FIM MotoGP World Championship/Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana
Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana
Valencia, Spain
November 12, 2016
Qualifying Two Results (all on Michelin tires):
1. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:29.401
2. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (HONDA), 1:29.741
3. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), 1:30.128
4. Maverick VINALES, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:30.276
5. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (DUCATI), 1:30.338
6. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:30.392
7. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (DUCATI), 1:30.420
8. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 1:30.574
9. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:30.885
10. Bradley SMITH, UK (YAMAHA), 1:30.949
11. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (HONDA), 1:31.030
12. Danilo PETRUCCI, Italy (DUCATI), 1:31.203
From A Press Release Issued By MotoGP:
The ‘Spartan’ starts his last dance in blue from an imperious pole position
Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) decimated his previous Best Lap during qualifying at the Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana, set last season, as the Yamaha rider blasted straight into the 1:29s before eventually taking six tenths off his 2015 best by the end of the session. Smooth, controlled and ominously fast, only Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was left with a gasp at knocking his great rival off pole – but the number 93 eventually crossed the line three tenths back. The Repsol Honda rider was both the only other man to get into the 1:29s and the only other man to get within the previous record.
Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) got over some of his Friday afternoon woes in Q2 to complete the front row – but remained seven tenths off the pace of teammate Lorenzo on pole. The ‘Doctor’, celebrated for his Sunday miracles, will be looking to cut the gap as he tries to spoil the hometown Spanish party for the third time in 2016.
Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Maverick Viñales heads the second row in his final appearance for the Hamamatsu factory, ahead of Sepang winner Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) and Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Pol Espargaro in his last appearance for the Tech 3 squad.
Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) qualified in P7 as he continues to recover from cracked vertebrae sustained in Misano, with Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) impressing on his return to competition – despite his ongoing recovery following a collarbone break in Motegi. The ‘Baby Samurai’ went straight through to Q2 and then qualified in P8 for the 2016 season finale.
Aleix Espargaro (Team Suzuki Ecstar) qualified in ninth after a crash in the session, with Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) completing the top ten – after also moving straight through to Q2.
After leading the charge from Q1, a crash for Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) saw the Brit rushing back to the pits for his second bike then ending the session in P11, ahead of fellow Q1 graduate Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Yakhnich), who completes the Q2 timings in P12.
Sunday dawns with the end of both an era and a history-maker of a season as Lorenzo faces his final race in Yamaha colors – from another record-breaking pole.
From A Press Release Issued By Ducati Team:
Dovizioso goes fifth quickest in Valencia GP qualifying to line up on row 2. Iannone in seventh will start one row behind
Andrea Dovizioso will start tomorrow’s Valencia Grand Prix at the Ricardo Tormo circuit near Valencia from the second row of the grid. The Italian rider clocked the fifth quickest time of 1’30.338 in this afternoon’s qualifying session, while his team-mate Andrea Iannone will start from the third row after setting seventh quickest time in 1’30.420.
This morning, at the end of FP3, both Ducati Team riders were classified inside the Top 10, with Dovizioso in fourth place and Iannone eighth, thus going through directly into Q2. The two Italian riders then went out on track for the thirty-minute afternoon FP4 session, which ended with Iannone fourth and Dovizioso ninth.
The final round of the 2016 MotoGP World Championship will be held over thirty laps and the race will start at 14.00 CET.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1’30.338 (5th)
“I’m satisfied with the work we did today because we focussed on race pace. Above all, in FP4 we used the same tyres as we had in the morning, and we picked up some important information about the tyre wear which will be useful tomorrow. In qualifying I did a good lap, for sure it wasn’t a perfect run, but I’m satisfied because it was vital to get onto the front two rows and we managed to do that. Now we’ll use the warm-up for fine-tuning and then in the race it’ll be essential to get a good start. Even though it’s not going to be easy, I feel sure we can fight for a podium place.”
Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team #29) – 1’30.420 (7th)
“I’m quite pleased with the way FP4 went and also in qualifying we managed to make a further improvement, but it wasn’t enough to be up there with the front guys. I’m still having a few physical problems and I’m unable to make the best of my strong point, which is above all cornering. Here at Valencia I’m struggling to be efficient in the corners with my bike and this is penalizing me a lot, but I will continue to work to work together with my team to improve for tomorrow’s race.”
