FIM Moto2 World Championship Misano, San Marino September 3 Qualifying Results (all using Honda engines and Dunlop tires): 1. Stefan BRADL, Germany (KALEX), 1:37.828 2. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (SUTER), 1:38.084 3. Yuki TAKAHASHI, Japan (MORIWAKI), 1:38.340 4. Scott REDDING, Great Britain (SUTER), 1:38.364 5. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (MOTOBI), 1:38.461 6. Bradley SMITH, Great Britain (TECH 3), 1:38.535 7. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (SUTER), 1:38.544 8. Michele PIRRO, Italy (MORIWAKI), 1:38.600 9. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (FTR), 1:38.647 10. Thomas LUTHI, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:38.657 11. Jules CLUZEL, France (SUTER), 1:38.730 12. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (PONS KALEX), 1:38.785 13. Mattia PASINI, Italy (FTR), 1:38.883 14. Julian SIMON, Spain (SUTER), 1:38.887 15. Simone CORSI, Italy (FTR), 1:39.005 16. Esteve RABAT, Spain (FTR), 1:39.152 17. Max NEUKIRCHNER, Germany (MZ-RE HONDA), 1:39.166 18. Mike DI MEGLIO, France (TECH 3), 1:39.239 19. Randy KRUMMENACHER, Switzerland (KALEX), 1:39.411 20. Claudio CORTI, Italy (SUTER), 1:39.432 21. Alex BALDOLINI, Italy (PONS KALEX), 1:39.436 22. Raffaele DE ROSA, Italy (SUTER), 1:39.440 23. Xavier SIMEON, Belgium (TECH 3), 1:39.564 24. Anthony WEST, Australia (MZ-RE HONDA), 1:39.570 25. Robertino PIETRI, Venezuela (SUTER), 1:39.685 26. Mika KALLIO, Finland (SUTER), 1:39.701 27. Ricard CARDUS, Spain (MORIWAKI), 1:39.726 28. Tomoyoshi KOYAMA, Japan (SUTER), 1:39.774 29. Dominique AEGERTER, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:40.013 30. Alessandro ANDREOZZI, Italy (FTR), 1:40.363 31. Joan OLIVE, Spain (FTR), 1:40.459 32. Santiago HERNANDEZ, Colombia (FTR), 1:40.474 33. Valentin DEBISE, France (FTR), 1:40.538 34. Ratthapark WILAIROT, Thailand (FTR), 1:40.606 35. Carmelo MORALES, Spain (SUTER), 1:40.607 36. Jordi TORRES, Spain (SUTER), 1:40.821 37. Kenny NOYES, USA (FTR), 1:41.339 38. Jake GAGNE, USA (FTR), 1:41.540 39. Mashel AL NAIMI, Qatar (MORIWAKI), 1:41.840 More, from a press release issued by JiR Moto2 Team: GP of San Marino and the Riviera of Rimini, qualifying An intense qualifying session has taken place at Misano Adriatico’s circuit for the second day of practice. Heading the whole pack there are two riders that look to be in the most brilliant shape at this part of the Championship, they are: Stefan Bradl and Marc Marquez, who fought for pole position, switching positions several times during the available 45 minutes, scoring very fast times. At the end, the German Bradl took best with 1’37.828, pushing the Spaniard back by 0.256 seconds. The first row is completed by the Japanese Yuki Takahashi. For our Alex De Angelis a 1’38.461 lap gives him the 5th place on the grid. For him and the JiR Team’s technicians, lots of work today helped find the best set-up, starting from yesterday’s data. The attention focused mainly on changing the balance of set-up, giving more and more feeling to the rider with his MotoBI. He ran the last laps of the session with the determination and enthusiasm of his home GP, until he took a place on the second row. Alex DeAngelis We made some steps forward, trying some set-up variations that gave good responses. Unfortunately the two fastest riders (Bradl and Marquez) are a step beyond everyone else. The only available strategy for tomorrow will be to make a good start and try to stay close to the two leaders, trying to put some distance from the whole pack. The set-up changes we made today showed to be effective so tomorrow in warm-up we’ll follow that path, trying to become even more competitive. There will also be the question mark of the weather: some forecasts show rain, and in that case all the settings will need to be reset. More, from a press release issued by Tech 3: Xavier Siméon again denied for a Top 15 starting position in Misano Xavier Siméon, who finished last week’s Indianapolis Grand Prix in the points with a 13th place, was looking forward to set a better base for his next Moto2 world championship race, which will take place tomorrow in Misano/Italy, with a Top 15 qualifying result, but a small crash at the end of the session means that once again the youngster from Belgium will have to fight his way through the field tomorrow as he will start the race in 23rd position on the grid. Nevertheless the 22 year old is confident as he had a good pace and found his rhythm with his Mistral 610 on the Misano World Circuit and he hopes he will continue like he did at the beginning of today’s qualifying session when he was in 7th position before he crashed. Xavier Siméon, 23rd – 1’39.564, 18 laps: “žMy pace in this qualifying session was good. I think I