Gran Premio Movistar de Aragon

FIM MotoGP World Championship

Motorland Aragon, Alcaniz, Spain

September 23, 2016

Free Practice Two Results (all on Michelin tires):

1. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 1:48.429

2. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (HONDA), 1:48.494

3. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (HONDA), 1:48.510

4. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), 1:48.669

5. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:48.749

6. Maverick VIÑALES, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:48.886

7. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:48.914

8. Hector BARBERA, Spain (DUCATI), 1:48.970

9. Danilo PETRUCCI, Italy (DUCATI), 1:49.065

10. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (DUCATI), 1:49.128

11. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:49.177

12. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (DUCATI), 1:49.243

13. Stefan BRADL, Germany (APRILIA), 1:49.298

14. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (APRILIA), 1:49.301

15. Michele PIRRO, Italy (DUCATI), 1:49.678

16. Scott REDDING, UK (DUCATI), 1:49.680

17. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (DUCATI), 1:50.113

18. Tito RABAT, Spain (HONDA), 1:50.649

19. Loris BAZ, France (DUCATI), 1:50.940

20. Alex LOWES, UK (YAMAHA), 1:50.988

21. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (HONDA), 1:50.992

22. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (DUCATI), no time recorded

More, from a press release issued by Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS:

Rabat and Hayden make progress in Aragon practice

Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS riders Tito Rabat and Nicky Hayden made decent progress on the opening day of MotoGP practice at the Motorland Aragon track in Spain today.

A crash at turn two in this morning’s FP1 session didn’t take the gloss of an encouraging start to round 14 for Rabat, who finished 15th quickest with a best time of 1’50.816.

But last year’s Moto2 race winner at Motorland Aragon was unable to make similar headway in muggy conditions in this afternoon’s second session.

Rabat did improve his pace by almost 0.2s but he slipped three places down the rankings to 18th, with the front-end issues that have troubled the 27-year-old in recent races again stalling his charge up the leaderboard.

Hayden threw himself in at the deep end today, with the American replacing injury absentee Jack Miller for this weekend’s 23-lap battle.

The 35-year-old has no previous experience of Honda’s RC213V machine and has never ridden the current generation Michelin tyres or unified software and this morning’s session was all about familiarising himself with the major technical changes compared to when he last rode in MotoGP in 2015.

Hayden put all of his vast experience to good use though in both sessions and he attacked the tough challenge with typical vigour and determination.

The 2006 MotoGP World Champion lapped almost a second faster in FP2 and his best lap of 1’50.992 was only 0.3s away from teammate Rabat.

Hayden is now looking forward to the opportunity to make significant set-up modifications overnight to improve his comfort levels on the RC213V machine. And the crucial experience gained today will undoubtedly help Hayden mount a stronger challenge in tomorrow’s final practice and qualifying sessions.

Tito Rabat: 18th – 1’50.649

“This morning was a positive start to the weekend and I felt very confident. I followed some riders to learn this difficult track on a MotoGP machine quicker and I did some laps alone too and I was satisfied with my rhythm. As good as I felt on the bike, it is just impossible for me to go fast. We will try again tomorrow but the lack of confidence with the front-end is what is holding me back.”

Nicky Hayden: 21st – 1’50.992

“It wasn’t an easy day and I knew that coming into this weekend when I signed up for it. I needed a bit of time to get comfortable with the riding position, particularly with the handlebars. We started to make some gradual progress but then I hit a bit of a wall with the front. At the moment I can’t feel the limit on the front. It feels like there’s a lot of weight on the front and I’m asking a lot from it. And I’m not getting a lot of feedback, so overnight we’ll look to get more weight on the rear and help me get more comfortable. Hopefully tomorrow morning I can get straight down to business and make a big step. This morning I stayed on used tyres and my pace compared to the guys that did the same is not too bad. But this afternoon I wasn’t able to make the step forward I’d hoped.”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal

“Today has not been an easy start to the weekend for Tito and to be honest I expected him to be stronger. He rode the bike here last year in a special test and today he was not able to match his lap times from that test. He is complaining that the bike isn’t turning again but we have to find a quick solution when you see Honda occupying the top three places. I think Nicky has done a solid job today. We knew it was going to be complicated for him with so many things to learn and I know tomorrow we can see him make another big step forward as he understands more about what he needs to be faster.”

