FIM MotoGP World Championship Silverstone, England August 31, 2013 Qualifying Results: MotoGP (all on Bridgestone tires): From Qualifying Practice Two: 1. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (HONDA), 2:00.691 (new Circuit Best lap record) 2. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 2:00.819 3. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (YAMAHA), 2:01.425 4. Stefan BRADL, Germany (HONDA), 2:01.558 5. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 2:01.624 6. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), 2:02.109 7. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (DUCATI), 2:02.123 8. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (HONDA), 2:02.252 9. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (DUCATI), 2:02.289 10. Bradley SMITH, UK (YAMAHA), 2:02.409 11. Colin EDWARDS, USA (FTR-Kawasaki), 2:04.032 12. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (ART-Aprilia), no time recorded From Qualifying Practice One: 13. Randy DE PUNIET, France (ART-Aprilia), 2:04.114 14. Hector BARBERA, Spain (FTR-Kawasaki), 2:04.236 15. Michele PIRRO, Italy (DUCATI), 2:04.680 16. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (DUCATI), 2:04.692 17. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (ART-Aprilia), 2:04.749 18. Danilo PETRUCCI, Italy (IODA/SUTER-BMW), 2:04.798 19. Michael LAVERTY, UK (PBM-Aprilia), 2:04.936 20. Claudio CORTI, Italy (FTR-Kawasaki), 2:05.356 21. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (FTR-Kawasaki), 2:05.622 22. Lukas PESEK, Czech Republic (IODA/SUTER-BMW), 2:07.261 23. Bryan STARING, Australia (FTR-Honda), 2:07.300 Moto2 (all using Honda engines and Dunlop tires): 1. Takaaki NAKAGAMI, Japan (KALEX), 2:07.039 2. Scott REDDING, UK (KALEX), 2:07.078 3. Johann ZARCO, France (SUTER), 2:07.079 4. Esteve RABAT, Spain (KALEX), 2:07.127 5. Thomas LUTHI, Switzerland (SUTER), 2:07.152 6. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (KALEX), 2:07.213 7. Mika KALLIO, Finland (KALEX), 2:07.393 8. Dominique AEGERTER, Switzerland (SUTER), 2:07.620 9. Xavier SIMEON, Belgium (KALEX), 2:07.738 10. Jordi TORRES, Spain (SUTER), 2:07.927 11. Nicolas TEROL, Spain (SUTER), 2:07.946 12. Mattia PASINI, Italy (SPEED UP), 2:07.957 13. Randy KRUMMENACHER, Switzerland (SUTER), 2:08.295 14. Toni ELIAS, Spain (KALEX), 2:08.422 15. Julian SIMON, Spain (KALEX), 2:08.471 16. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (SPEED UP), 2:08.489 17. Marcel SCHROTTER, Germany (KALEX), 2:08.497 18. Ricard CARDUS, Spain (SPEED UP), 2:08.671 19. Alberto MONCAYO, Spain (SPEED UP), 2:08.749 20. Gino REA, UK (FTR), 2:08.893 Moto3 (all on Dunlop tires): 1. Maverick VIÑALES, Spain (KTM), 2:13.507 2. Alex RINS, Spain (KTM), 2:13.699 3. Luis SALOM, Spain (KTM), 2:13.948 4. Jack MILLER, Australia (FTR HONDA), 2:14.523 5. Jonas FOLGER, Germany (KALEX KTM), 2:14.531 6. Alex MARQUEZ, Spain (KTM), 2:14.609 7. Isaac VIÑALES, Spain (FTR HONDA), 2:14.623 8. Miguel OLIVEIRA, Portugal (MAHINDRA), 2:14.679 9. Niccolò ANTONELLI, Italy (FTR HONDA), 2:14.887 10. Alexis MASBOU, France (FTR HONDA), 2:14.995 More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Crutchlow bounces back to claim heroic home front row British hero Cal Crutchlow showed amazing speed and resilience in front of his home crowd at Silverstone today to claim a stunning sixth front row start of 2013 after bouncing back from two heavy crashes in practice. The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider put a huge home crowd through some nail-biting moments once again ahead of the British Grand Prix after he escaped injury in two high-speed falls in cool conditions during this morning’s FP3. Nursing nasty abrasions to his right arm, Crutchlow had British fans on the edge of their seats again this afternoon when the 27-year-old demonstrated incredible bravery and skill to power his YZR-M1 machine to third position on the grid in a tense 15-minute QP2. In gloriously sunny but cool conditions, Crutchlow’s best lap of 2.01.425 put him behind dominant Spanish duo Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo for the start of tomorrow’s 20-lap race. Despite feeling below his peak physical best after the big crashes this morning, Crutchlow remains full of confidence that he can become the first British rider since 2000 to claim a premier class podium on home soil. Rookie Bradley Smith will also start his first home MotoGP race from inside the top 10 after he was able to set encouraging lap times throughout the weekend that bodes well for a strong challenge in tomorrow’s Silverstone showdown. Smith advanced comfortably