FIM Moto2 World Championship Le Mans, France May 14 Qualifying Results (all using Honda engines and Dunlop tires): 1. Stefan BRADL, Germany (KALEX), 1:38.357 2. Thomas LUTHI, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:38.402 3. Yuki TAKAHASHI, Japan (MORIWAKI), 1:38.540 4. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (PONS KALEX), 1:38.560 5. Scott REDDING, Great Britain (SUTER), 1:38.655 6. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (SUTER), 1:38.679 7. Simone CORSI, Italy (FTR), 1:38.706 8. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (SUTER), 1:38.799 9. Julian SIMON, Spain (SUTER), 1:38.819 10. Dominique AEGERTER, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:38.849 11. Jules CLUZEL, France (SUTER), 1:39.005 12. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (MOTOBI), 1:39.031 13. Michele PIRRO, Italy (MORIWAKI), 1:39.064 14. Axel PONS, Spain (PONS KALEX), 1:39.122 15. Mattia PASINI, Italy (FTR), 1:39.138 16. Randy KRUMMENACHER, Switzerland (KALEX), 1:39.221 17. Bradley SMITH, Great Britain (TECH 3), 1:39.223 18. Ratthapark WILAIROT, Thailand (FTR), 1:39.394 19. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (FTR), 1:39.481 20. Max NEUKIRCHNER, Germany (MZ-RE HONDA), 1:39.485 21. Raffaele DE ROSA, Italy (MORIWAKI), 1:39.491 22. Esteve RABAT, Spain (FTR), 1:39.542 23. Mika KALLIO, Finland (SUTER), 1:39.561 24. Javier FORES, Spain (SUTER), 1:39.576 25. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (SUTER), 1:39.655 26. Alex BALDOLINI, Italy (SUTER), 1:39.689 27. Mike DI MEGLIO, France (TECH 3), 1:39.809 28. Claudio CORTI, Italy (SUTER), 1:39.849 29. Ricard CARDUS, Spain (MORIWAKI), 1:39.916 30. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (FTR), 1:39.917 31. Xavier SIMEON, Belgium (TECH 3), 1:39.949 32. Robertino PIETRI, Venezuela (SUTER), 1:39.987 33. Anthony WEST, Australia (MZ-RE HONDA), 1:40.016 34. Kenny NOYES, USA (FTR), 1:40.361 35. Kev COGHLAN, Great Britain (FTR), 1:40.639 36. Santiago HERNANDEZ, Colombia (FTR), 1:40.641 37. Valentin DEBISE, France (FTR), 1:40.774 38. Alexander CUDLIN, Australia (MORIWAKI), 1:41.666 39. Mashel AL NAIMI, Qatar (MORIWAKI), 1:41.875 40. Steven ODENDAAL, South Africa (SUTER), 1:41.897 More, from a press release issued by JiR Moto2 Team: French Grand Prix, qualifying: 12th place for De Angelis The Moto2 Championship is dominated by the German Stefan Bradl once more with the fourth pole in a row for the Championship leader. Bradl eventually improved on last year’s lap record by almost nine tenths of a second, stopping the clock at 1’38.357. A total of 17 riders scored times better than 2010’s pole and they are all covered by less than one second! This shows the competitiveness we can expect in tomorrow’s Le Mans GP. Our own Alex De Angelis will be up for the fight, having made his fastest lap of 1’39 031 just on the last lap of the qualifying session, which gives him 12th place on the grid. The team worked on various settings, still trying a number of new solutions, but some have proven to be ineffective while others have given good results and these will be further investigated in the warm-up before the race. Tomorrow, the San Marino rider will embark on an aggressive race in order to assert his experience, hoping for a good start to stay with the leaders. Alex DeAngelis Today does not leave me very satisfied. This morning we tried a new way for the setting of the forks that has been ineffective. We then returned to the solutions of yesterday, they let me improve a bit in qualifying but still need to be finalized. Unfortunately we still have a performance gap, especially since acceleration is very important here. Others have found some direction that seems more effective, while we must still find the right key. Tomorrow we’ll exploit the warm-up as if it were a test session to try to find the right way and then I will give my best to get a good start immediately and stay hooked to the leaders, playing the race right until the end because we know that in Moto2 comebacks and overtaking is always possible. More, from a press release issued by Tech 3: Unlucky Smith thwarted in Le Mans qualifying Bradley Smith was cruelly denied his chance to claim a deserved top 10 position on the grid ahead of the all-important home race for the Tech 3 Racing Team in Le Mans this afternoon. The British rider was poised to improve on his best time of 1.39.223 when he was caught up in an incident at the fast first corner with Spanish rider Axel Pons. Smith looked a certainty to secure his third top ten grid position in four Moto2 World Championship races when Pons crashed in the braking zone for the first corner. Unable to take evasive action, a blameless Smith collided with the machine of Pons and tumbled into the gravel. Smith was unhurt but the incident meant Smith was unable to rid e his Mistral 610 machine in the final seven minutes and he could only watch in frustration as he dropped down the rankings to 17th position. The speed Smith has demonstrated throughout the weekend though shows he is more than capable of fighting for the top ten in tomorrow’s 26-lap race. Mike di Meglio had a frustrating afternoon in front of a sizeable home crowd. The French rider was desperate to show the potential of the Mistral 610 machine with the Le Mans round the home race for the Tech 3 Racing squad. But