More, from a press release issued by Aprilia:

A GOOD START FOR APRILIA AT THE ARAGÓN MOTOGP WEEKEND

BRADL AND BAUTISTA, SHOWING CLEAR PROGRESS FROM ONE SESSION TO THE NEXT, ARE JUST OUT OF THE TOP 10

Narrow gaps and good sensations in the saddle: the weekend is off to a good start at Motorland Aragón for the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini, just out of the top 10 in the combined standings after the first two practice sessions.

Stefan Bradl ended the day riding his RS-GP just 869 thousandths from the top in some compact rankings where a couple of tenths can mean moving forward 5 positions. The German rider immediately found a good feeling, working both on the setup and on the various tyre options Michelin has brought to the Spanish race. The goal for tomorrow is clear: improve going into corners, looking for another step forward.

There is optimism on the other side of the garage as well for Alvaro Bautista, concentrating as always on work in view of the race, but capable of finishing with the fourteenth best time at 1’49.301, just 3 thousandths of a second behind his teammate. The home rider indicated the feeling with the rear as the element that analysis needs to focus on in order to set his sights on doing a repeat of Misano in qualifying, moving straight through to Q2.

ALVARO BAUTISTA

“A good first day. We finished less than a second behind the best time. We worked a lot on the electronics after FP1, where we did not have the best configuration from that point of view. In FP2 we took a clear step forward. I am especially happy because the feeling with the bike was very good, despite the fact that we need to perfect the setup since the hard rear tyre is missing a bit of grip”.

STEFAN BRADL

“We got off on the right foot straight away. The RS-GP is working well and we are moving in the right direction. What’s more, we managed to respect the planned testing programme, unlike past weekends. I took a few laps with the various available tyres to see how they would perform in view of the race, as well as working on details with the electronics. Right now I feel like we can improve, especially in the braking phase going into corners, which is a phase where we often have difficulty and which is accentuated here by the type of front tyres available”.

More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3:

Strong Espargaro finishes in the top five on day one at Aragon

Monster Yamaha Tech3 team riders Pol Espargaro positively kicked off his campaign at the Motorland Aragon circuit by storming to 5th place overall aboard the YZR-M1. The young Spaniard began by completing the shakedown in 9th with his personal best being only 0.165 back from reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo. The encouraging start left him confident of continuing his progress in the afternoon and there, he carried on adjusting the setup of his Yamaha MotoGP bike for Sunday. He pushed on but unfortunately fell at the notorious second corner half way through the session. However, he raced back to the pits and bravely remounted before posting his fastest lap on his 12th that saw him end up only 0.320 from the top of the field. The notable opening sees the 25-year-old primed for a successful day tomorrow where he will intend to extend his highly positive MotoGP qualifying record at the Aragon circuit.

Meanwhile, Alex Lowes got straight to work as he took the first steps in preparing for Sunday’s race whilst he also readjusted back to the Yamaha YZR-M1, after having competed in the World Superbike race in Germany last weekend. The young Briton launched into action in FP1 and after building his speed, he set his personal best on his final lap, which left him in 17th. Next, Lowes continued his efforts in the afternoon as he aimed to carry on learning but whilst he was improving his time, his progress was halted. This was due to him unfortunately falling at the second turn in the final moments of the session, similarly to several far more experienced riders including his teammate. Despite the unlucky fall, he is fully confident of advancing tomorrow as he remains keen to impress in the all-important qualifying day.

Pol Espargaro

Position: 5th Time: 1’49.738 Laps: 33

“Today has been a strong start to the weekend and I believe that finishing inside the top 5 is a truly positive result for us. The Hondas are running really well here and you can see that by looking at the time sheets, so to be as close as we are is certainly a promising way to kick off proceedings. Yet, in the middle of the FP2 session, I made a slight mistake and crashed in the second corner while I was changing direction, which was a pity. I didn’t expect this to happen and I think we have to work a bit more on the setting of the bike in order to increase the front grip so that we avoid this kind of issue for the rest of the weekend. However, I was able to cut my lap time towards the end of the practice even though I was not pushing at the maximum level. Having said that, we need to improve tomorrow and make a step up as our main target is to fight with Cal for the best independent rider position in Sunday’s race.”

