FIM MotoGP World Championship
Sachsenring, Germany
July 10, 2015
Free Practice Two Results (all on Bridgestone tires):
1. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (HONDA), 1:21.621
2. Bradley SMITH, UK (YAMAHA), 1:21.740
3. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (DUCATI), 1:21.824
4. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:21.886
5. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 1:21.889
6. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:22.095
7. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), 1:22.159
8. Scott REDDING, UK (HONDA), 1:22.170
9. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (DUCATI), 1:22.196
10. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (DUCATI), 1:22.340
11. Hector BARBERA, Spain (DUCATI), 1:22.413
12. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (HONDA), 1:22.425
13. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:22.436
14. Maverick VIÑALES, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:22.507
15. Danilo PETRUCCI, Italy (DUCATI), 1:22.546
16. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (HONDA), 1:23.008
17. Mike DI MEGLIO, France (DUCATI), 1:23.185
18. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (APRILIA), 1:23.286
19. Loris BAZ, France (FORWARD YAMAHA), 1:23.344
20. Jack MILLER, Australia (HONDA), 1:23.427
21. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (ART-APRILIA), 1:23.821
22. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (HONDA), 1:23.925
23. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (HONDA), 1:23.952
24. Michael LAVERTY, UK (APRILIA), 1:24.594
25. Claudio CORTI, Italy (FORWARD YAMAHA), 1:25.160
More, from a press release issued by Movistar Yamaha:
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Starts Action at Sachsenring
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP‘s Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi enjoyed a positive start to the German GP at Sachsenring today, securing fourth and seventh respectively in the combined free practice session times.
Sachsenring (Germany), 10th July 2015
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP‘s Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi showed a competitive pace during the first free practice sessions ahead of this weekend‘s Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland. Both riders were fast to find their rhythm in the quite cool conditions to take fourth and seventh respectively in the combined times.
Lorenzo was calm and collected as he prepared for this weekend‘s German GP. He was quick to find his pace in the morning session, taking over the provisional top spot from his teammate ten minutes into the session. He continued to post lap times within the 1‘22s, to conclude the morning in seventh position with a 1‘22.445.?
The Spaniard again displayed his determination in the afternoon session. He was one of the first riders out on track and led the session until the pace quickened a little less than ten minutes into the session. Lorenzo continued to work hard on his setting and soon dropped under the 1‘22 mark. His fastest time of 1‘21.886 puts him in fourth place in today’s combined times, 0.265s from first.
Sticking to the same approach he had at the previous GP weekend, teammate Rossi was quick to position himself as a key protagonist in Free Practice 1. He rode his YZR-M1 to the top of the time sheets on his first flying lap. As the session progressed he focused on improving his setting and ended the morning practice with a best time of 1’22.102 for second place.
Rossi used the second session to further improve his set-up and test the asymmetrical front tyre brought by Bridgestone to match Sachsenring‘s layout of ten left and three right corners and the expected temperature variations for this weekend. The Italian rider didn’t improve on his morning time and ended the first day of practice in seventh position in the overall standings, 0.481s from first.
JORGE LORENZO
In the first practice I found some problems, especially in sector one. The electronics weren‘t perfect going into the first corner and we improved it. I had a much better feeling in this sector after that in T1, and also in general all over the track, so we are much closer to the top guys. Tomorrow we have another session to try, so let‘s see if we can improve the bike even more.
VALENTINO ROSSI
Today wasn‘t so bad because we started quite strong this morning. In the afternoon it became a bit more difficult, because the temperature rose and that made it harder to control the bike that started sliding more. We worked well and were able to improve the setting. I did the best time for the last section with a tyre that had already done more than twenty laps, considering this we‘ve made a good step forward. I‘m happy because we start with a good setting but now we have to improve a lot of small details. My pace isn‘t so bad, but it‘s also not fantastic so we have to try to do better. I decided to use the asymmetric tyre for the entire afternoon session and the first feeling was good. It had good grip, both left and right, and the performance of the tyre is consistent for 25 laps.
MASSIMO MEREGALLI
TEAM DIRECTOR
Considering that Sachsenring is one of the most challenging tracks on the MotoGP calendar, today‘s results are quite good and we are feeling comfortable. We identified areas were we have to improve and we will try to prepare something for tomorrow‘s Free Practice 3 with the intention to improve both the speed and the consistency. These amendments will be very important to prepare ourselves for the race and qualifying. To start from the front is fundamental for Sunday, but we are confident that we will be ready.
More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3:
Smith shines on the opening day at the Sachsenring
Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team rider Bradley Smith battled the wind at the GoPro Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland to conclude the opening day of MotoGP action with a highly impressive finish of 2nd position. The British rider kicked off his weekend by undertaking a shake down with his Yamaha YZR-M1 in preparation for the 30 lap sprint on Sunday and completed the FP1 session in 13th. When the afternoon practice started, he continued to adjust the setup and assess the tyre options before undertaking a total of 27 laps around the 3.7 kilometre circuit. By the fall of the chequered flat, he had set a blistering time of 1’21.740 which left him only 0.119 from the top of the heap. His performance now leaves him confident of surging to a strong grid position in the all-important qualifying session tomorrow.
