FIM MotoGP World Championship Brno, Czech Republic August 14, 2009 Free Practice One Results (all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha), 1:56.595 2. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha), 1:56.994 3. Dani PEDROSA (Honda), 1:57.584 4. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha), 1:57.741 5. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda), 1:58.172 6. Toni ELIAS (Honda), 1:58.295 7. Mika KALLIO (Ducati), 1:58.302 8. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda), 1:58.497, crash 9. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki), 1:58.582 10. Marco MELANDRI (Kawasaki), 1:58.739 11. James TOSELAND (Yamaha), 1:58.764 12. Nicky HAYDEN (Ducati), 1:58.821 13. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki), 1:59.041 14. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda), 1:59.055 15. Niccolo CANEPA (Ducati), 1:59.531 16. Gabor TALMACSI (Honda), 1:59.979 17. Michel FABRIZIO (Ducati), 2:00.423 More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Lorenzo on top using softer front and harder rear Bridgestone slicks Round 11: Czech Republic GP Free Practice Automotodrom Brno, Friday 14 August 2009 Bridgestone compounds available: Front: Wets Soft Slicks Hard, Extra hard Rear: Wets Soft Slicks Medium, Hard As the MotoGP season gets back into gear after the mid-year break, Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo was fastest in Friday’s practice for the Czech Republic Grand Prix. Setting his fastest lap on Bridgestone’s softer option front and harder option rear slicks, the Spaniard topped the timesheets for most of the hour-long session. His teammate Valentino Rossi was second fastest also using a hard compound rear slick but opting for the extra hard front Bridgestone slick for his best lap. The Fiat Yamaha duo again established themselves as the pacesetters this weekend as the pair were the only riders to lap faster than the circuit’s lap record, with Lorenzo an impressive 0.6seconds quicker. As the track cooled down during the hour of running, many riders used a combination of both harder and softer Bridgestone slicks in an effort to get a feeling for each on this fast and flowing circuit which has changed in its nature since last year as the tarmac has matured. Automotodrom Brno is an evenly balanced circuit with a very similar number of left and right-handed corners, meaning that no particular shoulder of the tyre gets placed under any specific stress. Rather, it is the rider, machine and tyre package that will be really tested by the sweeping curves during the weekend. Tohru Ubukata Bridgestone Motorsport Manager Motorcycle Race Tyre Development “This afternoon the condition of the circuit was much better than last year as in 2008 the tarmac was quite new so there was a lot of oil which seeped onto the track surface making it very slippery. This year however the track surface is more mature and the tarmac has had time to settle and the oil has come out of it. This is the main reason that the fastest lap of this first session is 0.6seconds quicker than the circuit lap record which was set last season. During the free practice many riders used a combination of both compounds and we can say that both are working well here in these conditions.” Top ten from free practice (Friday 13:55 14:55 GMT+2) Pos Rider Team Practice Time Gap Tyres 1 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team 1m56.595s Bridgestone slick 2 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 1m56.994s +0.399s Bridgestone slick 3 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 1m57.584s +0.989s Bridgestone slick 4 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech3 1m57.741s +1.146s Bridgestone slick 5 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team 1m58.172s +1.577s Bridgestone slick 6 Toni Elias San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m58.295s +1.700s Bridgestone slick 7 Mika Kallio Ducati Team 1m58.302s +1.707s Bridgestone slick 8 Alex de Angelis San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m58.497s +1.902s Bridgestone slick 9 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m58.582s +1.987s Bridgestone slick 10 Marco Melandri Hayate Racing Team 1m58.739s +2.144s Bridgestone slick Weather: Dry. Ambient 22°C; Track 38-34°C (Bridgestone measurement) More, from a press release issued by Fiat Yamaha: LORENZO AND ROSSI MAKE COMMANDING RETURN TO ACTION IN BRNO Having had a couple of weeks off to recover from the busiest stage of the season, Fiat Yamaha Team riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi made a commanding return to action on day one of the Czech Grand Prix today, finishing first and second in free practice. 22-year-old Mallorcan Lorenzo was an impressive 0.399 seconds faster than his team-mate, who was in turn 0.590 seconds ahead of third-placed Pedrosa. The Yamaha pair’s closest challenger, Casey Stoner, is currently ill and has been replaced for the next three races by Finn Mika Kallio. The riders were itching to get back into action after the summer break and the weather played along today, with mainly blue skies and temperatures in the mid-20s. This race sees the start of a new rule, which states that all riders may use a maximum of just five engines for the remaining seven races like most of the paddock Rossi and Lorenzo each had three engines ‘sealed’ by race control last night for future use. Lorenzo proved that he’s fully recovered from the injuries he picked up a few races back and was on blistering form throughout the session, taking the lead from his team-mate early on and holding on