From A Press Release Issued By Repsol Honda:
Front row start for Marquez at Valencia finale, impressive 8th for Pedrosa
Marc Marquez gave his all today to earn pole position for the Gran Premio de la Comunitat Valenciana, but despite being the only rider other than Jorge Lorenzo to break through the 1’30” barrier, he ultimately ended the qualifying session with the second best lap time, three tenths down on his pole-setting countryman.
The 2016 World Champion was nevertheless happy with the result as he was able to display very competitive form throughout the day, ending both FP3 and FP4 in P1.
Dani Pedrosa handled both pain and a lack of strength to gain direct passage into Q2, recording the fifth best time in FP3. He survived a small crash without injury in FP4 (as did his teammate a few minutes later) and ultimately scored an impressive third-row start thanks to an eighth best lap time in qualifying.
Marc Marquez
2ND
“We’re happy because getting a place on the front row was our main objective, since we knew that it would be very difficult to get pole position today. We pushed our hardest and I had been preparing since the last Free Practice session, in which I had a little crash while I was looking for the limit. Then in qualifying, our original plan was to use just two tyres and to make two or three laps at the end, but in my first exit I found Iannone going quite slow in the middle of the track. I think he just didn’t see me, so though I got a bit angry in that moment as I was approaching quite fast, now everything is okay and there are no problems. Anyway, today Lorenzo was a step ahead of us, especially with the new tyres, and I congratulate him for the time he set. Regarding the tyre choice for the race, we’ll see tomorrow: I feel good enough with the soft rear but we think it may not last the race. This morning we were quite good with the harder option as well, so let’s wait and see. Tomorrow in the warm-up we’ll also try to make another little step with the setup to improve in T4, but anyway, generally speaking I’m happy because we’ve worked well and I think we have a good pace for tomorrow.”
Dani Pedrosa
8TH
“I’m really tired after the practice sessions today. I felt a little more pain than yesterday but I tried to improve my lap times. It was worth pushing this morning to go directly into Q2; it was a positive thing and a good step forward, but after FP4 I found it hard to regain energy for qualifying. I tried my hardest anyway but the times of the riders in front were very fast, and even behind there were riders in the low 1’30” range. It wasn’t easy for me to reach that level, but I’m happy overall and looking forward to tomorrow. We’ll have to choose well the rear tyre for the race; if tomorrow is cloudy, the choice won’t be so clear, so let’s wait and see. It will be a long race but I hope I can recover more energy and be as fast as possible.”
From A Press Release Issued By Octo Pramac Yakhnich:
Petrux 12th and Scott 14th In Qualifying For #ValenciaGP
Danilo Petrucci and Scott Redding will start respectively from the fourth and fifth row in the last event of the 2016 MotoGP season, which will be staged tomorrow at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia.
It has been a difficult start to the day for Petrux, with the 16th lap-time in FP3 and a crash in FP4. But the rider from Terni did well to keep focused and managed to play a great Q1 (with a time that would have earned him ninth place on the grid) gaining access to the Q2. With one soft tire available in the qualifying for pole position, Petrux was not able to make that step that would allow him to get a better position.
Scott lapped fast in FP3 but failed to qualify for the Q2 by just one tenth of a second. Then in Q1 he has not found the ideal conditions to win the qualification. The British rider had to settle for 14th position.
From A Press Release Issued By Movistar Yamaha MotoGP:
DOMINANT DOUBLE FRONT ROW FOR MOVISTAR YAMAHA MOTOGP IN VALENCIA
Valencia (Spain), 12th November 2016
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo continued to dominate proceedings at the Circuito de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo during a thrilling qualifying session. The home hero gave a magical performance dropping multiple 1‘29s laps to take a convincing pole position, his fourth of the season. Valentino Rossi made today‘s two free practice sessions count to prepare his YZR-M1 for a strong time attack in Qualifying Two and took third on the grid for tomorrow‘s Gran Premio de la Comunitat Valenciana.
Lorenzo was on good form in front of the Spanish crowd during the Free Practice sessions and gave another blistering performance later in the afternoon. He was one of the first riders to leave pit lane and didn‘t waste any time to drop a time of 1‘29.849s, a new pole position record, on his first attempt to put his name at the top of the provisional leader board.