On the other side of the Monster Yamaha Tech3 team garage, Pol Espargaro opened his 2015 MotoGP campaign at the Sachsenring by completing the first day of action in 13th place in the combined standings. The young Spaniard began the initial shake down in FP1 with a run to 12th position after suffering an unfortunate fall at the notoriously difficult turn 11. However, he sprinted back to the pits and leapt onto his second Yamaha YZR-M1 before concluding the session in this placement. When free practice two began, he continued his work at the tight and twisting German track as he undertook a total of 21 laps before finishing with a best time of 1’22.436, leaving him in 13th. Nevertheless, this lap left him just over six tenths of a second back from third and he now looks onwards to tomorrow where he intends to snatch a top starting position for the ninth round battle on Sunday.
Bradley Smith
Position : 2ndTime : 1’21,740 Laps : 52
“It was a positive start to the weekend and I am feeling comfortable on the bike already. The base setting seems to be working well at this race track and I am looking forward to getting back out tomorrow and continuing this form. In addition, I’m happy about our showing today especially after the difficult time that we had last year. We were able to assess quite a lot of different front tyre options today and now we pretty much have everything clear for the race with regards to tyre choice. There are a few small details that we need to improve, which I noticed when I was following some other riders. Furthermore, I’m happy with how the bike handles the first and third sectors, but we need to make a few adjustments in order to improve in the other two. All in all, to be second at the end of day one is a strong start and now we need to keep this momentum for tomorrow, because qualifying is always so important at this circuit.”
Pol Espargaro
Position : 14thTime : 1’22,436Laps : 41
“It goes without saying that it has been quite a tricky opening day to the weekend. Unfortunately I crashed this morning, which meant that we lost a pair of tyres so I had to start the afternoon session with a used set. Still, our rhythm was really promising as I was running in 8th position despite the fact that the tyres had reached almost race distance. However, I then entered the pits and changed tyres for the final run but when I returned to the track, my feeling on the bike was just not the same anymore. This happened to Bradley in Assen and also to us quite a few times this year, yet it’s always better to have something like this happen on a Friday instead of later on in the weekend. Nevertheless, I am happy with how the bike is working even though we still have a degree of improvement to make in some areas. Most importantly, we have to be wise tomorrow because we now have one set of tyres less but we are still confident of clinching a strong result here this weekend in Germany.”
More, from a press release issued by Team Estrella Galicia:
Encouraging start to German weekend for Redding
Sachsenring, Germany – 10 July 2015: The opening day of the German Grand Prix has given Scott Redding plenty of reasons to feel encouraged, after he set the eighth fastest time. Redding was half a second slower than Marc Marquez but looked comfortable on his Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda.
Having endured a turbulent season thus far it was important for the 22-year-old to have a solid start to the weekend. He was third in this morning’s session, with his fastest time set on tyres that had already completed 23 laps.
In the afternoon the Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider was three thousands of a second slower than in FP1 but, with track conditions very similar, few of the front runners made significant steps forward with their pace. Instead Redding focused on longer stints and closed the session with a 12-lap run that was both fast and consistent.
With an improved feeling from the bike the longer runs felt much more comfortable for Redding, who feels the key to further improvement is to work on fine tuning the setting rather than looking for major changes.
Scott Redding: 8th – 1’22.167
“I’m quite happy with how it’s been going. I can do longer runs with the bike and I’m not really fighting with it; it seems a little bit easier this weekend. I’m not sure if it’s the circuit layout that’s helping me but I feel comfortable and the bike doesn’t feel as heavy. We’ve got a few things that we need to work on. It’s more with the front end because, while we have some spin from the rear, it’s similar for everyone. Through two corners I have quite a bit of bouncing from the front but in general I feel much better on the bike.”
Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“I always worry about coming to the Sachsenring because it has been a difficult track in the past but this morning Scott was impressive, posting the third fastest time on used tyres. This afternoon we did almost the exact same lap time as this morning and with Marc Marquez only improving by one tenth I think that we are in a good range. I hope that tomorrow in FP3 we can be inside the top ten. If we can go straight into Q2 then that would be good and completely different to the last few weekends.”
More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda:
Marquez sets the pace on day one in Germany with Pedrosa 5th
It’s been a positive first day in Sachsenring for the Repsol Honda Team after reigning World Champion, Marc Marquez, finished fastest in both practice sessions with teammate, Dani Pedrosa, just 0.268 seconds behind him in 5th.
With conditions improving from this morning’s cold temperature of 13ºC to 17ºC (and track by 10ºC from 22º to 32º), all but four of the MotoGP class improved their times this afternoon. The field is incredibly close at this tight and twisty 3.6km circuit with 15 riders within a second of each other.