from QP1 with a lap of 2.03.110, which saw him dominate the opening 15-minute qualifying session by close to a second. In the heat of battle in QP2, the 22-year-old further improved his pace to an impressive 2.02.409, which was only 0.3s away from securing Smith a place on the second row of the grid for the third time this season. Cal Crutchlow 3rd 2.01.447 – 7 laps : “Well that was just a normal Saturday for me at Silverstone! After what happened in 2011 and 2012, the last thing I needed was a crash, so to have two made it even worse. Both were very fast crashes and I am thankful not to have been injured, though my right arm is covered in abrasions and is quite painful because of the swelling. The first crash was my fault because the front tyre was too cold. And in the second one, with my arm hurting, I just couldn’t hold on when the bike starting moving around on the brakes. I’ve got to say a massive thanks to my Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team because they put in an amazing effort to at least get me out this afternoon. After all that happened this morning it feels great to be on the front row, but the gap to Marc and Jorge is pretty big and it will be tough to beat them tomorrow. I’ll be giving it my all though because the support from the British crowd today really spurred me on. They’ve really got behind me and it was a good feeling to bounce back from the crashes to get a front row.” Bradley Smith 10th 2.02.409 – 7 laps : “My lap time is something to be really proud of today because we made a big jump compared to the rest of the weekend. The overall result is not what we expected but going into QP1 showed we have been having a tough weekend. So to end up close to the top six is positive but that gap to the front is obviously a big step. I still believe we can make another step with the bike for tomorrow. It will be a long race but it might be an advantage to be able to follow and learn something because on this track it seems easier to chase than make a lap time on your own. It has not been an easy weekend but I’ve not made any mistakes and got faster every session, so I am looking forward the race and rewarding the amazing support from the British crowd.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha Factory MotoGP Team: Lorenzo Duels in Dramatic Silverstone Qualifying Silverstone (Great Britain), 31st August 2013 Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo took second place on the grid this afternoon in a dramatic duel for pole position ahead of tomorrow’s British Grand Prix at the Silverstone circuit. As usual Lorenzo was first out of the pit lane and onto the track as the 15-minute qualifying heat began. His first lap was a scorching 2’01.497 lap, smashing the lap record of the circuit. Rival Marc Marquez immediately responded, snatching the top spot back from Lorenzo. The reigning world champion kept the pressure on and delivered a second stunning lap, moving 0.070 seconds ahead of Marquez with a 2’01.217 to retake provisional pole. With half the session now gone Lorenzo returned to the pits for a quick change of rubber and was back out on the track with just under six minutes of track time remaining. He kept the pace up, dipping even further under the old lap record with a 2’00.819 second lap. Unfortunately it was not quite enough to secure pole, as his rival Marquez responded again, just beating him to the top spot by 0.128 seconds. After making a strong start on Friday in free practice and confident of making another step today, Valentino Rossi took sixth place on the second row of the grid for tomorrow’s race. Rossi was the second rider out as the session started, tailing teammate Lorenzo onto the circuit. His first set of rubber delivered a best time of 2’02.763 before returning to the pits for a new rear. Back out again just behind Lorenzo, the nine-time world champion was able to make a big step in time, getting down to a 2’02.109 lap to secure sixth on the second row of the grid for tomorrow’s race. Jorge Lorenzo 2nd / 2’00.819 / 7 laps “It’s not fantastic because we didn’t make pole position. I was surprised about the improvement from the pace lap to the qualifying lap, it was a big jump, almost one second and a half. When I saw my lap time on my bike I thought I made pole position but when I saw the classification I saw P2 and was disappointed as I put all my effort into the lap, but it wasn’t enough. Race pace is good but we have to see where the others are tomorrow.” Valentino Rossi 6th / 2’02.109 / 7 laps “I’m not so happy with the distance from Lorenzo and Marquez, they did a