FIM MotoGP World Championship
Mugello, Italy
May 31, 2014
Qualifying Session One Results (all on Bridgestone tires, top two advance to Qualifying Session Two):
1. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (HONDA), 1:48.312
2. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:48.580
3. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (DUCATI), 1:48.722
4. Scott REDDING, UK (HONDA), 1:48.754
5. Michele PIRRO, Italy (DUCATI), 1:48.794
6. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (HONDA), 1:48.894
7. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (HONDA), 1:49.505
8. Colin EDWARDS, USA (FORWARD YAMAHA), 1:49.780
9. Hector BARBERA, Spain (FTR-KAWASAKI), 1:49.932
10. Michael LAVERTY, UK (PBM-APRILIA), 1:50.505
11. Mike DI MEGLIO, France (FTR-KAWASAKI), 1:50.515
12. Broc PARKES, Australia (PBM-APRILIA), 1:50.875
13. Michel FABRIZIO, Italy (ART-APRILIA), 1:53.116
14. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (HONDA), no time recorded
Qualifying Session Two (all on Bridgestone tires):
1. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (HONDA), 1:47.270
2. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (DUCATI), 1:47.450
3. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:47.521
4. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 1:47.584
5. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:47.612
6. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (DUCATI), 1:47.659
7. Bradley SMITH, UK (YAMAHA), 1:47.681
8. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (DUCATI), 1:47.754
9. Stefan BRADL, Germany (HONDA), 1:47.765
10. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), 1:47.791
11. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (HONDA), 1:48.132
12. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (FORWARD YAMAHA), 1:48.218
Combined Qualifying Results (all on Bridgestone tires):
1. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (HONDA), 1:47.270
2. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (DUCATI), 1:47.450
3. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:47.521
4. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 1:47.584
5. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:47.612
6. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (DUCATI), 1:47.659
7. Bradley SMITH, UK (YAMAHA), 1:47.681
8. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (DUCATI), 1:47.754
9. Stefan BRADL, Germany (HONDA), 1:47.765
10. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), 1:47.791
11. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (HONDA), 1:48.132
12. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (FORWARD YAMAHA), 1:48.218
13. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (DUCATI), 1:48.722
14. Scott REDDING, UK (HONDA), 1:48.754
15. Michele PIRRO, Italy (DUCATI), 1:48.794
16. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (HONDA), 1:48.894
17. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (HONDA), 1:49.505
18. Colin EDWARDS, USA (FORWARD YAMAHA), 1:49.780
19. Hector BARBERA, Spain (FTR-KAWASAKI), 1:49.932
20. Michael LAVERTY, UK (PBM-APRILIA), 1:50.505
21. Mike DI MEGLIO, France (FTR-KAWASAKI), 1:50.515
22. Broc PARKES, Australia (PBM-APRILIA), 1:50.875
23. Michel FABRIZIO, Italy (ART-APRILIA), 1:53.116
24. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (HONDA), no time recorded
More, from a press release issued by Movistar Yamaha:
Mugello (Italy), 31st May 2014
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo kept the pressure on in qualifying this afternoon for tomorrow’s Gran Premio d’Italia, taking third on the grid. Teammate Valentino Rossi found the 15-minute qualifying heat a bigger challenge, taking tenth position on the fourth row.
Lorenzo made his trademark early exit from the pits as the session began, the first rider to attack the Mugello circuit. He immediately dropped below the ’48 mark with a first flying lap of 1’47.605s. Hot laps by rivals Marc Marquez and Andrea Iannone then dropped him to third, but just 0.167 from the front. With just over eight minutes remaining it was a super quick pit-stop for Lorenzo, and back to the track less than a minute later. He was able to improve on his earlier time, scoring a session best of 1’47.521s to secure third on the grid, 0.251s from pole.
Rossi was also quick to exit at the start of the session, just one rider back from teammate Lorenzo. He too immediately dropped under the ‘48s with a first flying lap of 1’47.791s to take provisional third. As the times fell he dropped down to 5th, 0.521 from first as he entered the pits mid-session. An extended pit stop saw him return to the track with five minutes remaining having taken extra time to change to a softer front tyre in the hunt for a quicker turning bike. Unfortunately he was unable to improve on his first hot lap and make the softer front tyre work for him, wrapping up qualifying in tenth position, just over half a second from pole.
Jorge Lorenzo
3rd / 1’47.521 / 9 laps
“I’m satisfied with third place because it’s important to start in the first row here to try to avoid some problems with the first laps and be with the front group. I feel like it’s a second place because Iannone has extra soft tyres that can maybe get some extra tenths. I’m happy with the lap time, but more I’m happy with the consistency and the work we’ve done with the bike. My physical condition is getting better as well so I’m happy. Circumstances are different to last year so it’s more difficult to be in front, but little by little we adapt to be as competitive as possible.”
