FIM MotoGP World Championship Losail International Circuit Doha, Qatar March 17, 2011 Free Practice One Results (all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Casey STONER, Australia (HONDA), 1:55.752 2. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 1:56.362 3. Hector BARBERA, Spain (DUCATI), 1:56.421 4. Marco SIMONCELLI, Italy (HONDA), 1:56.441 5. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (DUCATI), 1:56.479 6. Ben SPIES, USA (YAMAHA), 1:56.493 7. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:56.586 8. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (HONDA), 1:56.592 9. Randy DE PUNIET, France (DUCATI), 1:56.790 10. Colin EDWARDS, USA (YAMAHA), 1:56.879 11. Nicky HAYDEN ,USA (DUCATI), 1:56.910 12. Hiroshi AOYAMA, Japan (HONDA), 1:56.987 13. Loris CAPIROSSI, Italy (DUCATI), 1:57.366 14. Cal CRUTCHLOW, Great Britain (YAMAHA), 1:57.429 15. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (DUCATI), 1:57.821 16. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (SUZUKI), 1:58.528 17. Toni ELIAS, Spain (HONDA), 1:59.087 More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Edwards and Crutchlow satisfied with early pace Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team riders Colin Edwards and Cal Crutchlow declared themselves satisfied with early progress at the end of the opening practice session for the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar tonight. In windy conditions that were as unpredictable as those experienced during a two-night test earlier this week, experienced Edwards made big improvements to the set-up of his YZR-M1 machine to post the 10th fastest time at the floodlit Losail International Circuit. The Texan was encouraged by his pace having concentrated exclusively on using the hard compound Bridgestone rear tyre, though he plans to make overnight changes to improving turning performance in the faster sections of the 5.38km track. Highlighting just how competitive the 2011 MotoGP World Championship promises to be, Edwards’ best time of 1.56.879 was less than half-a-second away from the top three. Crutchlow produced a performance that demonstrated his incredible courage and determination as he finished just over 0.5s behind Edwards in 14th position. Crutchlow lost the tip of his left little finger when he crashed on the second night of testing on Monday evening and rode tonight in considerable discomfort. The British rider had to use a modified clutch lever to ease the stress on his badly damaged finger and he clocked a best time of 1.57.429 in 17-laps. He too concentrated on fine-tuning the set-up of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine to suit the harder compound Bridgestone tyre. But it was a late front-end change that boosted his confidence and helped him lap nearly 0.5s faster than he managed during the test earlier this week. Colin Edwards, 10th – 1’56.879: “I actually feel really good on the bike but unfortunately I am not quite fast enough at the moment. The number beside my name on the timesheets doesn’t look that good but I’m actually better off than the charts suggest. I’m missing those crucial two or three tenths but I’m confident I can find it. We just need to get the bike to turn just a little bit better and I’m sure if we can work in that area, we’ll find that time I’m losing. But I did my best lap on the hard tyre right at the end, so that gives me a lot of confidence with a couple more changes to the bike that I can be higher up. I think a lot of the guys in front of me ran the soft tyre, so the race set-up isn’t that far away. I got with (Andrea) Dovizioso on the Honda and behind Valentino (Rossi) and our package is pretty strong, bu t the times tonight prove how competitive it is going to be this season.” Cal Crutchlow, 14th – 1’57.429: “That was not easy at all and being honest, the pain from the finger is really bad and it was tough to ride. The crash was only three days ago and when I took the bandage off tonight, I learned there’s some nerve damage where the fingernail was. The pain when the bandage came off was something I can’t describe, so considering how uncomfortable it is, I’m pretty pleased to be where I am and doing some decent times. I was having trouble using the clutch so I modified the lever, but I was still having some problems shifting, particularly at the first corner when I kept going down to first instead of second. That was costing me time but I couldn’t do anything about it. We made a change to the front-end at the end of the session that we haven’t t ried since Sepang and it felt night and day different. I was much faster and felt much more comfortable because I felt like the front tyre was loaded more in the corner and I could turn better. I’m looking forward to working more with the new front-end set-up tomorrow because I believe we can make another step and hopefully the finger will be a little bit better too.” More, from a press release issued by Rizla Suzuki: First session blues for Rizla Suzuki Rizla Suzuki’s first practice session of the 2011 MotoGP season did not go to plan in Qatar tonight. Álvaro Bautista (P16, 1’58.528, 15 laps) returned to the pit-box shortly after taking to the Losail track, suffering with arm-pump caused by a combination of a