the former 125cc World Champion finished in 27th position on the timesheets having set a best time of 1.39.809. Highlighting just how closely contested the Moto2 World Championship is, di Meglio was less than 1.5s away from pole position. Bradley Smith 17th 1.39.223 17 laps “The big frustrating part of today was that I did not get to take the advantage of the new tyre. We had a real consistent bike and I was confident I could improve my times with the new tyre. But then I had the accident with Axel Pons and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. These things can happen in qualifying when people are pushing hard to improve at the end of the session and unfortunately today it was my turn to have the bad luck. We’ll never know how much I could have improved because I didn’t get chance to complete the last three laps. But I think I’ve shown already this season that I am quite strong at the end of qualifying when you need to produce a fast lap. I just need to get a good start from 17th and make up some places on the first couple of laps. It is a long race and this is definitely an overtaking circuit. You just have to be aggressive but pick the right moment. I feel confident, so I just don’t need to make any stupid mistakes.” em> Mike di Meglio: 27th 139.809 21 laps “It was a very difficult session for us. This morning it was not so bad and I knew I needed to qualify much faster to give myself a chance in the race. But it was not easy to find the pace. Right from the start we had some problems with rear grip. We changed the setting back to what I was using this morning, but we had the same problem again. All I can do is try and get a good start and be aggressive in the opening laps to put myself in contention for the top 15. It is going to be a hard race, but I’m still determined to put on an exciting show for the many French fans that come to support me. This is the Team’s home race too, so that makes me doubly determined to fight as hard as possible.” More, from a press release issued by Tech 3: Xavier Siméon gets to grips with famous Le Mans circuit It was not an easy weekend for Xavier Siméon so far, finishing today’s qualifying session for the team’s home Grand Prix in Le Mans, France on 31st position. The Youngster from Belgium is disappointed as he was not able to show the progress he made since the start of the season. Still some issues with confidence prevented a better result today. Siméon is still thinking he can have a Top 15 result for tomorrow’s race after a good night sleep and a good start of the race tomorrow. Xavier Siméon, 31st – 1’39.809, 21 laps: “We were not very lucky today as I did not have a bad rhythm, but still finished far behind as I did not feel very comfortable with the new tyres. That was also the reason why I was not able to improve my lap times after changing the old tyre against the new one. I still have to figure out how to get the tyres on temperature best. The bike is working really good now for me. The problems I had in the past are all solved, so I am really sorry that I cannot show it in a better way. I will have a good sleep tonight, relax and try to give my best tomorrow in the race. If I can get a good start I hope I can fight for a Top 15 finish. My team deserves that as they really work hard for me and I want to thank them for that.” More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing: REDDING CONFIDENT OF PODIUM CHALLENGE AT LE MANS Scott Redding stormed to his best qualifying result of the 2011 Moto2 World Championship in Le Mans this afternoon, raising expectations of a podium challenge from the Marc VDS Racing Team rider in tomorrow’s French Grand Prix. Modifications to the ride height of his Suter MMXI machine further increased Redding’s confidence with the front-end this afternoon, which enabled the 18-year-old to claim a fantastic fifth position on the grid for tomorrow’s 26-lap race. Redding was able to increase his speed with impressive ease throughout the session, which culminated in him setting a best time of 1.38.655 to finish less than 0.2s away from securing a stunning front row start. He was less than 0.3s away from pole position and Redding is brimming with confidence that he can secure his first points of the season with a fight for his third rostrum in the closely contested Moto2 World Championship. Teammate Mika Kallio was counting himself unlucky not to finish higher up the grid after he qualified in 23rd position, despite finishing just over a second away from Stefan Bradl’s pole position time. The Finnish rider worked through a range of set-up options on his Suter MMX1 machine, with Kallio seeking to find a better balance to move him into contention for a top 10 challenge. He posted a best time of 1.39.561 on his 21st and final lap and is determined to fight his way into the top 15 tomorrow, to register his first points of the 2011 Moto2 campaign. Scott Redding #45 – 1.39.502 – 36 laps “Fifth is easily my best qualifying result of the season and now I am 100 percent focussed on making sure I am fighting for the podium in the race. I feel a lot better with the bike, particularly with the front-end because a few crashes earlier in the year definitely knocked my confidence a little bit. We played around with the rear ride height to help give me more feedback and I think part of it is