Alex Lowes

Position: 20th Time: 1’50.988 Laps: 35

“Initially I would like to begin by saying that it feels good to be back on the YZR-M1 even if it took me a few laps to feel confident this morning. However, I think we did an ok job in FP1 as I completed almost the entire race distance on the front tyre and I was still able to lower my times at the end of the session. However, this afternoon we couldn’t make as much progress as I would have liked to, but we clearly know which areas I need to advance in, so we will have an in-depth look at our data in order to make a solid plan for tomorrow. I definitely feel that we have a margin of improvement to make regarding the corner speed, and especially in long turns, plus I am also struggling a bit with a lack of rear grip. Yet, I’m sure we’ll be stronger in FP3 and I’m already looking forward to getting back on the Yamaha.”

More, from a press release issued by Movistar Yamaha:

MOVISTAR YAMAHA MOTOGP FIND FORM IN ARAGÓN

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo were back aboard their YZR-M1s today for the first free practice sessions at the Motorland Aragón circuit in Spain ahead of Sunday‘s Gran Premio Movistar de Aragón. The teammates kicked off the weekend clocking the fourth and seventh fastest time in the combined free practice time sheets.

Alcañiz (Spain), 23rd September 2016

Action got underway at the Motorland Aragón circuit today with the first two free practice sessions ahead of Sunday‘s Gran Premio Movistar de Aragón. Movistar Yamaha MotoGP‘s Valentino Rossi was quick to find a competitive pace and powered to a solid fourth place after FP2. Teammate Jorge Lorenzo struggled to find the right set-up in the afternoon to solve vibrations, but persevered. He caught up at the end of the afternoon session, securing seventh place in the combined rankings.

Rossi was quick to position himself as a key protagonist in the morning session. Whilst getting a feel for the track he set the provisional fastest time on his second flying lap, before putting his attention towards finding a perfect balance for his bike. As the session progressed he improved, found a solid rhythm and ended the morning practice with a best time of 1‘49.016s for second place, 0.186s from first.

The Doctor stuck to the same approach in the FP2 session, using the early stages to set a fast time for provisional first place before further improving his bike‘s set-up. In the final three minutes the Italian rider bettered his morning time by nearly half a second with a 1‘48.669s lap and ended the first day of practice in fourth position in the overall standings, just 0.240s from the front.

Lorenzo had a good start to his home Grand Prix. Eager to win the Aragón Grand Prix for the third year in succession, he progressively built up his pace in the morning practice. Though he focused mainly on bettering his bike‘s set-up, he dropped into the mid-1‘49s towards the end of the session and went on to conclude the morning in fifth position with a 1‘49.573s, 0.743s from first.

The Mallorcan again displayed his determination in the afternoon. When faced with vibration problems, he spent the majority of the second session trying various tyre options in preparation for Sunday‘s race. His hard work paid off at the end of the session when he dropped under the 1‘49 mark, setting a fastest time of 1‘48.914s for seventh place in today’s combined times, 0.485s from first.

MASSIMO MEREGALLI

TEAM DIRECTOR

It‘s been quite a mixed but overall rewarding start to the Aragón Grand Prix. On Vale‘s side everything went very smooth and they were able to work well on almost all the stints. He has been quite consistent with his pace during both practices while he still kept a margin for the end when he signed off the day with a 1‘48.6s lap. Unfortunately, Jorge suffered a bit more in the afternoon, especially with the front feeling with the medium tyres and only at the end of the session he was able to set a decent lap with a front tyre that had already done 25 laps. Taking this into consideration, he has performed well. Tomorrow we have to focus on our main task to extend the rear tyre life, something we definitely need to improve. In the meantime, we have to better the reactivity of the bike in the change of direction, because for the moment the handling is still too heavy.

VALENTINO ROSSI

In both practice sessions, in the morning and the afternoon, I was always quite strong but we have a lot of work to do, because we are good with the new tyres, the hard and the soft, after some laps. We are concentrating on this point of view, because it will be interesting for Sunday. From this first day we take some data and are quite happy. The first impression is this: with the new tyres we are very good, but after some laps our main rival suffers less with less stress on the tyres. This is quite worrisome for us and we have to get closer.

