FIM Moto2 World Championship

Assen TT Circuit, Netherlands

June 26, 2014

Free Practice Two Results (all using Honda engines and Dunlop tires):

1. Esteve “Tito” RABAT, Spain (KALEX), 1:37.869

2. Sam LOWES, UK (SPEED UP), 1:37.950

3. Dominique AEGERTER, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:38.037

4. Jonas FOLGER, Germany (KALEX), 1:38.279

5. Jordi TORRES, Spain (SUTER), 1:38.319

6. Johann ZARCO, France (CATERHAM SUTER), 1:38.352

7. Sandro CORTESE, Germany (KALEX), 1:38.394

8. Mika KALLIO, Finland (KALEX), 1:38.452

9. Ricard CARDUS, Spain (TECH 3), 1:38.501

10. Luis SALOM, Spain (KALEX), 1:38.531

11. Xavier SIMEON, Belgium (SUTER), 1:38.569

12. Maverick VIÑALES, Spain (KALEX), 1:38.602

13. Julian SIMON, Spain (KALEX), 1:38.636

14. Mattia PASINI, Italy (KALEX), 1:38.671

15. Simone CORSI, Italy (KALEX), 1:38.816

16. Thomas LUTHI, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:38.859

17. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (SUTER), 1:38.864

18. Takaaki NAKAGAMI, Japan (KALEX), 1:38.881

19. Marcel SCHROTTER, Germany (TECH 3), 1:38.988

20. Axel PONS, Spain (KALEX), 1:38.995

21. Nicolas TEROL, Spain (SUTER), 1:39.089

22. Randy KRUMMENACHER, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:39.231

23. Franco MORBIDELLI, Italy (KALEX), 1:39.247

24. Louis ROSSI, France (KALEX), 1:39.319

25. Anthony WEST, Australia (SPEED UP), 1:39.326

26. Josh HERRIN, USA (CATERHAM SUTER), 1:39.333

27. Hafizh SYAHRIN, Malaysia (KALEX), 1:39.539

28. Azlan SHAH, Malaysia (KALEX), 1:39.767

29. Gino REA, UK (SUTER), 1:39.797

30. Lorenzo BALDASSARRI, Italy (SUTER), 1:39.973

31. Tetsuta NAGASHIMA, Japan (TSR), 1:40.313

32. Robin MULHAUSER, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:40.406

33. Roman RAMOS, Spain (SPEED UP), 1:40.607

34. Thitipong WAROKORN, Thailand (KALEX), 1:41.105

More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing Team:

Rabat leads the way at Assen

Assen, Holland – 26 Jun 2014: Tito Rabat ended the opening day at Assen at the top of the timesheet, after posting his fastest time late in this afternoon’s second free practice session.

It was Rabat and Dominique Aegerter who made the early running, with the Moto2 World Championship leader losing time to the Swiss rider through the final sector on each lap. Rabat managed to improve enough to claim the top spot as the session drew to a close, but he and his crew will be looking tonight for further improvements in the all-important final sector ready for tomorrow.

Second fastest in this morning’s first free practice, Mika Kallio slipped down to eighth at the end of this afternoon’s 45-minute session after opting to stay on the same set-up to test both option rear tyres that Dunlop have available at Assen. The 31-year-old Finn is confident he can close the gap to his Marc VDS teammate ahead of qualifying tomorrow.

Livio Loi was disappointed to end the day in a lowly 33rd position, as he adapts to the KTM RC250R Moto3 machine that he’s racing for the first time this weekend in Assen. The 17-year-old Belgian pushed hard for the change of bike, only to discover that the transition wasn’t quite as smooth as he was expecting. Despite the disappointment, Loi remains confident that more track time on the bike will bring an improvement.

Tito Rabat // 1st // 1’37.869

“Today has not quite hard, and the lap time didn’t come so easy. We need to do a lot of work, especially in the final sector where I’m losing a little bit of time at the moment. We need to find some improvements, like always, but I think it’s going to be a very hard weekend.”

Mika Kallio // 8th // 1’38.452

“The feeling I had this morning was good, so we decided to stick with the same set up for this afternoon, to give us a better comparison between the two rear tyre options. On the softer option the feeling was good and my time was a little faster than this morning, but the whole bike feels different whenever we switch to the hard tyre, and the same was true today. The rear feels like there is no grip and the tyre is moving sideways and not digging in. I can do the same lap times as I can on the soft tyre, but the feeling is that with the lap time comes a lot more risk. Now we will try some changes with the set up for tomorrow, as we have a few tenths to find.”

Livio Loi // 33rd // 1’45.475

“Today wasn’t what I was hoping for. It’s proved more difficult to adapt to the KTM than I was expecting, and we haven’t made the big steps we were looking for today at Assen. I need more time on the bike, but time is something we simply don’t have. We must continue working in free practice and qualifying tomorrow and, if necessary, use this race as a test, so that we go to Sachsenring in a better position. A good result in the final race before the summer break is critical and we need to work towards that.”

More, from a press release issued by AirAsia Caterham Moto2 Team:

Positive Start for AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing in Assen

Circuit: Assen

Circuit Length: 4.542 m

Bike # 5 – Johann Zarco

FP1: P16; 1’39.385 – 21 laps

FP2: P6; 1’38.352 – 19 laps

Bike # 2 – Josh Herrin

FP1: P25; 1’39.934 – 22 laps

FP2: P26; 1’39.333 – 20 laps

Weather

FP1: (Conditions) Dry; (air temp) 16°, (track temp) 19°

FP2: (Conditions) Dry; (air temp) 22°, (track temp) 41°

As the Dutch Grand Prix got underway the AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing Team concluded the first day pleased with the progress made.

After some initial set-up changes from FP1, feeling more comfortable on his #5 Caterham Suter, Johann Zarco picked up the pace in the days final practice session to set his personal best lap time around the 4.542 m circuit and placing him in P6, just 0.483s from P1.

Riding the track for the very first time American Josh Herrin got to work quickly showing his increasing ability to adapt well to a new circuit whilst continuing to improve his time.

#5 Johann Zarco: “The start of the day was quite difficult as my feeling on the bike was not good and I had to fight too much.

“In the afternoon the mechanics made a very good step and the feeling was again joy on the bike. I was pleased because I could work as I usually do, which allowed me to progress with my lap time.

“Finally in FP2 they were able to tell me which sectors I needed to improve and because I felt comfortable on the bike I was able to do this. There are many positive points at the end of this first day. I hope tomorrow that I can be consistent with this lap time, maybe improve it again, but we will see. It will also depend how the weather is as it could be dry or wet, but either way we did an important step today so I am happy with this.”

#2 Josh Herrin: “I’m really pleased with how both practice sessions went today. The goal for FP1 was to do a low 1m41s lap time and we ended up doing a 1m39 and then in the afternoon the target was to improve again on this, which I did.

“I feel like I’m back to how I should have been all year. I’m more comfortable on the bike now and I’m excited to ride. I think staying in Europe between the races has really helped as it’s allowed me to get into a rhythm and do a lot more training which I feel is starting to have a good effect.

“I’m already looking forward to getting back on the bike tomorrow so hopefully we can just build on today and continue to improve.”