRO, Italy (DUCATI), 1:41.841

20. Jack MILLER, Australia (HONDA), 1:41.904

21. Tito RABAT, Spain (HONDA), 1:42.230

More, from a press release issued by Aprilia:

MOTOGP – FIRST DAY OF PRACTICE AT JEREZ

APRILIA IS ON THE TRACK WITH THE FIRST UPGRADES, INCLUDING AERODYNAMIC CHANGES, ON THE RS-GP

The first day of practice at Jerez de la Frontera marked the European début of the 2016 MotoGP season after the first race in Qatar and the two American rounds in Argentina and Texas. The Aprilia RS-GP made its first ever appearance in those races, proving itself well and demonstrating reliability and a solid technical foundation.

With the arrival of MotoGP in Europe, the technical development programme for the RS-GP begins in search of the best possible performance. Stefan Bradl also tried out the front aerodynamic fins on his Aprilia today on the track. Other changes involve the chassis and the electronics.

Both of the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini riders improved between the two sessions of the day.

The best result between the two riders went to Stefan Bradl who finished FP2 in 15th place with a time of 1’41.178 (almost a full second better than FP1), whereas Bautista finished in 18th with a time of 1’41.573 (also an improvement over his 1’42.140 of this morning). All of this in extremely compact rankings.

ALVARO BAUTISTA

“We found a track with very poor grip. Already this morning we worked hard to solve a spinning issue. We tried various solutions, but we still need to improve grip more at the rear. We can do a lot better, so it means we’ll have to work on the information we gathered in order to improve tomorrow, but especially to be ready for the race on Sunday”.

STEFAN BRADL

“We tried a lot of tyre solutions. It is a complicated situation, especially for the choice on the front. I cannot say that I’m at 100%. Lap times are not bad, but with a few changes to the bike’s setup we can improve more. We need to put together everything good that we found today, trying to find more grip at the rear and trying to improve the feeling with the front tyre. I also tried the wings and I must say that I can feel some benefits, although this is just a first impression”.

More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing:

#SpanishGP Scott ends up well (9th) a difficult Friday. Pirro finishes 19th

MotoGP heads to Europe after its debut in Qatar and first two overseas races in Argentina and Texas. On the Circuit of Jerez de la Frontera it was a difficult friday for Octo Pramac Yakhnich, as Scott Redding and Michele Pirro had to face lack of grip problems.

After having struggled in FP1 (14th time) in the afternoon Scott managed to overcome problems of grip with a fast final run in which he registered the 8th quickest lap-time (1’40.860, 9th in Friday’s combined standings) which gives great confidence ahead of Saturday’s qualifiers.

In Fp2 Michele Pirro managed to lower by seven-tenths of a second his crono of the morning but it was not enought to get close to the Top 10. The Ducati test rider who is replacing Danilo Petrucci, finisched his first day of activity at Jerez in 19th position with the time of 1’41.841

9th – SCOTT REDDING

1’40.860

I set the time and I am satisfied. But I really struggled to find feeling with the rear tire grip. Tomorrow we must try to increase performance on race pace. We have to think about Sunday. This is our first target. I am happy with the way we finished this difficult day. I must admit that in the middle of the FP2 I was lost we managed to set a good time and this gives me confidence for tomorrow.

19° – MICHELE PIRRO

1’41.841

It was a very difficult day because compared to the tests done on this circuit in November things went really worse. And this is something that we do not understand. The only certainty is that I have no grip, even in the straight. I can not go fast because I do not find speed even where the bike should give her best. We will try to work to understand how to solve this situation tomorrow.

More, from a press release issued by Dorna:

Jorge Lorenzo steals the show on Friday

There were a number of new parts introduced in FP2, but once again all eyes were focused on Jorge Lorenzo who led from Marquez and Aleix Espargaro.

Free Practice 1 had seen several upgrades and experimental parts from teams such as Movistar Yamaha MotoGP and the Repsol Honda Team. In Free Practice 2 yet more new parts were introduced as the MotoGP™ World Championship embraced winglets, at least one bike from each manufacturer running winglets in the second session. Aleix Espargaro’s (Team Suzuki Ecstar) GSX-RR had a total of six winglets with three small ones down each side of the fairing, Suzuki had planned to test them on Monday but Espargaro pushed to use them before. Stefan Bradl’s (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) RS-GP also had winglets fitted, looking very similar to the ones used by Yamaha and Ducati just under the front fairing.

