2010 MotoGP Championship – Round 18 – Valencia – Day Two
Casey Stoner put on a stunning display in his final qualifying session with Ducati to take pole position for the last race of the 2010 season at Valencia, posting the only sub-1’32” lap of the weekend so far in a strong 45-minute run. The Australian’s hot lap of 1’31.799 left him 0.331s clear at the top of the timesheet, and came after he had dealt with an early run-off as he pushed hard for his fourth pole of the campaign at the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana.
As impressive on the bike as he had been at this race when he took pole last year before a warm-up lap crash, Stoner was clearly happy with his performance, “When I went out on a soft tyre I didn’t think I’d be able to beat Jorge or Marco, but it gave me the confidence I needed to go much faster and I set a lap time I was very happy with. I actually made a couple of mistakes on my last two laps otherwise I think I could have improved it but the important thing is that I was able to give Ducati another pole position before I sign off. It will be an emotional day I’m sure tomorrow, but for now my job is to focus on the race and achieve the best result possible.”
World Champion Jorge Lorenzo, sporting a special-edition golden helmet for the homecoming final-round, followed Stoner onto the front row with a best effort of 1’32.130 on his Fiat Yamaha M1 having led for a large portion of the session.
Carrying his form from the practice sessions into qualifying was Marco Simoncelli and the Italian rookie’s display was rewarded with his first front-row start in the premier class. The San Carlo Honda Gresini rider was just over a tenth of a second behind Lorenzo.
A late surge from Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) placed the Italian fourth as he battled to find enough pace to challenge near the top end, with American duo Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) and Ben Spies (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) also taking places on the second row of the grid.
Completing the top ten in the session were Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini).
2010 Moto2 World Champion Toni Elías will start the final intermediate category race of the season from pole position – his third of the year – courtesy of a best lap of 1’36.141. The Gresini Racing rider finished the session fractionally over a tenth of a second ahead of German rider Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing), who had been strong in the practice runs and won last time out in Portugal.
Joining the duo on the front row will be Andrea Iannone (Fimmco Speed Up) and Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team) as they both got within 0.202s of pole. Alex de Angelis (JiR Moto2), Kenan Sofuoglu (Technomag-CIP), Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar) and Carmelo Morales (Racing Team Germany) will all start from the second row, meaning Iannone and Simón will play out their battle for the runner-up spot in the Championship with the Spaniard lining up directly behind his Italian rival on the grid.
Row three will comprise Karel Abraham (Cardion ab Motoracing), Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Moriwaki Racing), Jules Cluzel (Forward Racing) and Gabor Talmacsi (Fimmco Speed Up).
Marc Márquez will aim to secure his first World Championship title from pole position in the 125cc class. The Red Bull Ajo Motorsport rider, who leads Nico Terol by 17 points going into the last race, finished the session 0.108s ahead of his rival and the only other rider who can still claim the 125cc title.
Márquez secured his 12th pole of the season with a lap of 1’39.564, closely followed by Bancaja Aspar pair Terol (+0.108s) and Bradley Smith (+0.148s) and with Marquez’s team-mate Sandro Cortese (Avant Mitsubishi Ajo) completing the front row of the starting grid for the GP Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana.
Pol Espargaró (Tuenti Racing) took top spot on the second row as the final rider under 1’40” in the session, with Esteve Rabat (Blusens-STX), Efrén Vázquez (Tuenti Racing) and Luis Salom (Stipa-Molenaar Racing) inside the top eight.
Adrián Martín (Team Aeroport de Castelló), Randy Krummenacher (Stipa-Molenaar Racing), Tomoyoshi Koyama (Racing Team Germany) and Jonas Folger (Team Ongetta) will comprise row three. Brits Danny Webb (Andalucia Cajasol) and Danny Kent (Lambretta Reparto Corse) will start from 14th and 22nd respectively, with wild card entrants Taylor Mackenzie (KRP MMCG) and John McPhee (KRP Bradley Smith Racing) – who had the only fall of the session – qualifying in 29th and 31st positions respectively.
The 125cc class gets the Sunday schedule underway with warm up commencing at 8.40am local time. The 125cc race starts at 11am, with Moto2 at 12.15pm and MotoGP at 2pm.
