Rabat races to the podium at home
Jerez, Spain: Tito Rabat finished on the podium for the first time this season with a hard fought third place in today’s Spanish Moto2 Grand Prix at Jerez. Alex Marquez also secured his best result of the season to date, crossing the finish line in ninth position.
Rabat made a lightning start to lead the field into the first corner, quickly pulling away from the majority of his rivals. Only Jonas Folger was able to match the early pace of the Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 rider, with the German eventually pushing past to take the lead with 17 laps to go.
Rabat stalked Folger for the remainder of the race, but with both front and rear grip starting to drop off he was unable to mount a challenge for the win. The reigning Moto2 World Champion looked set to finish a safe second, but was pushed wide at the final turn when Alex Rins got in too hot and crashed into the side of Rabat’s bike, allowing Zarco through.
Alex Marquez went into today’s race looking for a top ten finish from 17th on the grid and the reigning Moto3 World Champion achieved his aim, battling through the field to claim his best result of the season in ninth.
Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS go straight from Jerez to Aragon, where Rabat and Marquez will participate in a two-day test on Wednesday and Thursday, before heading to Le Mans for round five of the 2015 Moto2 World Championship.
Tito Rabat: 3rd
“The start was good and I was able to pull away from all but Folger, but towards the middle of the race the grip from the front and the rear started to drop off and it wasn’t possible to follow him. I knew that Rins and Zarco were closing on the final lap, so I was ready to defend my position, but I got pushed out wide when Rins crashed into me at the final turn and I wasn’t able to get on the gas early enough to hold off Zarco for second. I’m happy enough; it’s my first podium this season and we’ve made a good step with the bike, for which I thank the team, but we need to work more now to improve the bike from midrace distance on.”
Alex Marquez: 9th
“I’m happy because we made a significant step forward with the bike today, which meant I was able to get my first top ten finish in Moto2. We need to improve in qualifying, as you lose a lot of time passing riders when you start from 17th on the grid like today, but my rhythm was good, as was my confidence in the bike. Now we will go to Aragon to test and to understand where we are with the bike and, hopefully, make another step ahead of the next race in Le Mans.”
Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“I’m happy to see Tito back at the front of the race and it shows that the improvements we have made to the bike are working. We still need to work hard to improve the performance from the middle to the end of the race, but our first podium of the season is all the motivation we need to do that. I’m also happy to see Alex finish inside the top ten for the first time, especially as he looked much more confident and comfortable on the bike today.”
More, from a press release issued by Forward Racing:
Good eighth place in Jerez for Simone Corsi
It was a good race for the Athinà Forward Racing Italian duo in Moto2. Simone Corsi and Lorenzo Baldassarri both ended-up in the points respectively in eighth and thirteenth place.
The Roman, who was starting from the 4th row, became the protagonist of a great race and he hit the point-zone. After the fall in Argentina in was important for Corsi to cut the finish line and collect important points in the championship before heading to Aragon for the test next week.
The race started uphill instead for his teammate Lorenzo Baldassarri who started 12th. The young Italian struggled to find the rhythm and lost several positions in the first laps. After a good comeback he ended in 13th.
Simone Corsi
“After the warm up this morning I was expecting something more from this race but it is an important eighth place for us. I finished the race, I picked up some points and I battled with the top guys all the weekend. In the race, I had little grip on the rear and I could not push as I wanted. I am satisfied with the work done with the team and we have to stay focused. We will go back on track in Aragon to try the new Ohlins material”.
Lorenzo Baldassarri
“It was a difficult race for me. Unfortunately at the start I lost the rhythm along with several positions and I had to chase. I lost the brakes and I could not push hard. From mid-race onwards I was able to go back to my pace and I could comeback but I had already lost too much from the leaders. I finished in the points and overall I am happy with the weekend. I cannot wait to get on track for the first test at Aragon and then to Le Mans”.
More, from a press release issued by QMMF Racing Team:
Julian Simon storms from last to eleventh – Anthony West in 14th place
QMMF Racing Team rider Julian Simon turned his luck around and stormed from last to eleventh in today’s Spanish Grand Prix. The 28-year-old Spaniard had to start from the back of the Moto2 grid after an unintentional rule violation on Saturday, but had a fantastic start and returned in 23rd position from the first lap of the race. From there, he continued his hunt, overtaking as many riders as he possibly could, to reach the point rankings after eleven laps and conquering twelfth place on lap 14. Simon won one more spot with five laps to go and eventually celebrated one of the strongest Moto2 races of his career.