Winglets are used by most teams to help reduce wheelie out of corners. In previous years wheelie was tamed by electronics, but with the new Magneti Marelli system a more robust solution was needed. Therefore a physical answer has been found with winglets. No two winglets are alike and each manufacturer is taking a slightly different approach to size and positioning.

Having stolen headlines in the build up to the weekend, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) again grabbed all the attention as he topped both Friday practice sessions. A 1’39.555 saw him end the opening day as one of just two riders able to drop below the 1’40 barrier. Lorenzo had also led Free Practice 1, able to improve his time by 0.7s in the second session to end 0.345s ahead of Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team). This weekend is all about Lorenzo looking for victory to try and close the 21-point gap to Marquez in the championship standings.

Marc Marquez, with winglets fitted, slid his way around the Jerez circuit in 1’39.900 to set the first sub 1’40 lap of the 2016 Gran Premio Red Bull de España. He would be bested by Lorenzo, the only other rider in the 1’39s, ending the day 0.345s back on the Majorcan. Although he was behind Lorenzo, Marquez’s improvement between the session was even more impressive as he dropped almost a full second off his time. With the lead in the championship, Marquez can afford to settle for the podium this weekend.

A late flying lap from Aleix Espargaro made it three different manufacturers inside the top three. The elder Espargaro brother is continuing to ride on a wave of confidence after his return to the top five in America. On paper the layout of the Jerez circuit should suit the Suzuki GSX-RR more than any of the previous circuits and Epsargaro’s early pace is certainly proving the prediction true. Like Marquez, Espargaro made major steps forward with his one lap pace in the second session as he improved his best time by 0.9s. His fastest time was set on a GSX-RR without winglets.

Once more it was Hector Barbera (Avintia Racing) who was the leading Ducati rider as he nestled into fourth, 0.674s from the top. The return to Europe has brought with it a change at the top, a number of new riders such as Barbera able to mix amongst the established order. Barbera continues to prove that there is life in the GP14.2, despite it being several seasons old.

Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) completed the top five, once again working tirelessly throughout the session as he again completed 20 laps. 0.727s separated Rossi from his teammate at the top of the timesheets, while the gap may be significant; the Italian has always been a rider able to improve come race day and is currently un-phased.

Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team), Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Yakhnich) and Eugene Laverty (Aspar Team MotoGP) rounded out the top ten. Pedrosa was the only rider unable to improve his time in FP2, 0.102s slower in the second session.

A number of big names were absent from the top ten on combined times and will have significant work to do on Saturday or risk having to fight through Q1. Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) struggled in both practice sessions, ending the day in 11th overall. Ducati revealed that their data from the test in November was of little use due to the changes to the Michelin tyres since then, causing Iannone to start almost from zero in Jerez.

Both the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 riders also had a difficult start to the Spanish GP, Pol Espargaro ending 14th with Bradley Smith a distant 16th and neither rider within a second and a half of Lorenzo’s time. Smith has been struggling for several rounds now and is eagerly awaiting the test on Monday to get some much needed track time to solve his issues. Meanwhile, Espargaro’s troubles have seemingly come out of the blue as the Spaniard had been strong in all three previous rounds. He’ll need to work hard overnight with his team or risk losing fourth place in the World Championship.

The MotoGP™ World Championship will be back out on Saturday for Free Practice 3 at 09:55 Local Time before the two part Qualifying battle starts at 14:10 Local Time.

More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

Dovizioso seventh and Iannone eleventh at the end of first day of free practice for Spanish GP at Jerez de la Frontera

Ducati Team riders Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone finished the first day of free practice for the Spanish Grand Prix in seventh and eleventh place respectively in the combined standings.

During both of today’s sessions, the two factory Ducati men complained about a lack of grip at the rear and, despite improving their times in the afternoon’s FP2 run, they are still not entirely satisfied with the set-up of their Desmosedici GP machines.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team # 04) – 1’40.737 (7th)

“Today we found the conditions a bit unusual, and we still have to get used to the behaviour of the tyres, seeing as this is what makes the biggest difference. In the afternoon we tried a different front tyre and the bike’s behaviour improved. The rear tyre is still hard to manage however and we must continue to work to improve traction. When we are on used tyres, we are closer to the leaders, but we’re still lacking the pace to stay with them”.

Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team #29) – 1’41.017 (11th)

“Today the situation was rather complicated, and we struggled a bit in setting up the bike. We will have to continue to work and try and improve the way the bike behaves, and above all find more traction at the rear because the lack of grip is really penalizing me. Together with the team, we will try and understand what to do to resolve the problem, and I will also try and adapt my riding style to be more efficient tomorrow”.