new brake system and brand new gloves both required after his huge 250km/h crash in Monday’s test. The situation did not improve during the remainder of the short 45-minute session and Bautista’s best time was over 1.5 seconds behind his best test lap. Bautista will have two sessions tomorrow to rectify the situation and get back on course as he continues his preparations for Sunday’s race. Today’s quickest time was set by Casey Stoner on a Honda. Rizla Suzuki will be in race action on Sunday 20th March, when the MotoGP season kicks off with the first round of the year under the impressive floodlights at Qatar. Álvaro Bautista: “The words I want to say cannot be used in a press release! It was an impossible practice because we wanted to try a different setting, but I had a problem with the front brake feeling right from the beginning and after that I also had some pain in my right arm which was probably because I had new gloves on and they were too tight so I wasn’t able to ride like I can. At the end I used the other bike, but the problem hadn’t gone away. I think we need to forget today and concentrate on tomorrow because we have two more practices to improve things.” Paul Denning Team Manager: “Unfortunately we wasted 45 minutes of good track time tonight and got absolutely nothing done. We had an issue that didn’t come up all through the test, which meant Álvaro wasn’t able to ride the bike properly. We will have to find our rhythm quickly in FP2 tomorrow and pretend that our Grand Prix weekend starts on a Friday as normal!” More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone: Stoner fastest after windy opening practice session in Qatar Round 1: Qatar GP Free Practice One Losail International Circuit, Thursday 17 March 2011 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Medium, Extra Hard. Rear: Medium, Hard The first Grand Prix of the 2011 season got underway today under the floodlights of the Losail International Circuit in Qatar. In a change to the usual timings, brought about by the night-time schedule, riders took to the circuit for 45minutes tonight for the first official free practice session of the weekend. Amid blustery conditions, Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner finished fastest using harder option front and rear slick tyres, just ahead of teammate Dani Pedrosa with a fine performance from Hector Barbera and the Mapfre Aspar Team putting them third overall. The Losail region has been hit by high winds and low temperatures since the test on Sunday and Monday night and the circuit is dirty and sandy, making it slippery yet abrasive. This is the main reason that most riders favoured the extra hard compound front tyre as it has greater wear resistance and durability, although even the softer front was tried by many and worked well. With the low track temperature which reached just 21 degrees Celsius, the softer option rear slicks offer greater traction but were more susceptible to graining because of the sand. Last year, when the Qatar Grand Prix was held in April, the first free practice was run from 2230hrs and the track temperature was 30 degrees Celsius, with 27 degrees ambient temperature. Today however, even though the session was run at 1955hrs, track and ambient temperatures were significantly cooler at just 21 degrees Celsius. The next free MotoGP practice session will run tomorrow evening at 1800hrs local time. Hirohide Hamashima Director, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development “Conditions this week in Qatar have been tricky with a lot of wind and cold temperatures, both of which make it more difficult for both the riders and our tyres. The area surrounding the circuit is desert so the winds bring a lot of powder-like sand onto the circuit, making it dirty and slippery. The temperature tonight was also markedly cooler than it was here last year, because it is run three weeks earlier in the year. “Most riders favoured the softer rear tyre although we saw some graining today because of the sand. Usually a circuit cleans throughout the weekend and graining gets less but here, and because the wind is higher than usual, sand is continually blown onto the circuit so this will be a setup consideration for the teams. Some riders used both specs of front tyre during the session and I can say that both are working well and there were no problems.” More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: ELIAS STRUGGLING WITH REAR GRIP AT QATAR GP OPENING DAY Losail, 17th March: two days have passed since the MotoGP riders finished their pre-season preparation on track and tonight, at 19:55 local time, the premier class riders have joined the floodlit desert Losail circuit for the first free practice of the 2011 championship opening round. For the fourth year in a row, the elite show on wheels gets started at the state-of-the-art race track outside the capital of Doha with the air temperature reaching 26 degrees in the first and only 45-minute night session. The French racer Toni Elias circulated the “desert” track 17 times in the first seasonal free practice clocking his best lap time of 1’59.087. The Spaniard is still struggling to adjust his Honda machinery lacking important rear grip. Toni Elias 17th 1’59.087 Elias: “Unfortunately we are still struggling to adjust the bike and I can not lap as I would like. The rear is not stable and in these conditions I can not push to improve my lap time. We are working hard to fix the problem but apparently we have not found the correct way to follow. We have compared two different bike set up today without success. I still have big issues to brake aggressive and the bike is sliding to much especially in the corners exit. I do not like this situation but I am confident we can improve step by step”. More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: Strong first session for Repsol Honda Team in Qatar At 19h55 local time, the first session of the 2011 season started at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar. This seemed a continuation from the test that took place earlier this week, with conditions almost identical. Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner retained his position at the top of the timing sheets with a time of 1’55.752 and completed a total of 16 laps spending the evening fine tuning set-up for the weekend. His team mate Dani Pedrosa followed closely behind and completed 18 laps in the forty-five minute session. He experienced a rare issue with the rear tyre, a medium compound already used during winter testing with no problem, which his team and Bridgestone need to properly understand. Andrea Dovizioso had some vibration on the front end and he and his team will continue to work on this when Free Practice continues tomorrow at 18h00 local time. Earlier in the afternoon, pre-season photos were taken for the world’s media outlets. The Repsol Honda Team also took this opportunity to show their support for Japan in this difficult time, with a Japanese flag on their bikes accompanied by a supporting message of hope, to not give up fighting: “Ganbare Japan!”. CASEY STONER 1st – 1’55.752 “We started of where we left on Monday and used more or less the same set-up – the wind is a little stronger than we had in the test but the track condition feels pretty good. We need to improve rear edge grip, this is an area we’ve struggled with a little so we need to improve that which will give us better turn in and exit from the corner. I’d say we’re about 80% complete on the bike package, we have a few main areas we can improve, but this is always the case – you can always improve something, and if we do in these areas it will makes us a lot more confident. I did the whole session with the same rear hard tyre and I was happy with it from the beginning to the end, and this is good for the race. Finally the season has started, everything has gone fantastic so far but we need to be realistic and keep focused”. DANI PEDROSA 2nd – 1’56.362 “I had a problem with the rear tyre that we need to understand. It’s the first issue we’ve had this winter with the tyres, so I hope it’s an exception to the rule. We started the practice very well, we were fast in the first exit and then we stayed with the same tyre, the softer compound, for the whole session. Even if I used the same compound during the winter test without any problem for several laps, today already in the second round I felt it dropped down a lot, and in the third and last one it was even worse. With only 45 minutes practice, the rounds are very short and you don’t have much time to make changes. Maybe the tyre had a problem, maybe it dropped down a lot because with 125cc and Moto2 bikes on track the conditions were very different comparing with the test of few days ago, we don’t know exactly. Anyway, the Grand Prix weekend just started and we will try with another tyre tomorrow to understand more. I hope we can take the best profit of both practices sessions to prepare for the race in a good way”. ANDREA DOVIZIOSO 8th – 1’56.592 “With four days of practice it is important to manage the tyres so today we used only the hard compound to save the soft tyres for tomorrow and the coming days as I expect it will only be possible to use the soft rear tyre for the race. The biggest problem today was a vibration on the front when I released the brake and this limited me a lot because I was not able to push and lean as I wanted. We need to understand this problem and solve it as soon as possible. Tonight my engineers will analyse the data and we will see how to improve this issue. I am not happy about my lap time, but I am confident that we can improve because I feel that we have margin. Today, I’m very proud as Italy celebrates it’s 150th anniversary of unity as a Country, so I have a special sticker on my helmet to commemorate this”. More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing Team: THE 2011 MOTOGP SEASON HAS OFFICIALY STARTED. AFTER THE FIRST SESSION DE PUNIET NINTH AND CAPIROSSI THIRTEENTH The 2011 MotoGP season has officially started this evening in Doha, where the riders of the Pramac Racing Team have completed the first laps of the Grand Prix of Qatar. The duo white green had access to a session of 50 minutes to improve their bikes for Sunday’s race. Randy De Puniet has kept the good lap times recorded in the last tests finishing today in ninth place, just one second away from today’s fastest, Casey Stoner. His teammate, Loris Capirossi, tried different technical solutions