to it throughout. World Championship leader Rossi was close on his heels however and is confident of finding the extra tenths to match his team-mate with a little more work tomorrow. Jorge Lorenzo Position: 1st Time: 1’56.595 Laps: 25 “It’s a great thing to start the weekend in such a strong way and I’ve had a good sensation and feeling with my bike from the first moment today. This isn’t usually the case so I’m really happy! I like this track a lot; I’ve had three wins here in the past and I always feel confident riding here. We need to work a little to improve the feeling with the front tyre on the entry to the corner and also we have a bit of work to do for the anti-wheelie, but I think we’re in very good shape. I am happy to be back on my bike and to be back to full fitness, but we must keep focused and keep improving.” Valentino Rossi Position: 2nd Time: 1’56.994 Laps: 22 “Jorge and I were very fast from the start of this session which shows how good our bike is and what a great job Yamaha has done back in Japan. We’ve worked well and we’ve already shown some interesting lap times today. The setting isn’t perfect yet though so we need to work more, especially on the tyres because this track is very hard on both the front and rear. I hope the surface improves as more rubber is laid down because at the moment the grip isn’t great. I’m really sorry that Stoner isn’t here, I would always rather have my rivals to race against and I would like to wish him all the best; I hope he’s back soon.” Daniele Romagnoli Team Manager “This was a very positive day because the bike was already fast from the start of the session. We’ve tested all the Bridgestone tyre we have available and worked on both bikes, so we’ve already collected a lot of information and now we will work out what is best and put everything together for tomorrow.” Davide Brivio Team Manager “It’s good to be back at work and we’ve made a good start today, always quite fast but we still have some improvements to make. We’ve checked the tyres and a few other things so now we need to work on fine-tuning the setting and looking at a few different areas to make another small step before qualifying tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team make fast return in Brno Refreshed after a thoroughly deserved summer break, the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team made a fast and promising return to MotoGP action at the Brno circuit today. Boosted by his brilliant second place finish in the British GP at Donington Park, Colin Edwards continued his impressive 2009 form by clocking the fourth quickest time in today’s opening practice session. A best lap of 1.57.741 saw Edwards miss a top three finish by just 0.157s, the 35-year-old helping Yamaha secure three of the top four places as the YZR-M1 machine dominate d proceedings. Edwards is confident his encouraging start will boost his chances of claiming his first top six finish in the Czech Republic in Sunday’s 22-lap race, with the American lapping consistently in the top five throughout. British rider James Toseland, who equalled his career best MotoGP result with an accomplished display in tricky conditions at Donington Park last month, ended the session with the 11th best time. The 28-year-old is confident of big improvements tomorrow as he made significant progress in solving a small front-end issue on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team YZR-M1. Today’s practice also gave the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team its first experience of the new MotoGP engine restrictions. Edwards and Toseland are now only permitted to use five engines in the final seven races as part of a cost-cutting drive to reduce engine mileage. Colin Edwards 4th 1.57 741 23 laps “I’m happy to be high up and in fourth because I feel in really good shape and we’ve carried the confidence gained in Donington to this race. I feel really happy with the bike because we played with the setting a little bit just to get some more speed through the chicanes. That’s crucial at this track. You need to brake late but then release the brake early and carry the momentum through the chicanes. The balance of the bike is almost there, but I’ve not felt this good after the first hour for a long time. So I feel like I’m way ahead of the game at the moment. We’ve got these new engine restrictions to work with now and I don’t know if my head is being completely accurate, but I could feel a little bit of a difference. The engine felt smoother but just a little bit flatter at the top. But if there’s been any power loss it’s not that much, but the character is a l ittle bit different.” James Toseland 11th 1.58.764 22 laps “I had a small problem with the front-end at the start of the session and it took us a while to get that fixed to the point where I felt I could have gone much faster. I had slightly softer springs in the front but it wasn’t loading the front tyre enough. It made it really difficult to turn the bike in the long chicanes and being fast in those sections is crucial at this track. We got there in the end but it just took a while. By the end I was running comfortably in the 1.58s, but I’d done nearly 20 laps on the rear tyre and it just started to move a little. I felt comfortable doing that time on old tyres, so I’m sure now we’ve found a good direction with the front that I can go much quicker tomorrow. The new engine rule hasn’t changed too much for me, only that we’re only running one bike on Friday and Saturday and then another on race day to keep the mileage down on both.” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: KALLIO MAKES IMPRESSIVE DEBUT FOR DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM ON DAY OF GRADUAL PROGRESS FOR HAYDEN The MotoGP World Championship returned to action following a brief three-week break today, with Mika Kallio making an impressive debut for the Ducati Marlboro Team in the absence of regular rider Casey Stoner at Brno, lapping seventh fastest, and Nicky Hayden making gradual progress to finish twelfth. The flying Finn, who has brought his Chief Engineer and his Telemetry Engineer with him from the Pramac team, lapped consistently at the top end of the time sheets throughout this afternoon’s opening free practice session and was a fixture in the top five before slipping two places in the final stages. Nicky Hayden struggled with his front end setting in the opening stages of the session but made gradual progress and continually improved his pace throughout, with his focus switching to the rear setting for tomorrow’s final free practice and qualifying sessions. MIKA KALLIO (Ducati Marlboro Team) (7th; 1’58.302) “It has been a really exciting day for me and to wear the famous red colours of Ducati Marlboro Team for the first time was a great honour, although once I got out on track I wasn’t thinking about what I was wearing! We started out with my setting from Donington on one bike and something similar to what Casey ran here last year on the other, with a few changes to suit my preferences. Both settings had different strengths but the same weakness, which was a lack of rear grip on the left side. It was the same problem with both the softer and harder tyre so we’re a little confused about what is causing it at the moment, but we’ll sit down this evening and work out a plan for tomorrow. They tell me the bike is virtually the same as my satellite machine but I can’t help but feel it has a little extra! Usually I struggle a little on the first day because even though I know the circuits I am riding them all for the first time on a MotoGP bike this year so to finish seventh today, with such a small gap to third place, is really positive.” NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Marlboro Team) (12th; 1’58.821) “Twelfth place isn’t a particularly great start for us but we made progress with every run and I was getting faster and faster as the session went on so I can’t say it was a complete disaster. Obviously we are going to have to do a lot better tomorrow but I think we’ve found a bit of a direction with the bike. We’re struggling a little with the rear on corner entry, it feels really loose, so our main target is to fix this problem. I was pushing the front a lot early in the session so we made a change, got it steering a lot better and we were able to progress from there. Now we need to work on the rear and try to make a big step forward tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: REPSOL HONDAS THIRD AND FIFTH ON POSITIVE FIRST DAY AT BRNO Repsol Honda Team riders Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso finished in third and fifth places in the first practice session for the Grand Prix of the Czech Republic today. On the famous plunging and climbing curves of the Brno circuit, both factory Honda riders made a positive impression as the motorcycle World Championship returned to action. Dani Pedrosa was pleased to make a competitive start to his Brno weekend after enjoying the benefits of the short MotoGP summer break. Re-energised after three-weeks away from the race track, Pedrosa quickly got down to business and was able to begin evaluating a new swing-arm on his RC212V race machine. The 23-year-old Spaniard finished 0.989 behind Jorge Lorenzo in first place and remains confident of closing the gap tomorrow. Andrea Dovizioso was riding his first Grand Prix practice session as a MotoGP winner, and the Italian confirmed that it was a great feeling riding out on track today. Dovizioso, who has come second at this track three times in the smaller Grand Prix classes, finished the day 1.577s back from Lorenzo and will focus on improving the feeling on the brakes in tomorrow’s two sessions, as well as trying the new swing-arm for the first time. DANI PEDROSA 3rd 1m 57.584s “It was good to get back on track after the summer break and I’m feeling very good on the bike now. I’m happy we’ve made a positive start to the weekend because sometimes we’ve struggled a little for direction on Fridays, but today was better in that respect. We still need to close the gap to the front riders and this is what we’ll be working on tomorrow. We tried a new swing-arm from HRC here and we’ll continue to test it tomorrow because today we were still working on the general machine settings for this track. Overall, I’m pleased with how today went.” ANDREA DOVIZIOSO 5th 1m 58.172s “It felt great to ride out of the pit-lane today and onto the track as a MotoGP winner, and I enjoyed the summer break all the more after the victory at Donington. I’m under no illusions though – we have to work hard so that I can repeat the performance in dry conditions and today we were not as close to the front riders as we would have liked. We need to make some adjustments to the handling under braking because this is an area we can clearly improve on. Tomorrow morning we will try the new swing-arm if the conditions are suitable. I’m sure we can move forward from here.” KAZUHIKO YAMANO – REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER “Today we spent the session tailoring the machines to this track and it was a positive start to our weekend. Our rivals in front are still quite a long way clear in terms of time though, so we’ll focus on closing that gap considerably tomorrow. Both Dani and Andrea are looking in good shape. Dani has had some extra time to fully recover physically, and of course Andrea received a big boost by winning the last race in Britain. So the Repsol Honda Team is positive about its prospects for this second phase of the season.