Team-mate Anthony West also had to grit his teeth. The 33-year-old Australian was in pain after a crash in the free practice session on Saturday morning, but still battled his way from 23rd position on the starting grid to 15th place, scoring a well-deserved world championship point.
Julian Simon – 11th place
“I am happy and I want to thank all the team because they did a really good job all the weekend. We were not really fast during the pre-season tests here, but now in the Grand Prix, we were consistently strong and competitive. I now have a good feeling with the bike and I want to congratulate my chief mechanic and my whole crew. Today in the race, I had a good battle to recover positions and I am happy with our final result. Before the race, I decided to go with the softer tyre option and in the end, I did not have a lot in reserve. But I managed to take valuable points and to gain a lot of confidence for the races to come. I want push more at the next Grand Prix in Le Mans. I am convinced we can be strong for the entire season!”
Anthony West – 15th place
“I have mixed feelings about this weekend. In one way it’s good, because my race time here at Jerez was faster than last year and I was also faster in practice, apart from the qualifying where I was in a lot of pain from my crash on Saturday morning. Before the race, I took a lot of pain killers and I got 13 small injections into my side. This helped to take off the real hard pain, but it was still difficult to ride, especially in the left-hand corners. I wasn’t a hundred per cent in the race. At one point, Lorenzo Baldassari ran into me quite hard and I lost one position, but I am happy about the fact that I saved one world championship point!”
More, from a press release issued by KTM:
DOUBLE PODIUM FOR RED BULL KTM AJO AT JEREZ MOTO3
Red Bull KTM Ajo riders Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder finished on the podium at the Moto3 GP of Spain at the Jerez circuit on Sunday, a solid and positive result for the team run by Aki Ajo. Oliveira was just 00.097 behind leader Danny Kent and Binder was third. It was the closest finish of the four rounds so far held in the 2015 World Championship.
Oliveira was on the front row of the grid and got away to a near perfect start. As early as the second lap of the 23-lap race, he, Kent, Fabio Quartararo, the young French rookie, and Binder had already set up a four-way scrap that was to last throughout the race.
While Binder tucked in behind them, the front three exchanged the lead back and forth as they jockeyed for position and speculated about the possible vulnerabilities of their opponents throughout the first 10 laps. By then the race was still wide open, but the front group had broken away and was five seconds ahead of the following pack.
Halfway through the race it was already clear that one of the leading four would probably take the victory, but the issue was not settled until the final corner. Binder did lose some ground on the leading three towards the end of the race but then got right back into the action as they came into the final lap.
It was Oliveira who led them going into the last lap, but he was closely shadowed by Kent, Quartararo and Binder. Then the front riders three charged three abreast into the final corner, all looking for enough space to slip through. Quartararo made brief contact with Kent in the skirmish, which was just enough to force him wide. Kent, Oliveira and Binder needed no more invitation and quickly charged through to seal the top three places.
KTM rider Romani Fenati of Italy finished sixth after leading the following group for most of the race.
Miguel Oliveira: “I wanted to close in on the last corner and I knew there was only room for one bike to get through. I was lucky I didn’t crash. But it’s really cool for us to be both on the podium because our goal is to recover as many points as possible.”
Brad Binder: “It was a difficult race. It was good for me in the beginning but when the tires started to drop I was bouncing around a lot. I’m so glad to be on the podium. It was a good clean fight at the front and it was a lot of fun.”
Red Bull KTM Ajo teammate, Czech rider Karel Hanika was not so lucky, crashing out in lap six. He did rejoin the race and worked his way back almost into the points by lap 20, before finally dropping back in the closing laps to cross the line in twenty second place. Red Bull KTM Ajo riders race on the KTM RC250GP machine.
The next round is the GP of France May 17 at the Le Mans circuit.
