FIM Moto2 World Championship Silverstone, Great Britain June 11 Qualifying Results (all using Honda engines and Dunlop tires): 1. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (SUTER), 2:08.101 2. Scott REDDING, Great Britain (SUTER), 2:08.598 3. Stefan BRADL, Germany (KALEX), 2:08.618 4. Jules CLUZEL, France (SUTER), 2:08.923 5. Simone CORSI, Italy (FTR), 2:08.976 6. Michele PIRRO, Italy (MORIWAKI), 2:09.021 7. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (PONS KALEX), 2:09.216 8. Randy KRUMMENACHER, Switzerland (KALEX), 2:09.415 9. Mike DI MEGLIO, France (TECH 3), 2:09.527 10. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (MOTOBI), 2:09.646 11. Claudio CORTI, Italy (SUTER), 2:09.656 12. Yuki TAKAHASHI, Japan (MORIWAKI), 2:09.679 13. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (SUTER), 2:09.711 14. Thomas LUTHI, Switzerland (SUTER), 2:09.725 15. Raffaele DE ROSA, Italy (FTR), 2:09.803 16. Axel PONS, Spain (PONS KALEX), 2:09.994 17. Max NEUKIRCHNER, Germany (MZ-RE HONDA), 2:10.069 18. Xavier SIMEON, Belgium (TECH 3), 2:10.077 19. Jordi TORRES, Spain (SUTER), 2:10.122 20. Esteve RABAT, Spain (FTR), 2:10.220 21. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (FTR), 2:10.262 22. Mattia PASINI, Italy (FTR), 2:10.312 23. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (FTR), 2:10.514 24. Kev COGHLAN, Great Britain (FTR), 2:10.551 25. Carmelo MORALES, Spain (MORIWAKI), 2:10.565 26. Mika KALLIO, Finland (SUTER), 2:10.744 27. Kenny NOYES, USA (FTR), 2:10.765 28. Bradley SMITH, Great Britain (TECH 3), 2:10.804 29. Valentin DEBISE, France (FTR), 2:10.920 30. Javier FORES, Spain (SUTER), 2:10.968 31. Dominique AEGERTER, Switzerland (SUTER), 2:11.057 32. Ratthapark WILAIROT, Thailand (FTR), 2:11.085 33. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (SUTER), 2:11.335 34. Alex BALDOLINI, Italy (SUTER), 2:11.399 35. Robertino PIETRI, Venezuela (SUTER), 2:11.562 36. Anthony WEST, Australia (MZ-RE HONDA), 2:13.483 37. Mashel AL NAIMI, Qatar (MORIWAKI), 2:13.935 38. Nasser Hasan AL MALKI, Qatar (MORIWAKI), 2:15.869 More, from a press release issued by JiR Moto2 Team: GP of Great Britain, qualifying: Alex De Angelis 10th Everything is ready for tomorrow’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone. In today’s qualifying Alex De Angelis was able to improve his performance during the free practice sessions by clocking his fastest time of 2’09.646s which gives him 10th place on the grid. The arrival of the new engine, as required by the regulations, has given confidence to the rider who has found an engine more to his tastes, while the technicians have concentrated more in finalizing the set-up of the official MotoBI. This allowed the team to make progress since the first practice and they will use warm-up tomorrow to try other solutions to improve traction and stability. Alex DeAngelis After a difficult morning, the day improved and I managed to gain 10th place. In free practice we had trouble finding the right direction to improve on the performance of yesterday, while other riders have made important progress. Despite this we have had useful information which led to changes done in the afternoon and the engineers have put in my hands a MotoBI with a chassis which is very effective. Again I thank them for doing an excellent job. We still have room for improvement with regard to traction and stability on which we will work in the warm-up. Today I rode with both hard and soft tyres to give some useful information to adapt the strategy for tomorrow depending on weather conditions. Probably, if at the end of the session I had more time and another soft tyre I could further improve the time but we preferred to consolidate information about the race, as the tenth place is not bad and leaves the door open for a fight-back! More, from a press release issued by Tech 3: Di Meglio storms to Silverstone top ten Tech 3 Racing Team rider Mike di Meglio secured his best grid position in the 2011 Moto2 World Championship with a brilliant ride to ninth place at the Silverstone circuit this afternoon. The Frenchman had only qualified in the top 20 once in the opening five races of the campaign, but he was immediately at ease with the long and fast Silverstone circuit and able to set a competitive pace that put him contention for the top ten throughout. He set a best time of 2.09.527 to finish only 0.5s away from the second row and the former 125cc World Champion is ready to battle for his best result of the 2011 season tomorrow. He was ninth at the Estoril round in Portugal and is confident he can compete for a top six in tomorrow’s 18-lap encounter. Bradley Smith is determined to bounce back from a challenging qualifying session that left the British rider down in 28th position. An electrical fault prevented Smith from showing anything like his true potential on the Tech 3 Racing’s Mistral 610 machine and he was only able to complete seven laps in a session run in dry but windy conditions. Smith’s determination and the quick work of his Tech 3 Racing