FIM Moto2 World Championship Jerez, Spain April 2, 2010 Qualifying Results (all using Honda engines and Dunlop tires): 1. Stefan BRADL, Germany (KALEX), 1:42.706 2. Yuki TAKAHASHI, Japan (MORIWAKI), 1:42.988 3. Thomas LUTHI, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:43.288 4. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (SUTER), 1:43.332 5. Bradley SMITH, Great Britain (TECH 3), 1:43.500 6. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (MOTOBI), 1:43.613 7. Michele PIRRO, Italy (MORIWAKI), 1:43.615 8. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (PONS KALEX), 1:43.676 9. Claudio CORTI, Italy (SUTER), 1:43.687 10. Julian SIMON, Spain (SUTER), 1:43.766 11. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (SUTER), 1:43.782 12. Kenan SOFUOGLU, Turkey (SUTER), 1:43.860 13. Scott REDDING, Great Britain (SUTER), 1:43.897 14. Mika KALLIO, Finland (SUTER), 1:43.935 15. Dominique AEGERTER, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:44.024 16. Jules CLUZEL, France (SUTER), 1:44.054 17. Valentin DEBISE, France (FTR), 1:44.087 18. Simone CORSI, Italy (FTR), 1:44.188 19. Ricard CARDUS, Spain (MORIWAKI), 1:44.375 20. Axel PONS, Spain (PONS KALEX), 1:44.478 21. Esteve RABAT, Spain (FTR), 1:44.521 22. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (FTR), 1:44.532 23. Alex BALDOLINI, Italy (SUTER), 1:44.593 24. Kev COGHLAN, Great Britain (FTR), 1:44.637 25. Kenny NOYES, USA (FTR), 1:44.648 26. Javier FORES, Spain (SUTER), 1:44.692 27. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (FTR), 1:44.722 28. Randy KRUMMENACHER, Switzerland (KALEX), 1:44.755 29. Mike DI MEGLIO, France (TECH 3), 1:44.921 30. Anthony WEST, Australia (MZ-RE HONDA), 1:45.037 31. Ratthapark WILAIROT, Thailand (FTR), 1:45.103 32. Xavier SIMEON, Belgium (TECH 3), 1:45.158 33. Raffaele DE ROSA, Italy (MORIWAKI), 1:45.170 34. Mattia PASINI, Italy (FTR), 1:45.184 35. Robertino PIETRI, Venezuela (SUTER), 1:45.314 36. Max NEUKIRCHNER, Germany (MZ-RE HONDA), 1:45.578 37. Santiago HERNANDEZ, Colombia (FTR), 1:45.613 38. Steven ODENDAAL, South Africa (SUTER), 1:46.342 39. Mashel AL NAIMI, Qatar (MORIWAKI), 1:46.896 40. Lukasz WARGALA, Poland (MORIWAKI), 1:48.892 More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing Team: REDDING AND KALLIO SET SIGHTS ON TOP SIX AT JEREZ Marc VDS Racing Team riders Scott Redding and Mika Kallio are both confident they can fight for a top six finish in tomorrow’s Spanish Moto2 race at Jerez, after qualifying next to each other on the fifth row of the grid. Redding had another eventful session having made a blistering start to immediately slot himself into the top three in the early stages. Confident after an impressive display on worn tyres in this morning’s final free practice session, the 18-year-old was unlucky to suffer another front-end crash on only his fifth lap of qualifying. Redding lost control of his Suter MMXI machine at the slow speed second corner and despite a heroic effort, evident by large scuffmarks on the right arm of his leathers, he was unable to prevent the crash. His crew produced a magnificent job to repair Redding’s bike and allow him to complete a further eight laps, but he was unable to improve on his time of 1.43.897 to finish in 13th position. Kallio continued his impressive form this weekend and he will start the 26-lap race one place behind Redding in 14th after setting a best time of 1.43.935. That put him only 0.5s behind fifth position, highlighting the significant progress the Finnish rider is making in understanding the performance of the Suter MMXI machine. Kallio experimented with a new rider position today to try and improve his confidence with the front-end of his machine and after finishing just 0.038s behind Redding, he is determined to mount a top six challenge in tomorrow’s race, which is the second of 17 on the 2011 Moto2 World Championship calendar. Scott Redding #45 1.43.897 – 12 laps – 13th position “Crashing seems to becoming a bit of a regular thing at the moment and I’m getting pretty frustrated about it now because it ruined qualifying for me. This morning I was really happy because I was consistently fast with an old rear tyre and I was confident going into the qualifying session. The front felt a bit soft in the early laps and then without warning I was down at the second corner. Like in Qatar, I tried to hold it on my elbow but it was too late. The crash was identical to the problem I had in Qatar and it happens from mid-corner to the exit. It feels like I’ve got a bit more feedback here than I had in Qatar but it is still not working how I want and we’ve got to sit down and come up with a plan to give me some confidence. I got the bike back to the pits after the crash and the team did a great job to repair it and get me back out, but I was struggling with the front feel again. I’m relieved I pushed as hard as I did in the first four laps to get a lap time because missing that much of the session, I could have been way down the grid. We’ll make some changes to the bike tonight and I’m sure we’ll find something that allows