More, from a press release issued by Movistar Yamaha:

LORENZO FLIES TO FIRST PLACE IN SUNNY SPANISH FREE PRACTICE SESSIONS

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP‘s Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi bring on the heat at a sunny Circuito de Jerez as they prepare for an action-filled Gran Premio de España on Sunday. The team-mates found solutions to improve their settings early on in the first free practice session and carried forward their impressive pace in the afternoon to take first and fifth place respectively in the combined timings.

Jerez de la Frontera (Spain), 22nd April 2016

The first European round of the 2016 MotoGP World Championship got underway on the Jerez track today with the first two free practice sessions ahead of Sunday‘s Gran Premio de España.

Despite the search for rear grip and an anti-wheelie solution, Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi were both quick to find a very competitive pace. The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP duo put their names at the top of the time sheets as soon as they hit the Spanish track, making clear they mean business this weekend.

Lorenzo was cheered on by his home fans as he rode his YZR-M1 around the Circuito de Jerez, one of his favourite tracks. Initially in fourth place, the Spaniard proved that the combination of the tight and twisty nature of the circuit, the nimbleness of the Yamaha and his ever smooth riding style are unbeatable when he puts the hammer down. He spurred on his Yamaha in the final minutes of FP1 and set a best lap of 1‘40.270 for first place, 0.257s ahead of his closest rival.

He duplicated this strong form in the afternoon. Making full use of the sunny yet not too hot conditions at the Jerez circuit to test various set-up options, he secured provisional second place. He held this spot for a large part of the session before dropping a hot lap in the final minutes and taking over at the top with a 1‘39.555s, creating a 0.345s margin to second place.

Team-mate Rossi was also strong out of the gate. Having topped the rankings early on in FP1, he maintained a quick pace throughout the session and proved his key protagonist role once again when he took provisional first place with 20 minutes left on the clock. He held the position with a best lap of 1’40.676s until being moved down to third in the time sheets, 0.406s from the front, in the final minutes of the morning session.

The Doctor continued working on his setting in the afternoon and looked competitive holding a top 3 position for the majority of the session, before the pace picked up in the final stages of FP2. He ended the session in fifth place with a best lap of 1‘40.282s, 0.727s from his team-mate.

Today‘s results see Lorenzo top the combined times of the Friday free practice sessions, with Rossi not far behind in fifth place.

MASSIMO MEREGALLI

TEAM DIRECTOR

It‘s definitely been a positive start to the weekend. This morning we suffered of lack of rear grip and too much wheeling, but we have been able to improve both aspects throughout the day by trying different settings during the two sessions with both our riders. We have also been able to test almost all the tyre options ahead of Sunday‘s race. The riders did a good amount of laps with all the tyre solutions. Jorge really wanted to do a fast lap at the end of the second session and set an impressive 1‘39.555s on a new set of tyres. Valentino was more focused on improving his setting. He kept the same tyres for the entire session and maintained a good pace until the end. As usual we will continue working and are keen on improving a couple of areas further for tomorrow.

JORGE LORENZO

My first feelings are positive. We started the first day with some problems and a different feel than what we had in the last two races but little by little we solved these problems and adjusted the electronics, setting and everything. Now we have a good set-up and can keep working to improve the small details. First place this morning and first place this afternoon, I think, is a good beginning of the weekend!

VALENTINO ROSSI

I‘m very happy to be back in Europe, because here the track is fantastic and the atmosphere is special. It‘s always great, the Jerez weekend, especially with good weather and also the track was not so bad, because I was quite competitive from this morning. We started with a good base setting and I felt good with the bike. I was also quite fast in the afternoon and I was always within the top 5, so this is OK. There are some points on the track where we have to improve, especially the feeling with the front, but I already feel good with the bike and we will try to continue like this.

More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda:

Mixed feelings for Marquez and Pedrosa on day 1 in Jerez

A fair and sunny day welcomed Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa as the Red Bull GP of Spain got underway today in Jerez de la Frontera, the first European race of the season.

After realizing that the base setup he had started with in FP1 needed some adjustments to work as well as it had in the first three races, Marquez and his crew were quickly able to make the right choices to improve their pace in FP2, and to set the second-fastest time of the day, using the same set of tyres for the whole session.

Pedrosa had a more difficult day as he struggled to improve on the encouraging fourth-best lap time he had set in FP1, and he looks forward to the remaining sessions to take a step forward at a track he especially likes.

