Strong Start in Motegi for Movistar Yamaha MotoGP
Motegi (Japan), 10th October 2014
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi kicked off the first of the three overseas triple-header weekend’s with a flying start in the first practices for this Sunday’s Grand Prix of Japan.
Lorenzo remained calm and collected while he focused on staying ahead of his rivals. The Aragón race winner took his time at the start of the morning Free Practice session to warm up the bigger carbon brake disks, which are obligatory this year because of the Twin Ring Motegi circuit’s heavy braking character. Throughout the session the Spaniard was able to gradually improve his times and topped the standings with a 1’45.838 lap in the final minute.
The second 45 minutes session also saw him directly on the pace, posting multiple 1’45 laps to comfortably claim second place. His fastest lap of 1’45.580 was just four-tenths from the leader and leaves him second in the overall times.
Teammate Rossi showed that the heavy crash at Aragón has not slowed him down. Though heavy braking is challenging with his finger injury, the nine-time World Champion decided to ride without anesthetic injections and still managed to be at the top of the time sheets as the morning session began. The Doctor led the standings twice before finishing fifth with a lap of 1’46.184, just 0.346 behind his teammate.
Rossi had a similar session in the afternoon and was able to improve his time to a 1’45.890, less than 0.75 of a second from the top. The result leaves him in fifth place in the combined times ahead of tomorrow’s sessions.
Jorge Lorenzo
2nd / 1’45.580 / 16 laps
“After the race win in Aragon we knew that here maybe we had a chance to go faster and be more competitive with this normal tyre on the rear. Also we knew that last year we were competitive and had good grip. From the beginning we’ve been on the pace and better than we expected. The bike is working very well, we can improve some small details in the settings, chassis and electronics but in general the pace of the bike is very good so I’m happy.”
Valentino Rossi
5th / 1’45.890 / 19 laps
“I feel good on the bike and don’t have any particular problems. I have some small pain with the finger, especially when I brake there is a little bit of pain but I am optimistic, I can brake in a good way and I’m comfortable, I’m just in a little bit of pain. In general the first day was not so bad, it was good practice and I’m quite satisfied. We still have to work a lot, because we still haven’t found the right balance but fifth position is not so bad. I have a good pace and it looks like the Yamaha works well here in Motegi.”
Massimo Meregalli
“We are very satisfied with our start today. Both Jorge and Vale have no major issues with set up and have started with good pace and speed. Of course we have some small details as always to work through so I am confident we can make more steps over the weekend to be even more competitive on Sunday. All in all a good start to our proper ‘home’ Grand Prix! It looks like the typhoon won’t arrive until Monday so we might be lucky with the weather also.”
More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda:
Pedrosa 4th and Marquez 6th on first day in Motegi
The Grand Prix of Japan got underway today where Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez will have his first opportunity to clinch the 2014 title.
With limited track time due to treacherous conditions in 2013, neither Marc or teammate Dani Pedrosa wasted any time taking to the track this morning to rediscover their feeling at this tricky circuit. Marc had a small crash after running on in turn five early in this morning’s FP1 session, with the Spanish duo finishing 2nd (Marc) and 8th.
In the afternoon, Dani found a good rhythm and was able to test both option rear Bridgestone tyres but is still looking for the best setup in the brake point. Marc also tested both rear tyres and worked on his overall setup after losing valuable time from the crash in FP1. Both riders recorded their fastest time on their final laps of FP2, Dani finishing 4th in the combined times with 1’45.727 (lap 18/18) and Marc in 6th with his lap of 1’45.939 (lap 19/19).
TEAM QUOTES
Dani Pedrosa
4th – 1’45.727
“I think we had a good day of free practices. The track conditions were good and we were able to try out different tyres. In the afternoon we tried riding with the hard rear tyre, but we didn’t use the hard front like others did. We will probably try that out tomorrow. Today we did some runs with a good pace, but we have to work harder to improve our lap times and be very focused on setting a good time in qualifying.”
