FIM Moto2 World Championship
Catalunya Circuit, Spain
June 13, 2014
Free Practice Two Results (all using Honda engines and Dunlop tires):
1. Esteve “Tito” RABAT, Spain (KALEX), 1:46.955
2. Jonas FOLGER, Germany (KALEX), 1:47.701
3. Sam LOWES, UK (SPEED UP), 1:47.908
4. Maverick VIÑALES, Spain (KALEX), 1:47.996
5. Sandro CORTESE, Germany (KALEX), 1:48.012
6. Takaaki NAKAGAMI, Japan (KALEX), 1:48.049
7. Luis SALOM, Spain (KALEX), 1:48.146
8. Mattia PASINI, Italy (KALEX), 1:48.216
9. Mika KALLIO, Finland (KALEX), 1:48.220
10. Marcel SCHROTTER, Germany (TECH 3), 1:48.272
11. Dominique AEGERTER, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:48.307
12. Franco MORBIDELLI, Italy (KALEX), 1:48.345
13. Thomas LUTHI, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:48.357
14. Jordi TORRES, Spain (SUTER), 1:48.363
15. Johann ZARCO, France (CATERHAM SUTER), 1:48.528
16. Louis ROSSI, France (KALEX), 1:48.538
17. Julian SIMON, Spain (KALEX), 1:48.549
18. Simone CORSI, Italy (KALEX), 1:48.550
19. Nicolas TEROL, Spain (SUTER), 1:48.606
20. Ricard CARDUS, Spain (TECH 3), 1:48.624
21. Axel PONS, Spain (KALEX), 1:48.723
22. Xavier SIMEON, Belgium (SUTER), 1:48.734
23. Randy KRUMMENACHER, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:48.761
24. Hafizh SYAHRIN, Malaysia (KALEX), 1:48.802
25. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (SUTER), 1:48.804
26. Gino REA, UK (SUTER), 1:48.812
27. Josh HERRIN, USA (CATERHAM SUTER), 1:48.994
28. Lorenzo BALDASSARRI, Italy (SUTER), 1:49.142
29. Anthony WEST, Australia (SPEED UP), 1:49.156
30. Roman RAMOS, Spain (SPEED UP), 1:49.620
31. Tetsuta NAGASHIMA, Japan (TSR), 1:49.986
32. Azlan SHAH, Malaysia (KALEX), 1:50.022
33. Robin MULHAUSER, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:50.315
34. Thitipong WAROKORN, Thailand (KALEX), 1:51.823
More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing Team:
Rabat on fire at home in Barcelona
Barcelona, Spain – 13 June 2014: Tito Rabat got his weekend off to a flying start in Barcelona, as he topped the timesheet in both of today’s free practice sessions. Mika Kallio ended the day third on combined times, but with some work to do to find a competitive set up for Sunday’s 23-lap race.
Rabat stamped his authority on his home Grand Prix from the outset today. The 25-year-old Marc VDS rider was fastest by 0.7s in this morning’s opening free practice session, a margin he duplicated in this afternoon’s second free practice session, after improving on his previous best time.
Kallio was second in the opening free practice but was unable to match his lap time and slipped down the order this afternoon, after going the wrong way with the set up of his Kalex Moto2 machine. The 31-year-old Finn was struggling for rear grip, but remains confident that a solution can be found ahead of qualifying tomorrow.
Livio Loi enjoyed a solid opening day to his Grand Prix de Catalunya weekend, finishing 18th overall after the first two Moto3 free practice sessions, but just 1.147s off the time of Niklas Ajo, the fastest rider on track today.
Tito Rabat // 1st // 1’46.955
“Today we made a good job, but today is only Friday. I’m happy to be fastest today, but Sunday in the race is when I really need to be fastest, not in free practice. We still need to work a lot in practice and qualifying tomorrow and, even then, it could all change on Sunday if it rains. Either way, we need to keep working.”