FP3 will commence tomorrow at 9:55 a.m. local time

Marc Marquez

2ND 1’39.900

“I’m happy with how this first day went overall. In the first practice session we discovered that the base setup we had in place from other circuits wasn’t working completely well for us here, but we were able to react in FP2. We’ve improved a lot, but we have to keep working because I still don’t feel entirely comfortable. The important thing is that we’re not far off Jorge [Lorenzo], who is going fastest at the moment. Valentino [Rossi] has also been very consistent, but I’m happy with how the team have been working and how they reacted to issues, so we’ll see if we can take another step forward tomorrow.”

Dani Pedrosa

9TH 1’40.925

“Today was similar to the situation we’ve encountered at other races this season. Unfortunately we weren’t able to make too many improvements on that as we did at Austin for the race, but of course it’s only day 1 so we’ll keep working as best we can in order to find a solution and improve our pace. At the moment we’re mainly struggling with acceleration, and these bikes are so powerful that when you lose in that area you feel it a lot. What we’ve been doing today is riding with used tyres for the entirety, and tomorrow we’ll try and take a step forward.”

More, from a press release issued by Aspar Team:

Satisfactory start to Spanish GP for Aspar Team at Jerez

Eugene Laverty tenth fastest on opening day, with Yonny Hernández just behind him in twelfth

The Jerez Circuit officially welcomed the 2016 MotoGP World Championship to Europe today with the first free practice sessions of the Spanish Grand Prix, which were both dominated by Jorge Lorenzo. Far from being distracted by the news that he will leave his team at the end of the season, Lorenzo clocked a best lap of 1’39.555 to hold off the challenge of a host of fellow home favourites, with six of the top eight riders today hailing from Spain. Only Italian pair Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso were able to break up the hegemony of Marc Márquez, Aleix Espargaró, Héctor Barberá, Maverick Viñales and Dani Pedrosa, who was the only rider unable to improve his lap time in the second session of one of the best days of the season so far for Spanish motorcycling.

It was an equally satisfactory day for the Spanish Aspar Team, with both its riders in the top twelve and Eugene Laverty on course to qualify directly for Q2. Laverty made a more cautious start to the weekend than his team-mate Yonny Hernandez, lapping seventeenth fastest this morning as the Colombian went eighth, but the Irishman put his Superbike experience to good use this afternoon, stepping up his pace at the circuit where he celebrated a double win back in 2013. Hernández finished the day in twelfth, just a tenth of a second off the pace of Laverty, and he is also confident of challenging for a place in Q2, which he set as his main objective for this weekend.

10th Eugene Laverty 1.40.925 (28 laps): “This is where we need to be. The aim this weekend was to qualify directly for Q2 and we are on course. It is still going to be a fight tomorrow morning but we’ll put a tyre in at the end and try to get in there. But for today, not bad. Over the past couple of rounds we have improved our base setting and I was confident coming here that we would be starting out on the right foot. Looking at what another Ducatis have done today, we can see what our bike is capable of here and we are working towards it.”

12th Yonny Hernández 1.41.028 (31 laps): “We have ended the day with a good feeling for the bike. I feel like my pace is good and tomorrow I’ll be giving my all to make it directly into Q2, which has to be our objective. We are working, improving the bike and we know we can take another little step forward in this race. Today I finished just a tenth outside the top ten, it wasn’t to be but I am happy. I was tenth when I crossed the line on the last lap but when I looked up at the screen I was already back to twelfth. We need to work hard on setting one fast lap, which is what I am struggling with right now, but with a couple of little adjustments we can be up amongst the front guys.”

More, from a press release issued by Avintia Racing:

Strong start at Jerez for Hector Barbera and Avintia Racing

Avinita Racing rider Héctor Barberá started with a bang at his home Grand Prix of Spain, beaming himself to second position in the first free practice session on Friday morning. In the afternoon, he defended his position as the fastest Ducati rider on the iconic Jerez track with fourth place. After this strong start, Barberá is now determined to continue in the same way and to enter Q2 with a good lap time in Saturday morning’s free practice session, with the aim to battle for a place on the first two rows of the starting grid for the 27-lap race on Sunday.

Team-mate Loris Baz ended the day in 17th position after struggling to find enough grip on the corner exits of the 4.4 kilometre-circuit, due to the higher asphalt temperatures in the afternoon. The French rider of Avintia Racing also had a small crash at the end of the second session, but is nevertheless hopeful to be able to break into the Top Ten in qualifying on Saturday.