MotoGP FP1 |
1 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 1’31.799 2 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 1’32.130 3 Marco Simoncelli Honda ITA 1’32.244 4 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 1’32.330 5 Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 1’32.422 6 Ben Spies Yamaha USA 1’32.566 7 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 1’32.579 8 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 1’32.603 9 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 1’32.886 10 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 1’32.917 11 Randy De Puniet Honda FRA 1’32.925 12 Aleix Espargaro Ducati ESP 1’33.085 13 Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 1’33.170 14 Loris Capirossi Suzuki ITA 1’33.339 15 Hiroshi Aoyama Honda JPN 1’33.343 |
— Yamaha Report
World Champion Jorge Lorenzo secured his seventeenth front-row start of the season in Valencia this afternoon, qualifying second behind Casey Stoner for the eighteenth and final round of the season. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi has struggled in all four sessions but the nine-time champion made a drastic improvement in the final stages of the session to qualify fourth for his final Yamaha appearance tomorrow.
Lorenzo, wearing a one-off crystal-encrusted helmet for his home race, was third in this morning’s practice session and then spent the first half of qualifying second in the standings as he made some final set-up tweaks to his M1. Half-way through he moved into first and then put in a run of stunningly consistent fast laps, improving his time several times over. Stoner was even quicker today though and with six minutes left on the clock the Australian moved ahead of the Mallorcan and, despite Lorenzo pulling out all the stops in the final moments, pole was not to be today and he finished 0.331 seconds off Stoner in second. Lorenzo is nonetheless the season’s best qualifier and will receive his prize of a new car this afternoon to add to his tally of plaudits from the year.
After yesterday’s difficulties a major set-up change this morning did little for Rossi’s feeling on the bike and the Italian was 10th in free practice. The early part of qualifying yielded no improvement and with five minutes to go he was still outside the top ten. A final alteration however left him feeling more confident on the bike and on his final lap the front row looked a not inconceivable target, as he was on course for second at the third split before dropping a couple of tenths in the final sector and coming home in fourth, 0.086 seconds off Marco Simoncelli.
Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 2ndTime: 1’32.130Laps: 18
“I’m really excited and proud to be on the front row in front of the Spanish crowd, at this home race. Especially racing here; the last race is always special and everyone wants to do well. I tried my best to make the pole position today but Casey was really very quick today, I couldn’t beat him. Let’s see if we can keep in contact with him tomorrow in the race, if we can stay with him we can challenge. We will try the maximum as always. X-Lite has honoured me with this special helmet and I am so proud of it, it looks like diamonds in the sunshine! Thanks to everyone and I hope to make a good race in it tomorrow.”
Valentino Rossi – Position: 4thTime: 1’32.330Laps: 23
“It was a difficult day but luckily we were able to improve the setting right at the end of the session, giving me a bit more grip and allowing me to push for a fast time at the end. We’re fourth and considering how the practices have been this really isn’t too bad. We will have to see tomorrow, it’s going to be very hard and we’re still in a bit of trouble, while the others are very fast, but if we can improve a bit more then we can try to challenge. It’s not particularly difficult to overtake at this race so the second row isn’t a big problem if we have a good pace. Stoner is very fast here, it looked like he was in a different sport today, but it’s my last race for Yamaha and I will do everything I can to be on the podium.”
Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager
“We are happy with second because it was clear Casey had something different here today. Jorge feels fine with no problems; good pace, good lap times and good consistency. We need to decide which tyre we’re going to use for the race as both options are possible for the rear so we’re waiting for the weather tomorrow. It’s a temperature issue, if it’s hot we’ll use one, if it’s cooler we’ll use the other. The bike feels great, an improvement on this morning’s session so we are happy with the situation.”
Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“This morning we tried some different geometries and settings and then in the afternoon we continued in just one way, but it’s clear that we still have some work to do and we have some problems with grip. In the end we stopped a little bit early to consider the situation, and now we will look closely at the data to find the right way forward for tomorrow so that we can give Valentino a bike to allow him to ride how he wants here.”
Spies and Edwards eye podium fight in Valencia finale
Ben Spies and Colin Edwards will start the final round of the 2010 MotoGP world championship in Valencia tomorrow from sixth and seventh on the grid respectively, the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team duo confident they can battle for a podium finish.