Team crew ensured the 20-year-old qualified for the 18-lap race as he only managed to get in two fast laps right at the end of a frustrating session. He posted a best time of 2.10.804 and he’s confident he can show off is overtaking prowess to fight for a top ten finish in front of his home crowd tomorrow. Mike di Meglio 9th 2.09.527 16 laps: “For the first time this season I started the weekend well and I’ve been able to continue improving my fast pace. I hope tomorrow we will have dry weather, as I feel very comfortable and confident. If it is wet I have to cope with it as well but I think in the dry a top six is a realistic target. The positive thing is I did my fastest laps on my own without following another rider, and this is an area we have aimed to improve this weekend. I want to thank my whole Team who did a great job supporting me. I tried to ride alone today and not to follow any other rider and I realised that I can be very fast without relying on somebody being in front to chase down. That’s given me a lot of confidence and I hope that I can be even better tomorrow.” Bradley Smith: 28th 2.10.804 7 laps: “I think just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong and that is frustrating. It wouldn’t have been a good time to have these problems at any race, but the fact that we encountered so many issues at my home track makes it a bit tougher to take. It is nobody’s fault but we had an electrical issue and at one stage I wasn’t even sure whether I could get a lap in that was going to be fast enough to stop me being last or even qualifying. We have to look at the positives and before this afternoon I’ve been strong and competitive. And my mechanics did a great job because they got me out on track for the maximum time possible. Right at the end I was able to get two laps in, so at least we are not starting from last. Now we just have to wait and see what is going to happen with the weather. I’m confident in the wet or dry but starting from 28th is going to make it a difficult challenge. But I’ve shown many times this season that I can be aggressive and make lots of overtakes, so hopefu lly I’ll put on an exciting show for the British fans.” More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing Team: REDDING ROARS TO FRONT ROW AT SILVERSTONE Marc VDS rider Scott Redding thrilled a large home crowd at the Silverstone circuit to claim a fantastic front row start for tomorrow’s British Moto2 Grand Prix. Redding’s outstanding form at the super fast and technically challenging Silverstone track continued in this afternoon’s qualifying session, a best lap of 2.08.598 being bettered only by in-form Spaniard Marc Marquez. Redding started the session in optimistic mood having been one of the star performers in free practice, which he ended third overall on combined times having made significant progress in improving front-end feeling with his Suter MMXI machine. Redding is now confident he can extend his remarkable record on home soil in tomorrow’s 18-lap race. The 18-year-old has never finished below fourth position in his three previous World Championship races in Britain, including a record-breaking victory in the 125cc at Donington Park in 2008. Finnish rider Mika Kallio was unable to replicate Redding’s impressive speed and he is facing a difficult challenge tomorrow after a best time of 2.10.744 left him in 26th position on the grid. Despite his best efforts, Kallio was unable to push with any confidence in dry but cool conditions that saw track temperatures reach just 23 degrees. Scott Redding #45 – 2.08.598- 17 laps – 2nd position “We’ve had a difficult start to the year but to come to my home track and be on the front row is brilliant. Hopefully that shows the tide is turning for the Marc VDS Racing Team. I was fast all through practice and confident I could push the bike harder in qualifying and I’ve felt more like the rider I was at the end of 2010 today. We were worried at the start of qualifying because it looked like it might rain. So we went out and pushed hard on a soft tyre right from the start to get a time in just in case, but I set my best time on a hard tyre, so that bodes well if the race is on a dry track. The forecast isn’t great for tomorrow but I’m confident that rain or shine I can challenge for a podium. The British fans have been amazing with their support and hopefully I can reward them with a top result tomorrow.” Mika Kallio #36 – 2.10.744 – 16 laps – 26th position “I have always struggled in cold conditions in my career and unfortunately this continued today. I am too slow and there is no hiding from that fact. I am nowhere near as fast as I need to be and to honest I’m a little bit lost. We’ve tried a few things to improve the bike but the lap time doesn’t improve and I just don’t have enough feeling to push. I can’t run the lines I need to and when I try to push more I go wide or I don’t exit the corner very fast. I don’t feel like there is any grip and I don’t have the confidence to push harder. It looks like the race