Points For Parkes And PBM As Laverty Just Misses Out
The opening round of the 2014 MotoGP World Championship got underway in dramatic fashion when the Commercial Bank Grand Prix of Qatar took place this weekend with PBM rider Broc Parkes scoring a brilliant point in 15th on his Grand Prix debut, as team mate Michael Laverty followed him home in 16th.
Round one at the Losail track in Doha marked another historic chapter in the Paul Bird Motorsport portfolio as both Laverty and Parkes were in action on the team’s very own Rapid Solicitors and Silkolene-backed PBM machines.
Both Ulsterman Laverty, in his second successive season for the Penrith based team, and the experienced Australian Parkes who was making his MotoGP debut, endured their fair share of bad luck during the extended free practice sessions aboard the Aprilia ART-powered machines in the Open class division, However, eventually it started to all come together and they qualified with Parkes on row seven and Laverty a row further back.
Hopeful of a good result under the floodlights, both riders for the only British team in the premier MotoGP class got good starts, Laverty’s a bit too good as he was adjudged to have jumped the start which resulted in a ride through penalty a couple of laps into the race.
Both riders circulated in the top 20 for the opening laps before Parkes upped the pace and by lap nine, he was 17th with Laverty’s penalty keeping him from progressing any higher than 20th. There they continued for most of the race before climbing the leaderboard towards the end of the race.
Parkes had made his way up to 15th with Laverty following him up the order going into the penultimate lap and that’s how they crossed the line after 22 hectic laps to allow Parkes to score a vital point as Laverty just missed out.
The results mean that in the Open class standings, Parkes holds eighth place following his solitary points haul and importantly for the PBM team, they occupy sixth place in the manufacturer’s table and tenth in the team’s series going into the next race at Austin in Texas in two week’s time.
Michael Laverty: “Well that was a better race than I expected after a difficult weekend. My pace was good enough for 14th but the ride through penalty cost me dear. All in all it’s been a positive start to the championship for us with Broc getting a point on the board and I’m really happy with how I rode though the 16th position finish didn’t really do it justice. I’m looking forward to Texas now as I had anticipated Qatar to be our toughest event of the season, in many ways it was but we still had a strong race.”
Broc Parkes: “To get a point on my MotoGP debut was fantastic for both me and the team. I was having a good dice with a couple of the other Open class bikes and we got lucky with a couple dropping out but I’ll happily take the result. It was a shame Michael had his penalty otherwise he’d have been up there with us so roll on the next race in Texas where hopefully we continue where we left off this weekend. The team did a great job for us all weekend and it’s fantastic to be part of this.”
Paul Bird, Team Owner: “After all the hard work we have done to get the bikes built and to be here, I’m absolutely made up for the whole team, I couldn’t be prouder of them. We had some issues during practice but we worked hard to sort them out and in the race, both riders did a cracking job. For Broc to score a point for us on his MotoGP debut was fantastic and had Michael not been penalised at the start, we could have had two riders in the points. For both of them to remain on the lead lap as the winner after 22 tough laps was another tonic for us and we go to the next race full of confidence. Not bad for our little team from the Lake District!”
Phil Borley, Technical Director: “A satisfying start to the season for PBM with both riders achieving good results. For Broc to finish in the points in his first MotoGP race is especially pleasing and the experience will be a big help for him in the next races. Michael’s jump start was frustrating as he had a strong pace in the race and could have scored points but for the penalty. The team have worked hard all weekend and we had a trouble free race after suffering a number of small issues during practice. Even with the penalty we have improved our race time since last year and we are confident that there is more performance we can achieve.”
For more information, please visit the team’s brand new website www.pbmuk.net and www.pbmuk.net
More, from a press release issued by Bel-Ray:
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Top 10 Result for Bel-Ray Racer Nicky Hayden in Qatar MotoGP
FARMINGDALE, N.J. ? The 2014 World Championship series opened this weekend at the Losail Circuit in Qatar. Taking place under the lights, the opening round provides a new hope for a successful season. Bel-Ray is the proud sponsor of Team Aspar in all three premier world championship classes. The Drive M7 team of Nicky Hayden and Hiroshi Aoyama compete in MotoGP, Mapfre Aspar teammates Nico Terol and Jordi Torres compete in Moto2 and Mapfre Aspar Juanfran Guevara competes in the Moto3 class.
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MotoGP
In MotoGP competition, both DRIVE M7 Aspar riders Nicky Hayden and Hiroshi Aoyama started the new season with positive results. Hayden’s 8th place results came after strong race long battle with Scott Redding while Aoyama took an eleventh place result a following a race-long battle with Yonny Hernández.