JORGE LORENZO

In the morning it wasn‘t bad, I probably had the second fastest pace, but in the afternoon we struggled and we tried various tyres. The front medium tyres gave a lot of vibrations in the corners and the other option, the softer one from the morning that had a lot of laps, gave me a good confidence in the last free practice. All in all it wasn‘t a good day. Tomorrow we want to try a new setting and improve the electronics and let‘s see if we can be much faster.

More, from a press release issued by Dorna:

Pedrosa on top as Repsol Honda plant their flag at MotorLand

Misano winner stakes his claim on home turf to top Friday’s timesheets from teammate Marquez

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa went quickest on Day 1 of the Gran Premio Movistar de Aragon, as the ‘Baby Samurai’ bettered teammate Marquez’ FP1 fastest to go top with a 1:48.429. Marquez, quickest out the blocks in the morning, ended the day in P2 behind his teammate as the Repsol Honda squad staked a serious claim on MotorLand – a venue that has traditionally suited the Honda. Another Honda was third fastest as action opened, with LCR’s Cal Crutchlow completing a top three for the Japanese factory.

Cooler ambient temperatures than can often be found at MotorLand Aragon greeted the field on the first day, with skies overcast and none of the baking Spanish heat that often beats down on the arid area that plays host to the MotorLand Aragon motorsport complex. With Repsol Honda and Crutchlow clear at the top, it was Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) who led the Yamaha charge on Day 1 to end up P4 by the end of play, ahead of Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Pol Espargaro in another impressive Friday after the Granollers native was quickest on Day 1 at Misano. Silverstone winner Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and 2014 and 2015 MotorLand victor Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) were another Spanish force to be reckoned with at the top of the timesheets, as Viñales just pipped the man he will replace in 2017 to P6.

Three Ducati machines completed the top ten, with home rider Hector Barbera the fastest man on Borgo Panigale factory equipment as he took his Avintia Racing machine into eighth, with Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Yakhnich) and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) completing the top ten on Friday. Aleix Espargaro (Team Suzuki Ecstar) was just outside the graduation zone to Q2 on Day 1 with another chance to push through for direct entry in FP3, and Nicky Hayden (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) had a solid first day on track as he replaces injured Jack Miller in the team for the Aragon GP.

Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team), after ending the morning’s session in P6, then announced he was unable to continue riding for the Aragon GP as he continues to suffer with damage to a vertebra sustained in a crash in FP1 at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. As during the San Marino GP on the Riviera di Rimini, his Desmosedici is now entrusted to Ducati test rider Michele Pirro for the remainder of the Gran Premio Movistar de Aragon.

FP3 gets underway at 9:55 local time (GMT+2) as the field fight for direct access to the Q2 qualifying session, before FP4 provides the last chance for changes ahead of qualifying at 14:10.

Less than a tenth splits Moto2™ top three on Day 1 in Aragon

Nakagami, Lowes and Luthi anything but lonely at the top – with Zarco P8 and Rins P14

Action was incredibly close for Moto2™ on Day 1 at MotorLand Aragon, as Sam Lowes’ (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) morning quickest was hit back in the afternoon by Idemitsu Honda Team Asia rider Takaaki Nakagami. With Tom Luthi (Garage Plus Interwetten) in close company behind, the three men had been split by only five thousandths until the Japanese rider’s final attempt saw him edge clear – but by less than a tenth. On combined times, the gap between P1 and P3 is incredibly less than a tenth.

MotorLand had a dry but overcast Friday in conditions usually reserved for venues further north in Europe, and most of the Moto2™ field improved their times in the afternoon. Sam Lowes was one of those who didn’t, but was only two hundredths back on his best in the second session, and remained within a minuscule 0.065 of Friday’s eventual fastest Nakagami. Lowes is now P4 in the title fight after his DNF last time out, and has nothing to lose as he pushes to take back the top spot.

Garage Plus Interwetten rider Luthi in P3 was the man on the move between FP1 and FP2, as the Swiss veteran and former 125 world champion sliced off nine tenths from his FP1 best to move up on the combined timesheets by the end of the day. Jonas Folger (Dynavolt Intact GP) in P4 was only a tenth off Nakagami’s last dash best but with his time from FP1, with Misano’s maiden winner Lorenzo Baldassari (Forward Racing Team) completing the top five with an improvement of almost a second.