Mika Kallio // 3rd // 1’47.836
“This morning was okay, but then we made some changes to the gearing and the length of the bike for FP2, in a bid to improve rear grip. It just didn’t work as we expected and the bike was quite difficult to ride. We will go back closer to the settings from this morning for tomorrow, but finding a good setting at this track has always been complicated for me. Tomorrow I will also try to adapt my riding style a little. Instead of braking hard and trying to get on the gas really early, maybe carrying more speed on corner entry is the key. We will see in practice tomorrow, but what is sure is that we need to find something.”
Livio Loi // 18th // 1’53.077
“The feeling with the bike is better here than it was in Jerez, Le Mans and Mugello. The movement at the front that has caused us so many problems isn’t so apparent here in Barcelona. We still need to try and put more weight on the front, because it’s a bit vague holding a line through the turns at the moment. This isn’t such a big problem in the first three sectors, but it’s losing me over a second through the faster turns in the final sector. If we can make the bike work better through the last few fast turns then it will make a big difference to my lap time.”
More, from a press release issued by AirAsia Caterham Moto2 Team:
Moto2 Practice Begins in Barcelona
Circuit: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
Circuit Length: 4.727 m
Bike # 5 – Johann Zarco
FP1: P16; 1’48.407 – 20 laps
FP2: P15; 1’48.528 – 17 laps
Bike # 2 – Josh Herrin
FP1: P31; 1’50.038 – 19 laps
FP2: P27; 1’48.994 – 20 laps
Weather
FP1: (Conditions) Dry; (air temp) 31°, (track temp) 43°
FP2: (Conditions) Dry; (air temp) 33°, (track temp) 50°
Under the intense Barcelona sun day one of Moto2 Free Practice saw the AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing riders work hard to put in the laps and provide valuable data to their crew.
It was a tough start for Johann Zarco as he struggled with the set-up on his #5 Caterham Suter. Fighting against a spinning tyre the Frenchman worked tirelessly to improve his lap time but was unable to break into the top ten.
Teammate Josh Herrin made steady progress chipping away at his time throughout the sessions and achieving his target of breaking into the 1m48s, just one second off P4.
#5 Johann Zarco:
“First day in Barcelona and even though it’s a track I like, we have a problem because we can’t play with the tyres. We tried many settings on the bike and were not able to be fast. There’s too much spinning on acceleration.
“For tomorrow we need to speak with Dunlop to try another tyre because if not everyone on the same bike will be far away. It is necessary for us to all work together and fix the problem, if not; it’s not possible to fight.”
#2 Josh Herrin:
“After the first session I was disappointed with my position just because of the distance from us to the front, but as I was just learning the track I tried to put it to the back of my head and re-focus for FP2.
“In the second session the position was again not where I want to be but when you look at the times from me in 27th to 5th place, the difference is only nine tenths of a second, which is really encouraging. To the best Suter we’re only 0.6s off, so hopefully tomorrow I can continue to pluck away at the time.
“This is the closest that we’ve been since I started riding the bike so I’m pleased with that. The track is a lot of fun and I’m feeling positive.”
More, from a press release issued by AGT/Rea Racing:
AGT REA Racing make a positive start to the GP Monster Energy de Catalunya
The AGT REA Racing team made a positive start to the GP Monster Energy de Catalunya on Friday, finishing within a second of the front row. Gino Rea was positioned within the top 20 for the most part of the afternoon free practice session, being bumped down from 20th to 26th only in the latter minutes. With the top Suter only 0.5 seconds in front, Rea is confident that the team can continue to improve.
Gino Rea: “We made a little progress in the afternoon session and improved my lap time. We are struggling in certain areas and it looks like the other Suters are also struggling with the top Suter in 11th position, only 0.5 seconds ahead of me. If we can fix the area where we are losing a lot of time, there is good potential for us to move higher up over the weekend. I hope Suter can help us find the right direction to fix the areas where we are struggling.”
AGT REA Racing will be back in action tomorrow for the final free practice of the weekend and qualifying for Sunday’s race. For live updates throughout the race weekend ‘Like’ AGT REA Racing on Facebook www.facebook.com/agtrearacing or follow the team on Twitter www.twitter.com/AGT_REA_Racing.