French Grand Prix debrief with Tohru Ubukata Round 3: France GP Post-race debrief Le Mans, Tuesday 25 May 2010 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium. Rear: Soft, Medium (asymmetric Med. only) The third round of the 2010 MotoGP World Championship was run at the historic Le Mans venue where the conditions were the hottest they have ever been at the circuit during a MotoGP session. Jorge Lorenzo won his first consecutive pair of races in the MotoGP class, followed by Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso who passed teammate Dani Pedrosa on the last lap to take the final step of the podium. Hector Barbera was the highest-placed rookie, scoring his highest MotoGP finish in eighth position, followed by Aleix Espargaro in ninth which was also his best MotoGP result. The track temperature rose steadily through the weekend, peaking during the race at 48 degrees Celsius. Q&A with Tohru Ubukata – Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department What did the high track temperature mean for the tyres this weekend? “The conditions at Le Mans were hotter than we could have expected, seeing as the track temperature is normally around 35 degrees Celsius even if it is sunny, and more often than not we experience rain. However, even if we had forecast this in advance we wouldn’t have changed our tyre compound selection. Le Mans is a smooth and slippery circuit so requires relatively softer compounds to generate grip, and our soft and medium slick compounds could deal with the increased temperature because of their wider temperature operating range. “I can say that I am very pleased with their performance too. Our all -new medium compound asymmetric rear slick proved very consistent throughout the race, and its durability was good as Nicky’s fastest lap came on lap 20 of the 28 lap race which shows he was using his tyres well.” What about the performance of the soft compound slicks? “Le Mans is a circuit with some heavy braking areas so every rider except Mika favoured the harder option front tyre for its increased stability under braking. However, in the race three riders used the soft rear slick: Aleix, Hiroshi and Mika. Aleix finished in ninth using a soft rear tyre which was a very good performance, and showed that even the soft compound rear had good race-distance durability. In fact, Aleix’s final lap of the race was only 0.3seconds slower than his fastest lap, so this shows that our soft specification had good performance throughout. “This for me is a very good point and an advantage of the single tyre era. During tyre competition, tyre manufacturers had to focus mainly on outright grip and this naturally led to more temperature sensitivity so many tyre specs were required. Now there are strict regulations that permit only two tyre specs per event so it is important that our tyres have a much wider temperature operating range. We saw the evidence of this range better than ever in France: from Saturday morning’s free practice to the race the track temperature increased by 23 degrees Celsius yet even our softest compound rubber had a wide enough range to cope with both conditions which I am very pleased about. “This wider temperature operating range technology is also very important for our road tyres like Battlax BT-023 and BT-003 RS, as on the road it is more important to be able to ride in all conditions, from hot to cold, with just one tyre. Having a wider temperature range means more grip and safer riding from the start of your journey, and this is an area in which we are able to really demonstrate our technology transfer from MotoGP to the road.” More, from a press release issued by Mike McDonough: Devon McDonough powers thru the storms in OMRRA season opener for 3 wins. Devon McDonough, age 14, OMRRA’s youngest ever class champion, has moved up from 125’s for 2010 to racing a Black flag Racing prepared SV 650 in all the middleweight classes. The first weekend was wrought in some of the worst conditions OMRRA has ever raced in, With heavy rain and just enough sun breaks to make tire choices a premium (over 30 bikes crashed in two days) It was a tough weekend for being on a bigger bike for the first time in measured conditions. The weather did not seem to bother Devon though as he raced to three top step podium finishes and one second place finish in the middle weight classes. Devon: “It was an awesome first weekend, I wish we could have had some less rain, But it was a great start to the year. I look forward to racing with Dustin and the rest of the guys this year as they are really fast. See ya in Spokane next weekend.” Many thanks to Cascade Track time, Dunlop Tires, Cycle Gear, Corozzo Gear, Sage Wilkinson Engines, EDR and all of the Black Flag Racing crew. Middleweight Supersport: 1) Devon McDonough 2) Keith Dembrino 3) Jeff Ford 650 GP Twins: 1) Devon McDonough 2) Darren Carpenter 3) Keith Dembrino 450 Superbike: 1) Devon McDonough 2) Dustin Ranck 3) Keith Dembrino Middleweight Superbike: 1) Darren Carpenter 2) Devon McDonough 3) Dustin Ranck More, from a press release issued by Damian Cudlin’s publicist: BAD LUCK COSTS CUDLIN CHANCE OF WEC WIN Damian Cudlin’s string of bad luck continued in his World