just that I’m getting my head down and riding around some of the problems. Last year when the bike wasn’t perfect I could still produce fast times and I felt I was doing that today. The best thing is that every lap I kept getting faster and faster. I didn’t just need to rely on a super fast lap at the end because my consistency is definitely one of the best. I think I had a chance of the front row but on the last lap a wild card rider pushed me wide, but it was still a good session and I think we’ve proved that I’ve got the speed to fight for the podium.” Mika Kallio #36 – 1.39.561- 21 laps “Obviously I’m disappointed to qualify outside the top 20 because once again I believe the Marc VDS Racing package is capable of being much higher. I’ve got the same problem as the previous three races. I start the weekend very strongly and am competitive, but then I find it very difficult to improve. It feels like I hit a wall that I can’t climb over and my times don’t get much faster and that is a little frustrating. We have tried many different solutions this season and we have made a lot of modifications to the bike here, but we haven’t really fully understood why I don’t get a lot faster as the weekend progresses. We have a lot of weight on the front and this is not my normal style of setting up the bike. Usually I have a lot of weight on the rear, so we are still searching for the best compromise to get the ideal feeling from the front-end. In Estoril I was in a similar position on the grid and fought my way into the points, so that will be my target. I will need to show my fighting qualities again but I am confident that I can challenge for a top 15.” Michael Bartholemy – Team Manager “I’m really happy with Scott today because this is the position close to the front that we expected him to be all season. It is clear his confidence is returning with the bike and a lot of credit must go to his crew. They have worked incredibly hard to give him a competitive package that allows him to show the speed we know he is capable of. We know that the first corner can be very difficult to negotiate here, so being on the second row means a good start should hopefully see Scott avoid any trouble and allow him to secure a good result. It’s a pity that Mika is only 23rd because he was very fast on Friday and we were hoping he could improve more today. We are working incredibly hard to find a solution and give him a bike that allows him to ride comfortably but fast. We know he’s a fighter so we’ll be looking for him to demonstrate his overtaking skills again in the race. I’d like to say congratulations to Fred Makowiecki, Maxime Martin and the rest of the Marc VDS GT1 team for their second qualifying race win of the season at Sachsenring today. Hopefully we can emulate their success in tomorrow’s race at Le Mans, to make it a double celebration and show that the Marc VDS Racing Team is a force to be reckoned with on two and four wheels.” More, from a press release issued by Kenny Noyes’ publicist: Frustrating Qualifying In France For Kenny Noyes The high hopes that Kenny Noyes brought to Le Mans have not met with much fulfillment so far. After starting from pole at the classic French circuit last year, the Avintia-STX rider was looking to figure at the sharp end of the proceedings in France again this year. But things have not gone the American’s way. After a strong start during free practice on Friday, Kenny struggled with confidence in the front end of his FOGI-Racing FTR on Saturday, making carrying the corner speed that is vital at the Le Mans circuit extremely difficult. Try as he might, Kenny has not been able to get anywhere near matching his lap times from last year. When Noyes did try pushing through the barriers, he ended up losing the front in the final corner, and suffering a minor crash. Frustrated with his own performance, Kenny’s Avintia-STX team have been working flat out on helping the American regain some confidence in the front end of his machine. To this end, the technicians from FTR have been providing invaluable feedback on possible solutions to Kenny’s dilemma, which the team will try out in the warm up tomorrow morning. Starting from the twelfth row on the grid, Noyes faces a hard row to hoe on Sunday, but will be giving it his all for the best possible result for his team. Kenny Noyes 34th, Fastest Lap: 1’40.361 Kenny said, “We got here Friday and felt pretty good right away, but then we just ran into a wall. We can only go so fast, then there’s a point were we just can’t get the corner speed to improve the time. I just don’t have the confidence to push the front end and carry the corner speed we need.” “It was frustrating in the afternoon because we couldn’t make use of the new tire here. We need to get a better feeling in the front end, but my team and the guys from FTR have some ideas that could help me out, and my teammates have not had the same problems. I need to figure out what I can do to get more out of the bike and improve my times.” “I had high hopes coming in here, because Le Mans is the place I was able to get pole last year. But we just haven’t been able to drop below the 1’40s, and that’s been real frustrating. We know the bike is capable of it, now I just have to make it happen, so I’m going to put it all out on the track tomorrow and see where I end up.”