FIM MotoGP World Championship Mugello, Italy June 4, 2010 Free Practice One Results (all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (Yamaha), 1:49.751 2. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (Yamaha), 1:50.120 3. Loris CAPIROSSI, Italy (Suzuki), 1:50.359 4. Colin EDWARDS, USA (Yamaha), 1:50.772 5. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (Honda), 1:50.773 6. Ben SPIES, USA (Yamaha), 1:51.004 7. Casey STONER, Australia (Ducati), 1:51.128 8. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (Honda), 1:51.255 9. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (Ducati), 1:51.387 10. Hector BARBERA, Spain (Ducati), 1:51.582 11. Randy DE PUNIET, France (Honda), 1:51.605 12. Marco SIMONCELLI, Italy (Honda), 1:51.717 13. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (Honda), 1:51.782 14. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (Ducati), 1:52.202 15. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (Honda), 1:52.399 16. Mika KALLIO, Finland (Ducati), 1:52.418 17. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (Suzuki), 1:55.257 More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi started the weekend of his home Grand Prix in Italy in fine form by securing the third fastest time in the first free practice session. Capirossi (P3, 1’50.359, 22 laps) tried different set-ups in his two Rizla Suzuki GSV-Rs at the start of the session and once he found the direction he was happy with he made huge steps towards bringing down his lap-times. Despite a crash right at the end of the practice from which Capirossi walked away unhurt he is in a confident and up-beat mood for the rest of the weekend. Álvaro Bautista (P17, 155.257, 21 laps) was riding a motorcycle for the first time today since the huge high-side that forced him to withdraw from Le Mans two weeks ago and found it tough around the demanding 5,245m Mugello circuit. He will probably have some pain-killing medication tomorrow to help him overcome discomfort he is suffering and is determined to finish Sunday’s race in a positive frame of mind. Today’s practice was held in clear and sunny conditions with air temperatures getting up to 26ºC and track temperatures reaching 49ºC. World Champion Valentino Rossi set the fastest time of the day on his factory Yamaha. Rizla Suzuki has one more practice session tomorrow morning and a qualifying session in the afternoon to prepare for Sunday’s 23-lap race, which gets underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT). Loris Capirossi: “Apart from the crash it has been a very positive day here in Mugello! We started with two different bikes and one was very good and gave me a good feeling. Overall I am very happy with the day’s work. I made the mistake and crashed at the end, it was my fault and I know what caused it so it is no big problem. I know we can still improve this weekend and I am confident for the race.” Álvaro Bautista: “I had a very hard practice because I thought I was in better condition than I am. I feel better than I did at Le Mans, but it is still very hard to change direction and I don’t have enough strength in my left arm to ride the bike how I would like to. I am using all my body and this is making me go slower than I want. My target this weekend is to get more confident with the bike and to get a good feeling. I am determined to finish on Sunday, so that is my first goal.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “After a difficult start to the year it is obviously encouraging to see Loris put the bike in the top-three. The guys have made some setting changes which have helped his confidence and feedback on the bike. There are still some decent steps to make, but I think we have a good base to work from for the rest of the weekend and although Loris’s bike ended up in the gravel trap at the end, let’s hope that has got it out of the way for the weekend. “For Álvaro this afternoon was nothing more than re-acclimatisation and to find out what his body is capable of. After a visit to the Clinica Mobile this evening and perhaps some treatment to reduce the pain significantly tomorrow which he didn’t have today he should be in a position to improve a lot and to do his best to complete the Grand Prix on Sunday.” More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Edwards and Spies on pace at magnificent Mugello Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team duo Colin Edwards and Ben Spies were immediately on the pace in Mugello today as Yamaha made a flying start to the Italian MotoGP weekend. Edwards made a welcome return to form after a difficult opening to the 2010 season and a range of set-up changes on his YZR-M1 machine reaped immediate reward for the Texan. Reverting back to the same set-up he used to finish sixth in the 2009 Italian MotoGP, the confidence Edwards has lacked with the front-end of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine in the early part of the campaign instantly returned. Edwards was a permanent fixture in the top six before he surge d into the top three shortly before the halfway stage. He briefly dropped out of the leading trio before a lap of 1.50.772 moved him behind dominant Yamaha duo Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo back into third spot in the closing stages. Only a late attack from circuit specialist Loris Capirossi prevented Edwards from helping Yamaha claim a stunning 1-2-3 start to the fourth round of the world championship. The spectacular Mugello circuit is one of the most technically challenging and physically demanding on the MotoGP calendar. But Spies once again exhibited