Stoner throws down the gaunlet in Qatar Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar Friday 9 April Report Day 1 MotoGP Ducati Marlboro rider, Casey Stoner, stamped his authority on the opening free practice session tonight in Qatar, finishing at the top of the timesheet and more than 0.5s ahead of his nearest rival, Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo. Despite playing down his chances of a fourth consecutive victory during yesterday’s pre-event press conference, Stoner took charge from early in the session, with his fastest time of 1’55.500 coming on the 9th of the 17 laps completed during the hour-long practice. The winner of the last three MotoGP races in Qatar, all under floodlights, Stoner showed his rivals today that he has every intention of claiming his fourth consecutive victory in Sunday’s 22-lap race. Jorge Lorenzo pipped his Fiat Yamaha teammate, and reigning World Champion, Valentino Rossi by just 0.002s to take second place on the timesheet with his final flying lap, but then crashed uninjured just as the session came to a close. Andrea Dovizioso overcame the problems he has had with the Repsol Honda during pre-season testing, to finish the session in fourth place, just 0.095 ahead of Ducati Marlboro’s Nicky Hayden. Ben Spies, making his debut as a full-time MotoGP rider here in Qatar, was an impressive sixth fastest aboard the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 bike, finishing the session just 0.025s behind his fellow countryman and six places ahead of his more experienced teammate, Colin Edwards. Alvaro Bautista was another rider who impressed on his MotoGP debut, as he took the Rizla Suzuki to seventh place on the timesheet, well ahead of his teammate, Loris Capirossi, who crashed uninjured early on in the session and eventually finished in 13th position. Randy de Puniet, Mika Kallio and another MotoGP first timer, Hector Barbera on the Paginas Amarillas Aspar Ducati, rounded out the top ten. Moto2 Alex De Angelis finished the first ever Moto2 free practice with the fastest time, after demoting 17-year-old Briton, Scott Redding, from the top of the timesheet right at the end of the hour-long session. Redding was the first to stake his claim for the number one spot, turning in his fastest time of 2’03.834 with just 15 minutes of the session remaining. The Marc VDS rider held on at the top of the timesheet until just five minutes before the end, when De Angelis bettered his time by over half a second on his RSM Team Scot machine. Reigning 250cc World Champion, Julian Simon, finished third fastest aboard his Mapfre Aspar RSV, just 0.199s ahead of Swiss rider, Dominique Aegerter, who surprised everyone with a near perfect lap in the dying moments of the session. Stefan Bradl was fifth fastest on his Viessman Kiefer Suter MMX, followed closely by Roberto Rolfo, Alex Debon, Karel Abraham and former 125cc World Champion, Gabor Talmacsi. Alex Baldolini rounded out the top ten, in a field that numbered 41 riders. 125cc Derbi proved that they would be a potent force in this year’s 125cc World Championship, by taking the four top spots on the timesheet during this evening’s opening free practice session in Qatar. Pol Espargaro led the charge, recording a time of 2’07.218 to secure the honours as today’s fastest rider. Efren Vasquez was second quickest, just 0.312 adrift of his teammate. Another Derbi, this time in Red Bull colours and ridden by Marc Marquez, claimed third place, with Sandro Cortese and his Avant Mitsubishi Ajo branded bike in fourth position. Spaniard Nico Terol was the highest placed rider on an Aprilia, taking fifth place for the Bancaja Aspar team ahead of the similarly mounted Randy Krummenacher and Esteve Rabat. Johann Zarco and Tomoyoshi Koyama finished in eight and ninth place respectively, while Danny Webb rounded out the top ten, despite crashing his Andalucia Cajasol Aprilia and taking no part in the final 17 minutes of the session. Runner-up in last year’s 125cc World Championship, Bradley Smith, finished down in 12th place, having spent much of the session making adjustments to his Bancaja Aspar Aprilia. More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Stoner fastest in opening practice on harder compound slicks Round 1: Qatar GP Free Practice Losail International Circuit Friday 9 April 2010 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Medium, Extra Hard Rear: Medium, Hard Ducati Team’s Casey Stoner has started his 2010 season strongly, at a circuit where he has taken victory every year since 2007 on Bridgestone tyres. After the first 60 minutes of free practice at Losail, he favoured the harder option Bridgestone slicks to record the fastest time of the session, just over 0.2-seconds off his pole position time from 2009. Completing the top three were the Fiat Yamaha pairing of Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, separated by just 0.002-seconds. Both riders also set their fastest time using the harder Bridgestone slicks. Once again, this season the softer option slicks are distinguishable from the harder options by a white line painted around each sidewall on the softer front and rear tyres. In a change to the tyre regulations for this season, after the end of this first session every rider can now choose their favoured compound for the final two front tyres they receive from their total allocation of eight. Before the session every rider received six front tyres in three of each compound; medium and extra hard. Now that they have had a chance to get a feel for how each compound is working for them this race weekend, they can select an additional two front tyres of their preferred compound to use for the rest of the weekend. Tohru Ubukata Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department “The condition of the circuit was much better today than it was during the test here last month, so there was no problem with graining today even on the softer compound slicks. Durability was consequently good, and some riders, including Casey, completed the session using just one set of tyres. “Even though the circuit was relatively clean and free from sand, most riders favoured the harder options because of the increased stability they offer under heavy braking as a result of the harder and stiffer rubber. Some riders used the softer compounds at the end of the session though to record their fastest laps, so this demonstrates that in these conditions there is a good overlap in terms of performance between both slick tyre compounds we have brought to Qatar and the wide working range of our tyres.” Top ten from free practice (Friday 22:30 23:30 GMT+3) Pos Rider Team Practice Time Gap Tyres 1 Casey Stoner Ducati Team 1m55.500s Bridgestone slicks 2 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team 1m56.026s +0.526s Bridgestone slicks 3 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 1m56.028s +0.528s Bridgestone slicks 4 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team 1m56.698s +1.198s Bridgestone slicks 5 Nicky Hayden Ducati Team 1m56.793s +1.293s Bridgestone slicks 6 Ben Spies Monster Yamaha Tech3 1m56.818s +1.318s Bridgestone slicks 7 Alvaro Bautista Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m56.998s +1.498s Bridgestone slicks 8 Randy de Puniet LCR Honda MotoGP 1m57.031s +1.531s Bridgestone slicks 9 Mika Kallio Pramac Racing 1m57.059s +1.559s Bridgestone slicks 10 Hector Barbera Paginas Amarillas Aspar 1m57.105s +1.605s Bridgestone slicks Weather: Dry. Ambient 27°C; Track 30°C (Bridgestone measurement) More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team: Grand Prix of Qatar Free Practice 9 April 2010 Spies and Edwards kick off 2010 MotoGP challenge in Qatar Ben Spies kicked off his first full MotoGP campaign in Qatar tonight with a promising ride to sixth position on his debut for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team. Making only his second appearance under the spectacular Losail International Circuit floodlights after a brilliant fourth place in last month’s night test, the Texan started strongly and was immediately able to post competitive lap times. Quickly into a fast and consistent rhythm in the early stages of the eagerly anticipated first session of the season, Spies was challenging in the top three behind Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi. Spies, who won both World Superbike races in Qatar last year, spent the majority of the session evaluating the harder compound Bridgestone rear tyre in readiness for Sunday night’s 22-lap race. It was a tactic that paid off handsomely for the 25-year-old, who posted his best lap of 1.56.818 on his 21st lap, just one lap shy of full race distance. Fellow Texan Colin Edwards started his third season in the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 squad by clocking the 12th fastest time in hot conditions as air temperatures hit 26 degrees C. A best lap of 1.57.167 was less than 0.5s off the fourth best time set by Andrea Dovizioso. Edwards was able to run in the top six for part of the session as he worked tirelessly with his crew to improve front-end feel on his Yamaha YZR-M1 machine. Edwards, who finished fourth in the Qatar MotoGP race a year ago, is confident weight distribution changes planned for tomorrow’s practice and qualifying will bolster his hopes of a successful start to the season. Ben Spies 6th 1.56.818 22 laps “I didn’t want anything crazy to go on with it being the first race. I wanted to be in the top ten for the first session of the year because the last time I rode the bike I fell, so I just wanted to clear my head and get off to a good start. To be in the top ten in the first session and right in sixth, I’m happy with that. We never really threw a lap time in and the session was pretty smooth. We went out on the hard tyres and it was good. We did our quickest lap on the 21st lap, which is close to a full race. Every time we went out the times were getting faster. Besides the top three guys, I think we’ve got pretty good speed, which is really important. We need to get some time on the softer tyre so when qualifying comes we can use it to its full potential. I still think we’ve got a second at least with fresh hard tyres on the bike, so I’m pretty happy about that.” Colin Edwards 12th 1.57.167 22 laps “I left the test last month in a bit of a grey area and wondering about a couple of things because the bike has a different geometry this year and it’s changed the feel a bit. I’ve been trying to adapt to it but I need to make some changes and bring the set-up closer to what I had last year. Right now I’m not feeling all that comfortable. I feel like I’m chasing the bike on the front and it doesn’t turn until I open the throttle. With this bike you can’t ride it without momentum. That’s one of its strong points and right now I can’t take advantage of that. We’ll take some weight off the front for tomorrow night and in my opinion that will help. I think 12th is a bit of a false position because I’m sure with some changes I’ve got another second in me. Right now there’s too many corners where I can’t carry the momentum I want. But I’m confident we can improve a lot.” More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: 2010 SEASON IS GO FOR REPSOL HONDA TEAM IN QATAR The first hour of free practice for the Grand Prix of Qatar took place at the Losail Circuit this evening as the 2010 MotoGP roared into life. After making useful progress through session, Repsol Honda riders Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa lay in 4th and 11th places when the chequered flag waved at 11.30pm to bring the opening session of the year to a close. Dovizioso, who begins his second season with the factory Honda squad, underlined the ever-improving potential he showed through the winter test period by finishing in the top four tonight. The Italian and his crew started working from the base machine settings they established at the test held at this circuit three weeks ago and, in lower grip conditions, he was able to set a laptime of 1m 56.698s, which was 1.198s behind today’s fastest time set by Casey Stoner. Dovizioso’s Honda RC212V was quickest through the Losail speed trap tonight with a fastest recorded speed of 319.1kmh (198.2mph), and the 24-year-old is confident that he can advance his set-up tomorrow and move closer to the front riders in terms of lap time too. His team-mate Dani Pedrosa finished tonight’s session a fraction over four tenths of a second behind Dovizioso and also promised a move closer to the front in tomorrow’s two sessions. The Spanish rider had some positive results from a slightly modified chassis he was using and, with more track time, is cautiously confident there is more to come through the weekend. Another hour of practice ahead of tomorrow’s qualifying session will be followed by Sunday’s floodlit race, which is set to start at 23:00hrs. ANDREA DOVIZIOSO 4th 1m 56.698 “I’m confident after this first session, and I think we can build on this. We started with the same base set-up from the test here, but actually the track conditions were different and there was less grip tonight. We also discovered some small issues that didn’t allow us to use all the potential of the bike so I’m sure we can get quicker. We tried a slightly modified swingarm tonight and we felt a small improvement with it, so we’ll use that tomorrow as well. Stoner’s lap time is very fast and our gap to the front is still big but anyway we need to analyse what we’ve learned from this session and use it to move further forward in tomorrow’s sessions. Our target for tomorrow is to lap in the low 1m 56s.” DANI PEDROSA 11th 1m 57.133 “Well, we made some progress in this session and there are some modifications that we tried that improved the feeling a little bit. We should be able to continue with that through the weekend, though today we had a couple of issues with the machine which meant we lost some testing time and didn’t make as much progress as we could have done. My finishing position isn’t great today but the team is pushing very hard and we’ll continue that way. We remain optimistic for the two practice sessions tomorrow. Our lap times today were about the same as the test here three weeks ago so we’ll be looking to make a big improvement tomorrow and confirm the direction we’re going in.” TOSHIYUKI YAMAJI – REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER “So the 2010 season has begun and the Repsol Honda Team is glad to be back on track at Qatar for the first race of the year. We have started the season with a useful first practice session here and we can move forward from this base through the weekend. Andrea did a good job again today and, with a few modifications to the settings of his machine, he can get closer still to the front – as he was here during testing. Dani also made some progress today and if we can iron out a few problems for him, we’re sure there’s more to come in tomorrow’s two sessions. The Team is working very hard and that’s how it will continue.” More, from a press release issued by Marlboro Ducati: STONER SETS EARLY PACE IN QATAR, GOOD START FOR HAYDEN The 2010 MotoGP World Championship finally stepped into the spotlight tonight as the first free practice session for the Grand Prix of Qatar took place under the night sky of Losail. Casey Stoner set the pace lapping some 0.526 seconds ahead of his closest rival in a positive opening to the weekend. The Australian set his best effort on his ninth lap of seventeen, having switched bikes midway through the session due to a small technical glitch when the water hose split on his number 1 bike. However, he set a similar pace on his second machine, raising hopes of further improvement when the data is overlapped tomorrow. Nicky Hayden made an encouraging start to his second season with Ducati, lapping fifth fastest. The American made swift improvements during the session to move up the time sheets. CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 1st (1’55.500) “Today felt really good we had a similar rhythm to the test and I didn’t feel to be pushing too hard. I had a really good feeling from the start and actually when we changed the setting I went faster but didn’t feel as good, so we need to work on that. This is obviously a good circuit for me but we’re taking things steadily. The target for this weekend is to take away some solid points and make a good start to the season. It is early days and we’re not getting carried away. We set some good lap times today but everybody else will improve so we have to work hard tomorrow and make sure we stay on the pace right through until Sunday night.” NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Marlboro Team) 5th (1’56.793) “We took a little while getting going today. We had just a little bit of confusion around the tyre choice at the start – I just couldn’t get a feeling for the bike for the first twenty minutes when we were on the softer tyre but when we switched to a hard tyre things picked up straight away and I was able to improve the lap times. I went about as fast as I did at the test consistently so that’s encouraging. This is a good start to the season even if we have plenty of room for improvement.” More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing Team: GOOD START FOR KALLIO IN THE FIRST FREE PRACTICE OF THE QATAR GRAND PRIX: NINTH. ESPARGARO’ FIFTEENTH It has been a positive start of the 2010 MotoGP season for Pramac Racing rider Mika Kallio that thanks to a good final lap conquered the ninth position just four tenths of a second from the fourth fastest lap of the day. The Finn rider has followed, in agreement with his Technical Director, Fabiano Sterlacchini, an idea that has brought very good results today. On the other side of the box things didn’t go as hoped and Aleix Espargarò concluded in fifteenth position. The Catalan rider seems anyway confident for tomorrow when there will be qualifying session valid for the first MotoGP 2010 starting grid. Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing rider – 9th fastest lap time in 1’57.059 “I think today it was a good day for us. As always there’s some point of the track where we can do better. We managed to ride for some laps with both bikes and succeeded with both with very good results. Tomorrow we will have to decide what direction to take to be in the best condition for the qualifying session. The most important thing for tomorrow is to continue the good work done today and in this way I’m sure we can get a good result for the first starting grid of the season.” Aleix Espargarò – Pramac Racing rider -15th fastest lap time in 1’57.605 “The final position conquered is surely not the best, this is clear, but I am still happy for the work we have done. Also last year, in the four races I have done in MotoGP, in the first session I wasn’t so much better but on the second day things changed in a positive way. I am confident that tomorrow will go this way and I can aim at the top ten positions on the grid. We are not so far away.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: Saturday, April 10, 2010 Rizla Suzuki Latest News Impressive first session for Bautista in Qatar Publish Date: Saturday, April 10, 2010 Rizla Suzuki’s new signing Alvaro Bautista produced a promising first practice session at Qatar this evening to record the seventh fastest time at the 5,380m circuit. Bautista (1:56.998, 18 laps) is making his race debut for Rizla Suzuki this weekend and showed early potential as he steadily made progress up the leader-board whilst making important improvements to his Suzuki GSV-R. Bautista is in a confident mood and will be looking for a strong position in tomorrow’s qualifying session. Loris Capirossi (P13, 1:57.363, 18 laps) had a very fast crash just past the half-way point of this evening’s hour-long session. He crashed at over 150km/s and although his bike suffered quite substantial damage, Capirossi was able to walk away completely unscathed. He made his way back to the pit-box, dusted himself down and went back out on-track to record his fastest time of the night on his very last lap. Although the Italian who is scheduled to make his 300th Grand Prix start this weekend was disappointed with the accident and time lost – he is still very positive about the weekend ahead and convinced he will be competitive come race-day. Rizla Suzuki has one more practice session tomorrow evening, ahead of an hour of qualifying to decide grid positions for Sunday’s 22-lap race. The first Grand Prix of the 2010 MotoGP season will get underway at 23.00hrs local time (20.00GMT) under the floodlights at the Losail International Circuit, when both Rizla Suzuki racers will be making their own personal landmarks Bautista with his first MotoGP race and Capirossi with his 300th GP start. Alvaro Bautista: “I am happy with what we have done this evening. The track condition was not as good as the test, but I’m still close to the best time I’ve ever done here. I’m only one-tenth off my best time and pleased with that. I had some problems getting the grip I wanted and it didn’t feel as good as the test, so I tried the other chassis to see if it was better. It was and I feel it is certainly a step in the right direction, so we will continue to work with the new frame for the rest of the weekend. I hope that tomorrow I can improve my time and I think that it will be possible. We have all done a good job today and because this is my first race there is not much pressure on me so I am happy with that and I can just get on and do my best.” Loris Capirossi: “It has not been so good tonight, because when I went out for my third run I tried some different things and I crashed. I then went out on the other bike and took it carefully to get the feeling back and towards the end of the session I was doing better and my time started to improve. Our potential is much better than what we did today, but I am not angry because I know we can improve a lot more tomorrow that should be quite easy to do because today was not good enough!” Paul Denning Team Manager: “It has been an interesting first hour of the 2010 season for the team if nothing else! Alvaro started with the same setting as he finished the test and, after then comparing the new specification chassis, he chose that as it gave him more feeling from the bike and tyres. He certainly seems to have a steely competitiveness about him and although it is early days, tonight’s performance in his first official practice session as a MotoGP rider gives us all encouragement for the forthcoming season. “I have just been sitting and chatting with Loris and he is all smiles despite everything and at least he got away with a very fast crash with absolutely no injuries whatsoever and, as ever, no negative psychological effects. It did however stop us from getting any meaningful results from the session, but Loris is very confident and we have every confidence in him that he will take significant steps forward and be back in the fight tomorrow.”