Catalunya MotoGP™ debrief with Shinji Aoki Round 5: Catalunya MotoGP™ – Post-race debrief Circuit de Catalunya, Wednesday 6 June 2012 Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium, Hard. Rear: Medium, Hard (Asymmetric) Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Hard (Main), Soft (Alternative) The Catalunya Grand Prix took place under dry conditions on Sunday with Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo winning his second successive race ahead of Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa and Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Andrea Dovizioso to consolidate his position at the top of the MotoGP™ standings. Weather conditions on the Friday and Saturday of the race weekend were very warm with track temperatures hovering in the mid-50°C range though for Sunday’s race, early morning rain and cloud cover resulted in much cooler track temperatures for the race. Q&A with Shinji Aoki Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department Catalunya is very challenging for tyres, particularly on the right side of the rear tyre. How did the 2012 specification slick tyres with their revised construction cope with these tough operating conditions? “Even though our 2012 specification rear slick tyres feature revisions to both construction and rubber compounds to give riders enhanced warm-up performance and improved rider feel, tyre wear was not an issue for either of the rear slick tyres we brought to Catalunya. The combination of rubber compounds we selected for both the softer and harder asymmetric rear tyres at Catalunya were a good match for the unique demands of the circuit and provided predictable grip levels over the duration of the race.” The new specification front slick tyre that was introduced at Jerez will become the standard front tyre from the next round at Silverstone. Did many riders use it at Catalunya? “For the race all riders decided to use the hard compound front slick tyre as this provides better stability under heavy braking which at Catalunya with its two long straights is very important. We offered this hard compound option in the new specification front slick tyre last weekend and fifteen of the twenty-one riders selected this option for the race. The feedback we received on the new specification front tyre was that it provided a better feeling from the front-end, particularly in corner entry.” “From the next race at Silverstone the new specification front slick tyre will become the standard offering and will be offered in a wider range of compounds and I am looking forward to seeing how riders utilise this greater availability of the new front slick tyre.” Both Friday and Saturday were quite warm but Sunday brought morning rain and cooler conditions. Did this affect tyre performance during the race? “The cooler conditions didn’t have a negative effect on tyre performance as we developed our 2012 specification slick tyres to operate effectively and give predictable performance over a wider operating temperature range. Even though some riders reported poor grip levels on the circuit, the lap time of the first lap was nearly one second quicker than last year and the race pace for the first half of the race was also better than last year and this data suggests our 2012 specification tyres performed very well at Catalunya.” More, from a press release issued by RoadRace Factory/Red Bull: FIRST AMA PRO DAYTONA SPORTBIKE PODIUM FOR J.D. BEACH AND ROADRACE FACTORY/RED BULL Elkhart Lake, WI (June 5, 2012) – J.D. Beach and RoadRace Factory/Red Bull earned their first AMA Pro Daytona SportBike podium finish last weekend at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI. Beach took a hard-fought third place in the race. Beach was able to run at the front at the 4-mile track and showed remarkable speed. He took the position on a furious last lap that netted him a narrow gap of just 0.164. “I’ve really had a good team behind me, and we’ve just been working really hard and moving forward, improving race by race, not trying to do anything crazy and crash,” said Beach, who finished ninth on Saturday. “Sunday was good race, it was a really good battle being up front. All of those four guys are really fast. It was cool to be racing with Martin (Cardenas) and Jason (DiSalvo) and Cameron (Beaubier) and Tommy Hayden and everybody, because when I was in Supersport, I was watching them and trying to learn from them and now I’m racing against them. I had a few big moments, I felt like, for the last laps, so I just kinda, just tried to play it safe a little bit, and another rider made a bit of a mistake and opened up the podium for me, so it was just a good race for me.” Jake Gagne had some misfortune take away his chance to equal his teammate. Gagne was running in the lead group on Sunday when he tangled with another rider. He lost time and his bike was damaged as he finished ninth, one slot behind his Saturday result. “Overall, we struggled a little bit and qualified tenth. I wasn’t happy with that. The first race, I got a pretty bad start, then made a couple of passes but the main group got away,” said Gagne. “I battled back in seventh, eighth, and ninth, which isn’t where I want to be. Race two, I got a better start after we changed some stuff on the bike. I was in the front group and going faster than the day before. I was starting to make some moves to get in the top five and keep from getting shuffled back, but I got hit by another rider in turn five. I lost a bunch of time but it bent my brake lever and I didn’t have much brake pressure.” In Supersport, Tomy Puerta and Utah winner Hayden Gillim finished in tandem on the track both days. Puerta was fifth on Saturday and improved one spot for Sunday. “It was okay. Not quite what we wanted, but we are making progress,” said Puerta. “We’ve been going better and working hard to improve. We’ve been working a lot with the bike to get a good setup for each race at the beginning of the weekend so I can push early. Our goal is to get a good feel from the bike. We’re not quite there yet, but we are getting closer and closer. Infineon went well and so did Utah. I’m really looking forward to Barber, and we have some ideas about what direction