Marc Marquez
6th – 1’45.939
“Today we struggled a bit compared to other circuits. We have not quite found the right setup yet, but thankfully it’s still only Friday and we have many practice sessions ahead and things to try out. The important thing is that I felt pretty good and, despite not being totally happy with the setup of the bike, we are not so far from the top. Let’s see if we can continue in this way, improving over the course of the weekend.”
More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone:
Dominant Dovizioso sets the pace on the opening day at Motegi
Round 15: Japanese MotoGP™ – Free Practice One & Two
Motegi, Friday 10 October 2014
Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium & Hard. Rear: Extra-soft, Soft & Medium (Asymmetric)
Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Soft (Main) & Hard (Alternative)
Weather: FP1 – Dry. Ambient 22-22°C; Track 35-35°C (Bridgestone measurement)
FP2 – Dry. Ambient 24-23°C; Track 33-33°C (Bridgestone measurement)
Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso was in ominous form on the first day of practice at the Japanese Grand Prix, the Italian rider setting a stunning a lap time of 1’45.140 in this afternoon’s Free Practice 2 session at Motegi to finish comfortably ahead of his closest competitor.
Taking advantage of the massive grip of the extra-soft rear slick that is available to the Ducati and Open-class riders this weekend, Dovizioso set a time that was four-tenths of a second under the current Motegi race lap record in this afternoon’s Free Practice 2 session to top the timesheets on day one. Second quickest in today’s practice sessions on combined times was Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo, who after winning last year’s Japanese Grand Prix continued his affinity for the Motegi circuit with a personal best lap time of 1’45.580. LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl was third quickest today with a time of 1’45.637 and apart from Lorenzo was the only rider to set a lap time within half a second of Dovizioso’s benchmark time.
Weather conditions at Motegi today were fine, although cloud cover in the afternoon resulted in lower track temperatures compared to the morning, with today’s peak measurement of 35°C being recorded during this morning’s FP1 session. The favourable conditions this morning meant that all three front slick options; the soft, medium and hard slicks were utilised by the riders in the first session, but the medium compound front slick emerged as the clear preference among the riders by the end of the day due to its balance of braking and cornering performance. For the rear tyre, all three slick options were evaluated by the riders today with the softer rear slick options – soft compound for the Factory Honda and Yamaha riders and extra-soft for the Ducati and Open-class riders – yielded the best performance. With cooler temperatures forecast for the rest of the weekend, the softer rear slick options are likely to be chosen by the majority of riders for the race.
Slightly cooler temperatures are forecast for tomorrow and the MotoGP™ riders will next be out on track for Free Practice 3 which starts at 0955 local time (GMT +9).
Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department
“Today the conditions were quite favourable with the warm track temperatures allowing the riders to evaluate many different tyre options right from the first session. It was pleasing to see how quick the pace was today with both Dovizioso and Lorenzo setting times quicker than the Motegi race lap record, so I expect to see a new outright lap record for Motegi set during qualifying tomorrow. One of the most important considerations at Motegi for the riders is good braking stability, and it seems that the medium compound front slick provides the required front-end feel as well as high cornering performance, so this option was preferred by almost every rider today. At this point of the weekend, it looks like the riders prefer their softer rear slick options, and with cooler temperatures forecast for the rest of the race weekend these are likely to be chosen for the race.”
More, from a press release issued by NGM Mobile Forward Racing:
The NGM Forward Racing back on track at Motegi
The first day of the GP of Japan, 15th round of the 2014 MotoGP season, saw the NGM Forward Racing riders Aleix Espargaro and Alex De Angelis respectively in 13th and 17th position.
The Spaniard made a good start this morning finishing the FP1 in 9th position with a positive lap time of 1’46.404. In the afternoon, some electronics issues obliged him to spend some time in the garage, preventing him to use at the best the session to work on the bike set up. With a lap of 1.46.315, Espargaro finally closed 13th and tomorrow he will continue working in preparation of the race.