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: As MotoGP returned to action following the summer break and the Cardion ab Czech Republic Grand Prix finally got underway it was Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo who lapped the historic Brno circuit fastest on Friday afternoon, enjoying the warm, clear conditions on his factory M1 as he went round in a best time of 1’56.595. The young Spaniard has a good record at Brno from his time in the smaller World Championship classes and he will aim to keep up his good Friday pace as the weekend progresses and maintain the pressure on standings leader and MotoGP title-holder Valentino Rossi, who was second fastest in the session by a 0.4s margin. Riding at close to 100% fitness at present, something which has far too infrequently been the case over the last year, Dani Pedrosa will be aiming to at least get on the podium in the Czech Republic and he started the weekend in third place with a best time of 1’57.584, around a second behind Lorenzo. The in-form Colin Edwards picked up where he left off before the summer break, in good shape in fourth, taking his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine around less than two tenths off Pedrosa’s pace. Pedrosa’s Italian team-mate Andrea Dovizioso who scored his maiden MotoGP win before the break at Donington Park – was fifth fastest on his factory Repsol Honda RC212V, albeit a second and a half behind former 250cc rival Lorenzo. San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Spanish rider Toni Elías, who finished second in last year’s Czech MotoGP contest, was just behind Dovizioso, to make it three Hondas and three Yamahas in the top six. The top performing Ducati rider on track was the impressive rookie Mika Kallio, who made use of his temporary factory Desmosedici GP9 ride to lap seventh fastest. Crasher Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and Italians Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) and Marco Melandri (Hayate Racing) completed the FP1 top ten. 250cc Pepe World Team’s Héctor Barberá, who currently sits fourth in the 250cc World Championship standings, was the fastest rider in his category. A lap of 2’02.371 was enough to put Barberá ahead of his rivals, despite a late charge from standings leader Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Racing Team), who topped the timesheet briefly at the end of the session with a 2’02.511 effort, only for Barberá to reassert himself on his final lap. With last year’s Czech 250cc racewinner Alex Debon (Aeropuerto-Castello-Blusens) lapping third overall, with a best time of 2’03.125s, and Álvaro Bautista (Mapfre Aspar Team) fourth, with a time 0.005 slower than Debon’s, there was a strong Spanish presence towards the top of the timesheet. Italian compatriots and Metis Gilera team-mates Roberto Locatelli and Marco Simoncelli were fifth and sixth quickest respectively, both lapping around a second down on Barberá’s pace. 125cc In the 125cc class Bancaja Aspar’s Bradley Smith has a point to prove this weekend, following the heartbreak of crashing out of the race lead at the British Grand Prix three weeks ago, so the presence of the young Briton at the head of the 125cc FP1 timesheet was no great surprise. The closest rider to paceman Smith on the timesheet was Red Bull KTM’s Marc Marquez, the Spaniard lapping 0.113s behind the Englishman, who registered a best time of 2’09.211. Also in the top five were Smith’s team-mates Julián Simón and Sergio Gadea, third and fifth fastest respectively, joined by another Spaniard Nico Terol (Jack & Jones Team), who crashed without consequences mid-session and finished fourth. More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing Team: FIRST FREE SESSION IN BRNO FOR THE PRAMAC RACING ITALIAN DUO. CANEPA FIFTEENTH, FABRIZIO SEVENTEENTH Debut for Michel Fabrizio on the Pramac Racing’s Ducati Desmosedici GP9 Sat in the first free practice of the Czech GP on the Brno circuit. The roman rider concluded with the seventeenth lap time of the day. Michel is getting to know his bike and its reaction on track, the diverse electronic system and Bridgestone tyres that were still new to him. The distance from the fastest riders is still too much, but is from tomorrow that Michel will have to concentrate on the single lap performance. His Teammate, Niccolò Canepa, is in fifteenth position. After having modified his bike in the final part of the free session, Niccolò made it to sensibly improve his best lap time of the day and is trustful for the rest of the weekend. Tomorrow two more hours of work for the Italian duo to try to climb the classification and conquer a good position on the starting grid. Marco Rigamonti – Niccolò Canepa track engineer “We didn’t start in the best way possible, but in the last exit we have made some modification to the bike that helped us a lot. Niccolò is really trustful; he tried to ride without pushing too much to understand the bike’s reaction. Tomorrow it will be a different story as he will have to push to the limit to sensibly improve. We are in the right direction and we believe we can achieve a good result this weekend.” Niccolò Canepa – Pramac Racing rider – 15th in 1’59.531 “I didn’t push to the limit today. I had some