Hector Barbera | 1’40.229 | P4

“The Grand Prix of Spain has started very well for us, in fact, it couldn’t have been better, with second place in the morning and fourth in the afternoon…I keep saying that it is very difficult to move up higher than fifth place, because up there, you are in battle with all the top factory bikes and riders. But today, we achieved this in both sessions, which is a reward for all the hard work we have done. I am also happy because before we got here, it seemed as if we had come off the right track a little bit, but we proved today that we are pointing in the right direction again. It is the first Grand Prix in Spain and the first European round and this result shows that our batteries are fully charged and our motivation is sky-high. Our goal for tomorrow is to defend a place for Q2 and then to pull all stops in classification in order to get a good position on the starting grid, because a good start is crucial in MotoGP!”

Loris Baz | 1’41.320 | P17

“We started well, but then it became obvious that we have more work to do than in the recent races where the bike was perfect. Here in Jerez, it is more complicated to find the best set-up. What makes it even more difficult is the change of track conditions between the morning and the afternoon, as the asphalt temperatures rise a lot and we need to find a bit more grip in order to improve. But I am still satisfied, because we are not far away from the Top Ten even though my feeling with the bike wasn’t the best. If we find the missing few tenths of a second, we can fight with the top group of riders. Our set-up from the November tests don’t help us now because the track conditions are so different, so we have to find other solutions that will give us more rear grip and better drive out of the corners!”

More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office:

STRONG START FOR ESPARGARÓ AND VIÑALES AT JEREZ

Team SUZUKI ECSTAR’s Aleix Espargaró and Maverick Viñales put in strong performances in the opening Free Practice sessions at the Jerez MotoGP™ World Championship, with Espargaró positioning his GSX-RR into a provisional third place and Viñales into sixth.

The latest improvements, introduced by Espargaro’s crew on his GSX-RR, proved effective again after the positive performance shown in the recent Austin test in America. The Spaniard was competitive from the morning session today, also reporting a positive feeling and confidence with his team, and this finally resulted in the third fastest time of 1’40.093, which is just 0.538 off pole.

A new feature was introduced this afternoon when the GSX-RR was equipped with winglets, that has never been tested on the machine previously, and it’s something the team will investigate and develop further.

Viñales had a different job today; he had a full testing program and stuck to it. His performance in the morning session was a solid one, as he recorded several laps close to the top with a consistently-improving performance. The afternoon was also positive as he conducting several tests to better-evaluate the differences between the standard and the evolution chassis. Most of the work has been focused on set-up and pace, without any attempt on the time attack and his final lap of 1’40.448 set him sixth and gives him a provisional access to Q2.

Davide Brivio – Team Manager:

“At the moment we have both riders into the top-10, which makes the day a positive one. Aleix scored a good lap-time, which sets him in third place, he feels confident with the machine and could finally put himself in more-competitive place that he deserves. Maverick did a very intense job today, testing many different things and therefore it will be important to get an analysis that we will do tonight, in order to continue in the right direction tomorrow. We had the new winglets to test, the program was to start with them on Monday in the testing, but with Aleix we decided to anticipate timing and debut them today. It’s still an issue under evaluation, we will now evaluate the rider feedback and run them with the data, but it is a pretty hard job to be done in a stressful racing weekend, therefore we will probably wait until Monday.”

Aleix Espargaró:

“Finally I have very positive feeling with my machine; with my crew we did an incredible job to try different solutions and finally we are finding more competitiveness. The good thing is that with this we are calmer and also making steps forward is easier. Today the program was intense, and also we had the new winglets to try: I wasn’t supposed to use them until Monday, but I asked about the timing and the team gave me the green light. My impressions are very, very rough at the moment and for sure we need to test them in more depth, but for what I saw today, they are a positive improvement. It’s not something revolutionary, but they may give us an edge in certain conditions; more for my comfort riding than in absolute performance of the machine. Apart of that, I scored my best time when the GSX-RR wasn’t equipped with winglets, meaning that the progress we are making is solid.”

Maverick Viñales:

“Today was very tough in terms of activity, we had so many things to test that I almost condensed a two-day job in just two sessions. This is very positive because this will allow me to ride more easily tomorrow and concentrate to the set-up finalisation and then onto the time attack. Today we couldn’t try it because our plan was different, but despite this I am in sixth place, meaning that the room for improvement is very wide. It’s a positive feeling. My two machines are equipped with two different chassis’ – the standard one and the evolution one – and I tried them both today and then tonight we’re going to make our evaluations and decide which one is more effective on this specific track. It’s a good feeling, we’re doing a very good job and for sure tomorrow we will improve again. Today I didn’t try the winglets as they weren’t in our program of working, but I will probably have them equipped in the next day… or on Monday.”