Franco Morbidelli (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) saw his initial FP2-leading efforts pushed back to P6 by the end of the day, with Speed Up Racing’s Simone Corsi in close company by another tiny margin. In addition, Morbidelli was involved in an incident with Leopard Racing’s Miguel Oliveira on Friday and the Portuguese rider has been declared unfit following a break to his collarbone.

Reigning world champion Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) was P8 on Day 1 with a small improvement from FP1 to FP2 in an under-the-radar Friday for the Frenchman, ahead of 2014 Moto3™ world champion Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) in P9. Axel Pons (AGR Team) completed the top ten as another rider enjoying another home round on Spanish soil.

Alex Rins (Paginas Amarillas HP 40) had the toughest Day 1 at MotorLand of the key title players, as the man second in the standings moved down from a top ten finish in FP1 to end the day in P14. With a much improved collarbone injury and only three points down on Zarco, however, the Spaniard is sure to push back up the timesheets again on Saturday at his local track.

Moto2™ head back out for battle in FP3 at 10:55 local time (GMT+2), before qualifying at 15:05 local time on Saturday.

MotorLand going to plan for Binder: Fastest on Friday

Moto3™ title hopeful kicks off his first chance to take the crown by topping the timesheets

After a more anonymous session in the morning at MotorLand Aragon to end FP1 in P11, Red Bull KTM Ajo rider Brad Binder wound it up a few notches in the afternoon to get back to the top of the timesheets as lap times dropped significantly. The South African, who stands 106 points clear in the championship standings, has his first chance to wrap up the 2016 Moto3™ title at MotorLand and would become the first rider to do so.

Sky Racing Team VR46 rider Andrea Migno was second fastest in FP2 and on Friday after moving up on combined times with a gain of 2.5 seconds, with Leopard Racing’s Fabio Quartararo – who recently announced a move to Moto2™ in 2017 with Paginas Amarillas HP 40 – completing the top three on Day 1 in a good bounce back after some difficult races in his second year in Moto3™.

Italian rookie Fabio DiGiannantonio (Gresini Racing Moto3) continued to impress in his first year as he proved fourth fastest on Friday, with FP1’s quickest Jorge Navarro (Estrella Galicia 0,0) completing the top five on combined times. Jorge Martin (Gaviota Mahindra Aspar) was sixth as he comes back from a foot injury that rendered him unable to ride in Misano, ahead of Albert Arenas (Peugeot MC Saxoprint) and second Leopard Racing rider Andrea Locatelli.

Lorenzo dalla Porta (Sky Racing Team VR46) had a good Friday as he gets to grips with full-time Moto3™ competition on the world stage in ninth, with Czech rider Jakub Kornfeil (Drive M7 SIC Racing Team) completing the top ten. Kornfeil has however been given a three place grid penalty for Sunday’s race after riding too slowly in sectors of the track.

Title contender Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing Moto3) – who is the closest to Binder in the standings – ended Day 1 in P11, and Joan Mir (Leopard Racing) sat out Friday due to a fever – but the Austrian GP winner expects to be back on track to qualify on Saturday.

Moto3™ head out for their next practice session at 9:00 on Saturday, before qualifying begins at 12:35 local time (GMT +2).

More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda:

Masterful 1-2 for Pedrosa and Marquez on Day 1 in Aragón

The Repsol Honda Team enjoyed a strong start today at Motorland Aragón, as Dani Pedrosa ended the opening day at the top of the time sheets with a best time of 1’48.429, and teammate Marc Marquez was just 0.065 seconds behind in second place. The impressive performance from Honda riders was completed by Cal Crutchlow’s close third place.

After struggling to find a good feeling with the track grip and ending the first session in 11th place, Dani significantly improved his speed in the FP2 session, lapping a second and a half faster. He worked with both the medium and hard rear tyre specs and is looking forward to further improving his feeling tomorrow.

Marquez showed top form right from the morning session, setting the quickest time and ending FP1 as the only rider to lap under the 1’49 barrier. He spent the whole FP2 session on the hard Michelin rear tyre, and in his last exit he recorded his best lap on a new hard rear.

Dani Pedrosa

1ST 1’48.429

“Obviously, I’m happy with first place even if it was a bit of a strange day. The sun never came out and we didn’t have the higher temperatures we had expected, which meant that I never quite felt totally comfortable. Anyway, we worked well and improved a lot in the afternoon. We focused on testing tyres, trying to use them all, but we have one left to test. For the rear, for example, both the hard and the medium compounds are good choices, but we still have to see how the track will change. We’re continuing to try to keep the pace and concentration up in every exit, step by step. Our goal for tomorrow is to have a good qualifying session.”