Spies produced another heroic performance in this afternoon’s sun-drenched qualifying session, the Texan shrugging off constant discomfort from the dislocated left ankle he suffered less than a week ago in Estoril to claim sixth with a best time of 1.32.566.
Working tirelessly with his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew to improve rear stability, Spies was just over 0.3s away from the front row in a closely contested session. The 26-year-old is confident that planned overnight set-up changes will improve his YZR-M1 machine even further as he prepares for an exciting fight for sixth place in the final standings with fellow American Nicky Hayden.
It was at the Valencia circuit 12 months ago that Spies made a scintillating Yamaha YZR-M1 debut, his stunning seventh place giving MotoGP fans a taste of the all-action performances that he’s produced throughout a brilliant 2010.
And it is likely there will be more of the same tomorrow with Spies and Hayden tied on 163-points going into tomorrow’s 30-lap race, with Spies finishing just 0.144s behind the 2006 world champion this afternoon.
Just one place and 0.013s further back on the grid is Edwards, who continued his excellent form this afternoon. More modifications to the radical set-up he first experimented with yesterday furth er improved turning performance for the 36-year-old and he occupied a place in the top three in the second half of the session.
He clocked a best time of 1.32.579 to finish seventh and the Texan is confident the new set-up will help him fight for the rostrum in what promises to be a thrilling conclusion to the season.
Ben Spies – Position: 6th Time: 1’32.566Laps: 24
“I’m not super happy because I’d like the bike to be working better but to be close to the fight for the podium is pretty good. This track doesn’t have a lot of rear grip and I’ve had some stability problems. I need the rear to be more stable for the race and I think we can achieve that. Yamaha and my Tech 3 guys will get together tonight and come up with some ideas and I know they’ll give me a good bike tomorrow. The ankle isn’t fantastic but I don’t think it’s losing me time. I’m not 100 per cen t but I can’t say I’m losing half-a-second because of it. I can’t move around on the bike as much as I’d like but the race is only 45 minutes and I’ll get through it. I definitely want to move up in the championship and claim that sixth spot but I’m going out to treat it like another race and try to beat Nicky. There’s a bit of pride at stake but I’d want to beat anybody for the top six, so it makes no difference that the fight is with Nicky.”
Colin Edwards – Position 7th Time: 1’32.579 Laps: 23
“I’ve felt good all weekend with this new setting and I want to thank my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3 because as always they’ve done an awesome job. The changes we have made have really helped my confidence with the rear of the bike. I can turn much better, I don’t run wide and the new setting seems to give me better rear grip but is also good for tyre life too. I was comfortable on the hard tyre bu t I hadn’t used the soft tyre since yesterday morning, so I didn’t really know the potential of it. On the first tyre I was almost a second quicker, put the second tyre in and it didn’t give the same confidence for some reason. On the last one I felt better and I’m happy with the lap time but it is so tight at the top that just a couple of tenths costs you a lot of places. Seventh is not where I want to be but everybody is going fast. I think anybody from third to ninth will be thinking they can get on the podium and I’m one of them. We’ve seen though on this track that the field can spread out pretty quick and if it does I hope to be at the sharp end.”
— Ducati Report
Casey Stoner will start his final race as a Ducati rider from the front of the MotoGP grid tomorrow after a typically determined ride in the Valencia sunshine this afternoon. Stoner struggled to find a set-up he was entirely comfortable with throughout the 45-minute qualifying session but he took 0.8 seconds off his best time to break the 1’32 barrier on his 14th lap and he followed up with two more efforts in the 1’31 bracket on a short but sweet final run, sealing his 25th and final pole position for the Italian factory.
Nicky Hayden also enjoyed a positive afternoon, qualifying inside the front two rows for the fourth successive race. The American shaved a full second off his best effort from free practice and is confident he could have gone even faster but for a front end slide that cost him time and confidence on his first flying lap, although his pace was still good enough for fifth on the grid.
CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 1st – 1’31.799
“This morning we were struggling a little bit with the front because you have to spend a lot of time at this circuit with the bike leaned over so this afternoon we tried a lot of different things without really finding the right feeling. When I went out on a soft tyre I didn’t think I’d be able to beat Jorge (Lorenzo) or Marco (Simoncelli) but it gave me the confidence I needed to go much faster and I set a lap time I was very happy with. I actually made a couple of mistakes on my last two laps otherwise I think I could have improved it but the important thing is that I was able to give Ducati another pole position before I sign off. There are a couple of sections where we need to improve for tomorrow but other sections that remind me of Phillip Island in the way I can attack them so overall I am comfortable and confident. It will be an emotional day I’m sure tomorrow but for now my job is to focus on the race and achieving the best result possible.”
NICKY HAYDEN – (Ducati Marlboro Team) 5th – 1’32.422
“The middle of the second row isn’t a disaster. The track seemed to really come in this afternoon and immediately on hard tyres we were a lot faster than we’ve been all weekend. We made a couple of little changes this afternoon and straight away I made up the couple of tenths I’ve been lacking so far. When we put the first soft tyre in I got straight into the 1’32s and with the second one in the first split I had a moment with the front and that’s not the way you want to start your first flying lap. It cost me a little confidence and maybe a place on the front row because even though I managed a 1’32.4 I wasn’t able to find those last couple of tenths. Each tenth makes a big difference around here so we have to claw for every one we can get. Tomorrow ain’t going to be cake, I know that, but I want to finish the year with a strong result and I’m looking forward to it.”
— HRC
Magical MotoGP rookie Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) scored his first premier-class front-row start at Valencia today to give himself the best possible chance of scoring a first MotoGP podium finish in tomorrow’s season finale.
Former 250 World Champion Simoncelli ended the 45 minute qualifying session just one tenth behind second-fastest Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) and four tenths down on pole-position man Casey Stoner (Ducati). Fourth fastest, less than a tenth behind Simoncelli, was former MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi (Yamaha). Simoncelli’s previous best grid position in the MotoGP class was fourth at the recent Australian GP.
One week after the weather-lashed Portuguese GP, the paddock is enjoying a sunny weekend at Valencia, with all four sessions run on a dry track. Simoncelli has been fast throughout, continuing to climb the MotoGP learning curve in impressive style. Thanks to crucial input from HRC, which recently equipped Simoncelli with upgraded electronics, the 23-year-old came within a fraction of a second of scoring his first elite-class podium at Estoril last Sunday.
Tomorrow he will want to go one better than that best-ever fourth-place result.
Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) delivered another heroic performance this afternoon, putting himself on the third row of the grid despite suffering pain and numbness from his left shoulder injury. The Spaniard – who broke his left collarbone at last month’s Japanese GP – was an impressive third fastest in free practice and ended qualifying eight tenths off pole. Not surprisingly, Pedrosa’s main concern for tomorrow’s 30-lap race is physical endurance.
Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V) claimed the last place on the third row, going ninth fastest on his RCV. The Italian has consistently improved his pace throughout the weekend but struggled to extract the maximum from his RCV on softer tyres. Dovizioso knows where he is losing time – in the final two sectors of this short and sinuous track – and he plans to work on those areas before the race.
Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) and Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V) will start the final race of the year alongside each other at the head of the fourth row. Melandri once again struggled to get the best out of his RCV in qualifying. De Puniet had been hopeful of another great qualifying after completing free practice seventh quickest. He was once again competitive this afternoon until he fitted softer tyres, which didn’t give him the feeling he needed to attack at maximum pace. The Frenchman ended the outing 11th.
Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP RC212V) ended free practice 14th fastest, putting him in confident mood for this afternoon’s qualifying session. But the Japanese – who secured the 250 World Championship here last year – was unable to better his best time from this morning’s session and thus slipped to 15th on the grid.
Toni Elias (Gresini Racing Moto2, Moriwaki) snatched the final Moto2 pole position of the year in the last two minutes of qualifying. The recently crowned Moto2 World Champion came out on top of a typically frantic session that had earlier seen Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing, Suter), Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team, Suter) and Andrea Iannone (Fimmco Speed Up, Speed Up) lead the way. At the end of the 45 minutes Bradl was second, one tenth of a second down on Elias, with Iannone and Redding completing the front row. The fastest 20 riders were covered by just 0.999 seconds.