Also team mate Alex De Angelis started to work in the right direction in the FP1 setting a good 1.47.285 and closing in 15th position. In the FP2 Alex suffered some technical issues that prevented him to further improve his lap times. Despite this, the rider from San Marino is confident for tomorrow qualifying session.
Aleix Espargaro
“I’m not completely satisfied of today’s result. This morning I lacked a bit of confidence on the front. We worked on this direction and in the FP2 the feeling was better. Unfortunately due to some electronic issues I had to enter the pits and lost some time. I couldn’t do so many laps and this will complicate the work on the set up in preparation of the qualifying. Anyway I’m very motivated to do my best to recover the gap from the other guys”.
Alex De Angelis
“This morning in the FP1 we made a good start although I lacked a bit of feeling on the rear under braking. In the afternoon we tested some different solutions and I could improve a bit. It’s a pity that at the end of the session I had some problems when I had the soft tyre on and I couldn’t improve my lap times. We will keep on working tomorrow and I’m confident that we can make another step forward”.
More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:
GP of Japan: an excellent start for Andrea Dovizioso, who ends day 1 with quickest time. Crutchlow eleventh.
Andrea Dovizioso got his Japanese weekend off to the best possible start, the Italian rider ending the opening day of free practice at the top of the timesheets. The Ducati Team man was quickest overall at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit, setting a time of 1’45.140, over four-tenths of a second quicker than Jorge Lorenzo in second place.
Dovizioso had already begun the day well with a third place in the morning’s opening free practice session behind Lorenzo and Marquez.
His team-mate Cal Crutchlow could only manage eleventh place in the first day’s timesheets, and was unable to improve his quickest lap due to traffic, but in any case he said he was happy with his pace.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1st (1’45.140)
“I am very happy because, apart from my fastest lap which I set with a soft tyre, I also had a good pace with the medium option. We immediately got off to a good start this morning with the set-up, both regarding the chassis and the electronics, and this enabled me to push hard right from the early laps. Today was a great day but tomorrow I’ll have to try and shave off some more tenths from my lap time.”
Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team #35) – 11° (1’46.221)
“I’m not pleased with the result today but I am pleased with the speed. I thought we could have maybe been in the front five in that session but I got held up in my fast lap. I could have been a lot closer than what I was so I’m happy with this and it means we can work well for tomorrow. I had some problems in the session and didn’t get out in the first ten minutes due to a problem with the brake. Now I’m looking to rest because I’ve not been feeling well at all today due to a bit of flu, so maybe tomorrow I can have a better performance.”
More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda:
BRADL 3rd FASTEST AT MOTEGI GP OPENING DAY
Motegi, 10 October: the MotoGP contingent completed the first day of action at Motegi race track with LCR Honda racer Stefan Bradl immediately gaining a good feeling on the Japanese soil as he ended the day with a strong 3rd place (1’45.637). The German knew that his RCV would have been competitive and he did not make any special effort to qualify amongst the leading trio.
Stefan: “We are quite satisfied because we have been very fast for the whole day and 3rd place in the last free practice is quite good. Our pace shows that we have a good speed and we have been clear and immediate in taking decisions on our bike set-up. We took the right direction easily and now we have to keep an eye at the weather tomorrow to see if it’s getting cooler. But overall I am pleased with the job we have done today”.
More, from a press release issued by Scott Redding’s publicist:
Redding puts in the hard work on opening day at Motegi
Motegi, Japan – 10 October 2014: Scott Redding was 19th on the timesheet today, after using both free practice sessions ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix for tyre testing.
The 21-year-old Briton spent most of the two sessions on the harder option tyre, as opposed to the Open Class only soft option rubber, as he worked to get the most from the tyre in case it’s needed for Sunday’s race.
Redding will switch to the soft tyre tomorrow, when he’ll work with his crew to find a set up to better exploit the characteristics of the softer rubber.