Valentino Rossi
10th / 1’47.791 / 7 laps
“We made a big mistake in the qualifying, we decided to change the front tyre at the same time as the second rear. It was the wrong decision, I felt really bad with the softer front and I was unable to improve my lap time. It’s a great shame, because I had a good potential and could have started on the front, my pace is good and I feel good with the bike, but it’s like this. Tomorrow from the fourth row everything will be harder and more difficult. We have good pace, we need to fix some small problems and try to make the maximum. I want to try and make a good race because it’s my 300th Grand Prix and also we are in Mugello! I’m quite desperate for the tenth position but nothing is lost yet. It will be hard but we can do a good race.”
Massimo Meregalli
“Jorge’s front row is very important here in Mugello, it comes as a result of hard work and confident riding through the practices up to today. His pace is really promising, even with a used tyre we have been very competitive this afternoon in the last practice. For sure it’s going to be a bit more difficult for Vale starting from the fourth row. Unfortunately we made the decision to change from a hard to a soft tyre midway through the session to try and gain some benefit and turn the bike better. Due to the track temperatures it gave no advantage and compromised his results. His pace has also been very good over the weekend so we know he will do his best to fight back to the front.”
More, from a press release issued by Cardion AB Motoracing:
Abraham fought for top fifteen in Mugello, he goes to the race with great qualifying time
Sixteenth position on the grid, however great satisfaction. That is brief summary of the qualifying of MotoGP to the Grand Prix in Italy of the Czech team Cardion AB Motoracing. Karel Abraham rode his best time 1:48,894, that is 1.624 seconds behind fastest Marc Marquez.
Karel Abraham
“Sixteenth position on the grid, however great satisfaction. That is brief summary of the qualifying of MotoGP to the Grand Prix in Italy of the Czech team Cardion AB Motoracing. Karel Abraham rode his best time 1:48,894, that is 1.624 seconds behind fastest Marc Marquez.”
Marco Grana, Cardion AB chief mechanic
“Well, we are very very happy. We solved the problem with rear tyre grip which we had suffered for a long time. Now we are able to ride constantly low 1:49 and this is really great result. We made 1:48,8 during qualifying practice and this is certainly the maximum we can reach with top speed about 20 km/h lower then factory bikes. We are little bit disappointed by the position, because if we were able to cut another one tenth, we could fight for 13th position. I hope Karel will make good start tomorrow and he will stay with top 15 riders.“
More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone:
Masterful Marquez marches to pole position at Mugello
Round 6: Italian MotoGP™ – Qualifying Practice
Mugello, Saturday May 31 2014
Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium & Hard; Rear: Soft, Medium & Hard (Asymmetric)
Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Hard (Main), Soft (Alternative)
Weather: FP3 – Dry. Ambient 17-18°C; Track 23-32°C (Bridgestone measurement)
FP4/QP – Dry. Ambient 20-21°C; Track 34-45°C (Bridgestone measurement)
Marc Marquez’s mission to dominate every MotoGP™ qualifying session continued unabated at Mugello today, as the Repsol Honda rider lapped the Italian circuit in a time of 1’47.270 to claim the top spot on the grid for tomorrow’s Italian Grand Prix.
Marquez set the day’s quickest time during his first time attack in Qualifying Practice Two, using the combination of the medium compound slicks front and rear. To the delight of the Italian fans, Pramac Racing’s Andrea Iannone was second in QP2 with a best lap time of 1’47.450, while Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo qualified in third place with a time of 1’47.521. Today’s QP2 session at Mugello was perhaps the most fiercely contested so far this season, with only half a second separating the top ten riders as the chequered flag was waved.
After a rainy start to the race weekend on Friday, conditions today were warm and dry with the highest track temperature recorded being 45°C during QP1. The fine weather enabled riders to perform long runs on various tyre combinations in FP4, and it was the medium compound front slick that proved to be the most popular for riders. Rear tyre choice was more varied during practice with the preference among the Factory Honda, Yamaha and Ducati riders being the medium compound rear, while the majority of the open-class entrants preferred the soft compound rear slick. Some factory-class riders did evaluate the hard compound rear slick in FP4, but it is not expected that this option will be selected by any riders for tomorrow’s race. For the time attack in the Qualifying Practice sessions, the softer rear slick options and the medium compound front slick was the most widely used tyre combination, as it provided the best balance of cornering and braking performance.