his talent for learning tracks at a remarkably fast rate to clock the sixth quickest time and finish just over 0.2s behind Edwards. Spies is still suffering slight discomfort from left ankle ligament damage he suffered in a practice crash in Le Mans. But the 25-year-old quickly got to grips with Mugello’s hard br aking points, high-speed corners and undulation to finish with a best time of 1.51.004. Spies is confident with more time to work on the set-up of his YZR-M1 machine he’ll be able to fight for a leading position in Sunday’s 23-lap race. Colin Edwards 4th 1.50.772 21 laps “I’m really happy with today because the first three races have not been easy at all. Nothing had worked at all so far this season, so basically I completely changed the set-up of the bike today. I just told my team to change the set-up so it was completely the same as Mugello last year when I had my best result at this track. We changed riding position and got my weight moved forward because I’ve been having a problem keeping weight on the front this season. Now it just feels so natural and the bike does exactly what I want it to do. When I want the bike to do something it actually does it instead of me waiting and wondering why it didn’t work. Now it just turns and it feels like I’m spending much less time on the side of the tyre. I turn in now really quickly and don’t run wide or have to work hard to get the bike round the corner. I want to say a big thanks to Tech 3 and Yamaha because it feels like my bike again and I’m riding with much more confidence.” Ben Spies 6th 1.51.004 25 laps “This track is definitely a more difficult place to learn but it is a super fun track. There are a couple of corners that are really difficult to learn and it can take a while to get into a rhythm. But coming here on the back of a couple of bad results and being immediately this fast on such a technically challenging track is really good for me. It doesn’t feel like I should have been sixth and I guess that is a good sign. I thought I was doing fine so to see I was sixth, I was blown away with that because I thought I’d be about tenth or just outside the top ten. I’m still having a bit of trouble with the ankle I hurt in the practice crash in Le Mans. There’s quite a bit of ligament damage but the only time I really feel it is when I’m trying to tuck in tight on the straight. It’s not a major injury but it will take a few weeks to fully recover. On the bike it hurts but it’s not slowing me down. I’ll analyse the data tonight because as always when I’m starting fresh on a new track, there is more time to come from my riding and the bike. But to be sixth on my first day at such a difficult track is a good lift for my confidence.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Valentino Rossi laid down the gauntlet at Mugello today, by setting the fastest time in the opening free practice session. The Italian is looking to reclaim his crown as the King of Mugello, after Casey Stoner’s win last year ended a run of seven consecutive victories in the Italian Grand Prix for the reigning World Champion. Rossi’s fastest lap was almost half a second faster than his Championship rival, and Fiat Yamaha teammate, Jorge Lorenzo, who posted the second fastest time to make it a Yamaha one-two at the top of the timesheet today. Rossi and Lorenzo established themselves at the forefront of the timesheet early on and Rossi continually improved his time as the session reached its climax. With just 10 minutes of the session left to run the Italian, who is sporting a new Mohawk haircut for the Mugello weekend, finally broke the 1’50″ barrier, setting a hot lap of 1’49.751. Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi pushing up into third place with a late surge that left him just 0.608s off Rossi’s blistering pace, but the Italian veteran then crashed uninjured in the San Donato turn, ending his session early. Colin Edwards enjoyed a good opening session and was fourth fastest, just over a second off Rossi and only one thousandth of a second ahead of Dani Pedrosa who was the highest-placed Honda rider today. Ben Spies impressed on his first outing at Mugello by registering the sixth fastest time, just over two-tenths behind Pedrosa. Casey Stoner had the worst possible start to the hour-long practice when he experienced a run-off at Turn 15. The Australian had to take his Desmosedici GP10 down into the gravel to avoid hitting the fence, and eventually placed seventh in the session as he completed 15 laps, the fewest of the field. Andrea Dovizioso Nicky Hayden and Héctor Barberá all set top-ten times as well, the rookie running off at Bucine shortly after Casey Stoner had vacated the gravel trap at the same place. Rizla Suzuki rookie Álvaro Bautista made his return after sitting out the last race at Le Mans due to his collarbone injury, but was clearly still feeling some discomfort with a best time just over 5.5s off that of Rossi. Moto2 Alex de Angelis topped the timesheet after this afternoon’s opening Moto2 free practice, lapping the Mugello circuit in a time of 1’56.422 aboard his Force GP210 machine. De Angelis set his best time on the 13th of his 22 laps, and was 0.217s quicker than second fastest, Sergio Gadea. Tenerife 40 Pons rider Gadea pushed himself into that position with a best time of 1’56.639 on his penultimate lap, 0.076s faster than Julián Simón whose best effort came on his final lap of the Tuscan track. Andrea Iannone made it four different chassis manufacturers occupying the top four positions, as he came in just under two-tenths behind Simón. Stefan Bradl, Jules Cluzel, Yuki Takahashi and Shoya Tomizawa at present second in the Championship standings were tightly grouped from positions five to eight, with Mike di Meglio and Gabor Talmacsi completing a top ten separated by just 0.918s. Current Championship leader Toni Elías was only 11th fastest, 1.032 off the time set by De Angelis. British rider Scott Redding finished the practice in 19th position. 