was seventh in the middle of the session when I had my best lap time. After that I had a small crash, nothing big but big enough to lose time, as we had to prepare the bike again. When I went back out on the track I had a problem with my front brake a nd I could not improve my lap time anymore. I am sure we could have been in the Top 15 today as the bike was better than yesterday or this morning. Again I will need to fight a whole race to make it into the points and that is disappointing.” More, from a press release issued by Tech 3: Second row for Smith, di Meglio improves in Misano Tech 3 Racing Team rider Bradley Smith will start tomorrow’s Moto2 race at the Misano circuit from the second row of the grid after he produced another impressive qualifying performance in scorching hot conditions. Temperatures reached an energy-sapping 31 degrees but Smith once again showed the high potential of the Mistral 610 machine with another challenge for the front row of the grid. The 20-year-old, who scored a fantastic fourth place in searing heat at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway just six days ago, finished with a best time of 1.38.535. That hot pace was almost a second under the Moto2 lap record on the 2.626 miles circuit with Smith, who is locked in an exciting fight for third place in the World Championship, ending less than 0.2s away from the front row. Team-mate Mike di Meglio enjoyed a stunning revival in fortunes in qualifying after he’d struggled to find a comfortable set-up with his Mistral 610 machine during the three practice sessions. The French rider ended practice in a lowly 28th position, but working hard with his Tech 3 Racing crew, he found major steps forward with the handling of his bike to drastically lower his lap times. He was almost a second faster in qualifying and he will start the 26-lap race from 18th position having set a best time of 1.39.239. That secured him his first top 20 grid position since the Assen round in Holland in late June. Bradley Smith 6th 1.38.535 21 laps: “I am in sixth position and that is a very positive result for the Tech 3 Racing Team. We have worked really hard all weekend and always been around the top 10, so to qualify on the second row is an incredible result for me. The track is very narrow here, so it is important to get a good start and get a couple of good first laps to put myself in contention for the podium right from the beginning. For sure it will be a hard and hot race tomorrow and it will be very important to keep the concentration all of the time. But conditions were very hot in Indianapolis and I finished just off the podium, so I’ve no worries. We need to find some small improvements in the warm-up but I am confident I can deliver another good result in the race.” Mike di Meglio 18th 1.39.239 20 laps: “I am very happy because we improved a lot from practice this afternoon and the bike was working well today. W e changed the settings for qualifying and I also tried to change my riding style a little bit. Immediately I had a much better feeling and I was able to lap 0.7s faster. I am confident for the race tomorrow and it would be great to finish in the points after a difficult start to the weekend.” More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing Team: REDDING AIMS FOR FIRST PODIUM OF 2011 AT MISANO Scott Redding is confident he can battle for his first rostrum finish of the 2011 Moto2 World Championship in Misano tomorrow, after he qualified his Marc VDS Suter MMXI machine in a fantastic fourth place on the grid. The British rider started this afternoon’s qualifying session full of confidence after he finished practice less than 0.4s away from the top three. And his fast and consistent practice pace immediately came to prominence in the decisive qualifying session, the 18-year-old muscling his Suter MMXI machine around the 2.626s circuit into the top three until a typically frantic final five minutes. Demonstrating the aggression that made him one of the star performers in last season’s inaugural Moto2 World Championship, Redding produced a thrilling late attack to try and secure his second front row start of the season. He delivered a brilliant lap of 1.38.364, which was 1.1s inside the lap record, but he missed the front row by just 0.024s. Today’s performance was also a reward for Redding’s Marc VDS Racing crew, who adopted a new qualifying strategy in Misano. Redding kept one soft tyre back from Friday practice in a bid to improve his qualifying results and the new tactic reaped instant reward this afternoon in baking hot conditions that saw temperatures hit a gruelling 31 degrees. Mika Kallio experienced another frustrating afternoon and he faces a tough challenge in tomorrow’s 26-lap race starting from 