Scott Redding // 19th // 1’47.586
“I’m reasonably happy with today’s progress as, this afternoon, we managed to close the gap to the fastest of the Open Class Hondas, which is positive. We went with the hard tyre for most of the two sessions today and we were expecting to be even closer once we switched to the soft, but we couldn’t really get it to work. Tomorrow we will change the suspension set up to better exploit the soft tyre. It was good to get some laps in on the harder tyre today because we used the soft option for the race in Aragon and it didn’t really work for us, so now I’m trying to push with the harder tyre. However, today I didn’t get the full potential of the softer tyre, so we will see better tomorrow which is the best option for the race and then make more laps with that.”
More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing:
At Motegi Hernandez starts off in the right way; Iannone is confident
The Pramac Racing Team started off the weekend with a very long and busy day at Motegi. Both Andrea Iannone and Yonny Hernandez who have worked hard to find the best settings, although with different results.
Andrea Iannone ended the morning session in eleventh position due to the setting of the bike that did not give the result looked for. Better in the afternoon session, despite a few problems, Andrea improved his lap time a by half a second finishing in ninth place, but was unable to do better because he had to change bike for a technical problem. Tomorrow’s practice will be decisive, Andrea will have to make the most of the available sessions to do all the tests he was not able to do today.
Yonny Hernandez (EnergyT.I. Pramac Racing) found a good setting and a good pace since this morning, so much so that he ended forth in FP1 1’46.113. In the afternoon session Yonny continued to work while keeping a good pace and only a small mistake on the final FP2 stopped him from improving the lap time. Yonny closed the second session of the tenth and hopes to be able to get the same result tomorrow in FP4, gaining direct access to Q2.
Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing)
“Today we had to solve some issues, I managed to do a few timed laps with the new bike because it still needed work so I had to use the GP14. There is still tomorrow to understand what needs to be done and to do some tests that we wanted to do today. “
Yonny Hernandez (EnergyT.I. Pramac Racing)
“I had a good feeling this morning and we worked hard this afternoon. Too bad for the small mistake in T3 and a bit of traffic in the last few laps stopped me from improving myself. I’m in the top ten and this is tomorrow’s goal. “
More, from a press release issued by Cardion AB Motoracing:
Overseas tour of MotoGP has started. Abraham holds seventeenth position in Japan
Karel Abraham has started with seventeenth fastest lap free practices of Grand Prix of Japan, at Motegi. On the track, where four years ago the Czech rider reached for the first time in his carrier to podium in Moto2 class, he achieved time 1:47,406 and he is losing 2,266 seconds to the fastest rider, Andrea Dovizioso.
Karel Abraham
“We are quit curious about the weather forecast, for now, the weather is changing, so maybe it will be same weekend as it was in Aragon, Spain. The bike is not going very well, we have lot of problems with grip. In the morning session I had some troubles, but fortunately I handled it. We will discuss a lot about the tyres. For now, we neither confortable with type, nor with combinations of tyres. We will have to work a lot.”
Marco Grana, Cardion AB chief mechanic
“We haven’t started that bad, we are second fastest Honda bike in open class. However we have problem with adhesion with front wheel, tyres are really hard. It is good in intensive breaking but in middle part of turn it is disadvantage and bike is behaving unpredictable. We are quite satisfied with time and we know have some space for improvements. Karel has not ridden the best lap yet. He could be faster by half of the second. We have prepared three types of setting to try for tomorrow. I believe, we are able to get under limit of 1:47 and stay in top fifteen.”
More, from a press release issued by Drive M7 Aspar Team:
Aoyama makes strong start in front of home crowd
DRIVE M7 Aspar rider makes gradual progress to finish with sixteenth fastest time
Last year’s Grand Prix of Japan winner Jorge Lorenzo started out on the front foot with the fastest time of the opening free practice session at Motegi this morning but it is Andrea Dovizioso who tops the overnight timesheets after the Italian overcame the Spaniard in this afternoon’s second session. The Ducati rider found four tenths on his final lap as he established his podium credentials for Sunday’s race; whilst there is still a long way to go his pace today was already close to the circuit record held by Lorenzo (1’44.969).