Bridgestone brought the asymmetric front tyre for the first time this season. Marc used it at the end of FP1 and then stayed on it for the whole of FP2 to better understand its behaviour. He posted his best time of 1’21.621 (lap 25/25), comfortably under the circuit record lap set by Dani in 2011 (1’21.846). Dani, chose to stay on the standard tyres and finished the day in 5th with his time of 1’21.889 (lap 7/23).
Marc Marquez
1ST 1’21.621 [LAP 25/25]
“I think that today has been a positive day.We felt good, and that’s the important thing. It’s true that there was a strong wind that made things tough for everyone. We followed a good working plan but we still have things to improve. I don’t feel completely comfortable, but we can reflect positively on today. The important thing for the moment is that we are going well, but I am aware that tomorrow everyone will get better.”
Dani Pedrosa
5TH 1’21.889 [LAP 7/23]
“It was a good first day and we tried some different bike setups and tyres in the practice sessions, but not the asymmetric front – perhaps we will try this tomorrow, we will have to wait and see. We have to make a step with the bike ahead of tomorrow as there are a few points of the circuit where we need to improve corner entry in particular, this will be the key to lowering our times our times.”
More, from a press release issued by Cardion AB Motoracing:
AB Motoracing replaced the rider for MotoGP race at Sachsenring
Due to the injury the Czech rider Karel Abraham cannot attend the race at Sachsenring in Germany. For this race will be replaced by the Japanese Hiroshi Aoyama. The HRC test rider will appear in MotoGP class for the seconds time this year as he also replaced Dani Pedrosa for three races in the beginning of this season. In Friday´s free practices he finished at 22nd position, when he couldn´t improve his lap time due to the crash in the end of the session. Rider is ok.
Hiroshi Aoyama
“For me it´s quite difficult to join the new team. All guys are trying to support me in all possible ways. Karel uses completely different package than me, so I need to understand it first. We have some problems with the front tyre, which must be solved. Then we can improve the lap times. Its quite difficult to ride this OPEN bike for me. Unfortunatelly I had the crash in the afternoon during the fast lap.”
Marco Grana
“Today we were concentrated on the rider and his feeling about our bike. He will have to use completely different setup than Karel. He is smaller and also the riding styles are different. Unortunatelly we still have the problems we´ve been solving during the whole season. I guess we still need to communicate more with Showa to describe and solve it. Now we will analyze the data and we´ll see.”
More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:
Iannone third and Dovizioso tenth after first day of free practice for German GP at the Sachsenring.
The first two free practice sessions for the German Grand Prix, to be held at the Sachsenring circuit not far from Chemnitz in the former East Germany, concluded with Andrea Iannone in third place and Andrea Dovizioso in tenth.
Iannone was just two-tenths of a second off the pace of provisional poleman Marquez, while Dovizioso’s gap was seven-tenths from the top slot.
On a sunny but cold day, the two Ducati Team riders took to the track in the morning for first free practice, at the end of which they placed sixth (Dovizioso) and tenth (Iannone).
In the afternoon’s FP2, both men tested the new asymmetric front slick for the first time, and then towards the end of the session they went out on the soft rear tyre to set their quickest times, Iannone in 1’21.824 and Dovizioso in 1’22.340.
Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team #29) – 1’21.824 (3rd)
“I am half satisfied, in the sense that for sure I managed to get a good result today, but in the end we still have to understand how competitive we can realistically be with the harder tyre. Even today we are struggling a bit more than what I expected: I was sure I could go quicker much easier than this and be closer to the front. In any case we are working in a methodical way and we have found a set-up with which I can be quite quick. This is important with tomorrow in mind.”
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1’22.340 (10th)
“I am not very happy with the afternoon session when I hoped to be able to make some further improvement, but the modifications we tried did not work the way we had hoped for. Even when the things we try don’t give the expected results, they are in any case useful to understand the direction to take and this will help us for tomorrow. Of course we still have a lot to do because our speed is not as much as we want, but I am confident for tomorrow.”
More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone:
Marquez resumes Sachsenring domination by topping German Grand Prix practice
Round 9: German MotoGP™ – Free Practice 1&2
Sachsenring, Friday July 10 2015
Bridgestone slick options available: Front: Soft, Asymmetric Front & Medium; Rear: Soft, Medium & Hard (Asymmetric)
Bridgestone wet tyre options available: Soft (Main), Hard (Alternative)
Weather: FP1 – Dry. Ambient 12-14°C; Track 24-29°C (Bridgestone measurement)
FP2 – Dry. Ambient 16-17°C; Track 36-38°C (Bridgestone measurement)
At a circuit where he hasn’t been beaten for the last five seasons, Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez continued his fine form at Sachsenring by topping the timesheets in Friday’s free practice sessions at the German Grand Prix.
