FIM MotoGP World Championship Losail International Circuit Doha, Qatar April 6, 2012 Free Practice Three Results (all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:55.302 2. Cal CRUTCHLOW, Great Britain (YAMAHA), 1:55.456 3. Casey STONER, Australia (HONDA), 1:55.674 4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (YAMAHA), 1:55.905 5. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 1:56.114 6. Hector BARBERA, Spain (DUCATI), 1:56.163 7. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (DUCATI), 1:56.402 8. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (DUCATI), 1:56.535 9. Stefan BRADL, Germany (HONDA), 1:56.751 10. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (HONDA), 1:56.771 11. Ben SPIES, USA (YAMAHA), 1:57.030 12. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (DUCATI), 1:57.223 13. Randy DE PUNIET, France (APRILIA-ART), 1:58.261 14. Colin EDWARDS, USA (BMW-SUTER), 1:58.310 15. Michele PIRRO, Italy (HONDA-FTR), 1:58.800 16. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (KAWASAKI-BQR/FTR), 1:59.087 17. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (APRILIA-ART), 1:59.169 18. Danilo PETRUCCI, Italy (APRILIA-IODA/ART), 1:59.517 19. Ivan SILVA, Spain (KAWASAKI-BQR/FTR), 2:00.035 20. Mattia PASINI, Italy (APRILIA-ART), 2:00.226 21. James ELLISON, Great Britain (APRILIA-PBM/ART), 2:00.563 More, from a press release issued by Speed Master Team: PASINI IMPROVES IN THE SECOND AND THIRD FREE PRACTICE IN QATAR The MotoGP class was busy with two sessions on track today at the circuit of Losail. Mattia Pasini and his crew took advantage of today’s practice to refine the set-up of the ART machine, trying out some modifications to reduce the chattering that they had to deal with during the FP1 of yesterday. The Italian improved his lap times session after session, getting a better control on the electronics of his bike and achieving a positive feeling step by step in overall. Mattia Pasini #54 – 20th with 2’00.226 “I’m not completely satisfied with today’s result. I thought we could have done better, but this doesn’t mean that I’m not staying positive. Now we’ll sit down and analyze the session of today. We’ll try to understand what worked and what didn’t, and we’ll do our best to put together a good job tomorrow. Today we made some steps forwards, but we have the potentiality to do better. We know this is a tough category, but we keep working, step by step, and we’ll put in our best commitment to be fast.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: After Casey Stoner had led the first two practice sessions at the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar, Jorge Lorenzo took control of the final session on Friday to set the best lap in FP3 and raise expectations for an exciting qualifying run on Saturday. The Yamaha Factory Racing rider put in a lap of 1’55.302 to top the timesheet, as he responded to the reigning World Champion’s earlier efforts. The MotoGP™ riders, who completed their first practice on Thursday, were out on track twice on Friday evening under the Losail International Circuit floodlights as they undertook the second and third sessions. Completing a superb FP3 display in second position was Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), who was just 0.154s off Lorenzo with a time of 1’55.456. Repsol Honda rider Stoner ended the last practice third fastest in a time of 1’55.674, although he did meet some on-track traffic when trying to put in one last flying lap before the 45 minutes were up. Andrea Dovizioso complemented his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team-mate Crutchlow’s impressive display with the fourth best time, and the Italian was the last rider to run under 1’56″. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), who had a fall in the earlier FP2 session, showed little after effects as he lapped fifth fastest at 0.812s off Lorenzo. Héctor Barberá (Pramac Racing) was the highest placing Ducati in sixth with factory team riders Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi in seventh and eighth respectively. Rookie Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda) and Álvaro Bautista of the San Carlo Honda Gresini team completed the top 10. Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) only rode eight laps in the session, after crashing just 10 minutes in, and the American ended 11th on the timesheet as the only rider unable to improve on his time from the earlier practice. Randy de Puniet (Power Electronics Aspar) was again the quickest CRT rider in 13th, although the Frenchman had a fall at the very end of the session which left him limping away from his Aprilia machine. NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Colin Edwards, on a BMW-powered Suter, kept the competition with De Puniet close at just 0.049s off his rival. Moto2™ After completing their first two practice sessions on day one, the Moto2™ and Moto3™ classes were out on track just once on Friday for their third and final outing before Saturday’s qualifying. In Moto2 Thomas Lüthi’s (Interwetten Paddock) strong form rolled on in FP3 as the Swiss rider topped the timesheet with the fastest lap of the weekend so far. Lüthi’s time of 2’00.479 meant he completed a clean sweep in all three Moto2 practice sessions, after leading the first and second outings. Pons 40 HP Tuenti team-mates Pol Espargaró and Esteve Rabat were also in the mood for setting fast times, as the former clocked in at just 0.040s off Lüthi. Espargaró was the only other rider under 2’01″ in the session, with Rabat in third posting a best effort of 2’01.118. Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team) was fourth in the order in 2’01.230, with Italians Claudio Corti (Italtrans), Simone Corsi (Came IodaRacing Project) and Andrea Iannone (Speed Master) closely grouped from fifth to seventh. Bradley Smith (Tech 3 Racing) took a step forward and was the last rider within one second of Lüthi’s scorching lap, and Marc Márquez (Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol) and Alex de Angelis (NGM Mobile Forward Racing) completed the top 10. Moto3™ Sandro Cortese (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was the fastest Moto3 rider on Friday as the German rider posted a best time of 2’08.342 to top the timesheet in the 40-minute run, and he pulled off a great save at the end to avoid tarnishing his session with a late crash. Despite being the best of the session Cortese’s time was still not the fastest of the three practices combined. That lap remained Maverick Viñales’ (Blusens Avintia) effort from FP2 (2’08.160) which the young Spaniard set on Thursday. Second to Cortese in FP3 was Italian rookie Romano Fenati (Team Italia FMI), who continued to generate excitement about his World Championship debut with a lap of 2’08.376, just 0.034s off top spot. Luis Salom (RW Racing GP) completed the top three at a tenth-of-a-second off Cortese, with Viñales fourth in the final session and just 0.135s off P1. Miguel Oliveira (Estrella Galicia 0’0), Danny Kent (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Alex Rins (Estrella Galicia 0’0) were the final three riders within a second of the top time in the practice, and Héctor Faubel (Bankia Aspar Team), Alexis Masbou (Caretta Technology) and another newcomer Niccolò Antonelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Moto3) completed the top 10. The on-track action resumes at 6pm local time on Saturday when the Moto3 class qualifies, followed by Moto2 at 6.55pm and MotoGP at 7.55pm. More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: Repsol Honda Team continue set-up work for first race of 2012 The Repsol Honda Team finished the second day of practice at Losail circuit with Casey Stoner in third position and Dani Pedrosa fifth. The Australian World Champion set the fastest time in FP2 and was leading in FP3 until others put on a new soft rear to take the fastest time of the day. Casey improved his lap time by 0.3 in the evening even though he remained on hard tyres until the end. Dani Pedrosa crashed in FP2, without sustaining any injury, and was only able to use one bike in the second session of the evening, whilst his mechanics worked hard to build up the damaged machine. Nevertheless, Dani also improved his lap time by half a second from one session to the other. The Repsol Honda riders return on track tomorrow night for the first qualifying session of the season, which will decide the starting grid for the Grand Prix of Qatar. CASEY STONER 3rd. 1’55.674 “Today has been pretty good for us in general, we has some issues in the first two sessions but we’ve fixed them slightly in last one which is definitely positive. We’ve been able to turn down the electronics a lot more and now I have more feeling and connection with the rear tyre which gave me a lot more confidence. This allowed me to do some good lap times with some pretty old tyres. A few people got in our way throughout the session so we were unable to show what we were really capable of, but we know how we feel and we’re confident for qualifying tomorrow”. DANI PEDROSA 5th. 1’56.114 “The day wasn’t as good for us as we would have liked. I had some problems with the electronics and I couldn’t ride at a hundred percent, especially in the exits of the corners where we have more issues. Let’s hope the mechanics can find a solution and we can have a good qualifying session tomorrow. The crash in the