DRIVE M7 Aspar rider Hiroshi Aoyama has the responsibility of leading the home charge this weekend and it is one he is taking on with relish. The Japanese rider is determined to put on a good show in front of his friends, family and fans and he made solid progress with the set-up of his bike today, lapping sixteenth fastest before a small crash at the end of the afternoon. His team-mate Nicky Hayden continues his recovery from recent wrist surgery and after clocking a 1’47.829 this morning he was unable to improve in the afternoon as a series of small mistakes prevented him from demonstrating his true pace.
16th Hiroshi Aoyama 1.47.133 (33 laps): “The Grand Prix of Japan is always an exciting weekend for me and we made a pretty good start this morning. We’re struggling for rear grip here but we worked hard between sessions today to improve the feel on the rear and the front. We improved but we still haven’t found the balance to give me complete confidence. We put some new tyres in at the end of the session to try and drop the lap time. I pushed hard and loaded the front end so much that it washed out on me in turn one. I was lucky that the crash didn’t have any major consequences and now we have to look at the data and work out why it folded without any prior warning. In general it has been a positive first day and now we have to try and build on it.”
20th Nicky Hayden 1.47.829 (35 laps): “I made a few mistakes this afternoon that cost me at least half a second off my best lap. This is not the best circuit for my wrist and I am struggling quite a lot in some of the corners under braking. We knew this was going to be a tough weekend for us but I am trying to give it my best shot. I have more mobility in my hand here, which helps, but some of the braking zones are really hard and I’m suffering to the point that I ran wide in a few places. At this circuit if you get one corner wrong, especially in the downhill entries, you really compromise the next section of track. We’ll keep working and I am sure I will be more comfortable on the bike tomorrow.”
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
Dovizioso clear at the top as Marquez escapes light crash unhurt
The MotoGP™ FP2 session at Motegi saw Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) set the standard on the first day of the Motul Grand Prix of Japan, with Jorge Lorenzo and Stefan Bradl also amongst the leading trio.
On an extra soft rear tyre Dovizioso set the best time of the day towards the end of FP2 with a 1’45.140 lap of the Japanese circuit, which put him 0.440s ahead of the second best rider Lorenzo.
In FP1 Lorenzo led the way and although he improved in the afternoon he could not patch the pace of Dovizioso, with the Italian taking full advantage of the softer rubber. Third in FP2 was Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP) with a similar time to Lorenzo’s, 0.497s adrift of P1.
Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) survived a big moment in FP1 when he produced a remarkable stoppie at turn 11, as he hit the brakes going into the corner. He ended the day fourth best, just in front of Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP).
The overall Friday top ten was completed by Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team), Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3), Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3), Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) and Yonny Hernandez (Energy T.I. Pramac Racing)
Marquez was unhurt in a crash early in FP1 as he could not brake in time at turn 5, meaning his title shot weekend got off to a tricky start. He will look to move up the timesheets on Saturday.
Local rider Hiroshi Aoyama (Drive M7 Aspar) suffered a crash in the final minutes of the FP2 session, able to walk away with minimal damage to the bike. Hector Barbera (Avintia Racing) also suffered a small off, but was able to remount and return to the pits. Both riders were unhurt.
Moto2™: Opening day in Far East concludes with dominant Rabat in front
In Moto2™ FP2 at the Motul Grand Prix of Japan, the quickest three riders were Tito Rabat, Johann Zarco and Maverick Viñales.
Rabat (Marc VDS Racing Team) leads the Moto2™ World Championship standings by 33 points and he was dominant in the afternoon practice, showing good rhythm and setting the fastest lap by a 0.323s margin over Frenchman Zarco (AirAsia Caterham).
Viñales (Paginas Amarillas HP 40) was third fastest but could not get within half a second of Rabat’s best time, trailing his compatriot by 0.583s.