to take.” Hayden Gillim couldn’t repeat his Utah success, but managed to hold his own in the championship fight. He’s still in second place in West points. “It was a pretty good weekend. I didn’t feel like myself on the bike, but I got feeling better as the weekend went on. The team did a great job of improving the bike for me, and we did pretty well,” said Gillim, who finished sixth and fifth. “I knew I was going to have a tough time at Road America because of my size. I’m one of the bigger riders in the class. I didn’t lose a bunch of points to James Rispoli, and that was my goal. I am looking forward to going to Barber and getting back into a groove.” “It was great to get on the DSB podium this soon,” said RoadRace Factory/Red Bull’s Danny Walker. “J.D. did a great job. He’s been working hard all year, and it finally started rolling his way. We expected to fight for a podium around mid-season so we’re ahead of schedule.” “It’s kinda funny,” Walker continued. “You talk to J.D., and he’s really happy and the other guys weren’t as pleased. It wasn’t a bad weekend. We were competitive and made some nice steps with the bikes, but the riders wanted more, and the team did, too. Jake got tangled up with another rider, or maybe he’d have been up there with J.D. Tomy went faster than he’d ever gone at Road America before. With Hayden, we went the wrong way on the bike at first, and that’s on us, but he got going better. Right now, we’re working on our consistency and looking forward to taking on the field at Barber.” The Barber Motorsports Park race is June 22-24, 2012. More, form a press release issued by Speedcell Technologies: SPEEDCELL EQUIPPED RIDERS CLAIM FOUR VICTORIES IN FOUR STARTS AT ROAD AMERICA (Las Cruces, New Mexico)– Speedcell equipped riders claim four victories in four starts at Road America, winning both Daytona Sportbike races and sweeping both podiums in the Superbike races. Superbike Monster Energy Graves Yamaha rider Josh Hayes was simply unstoppable all weekend at Road America. Hayes, on his Speedcell equipped R1, set another pole position with a lap record, earned two laps lead bonus points, and finished both races with margins of victory exceeding ten seconds. Saturday’s race was a demonstration of Hayes unmatched speed as he left the field in his wake to battle over second place. Hayes crossed the line after the first lap with a three second cushion over second place and never looked back. Yoshimura Suzuki Racing Blake Young had an equally lonely ride to second place on his Speedcell equipped GSXR 1000. Monster Energy Graves Yamaha riser Josh Herrin, on his Speedcell equipped R1, rounded out the all Speedcell equipped Superbike podium. Sunday’s race was more of the same with Hayes disappearing into the distance. The race for second was much more exciting with Young and Herrin chopping and changing positions in the final stages of the race coming down to a drag race out of the final corner where Young beat Herrin to the line by a meager .039 seconds. Daytona Sportbike GEICO Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas, on his Speedcell equipped GSXR600, racked up another Daytona Sportbike victory. The victory did not come easy though as Cardenas finished the first lap outside the top ten after an uncharacteristic bad start. Cardenas proved his mettle by putting his head down and picking off riders as he sliced to the head of the field eventually winning the race with a one second margin over Y.E.S. Graves Yamaha’s Cameron Beaubier on his Speedcell equipped R6. The Sunday Daytona Sportbike race was another victory for GEICO Suzuki’s Martin Cardenas. Even with a much better start than Saturday’s race, Cardenas had to work even harder on Sunday. Cardenas was pushing all the way until the last corner on the final lap when Y.E.S. Graves Yamaha’s Cameron Beaubier crashed out of second place, leaving Cardenas a cushion of one second over second place at the stripe. J.D. Beach, on his Speedcell equipped R6, scored a first Daytona Sportbike podium for new team Roadrace Factory RedBull Yamaha with an excellent third place finish. About Speedcell Technologies Speedcell Technologies, a division of Navitus Group, was established in 2008 to create a lightweight lithium battery alternative to original equipment lead acid batteries. Speedcell engineers design and build all batteries in-house, in the USA. Speedcell builds OEM battery replacement and custom battery solutions for specific applications. Speedcell also works with various cell chemistries and builds battery management systems. Speedcell supplies batteries to the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy. Speedcell is a proud supplier to Monster Energy Graves Yamaha, Yoshimura Suzuki Racing, GEICO Suzuki, M4 Suzuki, Y.E.S. Graves Yamaha, Roadrace Factory RedBull Yamaha, SuzukiScoopFans Suzuki. Speedcell also supplies batteries to the Factory Yamaha Snowmobile team. Dealer inquiries 575-556-9317 [email protected] More, from a press release issued by Evol Technology: Evol Technology would like to congratulate Lenny Hale on setting the new lap record at Thunderhill Raceway Park this past weekend’s AFM event. Lenny, aboard his 2008 Suzuki GSX-R1000, turned a 1:47.800 in the Formula Pacific race in his charge to a podium spot using the latest Evol Technology rearsets. Inaddition to setting the lap record at Thunderhill, Evol Technology shod bikes have successfully seen podiums in every weekend of the AMA Supersport and Daytona Sportbike classes. We would also like to congratulate the Latus Motors/RSRacecraft Triumph team for this impeccable achievement. Evol Technology LLC provides rearsets and related componentry to discriminating road racing and sportbike customers across the country, from Jason DiSalvo to Lenny Hale. Featuring race bred function, grip, ergonomics, and durability coupled with a unique style, Evol Technology products raise the bar for high performance sportbike controls and mechanical components. The entire product line is proudly designed, developed, manufactured, and assembled in the USA. Evol Technology products are available through select dealers and online at www.evoltechology.com. Sponsorship opportunities exist and dealer inquiries are welcome.