125cc Pol Espargaró and Nico Terol reignited their Championship battle in the opening 125cc practice session of the Gran Premio d’Italia TIM on Friday afternoon, as the former set the fastest time of the session with his last lap of the Mugello circuit. Bancaja Aspar rider Terol, who leads the Championship standings by two points from Espargaró heading into this weekend, looked to have done enough to take the first practice honours, but his Tuenti Racing adversary posted a time of 1’58.373 right at the end to edge himself 0.058s in front. Third fastest was last year’s race winner Bradley Smith, who found an immediate pace on his Aprilia, something which has not been the case regularly this season so far. At 0.650s off Espargaró’s time there is still work to do for the Brit, who was just under two-tenths ahead of Efrén Vázquez in fourth place. Completing the top five was Randy Krummenacher who matched Vázquez’s time, while Marc Márquez was the sixth and final rider to get within a second of Espargaró’s marker. Esteve Rabat, Sandro Cortese, Tomoyoshi Koyama and Jonas Folger all recorded top ten times to get their respective weekends off to a good start. More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing: FOURTEENTH BEST TIME FOR ALEIX ESPARGARO’ IN THE FIRST FREE PRACTISE, SIXTEEN TIME FOR MIKA KALLIO A study Friday for both Pramac Racing Team riders getting the absolute fourteenth time with Aleix Espargarò and the sixteenth with Kallio. Both riders have tested some new solutions since the last race in Le Mans. In particular, the young Spanish engineers have worked on the braking system of the bike, while the Finn’s engineers have worked to get just the right feeling with the Italian track. One of the most difficult of the championship. Fabiano Sterlacchini – Pramac Racing Technical Director “We’re a little distant from the first riders, we have tried many new interesting solutions and we are getting some good feedback that we’ll use for the second free practice and the tomorrow qualifying session. We are looking after Mika’s conditions, if they are in some way limiting its performance. He never complains about particular problems, but we know that the trauma he has to his shoulder does not allow him to lead perfectly his bike. He has a bit of difficult on this circuit since he is in MotoGP, but we are very confident for tomorrow, he would certainly improve the results of today. Aleix is always working on his first season, getting feelings with the different circuits, he tried many different solutions from those of Le Mans, he has solved some problems he had on the brake engine. Many riders have reported some disconnects on the road compare to Le Mans, this has partly influenced our lap times. ” Aleix Espargarò – Pramac Racing Team – the 14th best time in 1’52 202 “Also if I’m far from the top riders, I have great confidence in the tomorrow tests. This is one of the most difficult circuit of the MotoGP and I’ll try to do my best to get a good result here. We worked hard to develop the best bike for tomorrow so that I could be able to move closer to the first riders. After the good result of Le Mans I’m very motivated to get the best result and I know that with a little of more feeling, I can improve my lap times. ” Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing Team – the 16th best time in 1’52 .418 “Fortunately my shoulder doesn’t makes me feel so much pain, I have one second gap from the top eight, but I think that with the changes that we have done today, I’ll try to recover the gap and do my best. We had some setting problems that haven’t allowed me to lead in the better way my bike, but my team has already identified the problems and knew how to solve them. This is a very difficult track for me, but I will give my best tomorrow to recover some places and to gain a good position on the starting grid. ” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: REPSOL HONDAS GET DOWN TO BUSINESS IN MUGELLO The build up to the Grand Prix of Italy began today with the first free practice period taking place at the wonderful Mugello circuit near Florence in Italy. Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso took advantage of the hour-long session to make useful inroads into the process of adapting the new-for-2010 RC212V to the special rigours of one of the most demanding circuits on the MotoGP calendar. Pedrosa was close to the front for the bulk of the session, lying in third place for long spells as he and his crew homed in on the ideal settings for a circuit where multiple fast direction changes require stability and agility in order to maximise pace. He finished the practice in fifth place, 1.022s behind today’s pace setter Valentino Rossi, and remains confident of closing that gap tomorrow. Dovizioso was a further half second behind his Spanish team-mate after working with his engineers on a base setting to use in tomorrow’s further practice and qualifying sessions. The 24-year-old Italian is riding in front of his home crowd this weekend and is sure to receive a boost from the feverish fans who will continue to swell the grandstands as the weekend continues. Following two podium finishes in the first three races of 2010, Dovizioso is looking for