fantastic job but I’m happy about the second row. It’s very important and better than the third row. My lap time is quite fast but especially I’m quite satisfied with today because we improved the setting of the bike this afternoon and I’m a lot more constant with pace. I can stay with a good pace which is important for tomorrow. Now we have to try to make another step, I have two or three corners where I’m not so strong and I’m suffering on some bumps. Tomorrow we will try to improve.” Wilco Zeelenberg Team Manager “A very exciting qualifying. P2 is fantastic, the lap times were unbelievably fast and I think the race will be very tight between Jorge and Marc. Our pace is good and the bike is good so we are ready for the race.” Massimo Meregalli Team Director “The second day is very positive. We are starting the race from the first and second row which is a really good starting point. We have the speed and also the pace. For sure tomorrow is going to be a hard race but we will be protagonists. We will try to improve the settings during the warm up, we are satisfied so far and looking forward to the race.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Marquez obliterates lap record on way to pole position at Silverstone Round 12: British MotoGP™ – Qualifying Practice Silverstone, Saturday 31 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: FP3 – Dry. Ambient 15-15°C; Track 26-27°C (Bridgestone measurement) FP4/QP – Dry. Ambient 17-18°C; Track 35-37°C (Bridgestone measurement) Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez delivered another devastating display of speed to smash the outright lap record at Silverstone today by a phenomenal 1.329 seconds to claim his fifth pole position of the season. Marquez was embroiled in a heated battle with Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo for pole position, the pair trading the top spot until Marquez delivered the knockout blow – a 2’00.691 – on his penultimate lap. Lorenzo’s impressive time of 2’00.819 secured him second on the grid for tomorrow’s race ahead of hometown hero Cal Crutchlow, who piloted his Monster Yamaha Tech3 M1 to third with a best time of 2’01.425. NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Colin Edwards continues his recent resurgence to claim CRT honours at Silverstone, placing eleventh overall with a personal best lap time of 2’04.032. Today’s enthralling qualifying sessions saw the top five riders in QP2 set lap times under the existing Circuit Best Lap record. Ambient temperatures were cooler today, with a strong, cold wind in the morning creating challenging conditions for the riders by affecting the ability of the tyres to warm up and retain temperature. The prolonged sunny periods helped maintain similar track temperatures to yesterday however, with a peak of 37°C recorded in QP2. The softer slick options front and rear were preferred in the chilly morning session while in the half hour FP4 session just before qualifying, all slick options were utilised as many riders graduated to the harder slick options front and rear. The preferred tyre combination for the time attack in qualifying was the softer rear slick paired with the harder front. The harder, medium compound front slick is likely to be the preferred choice for the race, while rider feedback suggests that both the softer and harder rear slick options will be on the grid as the lights go out for tomorrow’s race. The twenty lap British Grand Prix is scheduled to start at 1300 local time (GMT +1) tomorrow. Masao Azuma – Chief Engineer, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department “We had fine weather again today, but this morning the cold wind we had served to cool down the tyres between corners, making conditions quite tricky for riders even though the track temperatures were similar to yesterday’s morning session. Thankfully, conditions improved in the afternoon and we got to witness an amazing qualifying session and although we expected the qualifying lap record to be broken, the performance of the riders today in qualifying was unbelievable! This is the third race in a row where we have seen a new qualifying record being set and it is always positive to see the softer rear slick deliver such strong potential over a single lap, while still giving good performance over longer runs. The harder rear slick was also used by many riders in FP4 today and showed excellent consistency so rear tyre choice for tomorrow’s race should be quite varied. I hope the excitement we experienced today continues tomorrow and we get to see a close battle during the race.” More, from a press