26th on the grid. The Finnish rider was happy with the set-up of his Suter MMXI but upset that he couldn’t set a better time of 1.39.701, as each time he pushed to improve his position he came across slower riders blocking his path. Scott Redding #45 – 1.38.364 – 19 laps – 4th position “I really enjoyed this afternoon and to be honest I’m loving riding the bike at the moment. I felt really strong this morning and was confident I’d be in the fight for the front row and that’s how it turned out. But the pace is incredibly hot and those boys at the front aren’t messing around. I was right on the limit to set my time but it was awesome fun. Going round Turn 11 you come from flat-out in sixth gear and downshift to third and I had both wheels sliding with my elbow on the ground! It was a big adrenaline rush and it was a shame that I just missed the front row. I feel really good with the Suter MMXI package and I’ve got the feeling with the bike now that we missed in the first part of the season. I’m buzzing and sure I can run at the front.” Mika Kallio #36 – 1.39.701 – 19 laps – 26th position “There’s not a lot I can say really other than I am extremely disappointed to be starting so far down the grid. Once again the problem was traffic at the end of the session and I just couldn’t get a clear line to try and push for a lap time. Each time I went to push a slower rider would be close to the line or somebody was coming back on the track. It is a pity because the bike machine has worked well in Misano, so I expected to be much further up the grid. All I can do is put this behind me and try and fight as hard as I can in the race to finish inside the points.” Michael Bartholemy – Team Manager “Scott has been really strong all weekend and today again he made a fantastic job. I’m doubly pleased because the new tactics of the Team worked very well immediately. Qualifying has been a weak point of Scott’s that we’ve been looking to improve and saving one soft tyre from yesterday gave him the best opportunity to get a good grid position. He still had to deliver and he did, and looking at the times there is only Scott, Bradl and Marquez that have the fast and consistent pace for the podium. It is a shame we missed the front row by such a small margin but I’m really looking forward to seeing Scott and the Marc VDS Racing Team challenging at the front tomorrow. Mika had difficulty again when there was a lot of traffic on the circuit but this is the same for everybody. In Moto2 it is always difficult to have a clear line at the end of qualifying but you have to be prepared for this and fight through it. I’m sure he can put today behind him and have a strong race.” More, from a press release issued by QMMF Racing Team: Al-Naimi and Cardús slowed by unexpected set-up problems After a positive start on the first day of practice for the Grand Prix of San Marino, QMMF Racing Team riders Mishal Al-Naimi and Ricky Cardús ran into unexpected trouble in qualifying and will now have to continue their work on the set-up of their Moriwaki prototype machines in the warm-up practice on Sunday morning. Al-Naimi struggled with the feeling for the rear end of his bike and had to settle for 39th place on the grid. Cardús found it hard to get enough confidence for the front and managed 27th place, which was also well below his own and his team’s expectations. “We had some good moments last week at Indianapolis and expected things to go a bit smoother and easier here at Misano”, said team coordinator Luis Solano. “Unfortunately, both our riders ran into technical problems today, Ricky with the front and Mishal with the rear end of his machine. But we won’t give up looking for the right set-up solutions for both of them, and we will push on trying to turn things around in the race!” Mashel Al-Naimi 39th in 1.41,840 “I don’t know if the bike is the problem or if it’s me. I just didn’t feel good and I was very slow. I made some small changes to the settings, but this didn’t help and I didn’t improve my lap time. I felt as if was riding at the limit, but when I saw my lap time, I wasn’t fast at all. I don’t know what’s going on because I don’t feel good with new tyres, yet the feeling improves the older they get. I will try some more things in the warm-up tomorrow and I hope my feeling for the bike will return for the race!” Ricky Cardús 27th in 1.39,726 “It is not an easy weekend fur us. I’m struggling to find confidence with the bike and to feel well on this circuit. We made changes to the chassis and found small improvements that allowed me to go marginally faster, but it’s not enough. We need to do a bigger step and to get a major push towards the right direction. Right now, I don’t have the right feeling with the bike, but we won’t give up!”