This was a welcome return to form for Elias who made sure of the title with a run of four consecutive victories from the German GP to the San Marino GP, but has since struggled to reproduce that winning speed. The Spaniard, who has yet to win a GP race at Valencia, last stood on the podium four races ago at Motegi. Elias is using a revised Moriwaki frame here, which he got dialled in for qualifying. This will be his last race in Moto2 before he returns to MotoGP next Tuesday and Wednesday, testing alongside the rest of the MotoGP pack.
Alex De Angelis (JIR Moto2, Motobi), who won the Australian Moto2 round and has stood on the podium at the last three races, recorded the fifth time to lead the second row, just three hundredths ahead of recent Moto2 recruit Kenan Sofuoglu (Technomag-CIP, Suter). Twice World Supersport Champion aboard a Honda CBR600RR Sofuoglo made an instant impression on Moto2 when he led last Sunday’s Estoril round, eventually finishing in fifth place.
German teenager Marcel Schrötter (Interwetten Honda 125 Team) qualified 17th for the 125 race, which opens proceedings tomorrow. The 125 World Championship is the only crown still to be decided. Series leader Marquez (Derbi) is clear favourite after taking pole position ahead of title rival Nicolas Terol (Aprilia). Marquez currently leads Terol by 17 points.
HONDA MotoGP RIDER QUOTES
Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V): 3rd, 1m 32.244s “It has been a wonderful weekend so far, from the first session yesterday morning through to qualifying this afternoon. I was able to ride fast and consistent and I am delighted we were able to turn it into a front row start. I have unbelievable confidence with the bike just at the moment and that has been coming over the past few rounds. Right now I just hope I can stay in the same postcode as the leader tomorrow because it would be a really great end to the season for me, Honda and the team.”
Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V): 8th, 1m 32.603s “I would like to be a bit higher in the standings but considering my physical condition eighth is not so bad. This is a short track and the lap times are very close, and so two tenths means two or three positions higher or lower on the grid. This is the position we have achieved and we will deal with it. This morning we did a good job with the set-up of the bike and this afternoon we didn’t touch much in the session – improving by a couple of tenths. Anyway we need to be ready for a very tough race, and it’s the endurance over race distance that will be the key point – 30 laps is a lot. Now I will try to rest as much as possible, and tomorrow I will aim to make a great start and keep the rhythm in the race for as long as I can.”
Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V): 9th, 1m 32.886s “Yesterday we started well and we have improved our pace in every practice session, but this afternoon I haven’t managed to use the full potential of the bike. I’m struggling in sector three and sector four and this is affecting my lap time. More than the set-up I need to better interpret the lines I’m taking, and also to adapt my riding style. In particular I’m quite slow in two or three corners and this is what is holding me back at the moment. Our overall pace in the rest of the lap is not too far from the riders at the front, so if we improve in these corners I’m sure we can fight for the podium tomorrow. Concerning the tyre choice, if the conditions remain as today I think we will use the hard compound.”
Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V): 10th, 1m 32.917s “It has been another negative day for us. I can’t get the bike stopped or turned. The electronics don’t do the job they should and it is always difficult when I open the gas. It doesn’t even work correctly on the straights – opening and closing the throttle when it wants – and for me it is really hard to control the wheelies. I am very disappointed because I would have wanted to finish the season in a very different way.”
Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V): 11th, 1m 32.925s “This morning went quite well and in the first part of the qualifying session we confirmed the race tyres for tomorrow. But once I came out on soft tyres to post a good flying lap for the grid I could not get the same potential and the rear started to move a lot. The bike was not stable on the throttle and I could not really improve my lap time. We have a good base in race trim which makes me confident for the race, but I must take a good start like in Estoril. I really want to end this season and my third year with LCR in the best way tomorrow.”
Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP RC212V): 15th, 1m 33.343s “I already had a good feeling with the bike at the beginning of qualifying. We could have done much better than we did, because my lap time this morning was better. But in the end I could improve it and unfortunately that lost me one place on the grid. The lap times are so close here that I can still get a good result in the race.”
— Suzuki Report
Rizla Suzuki goes in to the final Grand Prix of the season looking to end the year moving forward after a tough qualifying session left the riders with plenty of work for tomorrow’s race.