Having topped the morning Free Practice 1 session, Marquez found extra pace in the afternoon FP2 session and set a lap time of 1’21.621 to lead on combined times by 0.119 seconds from Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Bradley Smith, whose best time of 1’21.740 made him second quickest today. Third quickest was Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone with a personal best time of 1’21.824. The three quickest riders today set times quicker the existing Circuit Record Lap of 1’21.846 set by Dani Pedrosa in 2011.
Cool ambient temperatures and a strong breeze throughout the day made for challenging conditions for the riders, with today’s peak track temperature of 38°C being recorded towards the end of FP2. In order to cope well with the short, yet technical Sachsenring circuit in the cool conditions, three different front slick specifications were utilised by the riders today; the soft, asymmetric and medium front slick options. Although all riders started the day using the soft compound front slick to ensure maximum warm-up performance in FP1, the most popular front tyre during FP2 was the newly-developed asymmetric front slick that is available for the first time at Sachsenring. This option provided good heat-retention and edge grip on the lesser-used right shoulder with good cornering stability on the left shoulder. Rear tyre choice focused on the soft compound for the factory Aprilia and open-class riders, while the factory Ducati, Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha riders mainly used the medium compound rear slick. With warmer temperatures forecast for tomorrow, evaluation of the hard compound rear slick is expected to take place during FP4 which commences at 1330 local time (GMT +2) tomorrow.
Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department
“The riders had to face challenging conditions today, with cool temperatures in the morning and strong winds in the afternoon. Thankfully, our tyre allocation is working well here in Germany so the riders could cope sufficiently with these challenges. As well as offering our asymmetric front option for the first time this year, at Sachsenring we also took the decision to add a fourth front slick option to our allocation, the hard compound front slick, as we could have significantly warmer weather tomorrow and Sunday. So far this weekend our tyre allocation is working as we had hoped, with the riders reacting positively to our asymmetric front slick and the overall level of rider safety and performance on offer being good. It is too early to know what the preferred race tyre options are, but further testing in what should be warmer temperatures tomorrow afternoon will give us a clearer picture on what tyre options will figure in Sunday’s thirty-lap race.”
More, from a press release issued by OCTO Pramac Racing:
Yonny started well the Sachsering weekend finishing 9th. Petrux ended 15th.
Pramac Racing started with great feeling the Sachsenring weekend hitting the provisional Top 10 with Yonny Hernandez and collecting positive indications from Danilo Petrucci.
The rider from Medellin started strong in FP1 by immediately recording excellent laptimes and in the last run of the morning’s practice he managed to notch up the fifth quickest time, only two tenths of a second behind the front row. Yonny continued to turn fast even in the afternoon crossing the finish line with a time of 1’22.196 (only 1 tenth of a second from the second row), which allowed him to close in ninth place and win momentarily direct access to Q2.
Danilo Petrucci ended up 15th, a result which does not do justice to the rider from Terni. Petrux also took to the track in the morning immediately finding a good feeling with his Ducati Desmosedici GP 14. After closing the Fp1 one tenth of a second from the Top 10, Danilo went back to the track in the afternoon with the used tyre and he managed to improve by more than two tenths of a second his morning’s fastest time. Unfortunately in the time attack, probably due to a rear tire which has not made the most, Petrux failed to make that further step that would allow him to get into the top 10 finishing with a laptime of 1’22.546 (15th position) less than two tenths of a second from the third row.
9° – Yonny Hernandez – OCTO Pramac Racing #68 – 1’22.196
“I am very satisfied. This is a nice way to start the weekend. But we still have much to do. Tomorrow we will have to work hard to be able to improve. I hope to continue on this direction which is the right one to get a good result. Where can I do better? Surely in T3. That is the fastest part of the circuit and can let me improve much my lap time. We’ll try to work on the set up to manage to take a step forward in this direction.
15° – Danilo Petrucci – OCTO Pramac Racing #9 – 1’22.546
It was a day with two faces but I want to consider only the good one. I lapped fast in the morning’s practice when I was always in front until the others went out with the soft tires. In the afternoon we tried to set the time but we were not able to make an important step. I’m lacking a little grip and this put me a bit in trouble. We still have a day to work on this. The race pace is good. Tomorrow we hope to be able to make a good time attack to enter directly into Q2.
More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office:
CHALLENGING START FOR TEAM SUZUKI ECSTAR IN GERMANY
The first encounter at the German Grand Prix looks to be harder than usual for Team SUZUKI ECSTAR’s riders, with both Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales struggling to immediately find a good feeling with the track on their GSX-RRs.
As usual, both crews worked hard to find a basic set-up that could make the riders feel comfortable so as to find a good pace, but the Sachsenring circuit will require some extra work from the engineers and riders to make this happen.