difficulties to find the right rhythm, but at the end of the session after making some modification to the set up of the bike we understood there is some margin to improve. It seems like we have found the right direction to follow. Tomorrow I will surely push more to conquer a good lap time to start in a good position on the starting grid.” Michel Fabrizio – Pramac Racing rider – 17th in 2’00.423 “The Ducati Desmosedici GP9 Sat is surely a completely different bike compare to mine and one hour of practice it’s not enough to understand our potential. The bike is much lighter, the engine much more powerful and also the traction control is really good. I still can’t manage to brake as I would like to because I am used to Superbike reference marks, but from tomorrow I should improve. I found the biggest difficulties in the front part of the bike and it will be there where I will have to concentrate tomorrow morning to be able to feel the bike more mine.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: First day promise for Rizla Suzuki at Brno Rizla Suzuki racers Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen believe that there is a lot of potential in the new engine they are using at Brno this weekend and are eager to discover its full capability at the Czech circuit. Capirossi (P9, 1’58.582, 22 laps) made many modifications to the chassis throughout the session to get the most from the new spec engine, and although he suffered with a vibration problem in the latter part of the hour, he is confident that he can improve dramatically on his time over the next two days. Vermeulen (P13, 1’59.041, 23 laps) tested two completely different setting configurations and is clear in the direction the bike has to take tomorrow. He also made the most of the hour to get as much data about the different tyres that he has at his disposal this weekend to make sure he is fully prepared for Sunday’s 22-lap race. Today’s practice at the 5,430m Brno circuit was held in dry, but overcast conditions with air temperatures getting up to 22ºC. Jorge Lorenzo on his factory Yamaha set the fastest time. Rizla Suzuki MotoGP has one more practice session tomorrow morning, with qualifying in the afternoon to decide grid position for Sunday’s race. Round 11 of the MotoGP World Championship will get going at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT) on Sunday 16th August. Loris Capirossi: “It has not been too bad today with the new engine we have received here from Suzuki, but we can certainly go a lot quicker. At the end of the session I made several changes and when I went back out I suffered with some vibration problems which we will need to look at tonight to see what has caused that. The latest engine seems good and I think it will give us a great opportunity from here until the end of the season to get some good results.” Chris Vermeulen: “I feel fit this weekend here at Brno and I felt really comfortable on the bike today after my injuries. The team did a good job again today and we tried a lot of things, including all the tyre compounds and two very different set-ups. I am not happy with the lap-time and the position, but the potential in the bike when we put the right pieces together looks very promising. We will make those adjustments first thing tomorrow and hopefully they’ll make us go a lot quicker.” Paul Denning – Team Manager: “The potential of the GSV-R with the new spec engine and the updates that have been delivered to Brno is definitely a step in the right direction. The engine performance in particular is a reasonable improvement which we hope will help us on Sunday afternoon. We didn’t come close to realising the full potential this afternoon, with Loris suffering from a severe mid-corner vibration and Chris having to use a combination of two different settings. The gap to the front two is big, but our potential to improve a lot and get in amongst the rest of the guys is fairly clear.” More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: BRAVE DE PUNIET SET THE 14th LAP TIME AT CZECH REP. OPENING DAY Brno, 14 August: The 2009 MotoGP World Championship recommences at Brno in the Czech Republic this weekend, following a 2-week summer break and a historic last ever visit to Donington Park which saw LCR Honda MotoGP Team racer Randy De Puniet obtaining a brilliant podium. After his good form in the first part of the season, De Puniet sustained the left ankle injury during the summer training but was ready for action today at the 5.403 Km race track where he already experienced the victory in 250cc class. Today’s opening free practice session was held in sunny conditions with ambience temperature of 22°C ( 33°C on the asphalt) with De Puniet clocking the 14th fastest lap time of the day (1’59.055) despite his injury. The Frenchman aboard the RC212V no. 14 made a total of 20 laps in the 60-minute session and he feels ready to face a tough week end. Lorenzo (Yamaha) was the fastest rider of the day with a 1’56.595. De Puniet 14th 1’59.055 De Puniet – 14th: “My squad was happy to see me arriving on Wednesday and again this afternoon riding the bike as nobody could believe that I was ready for action here. Off course it’s not easy for me and today’s session has been the hardest one of my career. I am using my upper body a lot to change direction as I can not push on my feet as I would like to. Basically I rode two long run trying to find the correct position on the bike. The last run was better but when I came in my ankle ached a lot! We have got half second gap to the ninth position and this makes us very pleased considering my conditions”.