another rousing performance in Sunday’s 23-lap race. DANI PEDROSA 5th 1m 50.773s +1.022s “We didn’t go crazy testing many things on the first day here in Mugello. We were focused mainly on testing Bridgestone’s tyre options because it’s very important to get that selection right to find the performance for race distance. The track conditions weren’t bad today although the surface was quite slippery, so times will improve. Stability and agility are very important at this circuit and we still need to work on the chassis set-up side to improve these areas. We were not especially fast today, but we were not looking for an ultimate lap time either. For the first day of practice we are going in the right direction and tomorrow we can move forward.” ANDREA DOVIZIOSO 8th 1m 51.255s +1.504s “It’s my home race and already we can feel the atmosphere building – it’s a special event for the Italians here at Mugello. To be honest I’d have preferred to have finished closer to the front because it’s quite a big gap to the leaders, but with some work on the machine set-up I’m sure we can move forward. I was slow mid-corner pretty much everywhere today, and you spend a lot of time leaned over here so that’s why we are quite a way off at the moment. The bike feels like it wants to run-on as I’m exiting the corner so this is the area we’ll focus on tonight. I’m confident we can improve from this position.” TOSHIYUKI YAMAJI – REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER “This was a methodical start for the Repsol Honda Team at Mugello today. Both sides of the garage have collected useful information for the rest of the weekend and have the potential to close the gap to the front runners tomorrow. Some of our rivals are clearly very strong here and it’ll take a dedicated effort to defeat them – and that’s our target for the next two days. It looks like the weather could be stable this weekend – in contrast to last year – so this means we have a strong chance to fix a good race setting for the RC212V.” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: BUSY DAY AT MUGELLO FOR STONER AND HAYDEN It proved to be a demanding opening to the Italian Grand Prix for Ducati Marlboro Team riders Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden, who struggled to adapt their Desmosedici GP10 machines to the demands of the Mugello circuit in today’s first free practice. In an attempt to solve the front-end problems that have affected his early season form, Stoner switched back to last year’s front suspension system on one of his bikes today. His early impressions were good but unfortunately that particular bike was damaged in an crash just eight minutes into the session. CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 7th (1’51.128) “I think I only managed three ‘proper’ laps and none of them were decent! I had a crash at the start, which obviously didn’t help. Basically when I went to grab the brakes at the “Bucine” corner there was nothing there! I tried to tip the bike into the corner but she was skipping wide so I just had to run her into the gravel. Stones got everywhere and that kind of stuffed that bike up for the rest of the session. It was a shame because we’d switched back to the old forks on that bike and even though I only had a couple of laps on them it was enough to make me want to use them on both bikes tomorrow. The feel with them is more aggressive but we have feel. The other bike had the new forks on but I just don’t have the same confidence with them and I was losing the front in the same kind of corners that I have been in the last races. Nothing we tried seemed to work today, it was just one of those days! All we can do is start again tomorrow hopefully the weather stays good because we need laps.” NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Marlboro Team) 9th (1’51.387) “Today wasn’t as smooth out of the gate as we would have liked. The bike didn’t feel too bad but we were struggling in some of the downhill corners to get it to hold the line and change direction without using the brake to get the weight onto the front. We certainly need to take a good look at things together tonight and see where we can make it better because nothing came easy out there. It is not just a front-end thing, we need a little bit of improvement all over the bike. I know my guys will be working hard as always and tomorrow we need to get our head down again because this is such an important race for Ducati.” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Rossi fastest on opening day, quicker than Mugello lap record Round 4: Italian GP Free Practice Mugello, Friday 4 June 2010 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Medium, Hard. Rear: Medium, Hard Valentino Rossi started the Italian Grand Prix in strong form on home soil, setting the fastest lap during the opening hour of free practice and recording a best time 0.25seconds faster than the existing lap record from 2008. As the track temperature rose to 43 degrees Celsius, the Fiat Yamaha rider set his best lap on Bridgestone’s hard front and medium compound rear slick tyres. Jorge Lorenzo finished second fastest using the hard compound rear slick, just ahead of Loris Capirossi who recorded his best lap on a medium compound rear slick tyre. Whilst every rider favoured the hard compound front tyre for its greater stability under heavy braking, the rear tyre choices were varied amongst the top five, indicating how riding style and machine setup influence tyre choice. With the weather conditions in the region expected to remain the same for the weekend, riders’ front tyre choice is