Similar weather conditions are forecast for tomorrow, with the twenty-three lap Italian Grand Prix getting underway at 1400 local time (GMT+1 ). Before then, the MotoGP™ riders will be out on track for the twenty-minute Warm Up session at 1000.
Masao Azuma – Chief Engineer, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department
“We were able to make up for lost time yesterday thanks to the fine conditions today, and the riders were able to try some different tyre combinations during practice. Today’s sessions revealed that the riders feel that the soft and medium slick options for both the front and rear are performing best, so we don’t expect the hard compound front and rear slicks to be utilised for the race. The pace among the riders is quite close both in terms of race pace on long runs and over a single lap as we saw in qualifying, and it is pleasing to see the Ducati, Honda and Yamaha riders so evenly matched in performance. The signs are good for an exciting race tomorrow.”
More, from a press release issued by Drive M7 Aspar Team:
HIROSHI AOYAMA TO START FROM SEVENTEENTH POSITION
DRIVE M7 Aspar rider confident of making warm-up improvements ahead of tomorrow’s race
All the talk going into the Italian Grand Prix was around whether or not home favourite Valentino Rossi could break the dominance of Marc Márquez but on the evidence of today’s pace it seems the series leader’s biggest challenger could be his team-mate Dani Pedrosa. Whilst Pedrosa set the pace in both of today’s free practice sessions Márquez produced two flying laps in qualifying to seal his sixth consecutive pole, whilst Andrea Iannone made the most of a tow – first from Rossi and then from Jorge Lorenzo – to take second place on the grid. Lorenzo completes the front row although Pedrosa remains a man to watch from fourth.
The most notable absentee from today’s action was DRIVE M7 Aspar rider Nicky Hayden, who has decided to sit the rest of this weekend out before undergoing an operation on his wrist here in Italy on Tuesday. His team-mate Hiroshi Aoyama made some improvements in this morning’s free practice but went backwards in the afternoon and is now hoping to find his best setting in tomorrow’s warm-up after qualifying in a disappointing seventeenth position.
17th Hiroshi Aoyama 1.49.505: “We improved quite a lot this morning compared to yesterday and gained some stability in corner exit. Unfortunately in the afternoon I wasn’t comfortable with a change we made to the suspension that compromised the bike in other areas so we had to take a step backwards. At the end of the final free practice session we made another change to the suspension and luckily this time we were able to improve the lap time. It was an improvement but for qualifying the other riders went even faster so in the end I am not happy with where we finished. We will try to improve the bike a little more in the warm-up tomorrow and be better prepared for the race.”
More, from a press release issued by NGM Mobile Forward Racing:
Difficult Qualifying session for NGM Forward Racing Team
It was a difficult qualifying session for the NGM Forward Racing riders on the fast and technical Mugello track.
A crash, fortunately without consequences for the rider during the FP4, made the qualifying session of Aleix Espargaro even more complicated. With 1’48.580 in the Q1, Espargaro entered the Q2 and he finally closed in 12th position with a best lap time of 1’48.218.
It was a tough day also for team mate Colin Edwards, who continued to work on the electronics in order to improve the set up of his Forward Yamaha. The solutions tested during the practices didn’t bring the expected results and the team will continue to work tomorrow during the warm up. Colin will take the start of the Italian GP tomorrow from the 18th position on the grid.
Colin Edwards:
“I’m not really happy. We worked on the electronics but we didn’t get the expected results. We had to start again from where we were yesterday and we couldn’t improve the set up of the machine. Tomorrow in the warm up I want to test another solution with the rear suspension and I hope that we can make a step forward for the race”.
Aleix Espargaro:
“In the morning we continued to work on the electronics in order to solve the problems we had at Le Mans. Then, the crash in the FP4 complicated a lot my qualifying session because I had to use the second machine and I couldn’t find the same feeling as with the bike nr1. We will keep on working but we know that it will be a tough race. Mugello is a very demanding track and we suffer a lot in terms of top speed on the long 1141mt straight. Anyway I will give my best to get the best possible result”.
More, from a press release issued by Scott Redding’s publicist:
Scott Redding closes the gap at Mugello
Mugello, Italy – 31 May 2014: Scott Redding enjoyed a successful day at Mugello, qualifying as the top Honda RCV1000R rider in 14th but, more importantly, closing the gap to pole position to less than 1.5 seconds.
It was an impressive performance by the 21-year-old Briton, given that Mugello is one of the fastest tracks on the MotoGP calendar and the factory and satellite prototype machines have a distinct power and speed advantage over his Honda RCV1000R production racer.
The only disappointment today was that Nicky Hayden, fellow Honda RCV1000R pilot and the rider Scott measures his performance against, was unable to ride due to an injury.