to find the right feeling with the bike after the crash on the last day of testing. Loris finished in thirteenth position. Tomorrow, MotoGP riders will have two practice sessions before the only session on Saturday valid for the starting grid of the Grand Prix of Qatar. Marco Rigamonti Randy De Puniet Track Engineer “At first we had a small problem: Randy could not change gear properly due to new boots and this has made us change our initial plans because we lost some time. He has tried the new electronics and was very happy with the response of the bike. We can be confident on the work done by our new rider, he has been experiencing the best lap time with hard tires after about 20 laps. If the track conditions are the same, he can do even better tomorrow.” Randy De Puniet – Pramac Racing rider 9th best lap time in 1’56.790 “I started today’s session with some complications with the right boot that gave me some problems when changing gears down specially in the first corner. Solved this problem, we had three good outings with lap times very close to the best and this allows me to maintain a good position. The feelings that I had riding today are similar to the one I had during the last test and maintain this rate we will have a good race weekend. I am happy with how we are working, I don’t have a specific goal, but be the first satellite rider and fight with some official rider would be a good start.” Loris Capirossi Pramac Racing rider 13th best lap time in 1’57.366 “I found the pace of the first day of testing, because Monday due of my slip, I was not able to make good lap times. We tried different tires, but the harder compound solution is the one that, in these climates conditions, it gives us more confidence. I do not feel satisfied, thirteenth place is definitely not our goal, but I am optimistic for the next rounds.” More, from a press release issued by Yamaha MotoGP Team: Ben Spies and Jorge Lorenzo Start the Season in Qatar Yamaha Factory Racing riders Ben Spies and Jorge Lorenzo finally made a start to the 2011 MotoGP season tonight under the floodlights of the International Losail Circuit in Qatar. Tackling his first official race weekend practice as a factory rider, Spies spent his session on just one set of tyres which were not the best for the track. Despite this the American rider was consistently quick throughout the free practice, ending in confident mood ahead of tomorrow’s second session in sixth place, just 0.131 seconds from second. On the other side of the garage reigning World Champion Lorenzo had a more fruitful evening session, making big progress from his test here a few days ago. The crew went back to a tried and tested set up from 2010 which delivered more confidence for the young Mallorcan. The data from the free practice give him a clear direction to improve towards qualifying on Saturday night. Lorenzo ended the session in seventh place, just 0.093 seconds behind his team mate. As a mark of support for those suffering following the disaster in Japan both Ben Spies and Jorge Lorenzo will carry the message “With You, Japan” in both English and Japanese on their M1’s for the weekend. Ben Spies, Yamaha Factory Racing Rider, 6th, 1’56.493 (17 laps) “Everything went really smooth, we made two major changes to the bike, one was better, one wasn’t. We spent the whole time on tyres we hope are the worst for the track, a front I don’t like and a harder rear and we matched our time from the test. I’m happy that we’ve made the bike a bit better, if we go to what we think is better with the tyres we should have a few tenths.” Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha Factory Racing Rider, 7th, 1’56.586 (18 laps) “Today we used a set up from last year here, I feel much more used to it so I am a lot more happy. I think if we improve the setting some more tomorrow we can really step forward. With the new chassis I can make faster corner speed here so the 2011 chassis is working well. I think we will all be closer to the front on Sunday night.” Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager “A very good practice for us, even when the position is not so good. The last test we did a long run and Jorge was not so happy with the set up and was a bit disappointed. Finally the improvement and changes we made today have resulted in a good test and a better feeling for him. This means he can now be consistent, that is his strong point. From now on we will be moving forwards.” Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director “We had a good response on Ben’s side, we used only one set of tyres during the session and it wasn’t the optimum tyre so this gives us confidence. After two previous tests Jorge has now found a better set up which is promising for the weekend. All in all the team has made a good start and we are looking forward to making the next step tomorrow to get closer to our set up for the race.” More, from a press release issued by Ducati Marlboro: GOOD START IN QATAR FOR THE DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM The 2011 MotoGP World Championship officially kicked off tonight at Losail International Circuit with the first Free Practice session of the Grand Prix of Qatar. It was a positive first day for the Ducati Marlboro