likely to favour the hard compound but rear tyre choice is much more varied at this point with different riders making each of the two available specifications work well at Mugello. Tohru Ubukata Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department “The rear tyre choice was varied amongst the top riders today which shows that both the medium and the hard compound slicks are providing good performance and consistency. The hard compound slicks will provide better stability and durability, whereas the medium compound will give better edge grip so riders’ tyre choice will be based on these aspects. The track condition was reasonably good from the beginning of the session, which is why the laptimes were good and Valentino was able to lap faster than the existing lap record. After only the first practice, it is a good sign for the weekend. The medium slick tyre he used for his best lap is an improved compound for this season, as we used in Qatar and at Jerez, and I am pleased with its performance and wider temperature operating range.” Top ten from free practice (Friday 13:55 14:55 GMT+2) Pos Rider Team Practice Time Gap Tyres 1 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 1m49.751s Bridgestone slicks 2 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team 1m50.120s +0.369s Bridgestone slicks 3 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m50.359s +0.608s Bridgestone slicks 4 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech3 1m50.772s +1.021s Bridgestone slicks 5 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 1m50.773s +1.022s Bridgestone slicks 6 Ben Spies Monster Yamaha Tech3 1m51.004s +1.253s Bridgestone slicks 7 Casey Stoner Ducati Team 1m51.128s +1.377s Bridgestone slicks 8 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team 1m51.255s +1.504s Bridgestone slicks 9 Nicky Hayden Ducati Team 1m51.387s +1.636s Bridgestone slicks 10 Hector Barbera Paginas Amarillas Aspar 1m51.582s +1.831s Bridgestone slicks Weather: Dry. Ambient 26-29°C; Track 41-43°C (Bridgestone measurement) More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: ROSSI AND LORENZO FIRST AND SECOND ON SUN-SOAKED OPENING DAY IN MUGELLO Valentino Rossi looked as happy as ever at his beloved home track of Mugello this afternoon, shaking off the pain of his shoulder injury to set the fastest time on the opening day. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo was 0.369 seconds behind him in second and the pair looked in command of the situation as this fourth round of the season got underway, deep in the Tuscan countryside. Local hero Rossi has won here an incredible nine times in his career and professes to this being one of his favourite tracks, and the 31-year-old certainly looked at his best today as he topped the standings for almost the entire session. He is still suffering from lingering pain in his right shoulder from the injury he sustained over a month ago, but a good base setting went a long way to allowing him to ride more comfortably today and he and his crew are hopeful of continuing in the same vein tomorrow. After two wins on the bounce championship leader Lorenzo looked the same confident package today as he lapped consistently fast to finish the day second behind his team-mate. The Mallorcan is planning to try a few changes tomorrow to try to maximise the potential of his M1 around this high-speed track, but he is feeling relaxed after a good start to the weekend. Valentino Rossi Position: 1st Time: 1’49.751 Laps: 26 “I am so happy to be back here in Mugello and we did a good first practice. We worked well, trying a lot of different settings as well as soft and hard Bridgestone tyres, and we are quite fast. I still have pain in my shoulder but it seems that this track isn’t as bad and today I wasn’t suffering like I did in Le Mans. Of course we don’t know how the shoulder will feel over the weekend but at this early stage I’m quite confident. The important thing is to work at 100% to find the right setting and make sure we’re as fast as possible for Sunday.” Jorge Lorenzo Position: 2nd Time: 1’50.120 Laps: 27 “I’m happy about this session and I’m feeling quite good. It’s always difficult to be fast straight away here, because you need many laps to understand the track with all its changes in direction, but after I had done some laps I improved a lot. Now we have to try to improve some things on the bike. The most important thing is to get on the front row tomorrow and to do that we need to make some small changes. The weather is hot but it’s okay, I’m fit, well prepared and have a good pace already.” David Brivio Team Manager “A very good session for us. Yesterday we had a long meeting and came up with a plan for today, then we tried many different settings and now we have some good information. Valentino is already fast and in the lead so it looks like we’ve found a good base for this weekend. He still has some pain in his shoulder but we expected this; hopefully if we can set the bike up properly then we can make up for this and allow him to ride how he wants. We’ve made a great start to the weekend and we will try to continue tomorrow.” Wilco Zeelenberg Team Manager “We’re feeling relaxed and confident after this first practice in Mugello and Jorge’s lap time is good. We have some ideas to make things even better and we need to work on the ability to turn the bike, because this could be improved at the moment. The set-up is working well so far even if it’s not perfect, but we’re pleased with the second position. Of course Valentino is very strong here but we have no complaints so far with our performance.”