Qatar MotoGP™ debrief with Shinji Aoki Wednesday 10 April 2012 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft & Hard; Rear: Medium & Hard (Asymmetric) Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo was in dominant form at the season opening Qatar MotoGP, taking the race win from pole position ahead of teammate Valentino Rossi in second place and Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez in third. The race took place in dry and cool conditions with a peak track temperature of 23°C on a track surface that had significant deposits of sand off the racing line. Q&A with Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department Track conditions at Qatar were particularly dusty this year. What affect did this have on tyre performance? “The biggest outcome of the extra dust was that it caused lower than usual grip levels on the circuit, particularly during the early stages of the race weekend. Riders had to be very careful when they went off the racing line, but even on the racing line the grip levels were lower than last year. “Sand is also quite abrasive and can cause excessive tyre wear, however analysis of used tyres showed that the tyres held up well with no abnormal wear characteristics. Graining is another phenomenon that can occur on cool, abrasive track surfaces but this was not a problem at this year at Qatar.” Last year the majority of the grid selected the harder rear slick, this year every rider selected the softer option rear slick for the race. Can you explain why this happened? “The dustier than usual track conditions was the major contributor to the unanimous selection the softer rear slick, as in such challenging conditions riders will always want the highest level of warm-up performance and rear grip. However, there is always a trade-off between grip and durability and so the teams worked hard during free practice to find a setup to get consistent performance out of the softer rear slick over a race distance. They were able to do this and so all riders selected the softer rear slick for the race. If track conditions were better like last year, tyre choice for the race would have been different as some riders considered using the hard rear slick for the race after FP3. In the end, track conditions did not improve enough on Saturday and Sunday and teams decided to run the softer rear slick. “All the teams and manufacturers have had a year to develop their bikes to work with the new family of Bridgestone MotoGP tyres that we introduced last year, so this is also a factor in why rear tyre choice was so different to last year. Another important thing to consider is that at Qatar last year, we had not yet introduced our new specification of front slick which is better matched to the current generation of rear slick. This year in Qatar, the better performance balance between the front and rear enabled teams to more efficiently utilise the softer rear slick option.” The hard front slick was by far the preferred choice for riders. What advantage did this option offer at Qatar? “Qatar has an extreme braking zone at the end of the main straight which demands maximum stability from the front of the bike. There are certain sections, such as the sequence of right-hand turns through turns twelve to thirteen that also require good front-end stability. This is why the majority of the riders selected this option for the race, while others may personally prefer the slight advantage in edge grip offered by the softer option.” More, from a press release issued by M1GP: Long Beach, California, USA. Racers and Friends pay tribute to Kenny Anderson at the M1GP 8 Hours at Grange The 6th Annual M1GP 8 Hours at Grangé was held this past Saturday, April 6th, 2013, as a tribute race to a remarkable young man and talented racer, Kenny Anderson, who we tragically lost last month. Funds were raised both online as well as with entries from the race (M1GP is donating anything above the expenses for the event to Kenny’s family). There were 12 teams this year; 11 teams starting on the grid and the 12th was a virtual team set up for those who couldn’t attend, but with a donation could be listed on the site’s team roster. #12 was Kenny’s race number. Teams consisted of kid and adult racers. Some were new, many were experienced, and most knew, or raced with, Kenny throughout his racing career. As one of the guests commented, the day was “Kenny’s day” and it turned out to be a beautiful day in many ways. The weather was perfect (mid 70s), the track felt great, a special kids choir version of the Star Spangled banner was played in honor of Kenny, and perhaps most importantly, many who knew Kenny were able to pay tribute to him with the sport that he loved at an event that he won back in 2010. Results by class: Endurance 85/150 1st – ICEMAN Racing (#12) – Alan Cunningham, Ed Sorbo, John Erickson, Amanda Erickson, Derek Keyes, Daniel Diaz (Eric Anderson team manager) – 391 laps 2nd – ILLUMINA (#72) – Tom Kubota, Nick Tanabe, Hitoshi Yanagisawa – 369 laps DNF – ACHSS (#93) – Kuni Matsudaira, Gonzalo Quiros – 124 laps 50 Stock 1st – Friends of Kenny (#64) – Cory Ventura, Will Brown, Jason Aguilar, Anthony Alonso – 378 laps 2nd – Rebel Alliance Racinging (#17) – Christina O, Zeke Rodriguez, Brian Lensch, Kalvin Kwong, Mike Franklin, Jason Perez – 372 laps 3rd – Wolfpack (#27) – Dean Mallory, Chase Spitzer, Young Lee, Issey Wiriyahyuttamar, Tony Nolley – 367 laps 4th – Not Not Good (#58) – Jeremy Ayers, Darren Beasley, Scot Deer, Rob Jacobs, Peer Ebbighausen, Tom Mitchel – 325 laps 5th – Short Bus (#19) – Andy Kenefick, Harry Barnes, Joshua Alexander, Seth Hauer, Cheyenne Delilah Covarrubias – 294 laps Mod 100 1st – 100 Problems, but the Bike Ain’t One (#99) – 360 laps 2nd – Bats (#31) – Anthony Stewart, Ari Felczer, Carlos Neves, Jon Schendel – 315 laps Electric DNF – Hollywood Electrics (#100) – Jeremiah Johnson, Brandon Nozaki Miller, Jeff Clark, Susanna Schick, Nathan Barker – 141 laps Virtual team: Spirit of 12 (#12x) – Alan Mortenson, Chris Matye, Young Lee, Roderick Saito, Erick Dela Pena, Steve Brubaker, Craig Stewart, Rick Apichairuk, Beth Cunningham, Chris Eggert-Rosenthal, Anonymous, Alex MacPherson, Wes & Nicolette Mallory, Erik Dunshee, Haddock Family, Paul & Gail Daly, Deborah Falero, Giancarlo Guevara, Susan McClure, Sarah Yu Thanks again to all the friends, families, racers, and teams who came out to be a part of this special day (with some coming from Northern to Southern California, Reno Nevada, and even Florida!). Also, thanks to those who couldn’t make it, but contributed to the Kenny Anderson fundraiser. Special thanks to those who were part of the “Spirit of 12” virtual team. With the race entries and the online contributions, over $2,600 was raised for Kenny’s family. It was a great privilege and honor for all of M1GP to hold this race in Kenny’s honor with so many of his friends, and It was a special treat to have his father Eric and brother David at the event. “DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES?” is a question we ask racers when promoting our endurance races, and Kenny “The ICEMAN” Anderson, always proved that he had what it took and more. He was a talented, fierce, but thoughtful racer. A friendly, kind, and playful young man, who will be dearly missed. Thank you for being you Kenny. You will never be forgotten. Young Lee & staff and our entire racing community. M1GP American Mini Road Racing