Team, with Valentino Rossi fifth at the end of the 45 minute session, and more importantly, pleased with the work carried out on the Desmosedici’s setup. Nicky Hayden started quite well, immediately matching his best time from the test, and although in the end he didn’t achieve the pace that he wanted, he has a variety of solutions to try in the coming days. Valentino Rossi (Ducati Marlboro Team) 5th, 1:56.479 “We’re all pretty satisfied with this first free practice because we worked well throughout the entire session, progressively improving with each outing. We modified the setup a little compared to the test, and we immediately found it to be better, to the point that within just a few laps, I improved on my time from Monday. The last run was particularly positive and my final lap time, done with a hard tyre that had 19 laps on it, was my best, a bit more than a tenth off of second place. We know that if we want to have a good race on Sunday, we have to cut another five tenths, and we’ll try to do that tomorrow. Anyway, although we still have to improve some more things on the bike, now I don’t have to push so hard and it is turning better. The shoulder is holding up well. It was only at the end that it started to lose a little strength, and tomorrow we’ll see how it reacts with two practice sessions. In any case, we’re happy today.” Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro Team) 11th, 1:56.910 “It was certainly nice to be back in action that counted a bit more. We had a bit of wind, and the temperature wasn’t really high, but for as much sand as we’ve seen blowing around the last couple of days, the track was in great condition. The session started out pretty well. I immediately went out with a hard rear tyre and a soft front, which isn’t my favorite setup, and I was able to match my lap time from the test by the fourth lap. I felt quite good, but from there, I never really was able to improve much. Obviously everybody else got quicker, so I’m not thrilled with that time. The bike was similar to how it was in the test. We’ve got some more opportunities before Sunday night, so we’ll keep trying to improve.” More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: Casey Stoner carried his hot form from pre-season into the opening practice session of the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar at the Losail International Circuit on Thursday, setting by far the best lap of the first practice session at Round 1 of the 2011 MotoGP World Championship.The Australian’s best effort of 1’55 752 made him the only rider under 1’56″ in the 45-minute session under the floodlights, and he was over 0.610s quicker than nearest rival, team-mate Dani Pedrosa as the Repsol Honda duo repeated their one-two from the final Test just days earlier. The surprise of the session was Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP), setting the third quickest lap, and of course all eyes were on the debut of Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) riding on his Desmosedici GP11 for the first time in a competitive session. After some difficulties in pre-season testing, he finished fifth, just being edged out by fellow Italian, Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team). Current World Champion, Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) was 0.834 seconds off the fastest time set by Stoner and was one place behind fellow Yamaha Factory Racing team-mate, Ben Spies. The gap between second and eighth was just 0.230 seconds, showing how close the competition is throughout the field in MotoGP. Third Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso was eighth quickest and next, the Frenchman Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing) in ninth position with the final place in the top ten going to American Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3). Earlier in the afternoon, the pre-event press conference saw reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo joined by Valentino Rossi, Dani Pedrosa, Casey Stoner and rookie Karel Abraham as they addressed the media. “Everybody seems very strong and there are a lot of riders at a good level, who have been very fast and quick,” said Lorenzo of the lead-up to the 2011 campaign. “We are not at our best moment, with the setting. We need improvements in the bike to be competitive and I know we can be faster than in the test. The rivals have improved a lot and Yamaha hasn’t, not a lot. At the moment, we not only have a problem with the maximum potential, but with the set-up. I am sure we can improve and then be closer.” Stoner, who went on to set the fastest time, had said: “I couldn’t have asked for any more from pre-season. The tests were very productive and at the moment everything is going very well. However, testing and racing are two very different things. Everyone has been more consistent with their lap times and I think riders will be up there who I didn’t expect to see before Christmas.” And ahead of his much-anticipated Ducati debut proper, Rossi had stated: “I’m very excited, it’s like the first day at school! It’s always a great emotion to change bike. In the testing we’ve not been so fast, but we have worked on the bike and my riding style and I do feel quite ready.”