me to show my true potential in the race.” Mika Kallio #36 1.43.935 – 18 laps – 14th position “As we’ve seen many times in Moto2, the times are really close and I only needed to be another two or three tenths faster and I would have been fighting for the second row. I feel like we are edging closer to finding the full potential of the Marc VDS Racing package and I was very consistent this afternoon and improved my lap time throughout the session. But I just couldn’t make that little extra step forward with the bike that would have put me in a much better position on the grid. I tried a different riding position today and while we found some benefit, I think I will switch back to the same set-up I had yesterday for the race. The grid position is not fantastic when I think about what can happen at a tight first corner like in this track, but my target is to try and fight for a top six and I am confident I can do that.” Michael Bartholemy – Team Manager “Considering how much time Scott lost following the crash, I don’t think we can be too disappointed with his 13th position on the grid. It could have been much worse so it was lucky he was able to push so hard at the beginning and get a fast time in before he crashed. Scott’s crew did a great job to fix the bike and get him back on track and it was unfortunate that he couldn’t improve his lap time. Another front-end crash is not good but his crew will work hard to a find a solution ahead of the race. I’m happy with Mika today because he was very consistent and always improving his lap time, so I feel confident we are starting to see more of his real potential. I think he’s still got plenty more to show and I know both Scott and Mika can fight for the top six tomorrow, which will make up for the frustration we experienced in the opening race at Qatar.” More, from a press release issued by JiR Team: GP of Spain, qualifying: second row for De Angelis The competition is fierce at Jerez de la Frontera where today the qualifying session for the GP of Spain took place. An amazing 18 riders were faster than 2010’s circuit lap record. Alex De Angelis finished the day with a satisfying 6th place thanks to his best lap of 1’43.613s. The session had been very intense, with several riders alternating at the top of the chart and at the end the most effective was the German Stefan Bradl who gains his second pole position in a row with the time of 1’42.706s followed by Yuki Takahashi and Thomas Luthi. The JiR Team’s rider worked consistently to adapt to the Spanish track with the base set-up found in Qatar, managing to have a good feeling with his MotoBI both for the fast lap and race pace, being today again one of the best machines for top speed. Gianluca Montiron Our technicians worked hard to analyze some solutions already tested in Qatar, now we are moving forward to give Alex even more confidence with his MotoBI. We have improved the exit speed from corners but we still need to optimize corner entry. Tomorrow our rider will start from the second row so he is not so far from the leaders, it will be important to stay close to them, I think. The weather conditions foresee a wet race so the race could be turned on its head, but we’ll need to be ready for any eventuality. Alex DeAngelis I’m happy with qualifying and more in general of how we have done this weekend. In winter on this same track we suffered badly, and we were not fast, but today we improved our performance compared to the test sessions. In Qatar we found a good base set up but we didn’t know if this could be used here, but I found it comfortable and I’m confident it could be effective also for the next races. I managed to be fast both on a single lap and with race pace. This morning we made a simulation with more than 30 laps and my MotoBI gave felt very good. We’ll exploit the warm-up only for the little finishing touches and then I expect to make a race with the leading pack. The rain could come to change things arounda, in that case we’ll need to adapt quickly to the situation but the technical base is solid so I think we’ll be perfectly able to face any conditions. More, from a press release issued by Tech 3: Smith storms to stunning fifth in Jerez qualifying Bradley Smith’s fantastic start to the 2011 World Championship campaign continued at the Jerez circuit in Spain today, the British rider qualifying on the second row of the grid ahead his second race in the ultra-competitive Moto2 series. The 20-year-old posted a best time of 1.43.500 to finish just over 0.2s away from claiming a stunning maiden front row as he produced another impressive display on the Tech 3 Racing Team’s new Mistral 610 machine. Taking advantage of the improved rear grip offered by a new rear linkage designed and built in the short time since he produced a dazzling Moto2 debut in Qatar last month, Smith was able to leave a host of big name rivals trailing beh ind him to finish less than 0.8s away from pole position. Smith, who won his first Grand Prix in the 125cc class at Jerez in 2009, is confident he can fight for his first top six