In both today’s sessions Espargarò and Viñales made several changes to make their GSX-RRs easier to ride, but the lack of information they have at the track caused by being a new team is at the moment preventing them to be nearer the top of the time sheets. The team also focused on race preparation, testing some solutions that can be more effective over race distance than on a single, quick lap. This allowed the engineers to collect the much-needed feedback to determine the direction they will go in for tomorrow morning. The third free practice session will then be important to determine how they approach qualifying, therefore Espargarò and Viñales will try to better improve the settings of their GSX-RR chassis to make the most of the strengths of their motorcycles as they head towards qualifying tomorrow afternoon.
Davide Brivio – Team Manager:
“This was a very intense day for us. With us being a new team this means that every Friday we have to start from scratch without previous data to improve on or move from. In the last races we could find a good direction to move in pretty quickly while here we probably need some more time. At the end of the day Aleix could make some improvements finally ending the session in sixth place, while with Maverick we focused a little more on the race preparation than on a single lap time. Tonight we will better analyse the data and will look for some better machine set-ups for tomorrow; we still have room for improvements if we find good configurations in both set-up and electronics.”
Aleix Espargaro:
“I have to say that I’m not really happy because today it was a difficult day for us, I couldn’t find a good compromise with my machines as we did in other races and I struggled a lot to make it turn as I wanted. In the afternoon we made some big changes to my Number 1 bike, but they proved to be ineffective, we tried with bike Number 2 to be more competitive but the time was against us. At the end of the day we found a good direction to work on, so far I’m not really happy, but I’m confident that the info we got today will help us to make some steps forward tomorrow.”
Maverick Viñales:
“I’m not happy with today, I couldn’t find a proper set-up that made me feel confident, we worked hard but we are still far from the top. This morning we spent a lot of time finalising the settings of the electronics, but we still suffer. I miss some traction from the rear and this prevented me from making a good fast lap. For tomorrow we need to see the data and try to find some new solutions in set-up and electronics that could make me more comfortable on the bike.”
More, from a press release issued by Avintia Racing:
Strong start for Avintia Racing team at the Sachsenring
10/07/15 Avintia Racing MotoGP Grand Prix of Germany – FP1-FP2
The Avintia Racing team made a very positive start of the German Grand Prix today at the Sachsenring. Hector Barbera was the fastest Open Class rider and he finished the FP2 eleventh after a great lap. The Spanish rider has focussed for the race during the morning running old tyres and working on his rhythm and the bike set up, and in the afternoon he putted his head down to make a lap only 0.792s slower than the fastest rider of the day, Marc Marquez, and ahead of several factory riders.
Mike Di Meglio was also very strong in the opening day at the Sachsenring. The Avintia Racing French rider was 17th, but he is happy with his pace and with the tyre selection for the race quite clear. He just need to improve a little bit the traction going out of the corners to get a best result in the qualifying session tomorrow.
HECTOR BARBERA #8 / 11th (P1 Open) 1’22.413 @HectorBarbera
I’m happy because I had really good feeling with the bike. In the morning we just used the hard tyre and we also worked in the bike with different settings. This afternoon we took the best from this morning and with the soft tyre I felt great. The soft tyre will be tyre for the race and I also liked a lot the new asymmetric front that Bridgestone brought specially for this Grand Prix. We were close to get into the top ten to be in the Q2, and I think we can go faster tomorrow morning. We know the tyres we’ll use for the race and we have done a lot of work with the bike set up. Overall I think it was a good first day.
MIKE DI MEGLIO #63 / 17th (P3 Open) 1’23.185 @Mikejpp63
Today was a good first day. In the morning I felt really confident on the bike and I had very good feeling. I think we choose a wrong direction with the rear suspension in the afternoon, and the bike didn’t work as we expected. We need to understand what happened, because although other riders had lower grip, it was difficult for us to improve. We have clear the tyres for the race and the new dual compound front works very well at this track, but we need to find something to improve the traction in acceleration if we want to get closer to Hector.
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
Marquez returns to form at the Sachsenring
The Spaniard was fastest in FP1, then went on to improve upon his time in FP2 to finish the day quickest overall.
Repsol Honda Rider Marc Marquez set a fastest lap time of 1’21.621 to finish on top today, despite not yet equalling the 1’20.937 lap he set to claim pole at the German GP last year.
Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) finished in 2nd place on the combined sheets, 0.119 sec off Marquez’s pace. He told motogp.com that he feels much more comfortable with the 2015 M1 than he has with previous iterations, feeling faster and more consistent pretty much instantly. This certainly shows today.
Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) came in third, only 0.084 sec slower than Smith, leaving Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha) in 4th. 5th place went to Marquez’s team mate Dani Pedrosa who put in a lap time 0.268 sec off the pace set by his Repsol Honda colleague. Honda has a good record in Germany – since the introduction of the 4-stroke MotoGP class in 2002, the Japanese manufacturer has been the most successful at the Sachsenring with 9 wins in total.