Loris Capirossi (P14, 1’33.339, 25 laps) made a big step in his lap-times from Friday, but couldn’t make significant in-roads further up the grid. He will start from the fifth row tomorrow, determined to end the season with a constructive performance that will help Suzuki to take things forward into the winter test programme.
Álvaro Bautista (P17, 1’33.515, 23 laps) has so far had a weekend to forget at Valencia, as he has struggled to get the grip levels he wants to help him on the 4,005m circuit. He will work with his crew this evening to assess the data in the hope that a new setting they are planning to try in tomorrow’s warm-up will assist him for the race.
Today’s qualifying session was held in clear and dry conditions with the air temperatures reaching 22°C. The fastest lap of the day was set by Ducati’s Casey Stoner, as the Australian took his fourth pole position of the season.
Tomorrow’s 30-lap race will be the curtain closer to the 2010 season and the main event will get underway at 14.00hrs local time (13.00hrs GMT).
Loris Capirossi: “What can I say about today? I am obviously upset that this is the last qualifying of the year and it was a very difficult one. We improved a lot from this morning, but we stayed in the same position. The weather today was a bit better and this helped the bike, but it was still tough. Tomorrow will be a hard race and that is easy to see because I am 14th and Álvaro is last, we are close, but this is the reality of the situation. The forecast for tomorrow is to be colder and cloudy, so this might put us in the same position that we experience when the temperature drops.”
Álvaro Bautista: “It has turned into a difficult weekend so far and I feel like I am struggling with the bike. I’m having the most problems with the exit from the corner, but we have improved the GSV-R since yesterday as we have tried to get more grip and less movement form the bike. This afternoon it was still difficult and at the end of qualifying I was only really concentrating on the exit of the corners, more than I was on making a fast entry, so this made it very hard to be competitive. I’ve improved on my best time here, but it is still not enough. In warm-up we are going to try a new setting to help me with the rear of the bike and see what happens. We must work very hard and if tomorrow morning we find something better we will certainly use it in the race. It is going to be hard, because we will start form the last position – the only good thing about that is that I can only finish better than I start!”
— Bridgestone Report
Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium. Rear: Medium, Hard (both asymmetric)
Casey Stoner secured his fourth pole position of the season today in the last qualifying session of the year, and his last with the Ducati Team. Quick all weekend, Stoner’s third lap of the 45 minute session was just 0.002seconds from the fastest of the weekend and when he switched to a softer option rear slick at the end of the session, his times tumbled and he finished almost 0.8seconds faster than the circuit lap record.
Fastest for the some of the session was Jorge Lorenzo who ultimately had to settle for second on his Fiat Yamaha machine. The World Champion also used a softer rear slick towards the end of the session to finish 0.3seconds adrift of Stoner. In third place was an impressive Marco Simoncelli who enjoys his first MotoGP front row starting position. The top seven riders all lapped faster than the existing lap record, indicating how well Bridgestone’s softer option rear slicks are performing here at Valencia.
Most riders started the session using the harder option front and rear slicks and race pace was good, but after switching to the extra grip of the softer option rears the times really fell. Track conditions were again good today and as the temperature rose into the afternoon’s qualifying riders favoured the extra stability of the harder front slicks. Using the softer rears, laptimes were fast; with the use of Bridgestone’s extra soft compound rubber here at Valencia this year the top three were all faster than last year’s pole time.
Tohru Ubukata – Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department
“This morning the riders tested tyre degradation of the softer option slicks and durability over race distance, and some also checked the performance of the harder options even in the cold conditions, when track temperature was just 17 degrees Celsius. Whilst the softer options provided more grip, both specs worked well and we could confirm that even the softer options have good consistency over race distance.
“This afternoon in qualifying many riders checked the harder options for their initial grip performance in the hotter conditions to assess whether they will give a performance advantage over race distance. Finally, the top ten all set their best laptimes using the softer rear and performance was very good with the top seven riders all under the lap record. The top three riders are also all faster than last year’s pole time, and we can attribute this at least in part to the extra soft compound rubber we are using in the softer option rear slicks this year. Based on today’s result, I can say that the harder option front will be favoured for the race for its added braking stability, whilst rear tyre choices will be more mixed depending on whether riders want the better grip of the softer option or the added stability of the harder.”