finish in the Moto2 class. Today proved a difficult challenge for French team-mate Mike di Meglio, who unfortunately was unable to match Smith’s fast and consistent pace. He suffered a heavy crash during this morning’s final free practice session and he started the qualifying session thanks to the hard work and effort of his Tech 3 Racing crew to quickly re-build his Mistral 610 machine. But he was unable to find a comfortable setting and will start the first European race of the 2011 campaign from 29th on the grid, the former 125cc World Champion determined to deliver a positive result in the 26-lap race. Bradley Smith 5th 1.43.500 20 laps “This was a good day to finish fifth on the grid because Moto2 is very close and today was no exception. The front guys got into the 42s and there is a big group who ran in the 43s, so obviously I am very happy to be on the second row and right in contention. Considering the difficult day I had yesterday, I am really pleased with the way the bike was better today and in the afternoon we improved it again. I think we have a good chance of improving the bike a little bit more tomorrow morning because we have a few ideas to help improve my pace. We have quite a good base and I don’t think we have to make any drastic changes for tomorrow, but we need to improve, particularly in the fourth section where I am losing most of my time compared to Stefan Bradl. The last sector is critical for the lap time but I can’t complain with fifth. Moto2 is unbelievably competitive, so to be as high as I am so early in my first season is a big bonus.” Mike di Meglio 29th 1.44.921 18 laps “It was a very difficult day for me because of the crash this morning. My mechanics had to change the whole bike and they did a fantastic job to have it ready again for this afternoon. We made some changes for the qualifying and I did feel better, but we have to continue in this direction for the race.” More, from a press release issued by Tech 3: Difficult learning curve continues for Siméon in Jerez Xavier Siméon will start tomorrow’s race at the Andalusian circuit of Jerez de la Frontera from 11th row on the grid and is obviously not happy with that. The first european Grand Prix of the season 2011 was not easy so far for the only Moto2 rider from Belgium and he is looking for improvements after his lap time dropped by one second during qualifying, compared to the morning session of today. Siméon and the Tech3 B Team will work hard to get the lost second back and to be able to improve further during tomorrow’s Warm up. They have to analyse the collected data from the first two days of the Spanish Grand Prix. As seen on team-mate Brad ley Smith, who will start the race from 5th position, the potential of the Tech3 package is high and Siméon is confident he can improve despite the disappointing qualifying. Xavier Siméon, 32th – 1’45.158 “It was another difficult day. We would really like to improve a little bit. Unfortunately we were slower in the afternoon than this morning. We changed the bike a lot, but that didn’t really work out at the end. The lap time went down by one second and we don’t know why we cannot be faster. We need to work and find a solution now, so I can maybe fight for the 21st position if I can make a good start.” More, from a press release issued by Kenny Noyes’ publicist: Kenny Noyes Aiming For The Points At Jerez The decision to switch to Bitubo suspension is slowly starting to pay dividends for Kenny Noyes and and his Avintia-STX team. After a cautious start to the weekend, as Kenny and his team worked towards finding a strong base setting for the suspension on his FOGI Racing FTR. Noyes picked up the pace on Saturday morning, but a change to the bike to find more grip in the rear did not work out as the team had hoped, leaving the American further down the grid than the team expected. Despite qualifying on the ninth row of the grid, Kenny enters Sunday’s race full of confidence. His Avintia-STX team will be going back to the setting they used on Saturday morning with the Bitubo suspension during the warmup, and Noyes expects this will give him the pace to be competitive during the race. Kenny is confident of his race pace at Jerez, and will be aiming to score valuable points for his team at a track he goes well at, and one of the classic venues of motorcycle racing. Kenny Noyes, 25th, Fastest Lap: 1’44.648 Kenny said, “Free practice went really well with the new Bitubo suspension, and we had a pretty good race pace. We were running 1’44s pretty consistently, and with a bit of fine-tuning, we should be able to get close to a 1’43.” “I’m real happy with Bitubo, and with the fantastic work that my team has done. I felt pretty good with the bike all weekend, and my shoulder’s hardly been an issue here in Jerez. It’s pretty close to being 100%, which is a great feeling going into the race.” “We know we’re starting further back than we want to, and that we’ve got some ground to make up. But this is definitely going to be a real fun race, and I’m looking forward to chasing some points here!”