Dominique Aegerter (Technomag carXpert) and Julian Simon (Italtrans Racing Team) were fourth and fifth respectively, ahead of Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Sitag) and Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing Team) who were sixth and seventh, all within a second of Rabat’s best time.
Axel Pons (AGR Team), Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP) and Takaaki Nakagami (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) completed the top ten.
Wildcard Chalermpol Polamai (Singha Eneos Yamaha Tech 3) suffered a crash early in the session, as did Simon. Yuki Takahashi (Moriwaki Racing) fell with just ten minutes remaining, whilst Ratthapark Wilairot (AirAsia Caterham) crashed on his last lap. All the riders were unhurt.
Moto3™: Record pace sees Kent lead the way in Motegi practices
As Friday’s Moto3™ activity concluded at the Motul Grand Prix of Japan, Danny Kent (Red Bull Husqvarna Ajo) was ahead of the pack in FP2, with Alex Rins and Miguel Oliveira also towards the top of the timesheet.
Briton Kent, who won the 2012 Moto3 race in Japan, was the fastest rider in both Friday sessions, setting a rapid pace at Motegi. His 1’57.317 best lap of the day is a new record for the circuit wiping more than a second off his own previous record from two years ago – which was the lap that had given Kent pole for the 2012 race.
Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0) and Oliveira (Mahindra Racing) trailed Kent by 0.058s and 0.101s respectively in second and third. The top five was completed by Brad Binder (Ambrogio Racing) and Enea Bastianini (Junior Team Go&FUN Moto3).
In perfect riding conditions, which contrasted with last years disruptively wet and misty weather on day one in Japan, all the riders remained upright in FP2, the majority improving their times over FP1.
Niccolo Antonelli (Junior Team GO&FUN), Alex Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0), Isaac Viñales (Calvo Team), Efren Vazquez (SaxoPrint-RTG) and Jakub Kornfeil (Calvo Team) rounded out the top ten.
More, from a press release issued by QMMF Racing Team:
Day one results don’t show true potential of West and Ramos
QMMF Racing Team riders Anthony West and Roman Ramos finished day one of the Japanese Grand Prix in 25th and 35th position. But the positions in the classification don’t reflect their true potential, since both riders got caught out testing the harder rear tyre option in the afternoon session. Whereas many of the Moto2 contenders did their best lap time with the softer compound, the obvious choice on the 4.8 kilometre Twin Ring Motegi, West and Ramos decided to use the harder option in order to save the limited amount of softer tyres for the remainder of the weekend. After clocking 17th and 30th time in the morning, both West and Ramos lost ground in comparison to their rivals, but are confident to be able to fight back when it counts in the qualifying session on Saturday.
Anthony West – 25th in 1.52,997
“This morning I was one second faster than last year, which is good even though it is not enough. In that first session, I tried to use the hard tyre option, which was impossible. Going with the soft option was a big improvement and it is the obvious choice for this track. But because we are limited with the amount of tyres, we had to use the hard one in the afternoon. I managed to almost match my best time from this morning with this tyre and I think with the softer one, we would have been a lot faster and right on the pace with the other top contenders. I think we have the speed and we also have a suitable set-up for this track. We changed something on the front and the front feels really good now. Being able to do this lap time with the hard tyre confirms that the bike is working well. I only had a small problem with chattering and with rear grip in some places. I got a bit caught out with the chatter in one corner and ended up crashing. It was a small crash, really unexpected, because it chattered every time at this spot, but that time I just lost it. This is a track with lots of hard-braking action and I feel good under brakes and braking into the corner. I feel stronger than a lot of the other riders, under braking as much as in the fast and sweeping sections like the back chicane. Just on the corner exits, we need a bit more traction. I haven’t really compared our engine to the other riders yet, but it feels a lot better than what I had the last two races!”