Marc Marquez

2ND 1’48.494

“Today went rather well. Aragon has always been a good track for me, and it suits my riding style. Following our plan, we focused on working with the race in mind and had some good luck in that it didn’t rain in the end. Our work went well, and on the last stint I ran a new hard tyre that allowed me to set a fast time and put in some consecutive laps while also setting a good pace. We still need to understand a few things, like how the softer rear tyre drops off, because everyone suffers with grip here. We also need to finish off trying out the front tyres, because we haven’t been able to use the extra-hard too much. I’m happy with how things have gone in general. Finally, I wish to congratulate my mechanic Ujino-san, who remained in Japan for this race as he became a father a few days ago!”

More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda:

CRUTCHLOW THIRD AFTER DAY ONE IN ARAGON

It was a positive first day of practice for the LCR Honda Team at the Grand Prix of Aragon in Spain, as Cal Crutchlow set the third fastest time of the day, and was less than a tenth of a second behind top rider and fellow Honda man Dani Pedrosa.

Before the weekend began the British rider felt his and the team’s struggles would be on corner exit, where he and the RC213V have struggled this season. However, after having found that the bike was taking to the challenging Aragon track better than expected, has switched his concern to corner entry.

Nonetheless his lap times were consistently impressive throughout the two 45-minute sessions, and after ending day one as Top Independent Team rider he is now confident of pushing on even further on Saturday to seal a decent position on the grid for Sunday’s 23-lap race.

#35 Cal Crutchlow – 3rd (1’48.510)

“It’s not been too bad a day, but not great either. I felt OK with the bike and the LCR Honda Team have done a good job again as we worked through a few things that we needed to try.

“Mainly I’m struggling on corner entry at the moment, and we need to improve that for tomorrow because that’s the area that we will gain most from. Deceleration is where it’s been an issue, which means that we are forced to take risks with the front, so let’s see for tomorrow. Overall we are happy enough and we are quite confident after how the day has gone.”

More, from a press release issued by Avintia Racing:

 Barbera eighth fastest on the opening day in Aragon, Baz fights the pain

The opening day of practice for the Grand Prix of Aragon took place under cloudy skies and quite different conditions in both sessions. In the morning, the temperatures were moderate and the Avintia Racing riders struggled to find a decent rhythm. But even though it was still cloudy in the afternoon, the temperatures went up and in these conditions, Hector Barbera was able to improve his pace. The 29-year-old finished eighth, only 0.541s from Dani Pedrosa, the fastest rider today at MotorLand.

Loris Baz was 19th at the end of the first day with a best lap of 1’50.940. Although his right foot is not painful riding the bike, the Frenchman is not comfortable. He has not enough mobility in his leg and he was forced to adapt his riding style accordingly. Even though, he managed to improve his lap time from FP1 by almost two seconds and he expects to go even faster tomorrow. He also plans to do some more laps to understand better how his foot reacts, a test that will be crucial for the 23-lap-race on Sunday.

Hector Barbera | 1’48.970 | P8

“Today was a good day, but even better in the afternoon, as the track was quite cold this morning and the grip was not enough. Also the new tyres are slightly harder and we struggled to adapt in those conditions. But things were better this afternoon. My pace was quite decent and when we put the new tyre in, we were able to improve the lap times. I’m happy because I’m getting the feeling back and I feel fast. The gap to the fastest riders is 0.5s and on a track with lap times of two minutes, this is not too much. But we have a limit, and it is the same from the beginning of the season: We don’t have seamless gear changes from first to second and at this track, you have to gear up in the middle of several turns, so we are losing time.”

Loris Baz | 1’50.940 | P19

“The session this morning was really tough. When I’m riding the bike, my foot is okay and I don’t have much pain, but I miss strength and motion. Overall my leg is stiff and this forces me to ride in a different style, trying to use my leg as less as possible, and as a consequence I get tired. But this afternoon, everything was better and we have to wait and see how it will go tomorrow. We need to put some more laps together and then we will know if I will be able to finish the race. My target for this weekend is to build some confidence and to get the pace for the next three overseas races. I know that it will be impossible to finish in the top 10. Even just grabbing some points will be tough.”