first session was totally unexpected; it was on my first lap of the second exit and I was not pushing at all. But I escaped unhurt and do it’s ok”. More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Lorenzo fights back to finish on top in Friday practice Round 1: Qatar MotoGP™ – Free Practice Two and Three Losail International Circuit, Friday 6 April 2012 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium & Extra-Hard; Rear: Medium, Hard (Asymmetric) Weather: Dry. Ambient 28-26°C; Track 30-26°C (Bridgestone measurement) On the second day of practice at the Qatar MotoGP, Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo and Monster Tech3 Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow combined forces to lock out the top two positions on the timing sheets. Utilising the combination of the harder front and softer rear tyre, both Lorenzo and Crutchlow clocked impressive times, with Lorenzo’s time of 1:55.302 good enough to edge out Crutchlow by just over a tenth of a second. Yesterday’s pace-setter Casey Stoner continued to run with the harder rear tyre on his Honda and his FP3 time of 1:55.674 placed the Australian third overall. Randy de Puniet was the quickest CRT rider during Friday practice, with his best lap of 1:58.261 placing him ahead of the BMW-Suter of Colin Edwards by just 0.049 of a second. With the circuit in better condition than it was for FP1, teams opted out of using the soft front tyre option, instead focusing on getting the best out of the medium and extra-hard front compounds in tandem with using both the medium and hard rear tyres. The asymmetric rear tyres that have been brought to Qatar were well received by riders, with the extra durability afforded by the harder rubber on the right hand shoulder helping to maintain good grip levels on the longer runs. The riders will be back on track tomorrow for the first MotoGP™ qualifying session of 2012 which starts at 1955 local time (GMT+3). Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department “Today we saw improved track conditions and this was reflected in the quicker lap times compared to yesterday. Teams were able to take advantage of this to find a good setup with most teams testing softer and harder rear options and the medium and extra-hard front options. All of these compounds worked well and I expect teams will use part of the qualifying session tomorrow to find the front and rear combination that will work best for them during the race. “I am pleased with how our tyres are performing here at Qatar as conditions here are always variable. Due to the improved warm-up performance of the 2012 specification tyres, riders are feeling confident from the first lap which is of benefit to their safety.” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: Ducati Team continues working with race setup in Qatar The opening round of the 2012 MotoGP season continued this evening, with the second and third free practice sessions taking place at Qatar’s Losail International Circuit. Although the area was buffeted by fairly strong winds for much of the day, the surface grip improved compared to last night’s dusty conditions, forcing the riders and their teams to adapt their setups accordingly. Both Nicky Hayden, seventh at the end, and Valentino Rossi improved their performances, with the Italian in particular working with the hard tyre, consistently lowering his times with the race setup. Only in the final exit did he mount a softer tyre, with which he posted the eighth-best time of the day. Qualifying is scheduled for tomorrow evening, with the first race of the season to take place on Sunday night. Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 7th (1:56.402) “As the track is cleaning up, we’re getting more grip, but in a way that’s hurting us since I’m also getting more chatter. When that happens, I can’t keep my lean angle, and I run wide, especially in the flat corners. We tried some different springs but haven’t found the right solution yet. Chatter is so strange and inconsistent sometimes, but we’ll have a look at the data and do our best to sort it out. My pace isn’t great, but although I’m not thrilled with how the day went, the bike is certainly doing well on top speed, which is going to be important in the race.” Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 8th (1:56.535) “Today went pretty well, and I’d say that the last session was the best. The position is nothing fantastic, but on the positive side, I’m very consistent with the hard tyre. The front of the bike is giving more feedback, so I can push more, which is very important, and the bike is very fast at the end of the straight. The understeer is still there, but now I think we have a place from which to work. We hope to improve two or three small things with the setting for tomorrow, and we’ll try to qualify on the second row.” More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing: POSITIVE OUTCOME FOR HECTOR AND THE PRAMAC RACING TEAM Today, the Pramac Racing Team, has had a strongly positive two free practice sessions. Hèctor Barberà kicked off his first full MotoGp campaign in Qatar, with a promising ride to 6th position in 1.56.163 and he was the first Ducati’s rider overall as well. The good result of the day is been made thanks to a tirelessly team’s work during the winter tests and these last 2 days. The Green Team’s work is improving step by step with a constant swap of informations between the Spanish rider and his crew. Tomorrow at 19.55pm local time, 18.55pm in Italy, the qualifying session valid for the starting grid of the first 2012 MotoGP Grand Prix will start. Hèctor Barberà Pramac Racing Team Rider 6th best lap time in 1.56.163 “I’m very happy about the work we have done. The feeling with my Ducati GP12 is getting better lap by lap and we had a good strategy with work on. Today we began the second free pratice session, looking for a fast lap time and we caught it. We had some issues with the rear tyre that, after some laps, it started to slide a lot. We still have a few things on the bike that we need to work on, but we have made two good sessions today. I’m very satisfied to be the first Ducati’s rider .” Francesco Guidotti Pramac Racing Team Manager – “We are very happy with the response of the day. We worked on few small adjustements to be pretty fast and consistent. We tried to ride for some outing using hard tyres, the same that we will use for the race, to understand how the bike’s behaviour. We have to concentrate about our work also tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: BRADL CONTENT WITH HIS IMPROVEMENTS ON DAY TWO Losail, 6th of April: the premier class riders undertook their second day of practices beneath the floodlights of Losail circuit with two night session continuing to familiarize themselves with the new prototypes ahead tomorrow’s first qualifying session at 19:55 local time. Rookie Stefan Bradl’s integration to the premier class continued to gather impressive pace as the LCR Honda rider timed in ninth fastest producing a lap time of 1’56.571. After yesterday’s first run the German rider concentrated on adjusting front-end feeling slightly improving his pace throughout today’s two sessions. Stefan: “Today I rode the bike: yesterday the bike was riding me! We made a big improvement compared to yesterday. Already after few laps I was capable to improve my pace and I immediately had a good balance. We improved the bike handling and the front feeling using new tyres and being more precise in every corner but I am still missing some confidence in the fast corners. Today we are also closer to the front and this is the place where we like to be”. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha MotoGP Team: The final free practice this evening ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix of Qatar saw Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jorge Lorenzo set the MotoGP pace. The Mallorcan finished in second place in the penultimate practice session earlier in the evening, 0.214 seconds behind leader Casey Stoner as he continued to develop his set up. A strong final session on hard tyres was then delivered before a softer rear option at the end provided the extra speed to take the top spot, 0.154 seconds ahead of fellow Yamaha rider Cal Crutchlow in second. Ben Spies experienced a less fortunate final practice session this evening. The Texan had embarked on a race simulation but lost the front end early on, possibly due to a cold front tyre. Spies was unhurt and returned to the garage to continue the session. Unfortunately his second bike then experienced a technical problem, preventing him from continuing. Jorge Lorenzo Position : 1st Time: 1’55.302 Laps: 17 “I am very happy with today because we improved a lot on yesterday’s lap time. I’m also happy for Cal in second, the bike seems much better than last year for us. I think we have even more potential for improvement tomorrow. We still have a few issues to solve, especially corner entry, but we manage to keep a good pace. I’m going to try my hardest for qualifying tomorrow and see what we can do.” Ben Spies Position : 11th Time: 1’57.030 Laps: 8 “It was a rough session tonight, we’ve had a good weekend up to now, unfortunately tonight was the most important session for us. I went out to do a race simulation and I think I didn’t let the front tyre heat up properly. I need to check the data to confirm it but I put