Aleix Espargaró – who is racing in a striking retro livery today celebrating 30 years of the GSX-R – came in sixth place for Team Suzuki Ecstar. He finishes just 0.007 sec quicker than Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha).
Scott Redding (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS), Yonny Hernández (Octo Pramac Racing) and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) complete the top ten. Meanwhile it’s all change further down the MotoGP timesheets this weekend, with three new riders lining up to do battle at the Sachsenring:
Claudio Corti replaces Stefan Bradl for Athiná Forward Racing due to his broken scaphoid. Bradl was obviously disappointed to miss the German round: “It’s really a shame to be forced to miss my home Grand Prix, but doctors have advised me not to rush the recovery in order not to jeopardize the rest of the season.”
AB Motoracing’s injured Karel Abraham has been substituted for Hiroshi Aoyama. The Japanese rider said: “It’s a strange feeling to be back again, I’m very sorry for Karel, but I’m very excited to jump on his bike.”
Michael Laverty also makes his return to MotoGP, permanently taking Marco Melandri’s ride in the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini. It’s a tough challenge replacing a rider mid season, but Laverty is no stranger to the Aprilia: “I have been riding with the Aprilia test team so I am comfortable with the Aprilia RS-GP machine and the Bridgestone tyres.”
The MotoGP FP3 session is due to to start at 9:55 local time on July 11.
Lowes on a high after setting fastest Moto2 pace in Germany
The Speed Up Racing rider tops practice, with Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) and Mika Kallio (Italtrans Racing Team) springing a surprise to take second and third respectively.
A best lap of 1’25.027 in this morning’s opening practice session secured Sam Lowes top spot on the opening day Moto2 timesheets in Germany. Lowes came out on top of a closely contested practice in the intermediate category, with just 0.077s separating the top five. The British rider certainly had a dramatic Free Practice. He crashed out turn 1 in this afternoon’s second session and nearly suffered a second fall at the same corner towards the end of FP2, but he managed to pull off a spectacular save.
Japanese rider Nakagami was only 0.040s behind Lowes, with 2014 German Moto2 runner-up Kallio a further 0.002s behind to complete the top three. Dominique Aegerter (Technomag Racing Interwetten) finished fourth, with the fastest home rider being Jonas Folger (AGR Team) in fifth place. Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP) placed sixth on the time sheets, just ahead of current Championship leader Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport), who was seventh, despite being just 0.149s off the best pace set by Lowes.
Tito Rabat (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) finished in eighth place. The Spaniard was keen to test his recovering right collarbone, which he broke just six days ago in a training accident at the Almeria track. He completed just two laps short of the full 29-lap race distance in FP1 and reported no pain or strength issues with the shoulder. He was fortunate not to aggravate the injury though when he crashed at turn 8 in the second session.
Randy Krummenacher (JIR Moto2) & Thomas Luthi (Derendinger Racing Intewetten) complete the top 10. Simone Corsi (Athiná Forward Racing) finished 11th today, despite a strong record at the Sachsenring. He has been on the podium here for the last two years running with second in 2013 and third in 2014.
A crash from Azlan Shah (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) at the famous turn 11 with just under seven minutes of the session remaining brought out the red flag. The Malaysian’s Kalex bike came to rest in the middle of the track, and the only way to safely retrieve it was to halt the session, which got back under way after a short delay.
The Moto2 FP3 session is due to start at 10:55 local time on July 11.
Kent finishes the day on top of the Moto3™ timesheets
The Leopard Racing rider shows why he’s the current championship leader on the opening day of practice for the German GP.
The Brit put in a fastest lap of 1’26.937 on the combined time sheets to put him & his Honda on top at the close of play on practice day, 0.678 sec ahead of Niccolò Antonelli (Ongetta-Rivacold) and 0.721 sec ahead of 3rd-placed Alexis Masbou (SaxoPrint RTG).
Fabio Quartararo (Estrella Galicia 0,0) came in fourth on the combined times with a 1’27.666 lap. The fastest local rider was Phillip Oettl (Schedl GP Racing), who came in fifth in front of the German crowds, 0.853 sec off the pace set by Brit Danny Kent and just 0.015 sec faster than Karel Hanika (Red Bull KTM Ajo) in 6th.
Rounding out the top ten were Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing Team Moto3), Efrén Vázquez (Leopard Racing), Andrea Locatelli (Gresini Racing Team Moto3) and Francesco Bagnaia (Mapfre Team Mahindra) respectively.
Big things were expected from Miguel Oliveira, but he unfortunately suffered a high side at turn 1 during FP1, breaking his left hand and sending him to Portugal for surgery, his weekend over. The crash has hurt him in more ways than one, given that the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider currently sits in third place in the championship and he needed valuable points in Germany to close the gap on championship leader Danny Kent.