Having set the benchmark high he immediately returned to the pit box with ten minutes remaining. He quickly went out on track again and duplicated his stellar effort and set a 1‘29.613s before making a second stop. He quickly dashed off again with over three minutes left to defend his number one spot. Flashing red through all the sectors, the Mallorcan signed off his impressive qualifying efforts with a 1‘29.401s, leaving a 0.340s gap to his closest rival.
Teammate Rossi also brought his a-game to this afternoon‘s sunny qualifying session, to the delight of the local fans, with an impressive last-minute time attack. Avoiding traffic, he headed out as one of the last riders, giving him enough clear space on track. He gradually built up his pace, shooting up from eighth to fourth on his second lap, before setting a 1‘30.539s for third place.
With a provisional front row in his grasp he returned to the pits and there were four minutes remaining when he rejoined the session. Having been pushed back to seventh, the Doctor had to dig deep to reclaim third place on his next try. He further bettered his time to 1’30.128s, 0.727s from pole, on lap eight and secured third place to wrap up the last qualifying session of the year securing the seventh double front row of the 2016 season for the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team.
From A Press Release Issued By Team Suzuki ECSTAR:
VIÑALES & TEAM SUZUKI ECSTAR ON VALENCIA 2ND ROW
Maverick Viñales will start tomorrow’s final Grand Prix of the season from the head of the second row following an exciting final qualifying for the Gran Prix de la Comunitat Valenciana in Spain today, as team-mate Aleix Espargaró was unlucky to slip-off in the closing stages.
Both Team SUZUKI ECSTAR riders continued their strong form of the weekend and were always in the top positions, both qualifying directly to Q2 from the morning’s FP3, where they finished second and seventh respectively aboard their GSX-RRs.
In the all-important 15-minute Q2, that saw the lap-record smashed, both riders continued their strong performances, with Viñales posting a best lap of 1’30.276 on his eighth and final lap. However, Espargaró was unfortunate to slide off as he was about to begin his sixth flying-lap and ran out of time to set a better position than the third row.
Davide Brivio – Team Manager:
“We can be happy today for the work we’ve done with both riders, especially Maverick who found a good pace in FP4 and also a good position in the grid. Maybe for the grid we could have aimed for something more, we had the potential to be on the first row. Unfortunately, Aleix had a crash when he was attempting an important improvement, but his position is not so bad and also his consistency on the distance. We believe tomorrow could be a good race. Both riders, Maverick and Aleix, are eager to close in a positive way this two-year adventure, and so are we.”
Maverick Viñales:
“The qualifying didn’t go as I was expecting, we had the potential for the first row but unfortunately we didn’t take out all our best. We decided to try a new strategy, with three runs instead of the usual two, but it takes me some time to warm-up the tyre in the proper way so in the last attempt, with only one lap to go, I couldn’t improve as I wanted. Anyway, the day has been positive, this morning I could be fast and then in FP4 we tested a very good pace. I’ll have the chance of being in the front in the beginning if I’ll make a good start tomorrow, and then I’ll probably be able to exploit the positive pace I have.”
Aleix Espargaró:
“I’m not satisfied with the position in qualifying, but overall the day was positive and my pace makes me feel comfortable. In qualifying I had a crash and so I couldn’t exploit the time attack at its best. I was using a soft rear tyre, which has a lot of grip that pushes the front in acceleration and I’m not very comfortable in this, so finally in a very fast change of direction, with full gas, I lost the front. Luckily I didn’t get hurt, but this prevented me the possibility of a better position on the grid. However, tomorrow’s race will be very long, and therefore very tactical; it will be very important to preserve the tyres, probably being a little conservative at the beginning, and keeping some performance for being more aggressive in the last part of the race.”
From A Press Release Issued By Monster Yamaha Tech3:
Espargaro to begin grand finale from second row of the grid
Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team rider Pol Espargaro will bolt forward from the rear of the second row tomorrow in what will be his last race aboard the Yamaha YZR-M1, after producing an impressive showing today in Valencia. The Spaniard kicked off his day by notably speeding to 6th in the morning practice where he finished only 0.487 from the top as he continued his momentum from yesterday. Later, in Q2, he got straight to work and after completing 8 laps, his personal best left him in 6th and just 0.264 from the front row. The qualifying marks a strong performance by the 2013 Moto2 World Champion and tomorrow he will set his sights on sealing the top independent rider honors in the season finale to close his account with the Tech3 team in a highly positive way.