release issued by NGM Mobile Forward Racing: Best CRT in qualifying for the 3rd time in a row for Edwards NGM Mobile Forward Racing rider Colin Edwards qualifies as best CRT at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix. The American rider will be starting from the 11th place on the grid at the Hertz British Grand Prix. It’s the third time in a row that Edwards qualifies as best CRT in these last few races, confirming his good feeling with his FTR – Kawasaki bike. Teammate Claudio Corti will start from the 7th row after having a problem with one of the engine seals on his bike 1 during FP4, constraining him to use bike 2 in Q1. The Italian rider remains hopeful for tomorrow’s race and will focus on finalizing the setting for the race. Colin Edwards “This weekend hadn’t started off as well as it did in Indy or Brno but it all seemed to work in the qualifying session. We put the soft tire on and didn’t work in Q1 so we went out on the hard tire to qualify. We knew we didn’t really have a shot at beating the prototypes so I just got out there in Q2 to run some laps. I wanted a 2´03.99 really bad but got a 2´04.0 but I’m happy. Thanks to my guys, they are awesome. Just try to give back, they put a lot of effort in and I’m just trying to give it back.” Claudio Corti “Today’s FP4 went better than FP3 even if we expect to do a little better. I have not found yet the setting that will allow me to get in the turns faster, I miss those 4km/h while turning that make me lose time, almost half a second. We have used several different tires to see with which one I could be more consistent. Qualifying did not go as we expected, especially because we took our chances using the soft rear tire. It turned out not to work well at all for us, maybe, had we used the hard tire during all of Q1 we might have been able to be a few tenths faster than in FP4. Congratulations to Colin, he has once again qualified as best CRT, its really good for the team.” Sergio Verbena, MotoGP Technical Director “For the third time in a row we are the best qualifying CRT. Colin has done a fantastic job and made a huge step forward in the last two days but specially this afternoon compared to this morning. We did not expect to be as fast as we have been but Colin managed to pull an ace out of his sleeve. He has done a very good fast lap that he was able to repeat again, showing that he has a good pace for tomorrow. The only strange thing is that we had to use the hard tire for qualifying because he didn’t seem to find the feeling with the soft tire. We will see how it goes tomorrow during the race. Claudio on the other hand had a technical problem during FP4, he was still fast but during qualifying he was not able to repeat the same lap times. He could have done better lap times had it not been for that problem he would have done a better qualifying time, of that we are sure.” More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse: Third row for Ducati Team in Silverstone qualifying Day two of the British Grand Prix was marked by sunny but chilly weather, with track conditions that encouraged the MotoGP riders to set a blistering pace in the qualifying session at the Silverstone Circuit. Ducati Team riders Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden were pleased with the improvements made to their Desmosedici GP13 race machines, but with the other riders getting faster as well, they qualified in seventh and ninth positions, respectively, and will start tomorrow’s race on opposite ends of the third row. Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team, 7th (2:02.123) “I’m really pleased with my time. We all set good times, and I doubt if anyone could have expected we’d be able to lower them so much. Maybe the track improved a bit, but the new tyre also made a big difference when we didn’t have much fuel. We’ve worked well the whole weekend, and I’ve been pretty fast. I think our race pace is still quite a way off, but we’re certainly going better than we have at the other races so I think if we’re able to have a consistent race, we might have a smaller gap to the leaders. It might be an unusual race because the tyres drop off after about six laps. You couldn’t see it much in practice, but I think that the same thing as last year will happen.” Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team, 9th (2:02.289) “We’ve definitely improved a lot today, but everybody is going faster as the track gets better. I’d hoped to do a low 2’02”, which I did. I thought maybe I could squeeze onto the second row, but one tenth made a big difference today. I made one little mistake on my best lap, which hurt me a little bit. Also, I have a hard time using the hard front tyre, so I chose to go with the soft front, which was better over the bumps but was also moving in some places. We need to try to make that work for the race and do a couple of little things to help with change of direction. We know it’ll be tough, but we’ll see what we can do.” More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing: The second day of action on the Silverstone circuit in the UK saw Andrea Iannone and the Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team qualify on the sixth row of the grid for the race tomorrow. Despite persistent discomfort in his right shoulder, Andrea gradually improved his time during the sessions of this 12th round of the World Championship, moving up from a time of 2’05.708, obtained during yesterday’s FP1, to 2’04.073 which he set at the end of this morning’s FP3. Unfortunately the Italian rider has some difficulty in finding the right lines on this fast and demanding circuit, just as he did in the category he raced in last year. Andrea Iannone – Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team “These have been two difficult days of free practice. The track is very wide and very fast and I am making more effort than usual. I don’t feel entirely comfortable, and it shows. Furthermore the problems of our bike are made even worse here for me, and it has been really hard so far. My shoulder has not improved and three races in a row has really tired me out. I was hoping to avoid the painkillers, yesterday I thought I could, but this afternoon I had some injections even though I already took a pain killer this morning, and this situation does not help me psychologically. Nevertheless, I’m giving my everything and I’m trying to understand how to improve for the race.” More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: BRADL BACK ON THE PACE AT SUNNY SILVERSTONE Silverstone, 31 August: after yesterday’s 9th position on day one, LCR rider Stefan Bradl was convinced that more had to come from his Honda machine and he confirmed his prediction getting an impressive 4th place in today’s QP2 session at Silverstone race track. Thanks to the warmer afternoon temperatures the lap times dropped dramatically and the 23-year-old was capable to make good use of his soft rubber posting a best lap time of 2’01.558 ahead Pedrosa and Rossi. Stefan Bradl “For sure this is the place we deserve because we improved a lot from yesterday and we finally achieved our target. This is a good sign because, in the last two rounds in Indianapolis and Brno, we were fast on Friday but we dropped off a bit on Saturday so I am quite happy about this qualifying session. I could push and ride the bike as I would like and must thank the team for their efforts: it’s nice to start from the front again”. More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: Marquez smashes record to take fifth pole of the season with Pedrosa in 5th Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez has shattered Casey Stoner’s pole position record in Silverstone by 1.329 seconds with a stunning lap time of 2’00.691 (Stoner, 2’02.020 in 2011). It was a breath-taking qualifying session which saw Marc and title rival Lorenzo swapping fastest laps from the beginning, but it was the young rookie who emerged on top securing his ninth front row start of the season. Teammate Dani Pedrosa, who struggled in this morning’s FP3 session, improved in FP4 where he was second fastest and found a very good race pace. However, a small mistake on his final flying lap in Q2 relegated him from a provisional front row start to 5th with a time of 2’01.624, placing him on the second row for tomorrow’s twenty lap race. Marc Marquez 1st 2’00.691 “I am very happy with pole position and this one carries even more value as we set a new record! The lap times were very fast, we managed an incredible lap and Jorge set the bar very high for us. We put in a better hot lap than I had expected; I hadn’t anticipated riding so fast! The race will be tough tomorrow and we will have to remain very focused, because I think that Jorge is the strongest rival that we have here. We will need to get a good start and see if we can stick with him” Dani Pedrosa 5th 2’01.624 “We improved our pace today and drew some positive conclusions from practice. However, in qualifying things didn’t go that well for us. I made a couple of mistakes and was unable to get a better starting position. We will start from fifth, so the important thing for us will be to focus on getting the setup