Endurance Championship campaign in Albacete, Spain on the weekend, with the Australian finishing 6th for his BMP Elf Honda squad after a stunning comeback from last position. Cudlin’s weekend couldn’t have started any stronger; the Aussie claimed the top spot in each free practice session before out pacing his rather more accomplished team mate, former WEC champ Matt Lagrive, in regular qualifying. Cudlin then went on to secure his first WEC pole position, getting the upper hand in an exciting Superpole battle with 4 time World Endurance Champion Vincent Phillipe. “Starting from Pole Position in Endurance racing really doesn’t matter that much” Cudlin conceded in the press conference after Superpole “but it matters to me. I’ve been trying since 2002 to get one of these and now I’ve done it. I proved a lot of people wrong today and that makes me feel good. I want to thank the BMP Elf Team for giving me the opportunity to show what I’m capable of, and I hope to repay them with a win in the race.” Cudlin was elected to start the race for the BMP squad but when the flag waved early, a startled Cudlin was swallowed up by half of the field as he scampered away from the grid. Quickly slicing his way through the pack, he soon moved into 4th position and began closing in on the leaders in front when disaster struck. An engine failure by one of the backmarker teams had spewed oil all over the circuit’s long turn 7, and with no oil flags waived by the marshals, the leading riders, including Cudlin, were thrown from their machines in spectacular style. 8 riders from the top 10, and more than a dozen in total, fell in the melee resulting in a safety car period as Gregorio Lavilla was treated for injuries and the circuit was cleaned. The gritty Aussie returned to his machine and managed to limp it back to the pits for repairs as the race went on. The BMP Elf Team then carried out an astonishing repair which put them back in the race and on a comeback charge. Cudlin and Lagrive traded fastest laps of the race as the pair surged through the order, until a second crash by Lagrive halted their ambitions of a comeback podium. In another stunning repair time, the BMP Elf Team soon re-entered the race and battled on to secure as many championship points as possible, finally crossing the line in 7th place. A further disqualification moved the team to 6th in the final standings; a position they now also hold in the World Endurance Championship standings. “Obviously it’s disappointing to come away with this result as I think we really could’ve won the race, but it could’ve been much worse and we still put some points on the board.” Cudlin said after the race. “When I saw Phillipe and Giabanni go down in front of me I thought they must’ve touched each other or taken themselves out, then the next thing I knew I was sliding on my ass. As I was spinning into the gravel, I could see other bikes crashing too and, to be honest, I was worried about getting cleaned up by one of them. It was like a war zone. Once we got back into the race we’d lost a lot of ground and then after the 2nd crash our hopes of a podium were pretty much shot. I’ve got to thank my BMP crew though, they didn’t put a foot wrong all race and we had a good package this weekend. Sooner or later we’re going to win one these races; we just need lady luck on our side for a change!” Cudlin will now switch his attention back to his IDM Supersport duties, where he currently leads the championship after 3 races. The next round of the IDM will be in Nurburgring, Germany on the 29/30th of May. More, from a press release issued by Shandra Crawford: Lenny Hale Wins 5 Races At the AFM Weekend at Infineon Raceway Lenny Hale bested windy conditions and stiff competition to win five races – including the feature Formula One event – on his Yamaha YZF-R6 at the AFM event held at Infineon Raceway, May 22-23, 2010. Hale won 600 Superbike, 600 Production, 750 Superbike, 750 Production, and Formula 1 at the AFM’s third round of 2010. In 600 Superbike, Hale got the holeshot, with Tyler O’Hara hot on his heels. The two ran a very close race up to the fifth lap. Under a waving yellow flag, Hale accidentally passed some back markers in Turn Four. Hale slowed going into the next corner, allowing them back by, but O’Hara saw an opportunity and squeezed by Hale. “We were having a really good race, and after Tyler went by with the lappers, I just wanted to put him back behind me,” Hale says. “I caught him going into Turn Nine, and went underneath him. “My best race was Formula One, because I started 13th, on the fourth row. I got into third off the start, and stayed behind Berto Woolridge and Greg McCullough while they went handlebar to handlebar into every turn. It was really fun to watch. “Then I saw my chance to pass both of them, and then I just wanted to stretch out my lead. I kept working on making my lead larger, and when I checked on the last lap, I could see Greg was back from me by quite a bit. It was a really good race.” Hale’s sponsors include Dunlop, PSR, Garage Endeavors, Factory Bodyworks, Pacific Track Time, Repsol Oil, Arai Helmets, NJK leathers. The next round of competition for Hale will be June 5th-6th at Road America with AMA.