the blame firmly on myself for it. Unfortunately the second bike just didn’t run right so a wasted session for us.” Wilco Zeelenberg Team Manager “A very good final free practice, the speed is good and we solved some issues from yesterday. We went the wrong way initially then found the right path to go in. We know exactly what we have to do for tomorrow, if the track improves and we can get the corner entry better then we are ready to race.” Massimo Meregalli Team Director “Definitely the third practice didn’t go how we expected. Unfortunately Ben crashed and we couldn’t test a different set up. When he jumped on the second bike it had an electrical problem that didn’t permit us to continue with the session. We tried to fix it but it wasn’t possible within the time so we have missed a session. The guys are going to have a long night to be ready for tomorrow. Ben will push hard in qualifying to get a good position. Jorge did a great job, pushing hard and consistently to set the pace.” More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Crutchlow and Dovizioso dazzle under Qatar floodlights Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team riders Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso produced dazzling performances under the spectacular Losail International Circuit floodlights in Qatar tonight to finish practice in second and fourth respectively. British rider Crutchlow was in sparkling form on the new Yamaha YZR-M1 1000cc machine and a best lap of 1.55.456 came tantalisingly close to claiming top spot in this evening’s third and final free practice session. The former World Supersport champion was only 0.154s behind 2010 World Champion Jorge Lorenz o on a fantastic night for Yamaha, with three YZR-M1 machines occupying the top four places. Crutchlow’s brilliant display has given him confidence that he can be in contention for a maiden front row start when qualifying takes place tomorrow night. Italian Dovizioso also demonstrated the rapid progress he is making in getting the best out of the impressive YZR-M1 machine after he finished third quickest in the earlier second session, which took place in blustery conditions. A lap of 1.56.648 put him in the top three behind Casey Stoner and Lorenzo and he was able to improve his pace by 0.7s as grip levels improved after the strong winds decreased ahead of the third and final session. Dovizioso ended with a best lap of 1.55.905 to finish fourth quickest and he too will start tomorrow’s all-important q ualifying session optimistic that he can battle for a place on the front row of the grid for Sunday night’s season opening 22-lap race. Cal Crutchlow 2nd 1.55.456 18 laps: “I’m really happy to be second quickest but I’m not going to get carried away and say I will be on the front row tomorrow night. I think we can certainly be challenging for it but my expectations for the race on Sunday are to be battling for the top six and being closer to the leaders than last year. The start of the session wasn’t that great because we went the wrong way with the chassis setting and once we went back to the previous set-up, I was much more comfortable. At the end I used the soft tyre but I had an old hard compound front on. I was pushing the front but I am really happy with the lap time. I got held up a little bit too on my fastest lap coming out of the last corner by one of the CRT bikes. It just meant I changed from third to fourth gear a bit later than normal and I lost a bit of drive. I’m not going to say that would have put my quickest, but it would have been very close. But to be second and just over one-tenth behind Jorge is great for my confidence. My Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew have done an awesome job, so hopefully we can battling for a similar position tomorrow night in qualifying.” Andrea Dovizioso 4th 1.55.905 18 laps: “I am really satisfied again with our performance tonight. Each session I go out on the bike my feeling with the Yamaha improves and I am gaining a lot of confidence. Even during a race weekend like this when you don’t have so many laps, we have made some very big improvements and this is very positive. We didn’t make any sp ecial changes to the bike but the improvement comes from me having a better understanding of how to use the Yamaha’s potential and now I am really confident for qualifying. Maybe the front row will be difficult but I will be trying my best. I am convinced our times will be faster because the track condition will be better and I know in myself where I can be faster on the track. Tonight was very positive for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team and I’ve no doubt that we will be as fast and competitive in qualifying.”