right, putting in the maximum effort to get a good start and have a strong race” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: MotoGP™ championship leader Marc Marquez set an incredible lap time of 2’00.691 to clinch pole position for Sunday’s Hertz British Grand Prix. The Repsol Honda Team rider went head-to-head with reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo, who will start second from Cal Crutchlow despite two earlier crashes for the Englishman. For 2013, the British round of the championship has been moved from a June date to this August-September weekend. Amid bright sunshine in the English countryside, lap times dropped dramatically courtesy of warmer afternoon temperatures. Marquez’s remarkable effort sees the Spaniard clinch his fifth pole of the season and third in five Grand Prix weekends, beating Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) by just over one tenth of a second while third-placed Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech3) was a further six tenths in arrears; however this came after two separate crashes for Crutchlow during third practice this morning. The top five was completed by LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl and Marquez’s teammate Dani Pedrosa, who was the final rider within one second of the pole position time – a new qualifying record. Second Yamaha Factory Racing rider Valentino Rossi will complete Row 2 in sixth position, while the third row will consist of Ducati Team duo Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden who sandwich GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista in seventh, eighth and ninth places. The top ten was completed by Tech3’s Bradley Smith, while NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Colin Edwards appeared in Q2 for the third successive event and achieves his best qualifying result of the year so far in 11th. CRT counterpart Aleix Espargaro was absent from Q2 following a crash in final practice; having injured his neck and the fourth finger of his left hand, the Power Electronics Aspar rider’s race participation will now be subject to a Sunday medical check-up. Espargaro’s teammate Randy de Puniet missed out on Q2 by just six thousandths of a second and is therefore set to line up 13th, while Avintia Blusens’ Hector Barbera also improved at the end of Q1 and will be 14th on the grid. Britain’s Michael Laverty, who like compatriot Crutchlow crashed in morning practice, has qualified 19th for PBM while Australian Bryan Staring completes the grid on the Gresini CRT machine. Cardion AB Motoracing’s Karel Abraham is not at Silverstone, having elected to skip the race in order to recover from injuries picked up in an Indianapolis crash. The 2013 Hertz British Grand Prix begins at 1pm local time (GMT +1) on Sunday, coming after the Moto2™ race but before Moto3™, as was also the case at Brno. Moto2 Japan’s Takaaki Nakagami will start from the front of the grid in the Moto2™ Hertz British Grand Prix, marking his second pole position within the space of a week. Championship leader Scott Redding qualified second quickest at his home circuit of Silverstone, with Johann Zarco third and title contender Pol Espargaro sixth. Amid ideal conditions at the Northamptonshire venue, Nakagami (Italtrans Racing Team) pipped Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team) by just three hundredths of a second, while Zarco (Came Iodaracing Project) collected his third front row slot of the campaign but missed out on second place by a single thousandth. Espargaro (Tuenti HP 40), who was engaged in a small battle with Redding during final practice this morning, will line up sixth and on the second row behind teammate Tito Rabat and Interwetten Paddock Moto2 Racing’s Tom Luthi. Heading into Sunday’s race, there are 21 points between Redding and Espargaro atop the standings. Brno winner and Redding’s teammate Mika Kallio has qualified seventh at Silverstone, sharing the third row with Technomag carXpert’s Dominique Aegerter and Maptaq SAG Zelos Team’s Xavier Simeon. Jordi Torres, who suffered an accident in practice earlier on, completes the top ten for Aspar Team Moto2. There were contrasting fortunes for the second and third British riders. While wildcard Gino Rea managed 20th place on the grid with his privately-entered Gino Rea Montaze Broz Racing machine, Tech3’s Danny Kent – whose contract has been renewed for the 2014 season – was highly disappointed to end a promising day in 27th position following a crash early in qualifying. He had finished practice in sixth place. Sunday’s Moto2™ race begins at 11:20am