Danny Kent told motogp.com that he saw Oliveira as a major competitor and mentioned him as one of the riders he needs to “keep an eye out for”, making Oliveira’s accident all the more painful. Oliveira is aiming to be fit to ride for round ten in Indianapolis, with team leader Niklas Ajo stating: “It was not a big crash so he was unlucky to break the bone. The doctors were positive it will recover quickly and he’ll be OK for Indy.”
This year’s Sachsenring Moto3 clash also sees two local riders joining as wild cards – Jonas Geitner for the Freudenberg Racing Team and Maximilian Kappler for SaxoPrint RTG. Kappler lives just a stone’s throw away from the circuit. He also competed in the 2014 German Moto3 race, starting from 29th on the grid to finish 21st. He said: “This year I feel much better prepared than last year. I want to have fun with it – and enjoy the cool atmosphere.”
The Moto3 FP3 session is due to to start at 9:00 local time on July 11.
More, from a press release issued by Forward Racing:
Baz and Courti debutted at Sachsenring
It was a very intense first day of work for the Athinà Forward Racing team on the Sachsenring circuit which this week hosts the ninth race of the 2015 season, the last before the usual summer break.
Loris Baz, debutting on the German track, improved by over 2 seconds his lap time in the afternoon session after struggling in the first round in the morning and finished close to the other Open bikes ending 19th in the combined timesheets. The Frenchman is confident for qualifying, where the aim is to fight for the head of the class.
Positive start for Claudio Corti, who returns to MotoGP after missing for a year and a half. The rider from Como, who in this race replaces the local idol Stefan Bradl still recovering after last week surgery to his right scaphoid, was more than a second and a half quicker at the end of second free practice session. Corti had a good feeling and will make the most of the latest rounds of free practice to adjust the front to his driving style.
Loris Baz
“It was a day of work aimed to become familiar with the track. The circuit is difficult to master, very technical with many blind corners. Although we are a little off the usual positions, I am satisfied overall. We made an important step forward since this morning and I’m confident for tomorrow”.
Claudio Corti
“Overall it was a positive day. I made the most of free practice in the morning to get to grips with the bike trying not to make mistakes. In the afternoon I pushed more and I improved my best time by over a second and a half. I have a completely different riding style compared to Stefan and I have to change the whole front setting. The feeling is good, the bike is easier to ride than I thought and I’m sure we can do a good job for qualifying with the team. I believe that I can still improve and shorten the gap to make a good race”.
More, from a press release issued by Aprilia:
FIRST DAY OF MOTOGP PRACTICE IN GERMANY
Bautista starts working straight away on his race setup, improving from one session to the next. Laverty sizes up his Aprilia RS-GP
Sachsenring (Germany), 10 July 2015 – MotoGP kicks off the second half of the season on the twisting German Sachsenring circuit. Alvaro Bauitista and Michael Laverty took on the first day of free practice with different intentions. If the German weekend is another stop along the Aprilia V4 development path for Alvaro, for Laverty it was, first and foremost, the time to gain confidence with the bike – which he already knows well, since he has been working as a test team rider – in race configuration.
A sliding crash this morning complicated things for Bautista who, fresh from surgery on his right forearm right after the Assen race, was bothered a bit by the injury. In the afternoon the Spanish Aprilia Racing Team Gresini rider in any case was able to get back onto the track, lapping on the same tyres with the clear intention of getting the bike set up for the race on Sunday, but also managing to shave almost 6 tenths of a second off his time from the morning session. Laverty showed consistent progress in FP1 but changing bikes slowed him up in the second session. In the end Bautista closed out the day with the 18th best combined time at 1’23,286. Laverty had the 24th time with 1’24,446.
ROMANO ALBESIANO (Aprilia Racing Manager)
“Another day of testing and hard work fine tuning. Alvaro was looking good going into turns and riding through them, but we still need to improve traction, so we need to work on improving grip in that condition. Laverty came out of the morning practice session satisfied, ending with the 23rd best time. However, in the afternoon he had to change the bike he had used in FP1, which is the one he felt better on, and with the other one he had a chattering problem that kept him from improving further.”
FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager)
“We are doing a lot of tests on the bike, as usual, but Alvaro, despite the crash which slowed him down this morning, is already in line with our expectations. Tomorrow we would still like to take a step forward because I think that we can really do well on this track. Laverty had a good day of practice and he started off working well with the team.”
ALVARO BAUTISTA
“This morning I took a spill on turn 11. The problem is that the spot where I had surgery on my arm last week opened up a bit.. But in the afternoon I was still able to ride. We used the same tyre for the entire session in order to find a good setting. Our most important goal is to improve grip at the rear. I need to feel the tyre more on the tarmac.”
MICHAEL LAVERTY
“In FP1 I felt very comfortable in the saddle every time I went out onto the track and in fact I did my best time in the last run. In the afternoon unfortunately I was only able to get one clean run in at the end of the session so I wasn’t able to improve. In general I’ve got a good feeling with the bike. There’s room for improvement in terms of grip. Today I tried the rear suspension link like the one Alvaro uses briefly and it seems to make things a bit better, so tomorrow I’ll try it on both bikes.”