Scott Redding // 14th // 1’48.754
“I’m happy enough with the lap time, but I think there was still some room for improvement, because I’m still a little way off mastering this track. This was pretty obvious when I was sat behind Valentino Rossi for a few laps this morning, as he is a real specialist here and he had some interesting lines in places. We could have done without the wet session yesterday; if it had been dry then I think I could have taken two or three tenths off my time today. Nicky is always really good in qualifying, so it’s a shame he’s unable to ride, as it would have been an interesting comparison. We’ll have to see how we are in the race tomorrow, the tyres are working pretty good, but it’s going to be a long and hard race, one that is demanding on the body.”
More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda:
Marquez continues perfect 2014 with sixth straight pole
Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez has taken his 6th consecutive pole of the 2014 season, in as many rounds, with teammate Dani Pedrosa in fourth.
After the strange weather yesterday, when light rain prevented many of the riders going out on track in the afternoon, the sun was shining today in Mugello. Dani, who struggled with the setup in yesterday’s FP1 improved significantly this morning, posting the fastest time on track in FP3 (1’47.754), with Marc just 0.261s behind him in second (1’48.015).
The Repsol Honda duo remained 1st and 2nd in FP4, but only Marc was able to continue this through to qualifying and snatched his sixth pole in six races with a time of 1’47.270 on lap three of eight. Dani improved on his time from this morning, but made a small mistake and touched the mapping button reducing his power slightly. His time of 1’47.584 – on his final lap of eight – placed him on the second row of the grid in fourth, missing the front row by just 0.063s.
TEAM QUOTES
Marc Marquez
1st – 1’47.270
“I’m very happy to have taken this pole position at a track that I found very difficult last year. I’ve felt good on the bike right from the opening practice session this time around, and this shows that we are working well this season – because in 2013 it was much harder to be up at the front. As for the race, it will be difficult to break away and do what I’ve been doing up to now, because at this track you tend to ride in a group and things are more tightly packed. However, I will try to give 100% in order to fight for the victory”
Dani Pedrosa
4th – 1’47.584
“Today qualifying went better than in Le Mans, and we had good sessions – especially in FP4. I think that the bike was working fairly well, although when we put on the second tyre option in qualifying I made a small mistake – which I didn’t realise until afterwards – and I touched the engine mapping button which lowered my power and I wasn’t able to improve my time. Tomorrow we will try to start well and have a good race, it seems that the pace of the other riders is very evenly matched, but we will do all that we can”
More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda:
UNEXPECTED TOUGH Q2 SESSION FOR BRADL: 9th ON THE GRID OF MUGELLO GP
Mugello, 31 May: today’s second outing at Mugello race track has been extremely tough for LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl who initially suffered a crash in the fast sector on turn 13 in this morning free session, and later in the afternoon, he struggled to make the most from his RC213V qualifying in 9th place ahead tomorrow’s 23-lap race.
Stefan: “It was a quite tough qualifying and I am disappointed about my grid position because I wanted to be more in front especially on this race track. Anyway the lap time is good and with 1 tenth faster we could have been on the second row. The Team made a good job today after the crash and I have a good feeling on the bike for the race tomorrow. Starting from the third row is not what I was expecting but there’s a long way to the first corner and many things can happen. As I said yesterday the Ducati riders have a strong pace here and it is going to be a close race but we’ll try our best to finish in the top five”.
More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:
Crutchlow and Dovizioso qualify for Italian GP at Mugello on rows 2 and 3
The two Ducati Team riders Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso will start from the second and third row of the grid respectively for the Italian Grand Prix, the sixth round of the MotoGP World Championship, which will be held tomorrow at the Autodromo del Mugello in Tuscany, Italy.
In the fifteen minutes of Q2 Crutchlow lapped in 1’47.659, setting the sixth quickest time, which is also his best result so far in qualifying this year. Dovizioso instead was unable to complete a clean lap in the decisive session, but remains optimistic about tomorrow’s race.
Ducati Test Team rider Michele Pirro had to settle for fifteenth place and will start from row 5 tomorrow.
Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team #35) – 6th (1’47.659)
“It was a positive qualifying session, we needed to improve this weekend and we have. FP4 was not what we expected, we went in the wrong direction with the bike, and we had no time to change it back to how I wanted so I was pleasantly surprised with qualifying. I think we did a good job and I’m not too far off the front row, but I made a small mistake as well in the lap and could have improved even more. Ducati have worked hard this weekend, we have a strong engine to take some advantage in some places of the track, now we need to calm it down a bit through the chicanes and work on tomorrow’s setting for the race.”