Roman Ramos – 35th in 1.54,000
“Motegi is another new circuit for me, so we have been back to the challenge of going out and finding the best lines and the best base set-up. This morning, I got into a good rhythm early on, we managed to improve step by step and I was quite happy with our progress. In the afternoon, I was highly motivated and was really looking forward to ride, because I like the track a lot, its unique with its twists and turns, its up and downhill sections and the two tunnels. With my preferred tyre, I was able to go fast and do well, but then we mounted the other option and this one didn’t work for me at all. I pushed as much as I could, but I was hardly able to improve my lap time. I know that I can go faster with the other tyre option, so I am convinced that we’ll be stronger tomorrow and that we’ll be able to make up some positions!”
More, from a press release issued by AGT Rea Racing:
Gino Rea takes positives from Day One at Motegi
Gino Rea began the Japanese Grand Prix with a strong outing in Free Practice 1, sitting in 10th mid-session before dropping to 15th and then 20th at the flag. Concluding the first session 1.2 seconds from pole, Rea was confident of improvement in the afternoon session however a brake problem hindered his progress. Despite this, Gino was in 11th position in Free Practice 2 before having to retire to the pits. Rea finished day one in 23rd position overall but takes the positives from being able to run in the Top 15.
“I have to start with the positives. It was refreshing to run in the Top 15 for the first part of the sessions. In FP1 our setting wasn’t quite there but I still managed to be only 1.2 seconds off with the harder tyre option which was a good start. I then started off FP2 well and was running inside the Top 10 at the start but I had a brake problem and had to pit in. This is the worst circuit to have a brake problem so it was frustrating to sit out the rest of the session and watch my name get bumped down from 11th (at the time) to 23rd at the finish. I did manage to go out at the end but I had the same problem so I couldn’t go fast. Hopefully the guys will get it sorted for tomorrow so we can continue to progress.”
AGT REA Racing will be back in action tomorrow for the final free practice session before qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix begins at 15.05 local time.
More, from a press release issued by AirAsia Caterham Moto2 Team:
Positive Day One for Zarco and Wilairot at Motegi
Circuit: Twin Ring Motegi
Circuit Length: 4.801 km
Bike # 5 – Johann Zarco
FP1: P3; 1’51.906 – 19 laps
FP2: P2; 1’51.313 –19 laps
Bike # 14 – Ratthapark Wilairot
FP1: P23; 1’53.248 – 19 laps
FP2: P20; 1’52.683 – 17 laps
Weather
FP1: (Conditions) Dry; (air temp) 23°, (track temp) 35°
FP2: (Conditions) Dry; (air temp) 25°, (track temp) 33°
As the Japanese Grand Prix got underway at Twin Ring Motegi, the opening practice session saw just one second separate the top sixteen riders.
Heading out for Free Practice Two, AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing rider Johann Zarco continued to show strong form. Temporarily topping the time sheets the Frenchman concluded afternoon practice in second place.
Concentrating his efforts on improving his braking, teammate Ratthapark Wilairot achieved his fastest ever lap time around the Japanese circuit, finishing the day in a respectable twentieth place, just four tenths off P10.
#5 Johann Zarco: “I am happy with how today has gone. We had good pace in both FP1 and FP2 and worked well on the set-up.
“In the morning session we used the same tyre throughout and then for the afternoon we tried another compound and changed the chassis a little bit, which improved the grip going into the corners.
“We have a few more little things to try tomorrow but my feeling on the bike is good and I believe if we continue going in this direction, we can be strong again this weekend.”
#14 Ratthapark Wilairot: “Free practice one and two have both been quite good today.
“My feeling on the bike is good and we improved also how to use the braking, which up until now has been my weak point on the Caterham Suter. This also made me more confident going into the corners, so I’m pleased to have made this step.
“In the morning session I struggled with arm pump so I went to the clinic and in the afternoon it was no problem.
We will make a couple of changes on the set-up of the bike for tomorrow to help with the rear, which is backing in and making it a little difficult to stop, but on the exit and the fast corner we have made good progress today.
“I am also happy because this is my best time here in Moto2 as I have never made a 1m52s lap time before. Tomorrow I feel we can improve some more and get even closer to the top guys.”