More, from a press release issued by CWM LCR Honda:
CRUTCHLOW FEELS COMPETITIVE AT SACHSENRING
The first day of practice for this weekend’s German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring left Cal Crutchlow in an uncharacteristic 12th place on the timesheets, although the British rider remains unconcerned about his race pace with just eight-tenths separating him from the fastest lap of the day.
The CWM LCR Honda rider set his best lap in the afternoon session on a well-worn set of tyres, and although he was subsequently unable to improve on a fresh pair, he feels that with an evening of hard work with his crew he should have no problems in getting back up towards the front positions come qualifying on Saturday.
Cal Crutchlow 12th – 1’22.425
“I don’t think we warrant being in 12th position considering the effort put in today by myself and the team. I did my fast lap with 32 laps on the tyre, so when I put a new tyre at the end of the session I didn’t benefit at all. I had a lot of sliding and the tyre felt unpredictable.”
“Hopefully we can take a look through the data tonight and erase any doubts about why we never went any faster, maybe there was something wrong with the tyre. We definitely need to improve even though I got held up twice on my fast lap, but I think we are competitive although maybe not enough at the minute. I hope that improves tomorrow.”
More, from another press release issued by CWM LCR Honda:
MILLER HOPES FOR IMPROVEMENTS IN GERMANY
The CWM LCR Honda Team take on the Sachsenring this weekend, ahead of Sunday’s German Grand Prix, and for Australian Jack Miller it marks a return to a track where he celebrated victory in last season’s Moto3 race.
After today’s two free practice sessions the 20 year-old closed the day with the 20th fastest lap time, but is hopeful of making some big improvements ahead of Saturday’s qualifying session once he and the team go through the data they have gathered.
Jack Miller #43 – 20th – 1’23.427
“I’m not so happy with the result today, we have a lot of work to do. This is one of my favourite tracks though, so I’ll be looking to improve a lot. The bike isn’t working too bad, there’s just a few things we need to adjust and make a little better but we have a lot of work to do tonight for qualifying tomorrow to get a better grid position for the race.”
“We don’t want to be starting from the back of the grid and be making our way through the field again, so we need to do a good job tonight so we are well prepared for tomorrow.”
More, from a press release issued by Aspar Team:
Sachsenring welcomes POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar riders with two contrasting sessions
Hayden and Laverty start out with productive FP1, but experience issues in the afternoon run
The German Grand Prix began started this morning at the Sachsenring, the shortest of all the tracks on the World Championship calendar. A circuit at which Honda have won for the last five years in the premier class, so it is no coincidence that Marc Márquez imposed his will the first two practice sessions. The Spaniard held a slim lead in the morning, then ended the first session at the top of the timesheet, followed by Valentino Rossi. In the afternoon he repeated the same dynamic from very early on, but the difference at the end of the second session was not as much as in the first. Smith, Iannone and Lorenzo all put in fast laps, although Márquez remains the man to beat.
The POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar riders had two very different sessions today on German soil. Both Nicky Hayden and Eugene Laverty started the round at Sachsenring with a good feeling but then, for various reasons, failed to keep improving. The American concluded the first free practice session in fifteenth place, 1.1 seconds off the fastest time. In the afternoon he worked to improve the balance of his bike but, despite collecting a lot of data, was unable to improve on his morning time. He knows that German track favours his bike, so tomorrow he will implement all the data collected on the first day to get his bike turning well.
Eugene Laverty started out re-learning an almost unknown circuit. In the afternoon he had expected to improve, but lost his way with changes to his machine. He experienced a dip in feeling and maneuverability, which led to him to concluding the day in twenty-third position.
16th Nicky Hayden 1.22.935 (39 laps): “The day has started very well. I was able to complete some successful laps in the first session and the feelings was good. In the afternoon we tried some modifications, to find a balance for our bike, which shown us the direction to go in. We were not able to improve our times in the afternoon, but putting all the information together I’m sure we will find solutions to further improve tomorrow. Theoretically this is a circuit that is well suited to our bike. It has several small places where you have to use full power, and we have to try to take advantage of that to work well in the qualifying session. Every tenth here is very important, so we cannot lose focus for a second. Tomorrow we will continue working hard to keep on the same line and also to improve the turning of our bike in some sectors.”
23rd Eugene Laverty 1.23.952 (46 laps): “I used the first practice session today I used to learn the different sectors of this circuit. This is like a new track for me, and learning the blind corners has taken me some time. The first session was very productive but in the second we lost our way. At the end of the morning we had found some improvements and we were satisfied, but in the afternoon we worked in the opposite direction -thinking it would be productive but it was not the case. We basically lost maneuverability from one session to the next -something we must recover for the second say.”