might be wet tomorrow, so this might give me a better chance, but if it is dry it will be difficult.” Michael Bartholemy – Team Manager “It has been quite a contrast in the Marc VDS Racing Team garage here at Siverstone, because all weekend Scott has been incredibly fast and competitive, while Mika has found it very difficult to find a comfortable set-up. It looked like it might rain at the start of the session so we started on soft tyres with Scott, but in the end he made his best time with the hard tyre, so that shows he’s done a great job in setting up the bike to run fast laps on both tyre options. We are optimistic of a good race with Scott on the front row, but this is where we expected him to be from the first race. I’ve seen a different Scott really since Le Mans and he’s back riding at the same level as he was last year, so now he has to prove it in the race. Mika was quite fast yesterday and not far away from the top ten, but today he has found it very difficult to find his rhythm. Scott is proving the Marc VDS package is strong here in Silverstone, so Mika will have to push as hard as possible to get some points.” More, from a press release issued by Tech 3: Xavier Siméon will start sixth Grand Prix of the season from sixth row on the grid Xavier Siméon had his best Qualifying session this season so far today at the Airasia British Grand Prix in Silverstone. He finished in 18th position, which means he will start tomorrow’s 18-lap race from sixth row. The Rookie from Belgium is happy and disappointed at the same time for his Qualifying session as he had a good pace and finally found his rhythm with the Mistral 610 bike. He is sure he could have done even faster, but was stopped by other riders who were going slow on the track. With this achievement once again the Youngster showed that he is improving on his performance each time out and he is hoping for a good start for tomorrow’s rac e to give his team another point scoring result. Xavier Siméon, 18th – 2’10.077: “The qualifying went quite well at the beginning. We worked with a hard rear tyre and I did my best lap time with this tyre. At the end I changed to a soft tyre and then everybody was going very slow on the track and waiting a lot. That was very dangerous, you saw many riders being slow and stopped others and it was difficult to get a fast lap together and stay concentrated with these circumstances. I just had one good lap that saved my session. I am happy that I did my best qualifying of the year so far, but I am also disappointed because I know I could have been faster. I know we have found a good rhythm and set up for tomorrow and I will try to give my team a good result.” More, from a press release issued by QMMF Racing Team: Al Naimi improves by two, Al Malki by four seconds QMMF Racing Team riders Mashel al Naimi and Nasser Hasan Al Malki made big improvements on the fast and challenging Silverstone raceway, slashing two and four seconds off their previous best lap times on the second day of practice for the British Grand Prix. Al Malki, who had been outside the minimum qualifying time on Friday, rode to 38th position on Saturday and secured a well-deserved place on the starting grid. Al Naimi qualified right ahead of his team-mate in 37th position and hopes to be able to put up a fight in the race tomorrow. “For Nasser the target is to finish the race and do kilometres. He is going to start in the Spanish Championship at Barcelona next week, and the Grand Prix here is the best possible opportunity for him to practice and to get more experience with the bike”, said team manager Luis Solano. “It is also Mashel’s first race here at Silverstone, and the track length of 5.9 kilometres makes the gap between the riders look very big in comparison to other circuits. His target is the same as Nasser’s: To finish the race in the best possible way!” Mashel Al Naimi (37th in 2.13,935) “It’s difficult on this track when you are here for the first time. It also was too cold for me today, and with the soft tyre, I didn’t have a good feeling, especially over the bumps. The harder compound is a much better choice for me. We didn’t work too much on the bike since the last race at Barcelona, we only changed the settings for the rear. But I feel good on the bike and I hope to make a good result tomorrow, which would also mean another step for me as a rider. I just hope it won’t rain. I crashed too often in the rain this year. I now hate the rain!” Nasser Hasan Al Malki (38th in 2.15,869) “I pushed a little bit harder today and I dropped four seconds off my lap time, but I am still too slow. I am still learning the bike and the track, trying to figure out the best lines, which is not easy. I tried to follow some other riders, but they were faster and pulled away, especially on the corner exits where I have problems. Tomorrow in the Warm-Up I will try different lines again to see if I can speed up. We are working well in the team and my mechanics help me a lot, which I am very happy about. But I need more laps!”