More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office:

VIÑALES & SUZUKI ECSTAR 6TH IN ARAGON PRACTICE

Maverick Viñales – 6th.

Aleix Espargaró – 11th.

Team SUZUKI ECSTAR’s Maverick Viñales put in consistent laps in practice for this weekend’s Gran Premio Movistar de Aragón MotoGP™ at Motorland Aragon in Spain to secure sixth position as team mate Aleix Espargaró recovered from a slip-off to post 11th.

Both Viñales and Espargaró improved their lap-times aboard their GSX-RRs from the morning’s opening FP1 session, Viñales’ FP2 time of 1’48.886 is less-than half-a-second from Pole, while Espargaró’s time of 1’49.243 is 0.748 off the leader.

The day has been one of development for the riders and both crews busy in finding a good set-up for the bikes according to the variety of track situations. While the efficiency of the chassis is making the GSX-RRs very stable on fast corners, the handling in tighter corners and fast direction changes has still to be improved upon; the final issue only affecting Viñales, while Espargaró has been focusing more in finding better efficiency. The older Spaniard also incurred a crash, fortunately without injury, but the incident cost him valuable time in FP2.

Davide Brivio – Team Manager:

“Today we tested many things, both in the set-up and with the tyres. Michelin delivered many solutions and the available combinations are many, so we mainly focused on understanding the bikes reactions and collect data to work on tonight, with the objective of finalising a good set-up for tomorrow. Unfortunately, Aleix had a little crash that made the work complicated; for the moment he’s not in the top-10, which could mean direct access to Q2, but we still have tomorrow’s FP3 to improve. Maverick also tried many things and I believe that tonight the crews will exploit the information gathered to improve for tomorrow.”

Maverick Viñales:

“At the end my evaluation of the day is positive, I couldn’t find a really clean lap for a time attack as also in my best attempt I made some little mistakes that prevented me classifying in a better position, so considering this, being four-tenths slower is a good position and means I had the potential to be closer to the top. Here we are very effective in fast sectors, but we still struggle with the handling; our GSX-RR is very stable, it’s one of its strong points, but it becomes hard to turn in fast changes of direction. We will focus mainly on this aspect for tomorrow, we have still many options for the set-up we can explore and with the information we got today we will try to find a better handling.”

Aleix Espargaró:

“I’m not yet where I’d like to be but we did a positive job today. Unfortunately, in FP2 I had a crash; after turn one when it came to change direction for turn two I made a mistake in changing my weight on the bike, the front was too light and so I lost the grip, resulting in a slide. It was my mistake, it resulted in nothing serious for me but it affected the session, because I had to get back to take the second bike but had a slightly different configuration and I couldn’t feel confident at all. The handling is very important on this track, but the work we’ve done today gave us a lot of feedback that we can exploit for tomorrow’s configuration.”

More, from a press release issued by Aspar Team:

 Yonny Hernández has Q2 in his sights at Motorland

Pull&Bear Aspar rider just outside Q2 positions after lapping twelfth fastest today as Eugene Laverty’s charge is halted by a crash

The possibility of seeing a ninth different winner in nine consecutive MotoGP races at Aragon this weekend already looks a slim one after the opening day of free practice, which saw Spanish pair Dani Pedrosa and Marc Márquez produce the kind of form that suggests a home victory on Sunday. Pedrosa has his first victory of the season at Misano last time out still fresh in the memory and after lapping eleventh fastest in this morning’s opening session he found more than half a second on his final two laps of the day to top the time sheets. Valentino Rossi, main rival to Márquez in the fight for the title, was fourth fastest on a day that saw the top ten riders separated by just seven tenths of a second.

Pull&Bear Aspar Team rider Yonny Hernández was on course to finish the day in the positions that give direct access to Q2 and he is confident of making it despite dropping to twelfth on the final lap of the day. The Colombian, who suffered a small crash early in the opening session, was more comfortable on his second bike in the afternoon and knows that with some small improvements he can be competing for his objective of a place in Q2 tomorrow. Eugene Laverty suffered a more untimely crash than his team-mate today, sliding off on cold tyre just when he was about to push for a faster lap time on soft rubber. Laverty was one of several riders to go down in turn two today but he is confident that he has the pace to challenge for a good grid position in tomorrow’s qualifying sessions.