KTM Results Service Sunday, May 3, 2015
Moto GP of Spain – Jerez Circuit – Round 4
Moto3 Results
1, Danny Kent, GBR, Honda, 41:19.552
2, Miquel Oliveira, POR, KTM, 41:19.649
3, Brad Binder, RSA, KTM, 41:19.848
4, Fabio Quartararo, FRA, Honda, 41:20.434
5, Efren Vazquez, ESP, Honda, 41:22.458
6, Romano Fenati, ITA, KTM, 41:30.587
7, Francesco Bagnaia, ITA, Mahindra, 41:30.678
8, Jorge Navarro, ESP, Honda, 41:31.313
9, Enea Bastianini, ITA, Honda, 41:35.413
10, John McPhee, GBR, Honda, 41:35.516
Other KTM
17, Niklas Ajo, FIN, KTM, 41:55.347
21, Andrea Migno ITA, KTM, 41:56.084
22, Karel Hanika, CZE, KTM, 41:56.573
26, Zulfahmi Khairuddin, MAL, KTM, 42:13.144
27, Ana Carrasco, ESP, KTM, 42:29.099
DNF, Philipp Oettl, GER, KTM, 32:32.768
DNF, Jakub Kornfeil, CZE, KTM, 27:05.713
DNF, Gabriel Rodrigo, ARG, KTM, 5:37.684
Moto3 Standings after Round 4
1, Kent, 91
2, Vazquez, 60
3, Quartararo, 52
4, Bastianini, 47
5, Binder, 44
6, Viñales, 38
7, Oliveira, 33
8, McPhee, 28
9, Alexis Masbou, FRA, Honda, 26
10, Fenati, 26
Other KTM
12, Hanika, 18
16, Ajo, 8
17, Kornfeil, 7
19, Oettl, 5
20, Migno, 4
Moto3 Manufacturers Standings after Round 4
1, Honda, 100
2, KTM, 50
3, Husqvarna, 38
Next Round: GP of France at Le Mans May 17
More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone:
Spanish MotoGP™ debrief with Shinji Aoki
Monday, May 4 2015
Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium & Hard; Rear: Soft, Medium & Hard (Asymmetric)
Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Hard (Main), Soft (Alternative – front), Extra-hard (Alternative – rear)
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo was in peerless form throughout the Spanish Grand Prix race weekend, culminating in a masterful race victory ahead of Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez and Yamaha stablemate Valentino Rossi who finished in second and third place respectively. Not only did Lorenzo win the race, he took a clean sweep of accolades including setting a new Circuit Best Lap record in qualifying, a new Circuit Record Lap during the race and completing the race in record time, beating the old mark by twenty seconds.
Conditions were very hot early in the race weekend with the Free Practice sessions and qualifying experiencing track temperatures above 50°C. The high temperatures served to reduce the grip on offer from the already well-worn Jerez tarmac even further. A cool change arrived in time for the race, where the peak track temperature was a milder 40°C which helped the riders set a stunning pace throughout the twenty-seven lap contest.
Q&A with Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department
The hard compound front tyre was used extensively at Jerez, with twenty-three riders selecting this option for the race. What was it about this specification of tyre that made it such a popular race choice?
“Jerez is a circuit that requires high levels of stability and feel from the front of the bike. At the same time, the grip level of the tarmac diminishes significantly in hot temperatures so finding the optimal combination of grip and stability is really important for the riders. Our latest specification of hard front slick was designed to offer the same level of stability as the previous spec, but with better grip and this year was the first time riders had access to this new hard front slick at Jerez as we only introduced it into our allocation late last year. I am very happy with how it performed as the riders were able to lap consistently at a very fast pace using this new hard compound front slick, and even in very high temperatures they felt they had good grip and stability from the front-end of the bike.”
Temperatures were considerably cooler in the race than they were for FP4 and qualifying. What effect did this have on tyre performance, and did it cause any riders to reconsider their race tyre choice?
“The lower temperatures on race day meant that there was more grip on offer from the tarmac, allowing the riders to get maximum performance out of their tyres. As a result the pace shown during the race was really impressive. We were confident that we would beat the qualifying and race lap records, as well as the overall race time record this year, but to beat the records with the margins that we did was astounding. With temperatures for the race not as high as they were the day before, it meant the track wasn’t as greasy, so the riders could lap at a strong pace throughout the race. In terms of how the cooler temperatures influenced tyre choice for the race, it didn’t have a great effect at all. The majority of riders still used the same tyre combinations that they would’ve used in hotter conditions as they were able to assess the performance of the different tyre combinations in the cooler morning sessions on Friday and Saturday.”
So, even if track temperatures were just as hot for the race on as they were on Saturday, you don’t think many factory Honda and Yamaha riders would have selected the hard compound rear slick? Why is that?
“The asymmetric hard rear slick we offered this year used the same compounds as 2014, yet it wasn’t as popular as last year, which we believe is mainly due to the deteriorating grip level of the Jerez tarmac. The grip is quite poor in hot conditions, but even in cooler temperatures, the riders felt the grip was worse than last year. Although the hard rear slick was very consistent, the riders needed the rear tyre option that offered the highest amount of grip to compensate for the poor track surface to reduce the amount of spinning from the rear. This is what made the medium compound rear the preferred choice for the factory riders, regardless of track temperature. The fact that this option also provided good durability made its appeal even greater at Jerez.”