Meanwhile, Bradley Smith will contest his final Grand Prix for the Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team from the head of the fourth row of the grid after a hard fought display today at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo. His solid work yesterday paid off as he completed the ultra-competitive FP3 session in 10th and just 0.257 from his teammate after he posted his time on the 19th lap out of 21. This allowed him to pass straight through to Q2 and here he set off at speed in pursuit of clinching a strong grid placement for the Valencia GP. Smith’s efforts saw him qualify in 10th as he finished just over half a second back from the second row and tomorrow afternoon, he intends to close what has been a challenging year on a high note.
Pol Espargaro
Position: 6thTime: 1’30.392 Laps: 8
Pol Espargaro – 2016 “I am delighted with my qualifying performance today, and we knew that we could do a good job, which we did, but it was really tight in Q2. Every rider was fast here in Valencia today, yet we started the weekend with a decent pace and I was able to carry this on and then build upon it which allowed me to qualify well. With regards to the circuit, it is quite challenging, and very technical, especially when the electronics are concerned, such as anti wheelie and rear traction control. However, I feel positive here and the Yamaha is working well. It’s always a bit special, as a satellite rider, to begin the GP from the second row, but we’ll enjoy the rest of today knowing that we were competitive and I will try to have fun in my last track appearance with Yamaha. I’ve always been fast in Valencia, so I am pleased about today’s result and even though my expectations are not huge for the race, I am excited to see what we can do tomorrow.”
Bradley Smith
Position: 10thTime: 1’30.949 Laps: 9
Bradley Smith – 2016 “First of all, it was a great achievement to go straight through to Q2 today, as it has been a few GP’s since I’ve been able to do this. This afternoon, we worked quite hard on the race setup in FP4 and we also learnt a few more things during the qualifying. I am still not 100% happy with how the bike handles, but we confirmed our race tyres which is positive and now we just need to make some small modifications for the 30 lap sprint. It will be a long, tough fight and of course, it is vital for the bike to handle well under braking because here it’s important to have that balance, especially in the hard braking areas, of which there is at least one in each sector. I’m on the outside of the grid tomorrow, and that is possibly a bit better than beginning from 9th because sometimes you can get pinched on the inside at the first turn. Nevertheless, I will try to get a good start and then enjoy my final event with the Tech3 team.”
From A Press Released Issued By Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS:
Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider Jack Miller will seek to close out the 2016 season with a points scoring finish in Sunday’s 30-lap race in Valencia.
Miller bounced back from a harmless fall in the morning FP3 session to qualify 15th on the grid with a best lap of 1’31.686.
The 21-year-old Australian admitted to being cautious in qualifying with the lack of front-end feel but is confident of finding an improved set-up in the pre-race warm-up session.
Miller’s crew worked through a range of options to try and maximise performance with the choice of four front tyre options provided by Michelin for the Valencia race.
Qualifying was run in near perfect sunny and warm conditions with a huge turnout of fans crammed into the stadium-style 4km Ricardo Tormo Circuit.
Tito Rabat was frustrated not to be faster in qualifying and reproduce his pace from FP3 before his home Spanish fans, as he battled rear grip issues with his Honda RC213V.
Despite being a MotoGP rookie Rabat has higher expectations than a starting spot on the last row of the grid and will work with his crew to find overnight set-up solutions for the final race of the season.
Jack Miller: 15th – 1’31.686
“The crash I had in FP3 knocked my confidence a little so I just wanted to make sure I put together a solid qualifying session to be ready for the race tomorrow. I ran into some traffic on my first run but had a clear track on my second exit, my main struggle is through the middle sector of the lap. But overall I’m happy at this track and I feel good about improving my race pace for a strong performance to end the season.”
Tito Rabat: 21st – 1’32.181
“It was a little frustrating not to be able to solve the problem of how to open the gas earlier for better acceleration especially because in braking and corner speed I feel really strong. But when I go to open the throttle I have a problem and we need to understand if this is an electronics issue or something else because it means I lose a lot of time on the straight. I’m looking forward to making a good race to finish my rookie season in MotoGP.”
Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“The situation with Jack is similar to most of this season in that he lacks some confidence and feeling in the front and finding a solution is not easy, we have tried many set-up options. Jack and his crew have put in a big effort and 15th on the grid does not reflect that work but we know that Jack is at his best on race day. I understand Tito’s frustrations especially because this circuit is not easy if you lack rear grip but we must recognise that it is part of the learning curve in his rookie season.”