12th Yonny Hernández 1.49.243 (20 laps): “I felt more comfortable in the second session than I did in the first one. After the crash this morning it was difficult to find my rhythm again. In the afternoon we switched to the other bike from the start and we managed to ride much better. The rear was sliding a little and I was lacking a little rear grip on corner exit but we will work to find a solution for this. The bike is working well and I think we can push to be in Q2. Right now we are in twelfth position and it would be nice to break into the top ten. It is positive to see us in a competitive position again.”

17th Eugene Laverty 1.50.113 (20 laps): “We made a real breakthrough with the bike in the afternoon. We made a big step with the turning of the bike and on the hard tyre I was making some really good lap times. Right at the end I crashed on a cold tyre after we switched to the soft, so I am angry about that because we had a genuine shot at a top ten. You don’t mind so much if you crash when you’re pushing but I wasn’t, I was trying to be careful but turn two is treacherous. So many riders have crashed there and today I joined the club! I am angry but we have to be optimistic with my pace on the hard tyre in the middle of the session, when I was riding with Viñales at the same pace. I know we can make a step on the soft tyre tomorrow and it’s always better to crash on Friday than Saturday or Sunday!”

More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

  Dovizioso tenth after first day of practice at Aragón. Iannone goes out for FP1 but pulls out of the GP due to back injury. Pirro replaces him for FP2 and sets fifteenth quickest time

Andrea Dovizioso was tenth quickest at the end of the first day of practice for the Aragón Grand Prix, which is taking place this weekend at the modern circuit on the outskirts of Alcañiz. The Ducati Team man finished the morning’s FP1 run in fourth place, but suffered from lack of grip on the track in the afternoon and ended the second session in tenth with a time of 1’49.128.

Things took a turn for the worse for his team-mate Andrea Iannone, who decided to call it a day. The Italian was still suffering pain as a result of his crash in FP1 at Misano, in which he fractured a vertebra. Yesterday the man from Vasto had been declared fit by circuit doctors and he took to the track this morning for the first session of free practice, which he completed at a good pace and in sixth place. Unfortunately a worsening of the pain in his back forced Iannone to pull out for the rest of the weekend.

Michele Pirro, who had been put on stand-by for Aragón due to Iannone’s precarious physical condition, took the place of the regular Ducati Team rider and was ready for FP2 in the afternoon. Pirro, who has never raced at this circuit with a MotoGP bike, gained confidence lap after lap and finished the session in fifteenth place with a time of 1’49.678.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 1’49.128 (10th)

“We didn’t go badly in the morning session, but in the afternoon we encountered difficult conditions with very little grip on the track. Now we have to work to find a solution to this problem because it is our biggest limit and it doesn’t allow us to be as quick as we would like, something that conditions my riding and my lines, and above all it doesn’t let us use the set-up we want. We’ll use as reference the last session to work on the data, and I’m confident we’ll find a way to improve tomorrow.”

Michele Pirro (Ducati Team #51) – 1’49.678 (15th)

“I’ve just about tried everything this year! I arrived here this morning, hoping that Andrea would manage to ride all weekend, but after the first session he had to pull out. It’s moments like these that Ducati proves to be a real squad, because we’re all ready to make ourselves available for the team whenever required. I haven’t been on this track for five years and I don’t remember it being so difficult, especially because I have never ridden here with a real MotoGP bike. At the moment I’ve only done the second session and I’m trying to think things through, but I’m sure that tomorrow we will get a better idea of our potential in FP3.”

Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team #29)

“Unfortunately I’m going to have to miss this race as well. It wasn’t an easy decision to make because this morning in FP1 the feeling was good on the bike. We did a good session, we were quick, and so I really feel bad about having to miss this GP. However I have to look at the situation very carefully, and unfortunately this decision was the only one I could make, the best one if I think ahead to the next few races. I could probably have been able to race with pain-killers, but to be honest I didn’t want to run the risk of crashing again and having to face the same situation from scratch. In the last few days my condition has improved but, during the session, I realized that my neck was blocked and so I decided that it was better to recover entirely and arrive in Japan with the knowledge that the crack has completely healed and that I can ride without any problems or pain.”