8th Nicky Hayden: “We had to change our start procedure tonight and it wasn’t easy, there were riders everywhere but I managed to get into a better rhythm than the test and practice here, setting consistent 1.56s. I tried everything to stay with (Aleix) Espargaró, but in the end I had worn out the left hand side of the tire and ran off. It ended up a straight battle between me and Scott (Redding), we passed each other a few times and he got me on the line. A few riders crashed but we made it to the end and picked up eighth. We set a great pace at the start of the race, now we need to work on the second half and try to improve on what we have learnt here. I want to thank the team, Honda and all the sponsors for their efforts. Now we need to look ahead to the next race.”
11th Hiroshi Aoyama: “It was a tough race because as the night progressed the temperatures dropped and the feeling with the tires worsened, which is why so many riders crashed. Personally I chose the softest option tire and it was difficult to adapt my pace according to the temperature but I got in a fight with (Yonny) Hernández and even though my pace was better than his I couldn’t get away. If I didn’t get embroiled with him I might have finished higher up but anyway I am happy because it has been a tough weekend and the team has done a great job. We found a good setting yesterday and it has paid off today with eleventh place.”
Moto2
The weekend did not go to plan for the MAPFRE Aspar Team, with Jordi Torres starting from sixteenth place and Nico Terol from 21st. The Spanish pair did their best to recover ground in the race and they were in twelfth and thirteenth respectively after the first lap. Stepping up their already pace from practice, the duo moved forward but two laps later Torres missed a gear and lost positions, coming back to take ninth. Terol was up to tenth place on the 11th lap but he lost positions after running wide and was then forced to retire with a technical issue on the 16th lap.
9th Jordi Torres: “It was a tough race because we started from so far back but we improved in every session and we knew that our potential was good for the race. I made a fast start and I was in a good position to make up ground but I made a mistake and hit neutral in a fast corner, which cost me a lot of positions. I had to take a lot of risks to make the ground up and my tires suffered as a result so ninth place was the best I could do. In general I am happy with the result because it has been a difficult weekend but we have worked hard to improve and achieved a good result from a long way back. It was a shame about the mistake because without it we could have been close to a podium.”
Nico Terol (DNF): “I made a good start tonight and I pushed hard over the first few laps, I was happy because it was the first time I had felt happy on the bike all weekend. We made a positive change for the warm-up, going back to some of the settings from last year, and I was able to make up some positions to move up to tenth until I had a big slide. A lot of riders came past but I made some positions back again, and then the engine started cutting out before stopping altogether. It was a shame to finish like that but after such a tough weekend I am happy with the feeling I had with the bike in the race. That is the big positive to take from today and I hope it can be the start of our progress.”
Moto3
The Bel-Ray supported MAPFRE Aspar rider Juanfran Guevara made his debut for the team in Qatar. He started well in the race and running with the front pack until misfortune overtook the young racer. A collision with another racer on the 7th lap caused an early end to Guevara’s day.
Juanfran Guevara (DNF): “Even though we didn’t finish the race tonight we have to look at this as a positive weekend. We have worked hard, improved our lap times and feeling over the course of the weekend and in the race we were able to get into the mid 2.06’s, which we hadn’t managed all weekend. I got a decent start, found myself a position in the front group and I was battling well, which was something I wasn’t sure I could do. It’s annoying because just when I was feeling most comfortable on the bike I was taken out by another rider and now I have to put it all behind me and look ahead to the next race in Austin”.
The series continues in the United States for the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin Texas on the second weekend of April.
To learn more about Bel-Ray specialty powersports lubricants, visit www.belray.com/powersports or call (732) 938-2421.
Follow Bel-Ray racers all season long atwww.belray.com.
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| Racers like Nicky Hayden, Hiroshi Aoyama, Nico Terol, Jordi Torres and Juanfran Guevara all rely on Bel-Ray to perform on their way to success. You can find the same great products they use in their machines at your local powersports dealer. |
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ABOUT BEL-RAY COMPANY, LLC.
Bel-Ray Company, Llc.was founded in 1946 to serve the lubrication needs of powersports, industrial and mining customers worldwide. Bel-Ray is recognized as the leader in the specialty lubricants industry for setting high standards of quality and performance with products formulated for the motorcycle, automotive, aviation, energy, food, marine, military, mining, OEM, industrial steel, and textile industries. “Flex Your Engine” with Bel-Ray’s superior Powersports line that delivers top quality Made-in-the-USA products to motorcycle and recreational vehicle enthusiasts around the world. Bel-Ray products are available at powersports dealers worldwide. Visit Bel-Ray.com for a complete dealer listing. Find the right lubricant for your equipment with Bel-Ray’s Lubricant Advisor. Like us on Facebook.com/BelRay or follow us on Twitter/Bel_Ray.
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