local time (GMT +1). Moto3 Maverick Viñales will start Sunday’s Moto3™ Hertz British Grand Prix from pole position, having achieved a scorching pace in qualifying on Saturday. Alongside the Team Calvo rider on the front row will be title rivals Alex Rins and Luis Salom. Beating last year’s Moto3 best at Silverstone by two and a half seconds, Viñales was on top form as he posted 2’13.507 to seal his second pole of the year, but first since Le Mans in mid-May. With Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0, pole-sitter at the previous three Grand Prix) and championship leader Salom (Red Bull KTM Ajo) poised to be right with Viñales at the start, Sunday’s race promises to be another closely-fought affair. Row 2 will consist of Caretta Technology – RTG’s Jack Miller, Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3’s Jonas Folger and Rins’ teammate Alex Marquez who re-joined the session following a huge highside crash which damaged the fairing of his KTM. Ongetta-Centro Seta’s Isaac Viñales, elder cousin of Maverick, will line up seventh and head the third row from Mahindra Racing’s Miguel Oliveira and GO&FUN Gresini Moto3’s Niccolo Antonelli. Tenth will be Ongetta-Rivacold’s Alexis Masbou, just ahead of Avant Tecno’s Niklas Ajo who had a fall. Despite Silverstone being the longest circuit on the calendar at almost six kilometres per lap, riders still struggled with slow traffic – not least in the tight Arena complex starting at Village corner. In 16th place, German rookie Philipp Oettl managed his best qualifying result to date for Tec Interwetten Moto3 Racing, while Scotland’s John McPhee is the leading British runner and will set off from 19th spot for Caretta Technology – RTG. Racing Steps Foundation KRP wildcard entries Wayne Ryan and Kyle Ryde will occupy positions 33rd and 35th on the grid as they make their respective debuts. More, from a press release issued by Avintia Blusens MotoGP Team: Fourth place of CRT for Barberá that tomorrow will compete for the top three of the category Aoyama, without getting a proper setting, will start from the seventh row Silverstone, 31 August 2013. The qualifying session that took place today at Silverstone was an exciting one in which Márquez and Lorenzo were involved in a fantastic duel that almost paralysed the paddock. Both broke the circuit record several times delighting all the fans. The excitement was not missing either in the CRT category in which Barberá was only one tenth behind Edwards in the struggle to qualify to the Q2 that, finally, the American rider won. Héctor did a good qualifying session and managed to finish fourteenth. A spot on the grid that tomorrow will allow him to start from a more advanced position than at the last GP having better options for the race. Less positive was the session for Hiroshi Aoyama who did not get a setting that would have allowed him to ride at a good pace. From the free practice sessions he had problems with the steering of his bike at the entrance of the corners and this prevented him from riding at his rivals pace. The qualifying session was not an exception and Hiroshi finished twenty-first, being on the seventh row. Both Barberá, who hopes to perfect the last touches in the warm-up, and Aoyama, who will make a radical change looking for the solution to his problems, expect to achieve a good result. 8 Héctor Barberá: (14th, 2.04.236): I am happy because we have done a good time and we have been one tenth behind our maximum rival and to qualify to the Q2. Tomorrow we will start from a better position than the previous race and that is positive. During the weekend we have been working hard on the set-up and, although the bike has been working quite well, for the qualifying session we have made a change that has worked much better. Tomorrow in the warm-up we will continue working on this line to try to arrive at the race with all defined in order to keep a fast pace as the one we have kept today in the qualifying. 7 Hiroshi Aoyama: (21st, 2.05.622): I have not managed to feel comfortable with the bike during the weekend or improve the feeling and, therefore, I have not been able to do a good qualifying. At some times, depending on the tests we did, I improved my lap times but I have not been able to be at the level of my rivals at no time. The main problem we have is that I can not turn the bike on the corners and this prevents me from opening the gas at the right moment and, this way, it is impossible to go fast. Tomorrow we will test something different to try to solve the problem and find the good feeling I have had in the last races again.