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 8th (1’47.754)
“We did a good job today in the FP4 session, lapping with a good pace on the race tyre and I think we can be pretty satisfied in view of the race tomorrow. In qualifying however I was unable to get 100% out of the bike and unfortunately, as we are all pretty close together, I will start from row 3. But if I can get a good start I think that tomorrow I can do a good race.”
Michele Pirro (Ducati Test Team #51) – 15th (1’48.794)
“In the end I didn’t manage to improve my time and so I’ll start from row 5. We’ve got a few ideas for tomorrow, but we mustn’t forget that we’re here above all to follow the GP14’s development programme. For me it’s important to take home useful indications for the Ducati engineers, but tomorrow in any case I’ll try and have a good race.”
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
MotoGP™: Titular principal
Having taken MotoGP™ pole at the Gran Premio d’Italia TIM on Saturday afternoon Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) heads the grid again for Sunday’s sixth race of the year, with Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) and Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) also featuring on the front row.
A 1’47.270 lap gave Marquez his sixth consecutive pole this year and his seventh successive top grid spot including Valencia last year, as his perfect form continued.
An excellent effort from Iannone (+0.18s) saw him show his pace again to get his first premier class front row start, the perfect response to his two recent DNF results and an ideal performance from an Italian rider on an Italian bike at the Gran Premio d’Italia TIM.
Lorenzo got his third row one result of the year in third place, meanwhile, as he lapped a quarter of a second off Marquez.
Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) still holds the pole record at Mugello with his 1’47.157s time from last year – and he qualified in fourth position with a late lap 0.314s from today’s pole.
A big crash on an out lap ended Monster Yamaha Tech3 rider Pol Espargaro’s session early as he went down at turn nine and was clearly annoyed, but the Spaniard was unhurt and still ended up 5th on the grid.
A good qualifying result for Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team) in sixth saw him outperform teammate Andrea Dovizioso who was eighth.
Sandwiching Dovizioso on the third row are Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) and Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP) in seventh and ninth places respectively, with all three qualifying within 0.5s of pole.
Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) did not get the Q2 result he wanted as he qualified down in 10th for his 300th Grand Prix race.
Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) and Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) made it through from Q1 but were ultimately 11th and 12th.
Moto2™: Championship leader Rabat heads grid in Italy
The Moto2™ race on Sunday at Mugello will commence with Esteve Rabat (Marc VDS Racing) at the front of the grid, ahead of Sam Lowes (Speed Up) and Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP) on the first row.
Rabat led for the majority of the session and a best lap time of 1’52.718 saw him claim pole position once again for the fourth time this season. Lowes and Cortese completed the top three and both were within 0.197s of the Spanish rider. It is rookie Lowes’ first front row in Moto2.
The top five was completed by Jonas Folger (AGR Team) and Dominique Aegerter (Technomag CarXpert), Folger maintaining his top five spot for much of the session, whilst Aegerter improved in the closing stages. The pair were just 0.290s and 0.375s from Rabat respectively.
The top ten was rounded out by Luis Salom (Pons HP 40), Jordi Torres (Mapfre Aspar Team), Franco Morbidelli (Italtrans Racing Team), Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2) and Marcel Schrotter (Tech 3).
Alex De Angelis (Tasca Racing Moto2) suffered a heavy crash at the start of the session, as did Randy Krummenacher (Octo IodaRacing Team). Julian Simon (Italtrans Racing Team) crashed with just one minute to go. All riders were unhurt.
Moto3™: Pole man Rins in front of the pack despite crash
Moto3™ qualifying at Mugello ended with Alex Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0) outperforming the rest of the field at the picturesque Mugello track, with Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Jakub Kornfeil (Calvo Team) joining him on the front row.
Alex Rins lost the front at turn 2 and crashed just after setting a new Moto3 Mugello pole record time of 1’56.999, later rejoining the session having rushed back to his box after the incident.
Championship leader Miller as just over 0.25s behind the Spaniard in second place, whilst a late improvement from Kornfeil left him 0.327s adrift of Rins in third – for his first ever front row GP start.
Row two, meanwhile, comprises home rider Romano Fenati (SKY Racing Team VR46), the experienced Alexis Masbou (Ongetta-Rivacold) and the ever-improving Alex Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0).
Rookie Karel Hanika (Red Bull KTM Ajo) got his best grid slot to date in seventh, ahead of Juanfran Guevara (Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3) and Brad Binder (Ambrogio Racing) on the third row. Efren Vazquez (SAXOPRINT RTG) completed the top ten.
Jules Danilo (Ambrogio Racing) had a big high side at Turn 8 but was not harmed in the crash.