MotoGP 2013 – Round 11 – Brno
— Crutchlow collects 2nd MotoGP™ pole with record lap
Cal Crutchlow has stormed to his second MotoGP™ pole position for the bwin Grand Prix České republiky. The Monster Yamaha Tech3 rider will start alongside GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista and Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez, while Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo round out the top five.
Following Friday’s opening pair of practice sessions, Crutchlow had been unhappy with the new fuel tank fitted to his bike, but appeared to rectify this by setting the pace in third free practice on Saturday morning. He would go on to claim his second MotoGP pole in five race weekends, following that of Assen at the end of June.
However, a second career pole looked to be heading the way of Bautista after the Gresini rider intelligently picked up Marquez’s slipstream to dip underneath Lorenzo’s 2012 qualifying record. Following a stop in the pit lane, Crutchlow would go on to beat this by over two tenths of a second thanks to his rapid time of 1’55.527.
With Bautista on the front row for the second time in three races, championship leader – and winner of the last three Grands Prix – Marquez crucially starts ahead of his closest two title contenders, with teammate and last year’s Brno winner Pedrosa only five thousandths of a second in arrears and Lorenzo a further 81 thousandths behind. The reigning World Champion expected more, though, not least after testing at Brno in the mid-season break as well as beginning the weekend as fastest rider.
Tech3’s Bradley Smith equalled his qualifying best by beating the second Yamaha Factory Racing rider Valentino Rossi to sixth place, as LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl and Ducati Team duo Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden completed the first group of ten. Energy T.I. Pramac Racing’s Andrea Iannone made it to the shootout for 11th place – despite a collision with an air fence early in Q1 – whereas NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Colin Edwards was encouraged to feature in Q2 for the second time within the space of a week, equipped with the standard MotoGP ECU software package. This left usual CRT pace-setter Aleix Espargaro third in Q1 and therefore 13th on the grid, hindered by a crash in fourth free practice which immediately preceded the qualifying session.
Returning to action to cover for the injured Ben Spies at Ignite Pramac Racing, Michele Pirro will line up 14th, as wildcard Martin Bauer backs up the grid in 25th position on an S&B Suter. Incidentally, Bauer’s Remus Racing Team makes history this weekend by becoming the first Austrian-entered outfit to compete in the premier class of Grand Prix racing.
Taking place after the Moto2™ race but before that of Moto3™, Sunday’s MotoGP battle commences at 1pm local time (GMT +2).
MotoGP™ Qualifying Practice Classification
1 Cal Crutchlow 1’55.527 GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
2 Alvaro Bautista 1’55.754 SPA HONDA Go & Fun Honda Gresini
3 Marc Marquez 1’55.863 SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
4 Dani Pedrosa 1’55.868 SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
5 Jorge Lorenzo 1’55.949 SPA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing
6 Bradley Smith 1’56.014 GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
7 Valentino Rossi 1’56.186 ITA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing
8 Stefan Bradl 1’56.477 GER HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP
9 Andrea Dovizioso 1’56.825 ITA DUCATI Ducati Team
10 Nicky Hayden 1’56.979 USA DUCATI Ducati Team
11 Andrea Iannone 1’57.455 ITA DUCATI Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team
12 Colin Edwards 1’58.392 USA FTR-KAWASAKI NGM Mobile Forward Racing
13 Aleix Espargaro 1’58.378 SPA ART Power Electronics Aspar
14 Michele Pirro 1’58.812 ITA DUCATI Ignite Pramac Racing Team
15 Randy De Puniet 1’58.953 FRA SUZUKI Suzuki Test Team
16 Yonny Hernandez 1’58.983 COL PBM Paul Bird Motorsport
17 Danilo Petrucci 1’59.057 ITA IODA-SUTER Came IodaRacing Project
18 Claudio Corti 1’59.062 ITA FTR-KAWASAKI NGM Mobile Forward Racing
19 Hector Barbera 1’59.128 SPA FTR Avintia Blusens
20 Lukas Pesek 2’00.522 CZE IODA-SUTER Came IodaRacing Project
21 Michael Laverty 2’00.584 GBR PBM Paul Bird Motorsport
22 Hiroshi Aoyama 2’00.653 JAP FTR Avintia Blusens
23 Karel Abraham 2’00.792 CZE ART Cardion AB Motoracing
24 Bryan Staring 2’00.827 AUS FTR-HONDA Go & Fun Honda Gresini
25 Martin Bauer 2’01.135 AUT S&B SUTER Remus Racing Team
— Moto2™
Japan’s Takaaki Nakagami has claimed his second Moto2™ pole position ahead of Sunday’s bwin Grand Prix České republiky. The Italtrans Racing Team rider beat Tuenti HP 40 pair Pol Espargaro and Tito Rabat, who posted identical lap times. Championship leader Scott Redding could manage no more than 13th position.
Nakagami’s qualifying-topping result is his first since Le Mans, where he started on pole but threw away the lead of the race courtesy of an unforced error. In second place, Espargaro – who starts ahead of time-matching teammate Rabat, as he registered the lap first – will set off some 11 positions ahead of title rival Redding, making for a critical Sunday afternoon for both riders.
Behind Rabat – who won at Indianapolis last weekend and earlier on Saturday was confirmed as joining the Marc VDS Racing Team for the next two Moto2 seasons – the top five is completed by Redding’s Marc VDS teammate Mika Kallio and Dynavolt Intact GP’s Sandro Cortese, as the reigning Moto3™ World Champion achieves his best qualifying result so far since stepping up to the intermediate class.
Sachsenring victor Jordi Torres will line up sixth for Aspar Team Moto2, ahead of Came IodaRacing Project’s Johann Zarco and Interwetten Paddock Moto2 Racing’s Tom Luthi, with the top ten completed by Aspar’s Nico Terol and Technomag carXpert’s Dominique Aegerter. Further back, on Row 5, Redding will start ahead of Nakagami’s teammate Julian Simon and NGM Mobile Racing’s Simone Corsi.
Two riders hit trouble in qualifying, as both Tuenti HP 40’s Axel Pons and Technomag carXpert’s Randy Krummenacher suffered crashes. Sunday’s Moto2 race will be the first of the day, starting at 11:20am local time (GMT +2).
Moto2™ Qualifying Practice Classification
1- Takaaki Nakagami JPN Kalex 2:02.202
2- Pol Espargaro SPA Kalex +0.397
3- Tito Rabat SPA Kalex +0.397
— Moto3™
Alex Rins, winner of the last two Moto3™ races, has claimed a third consecutive pole position for this weekend’s bwin Grand Prix České republiky. The Estrella Galicia 0,0 rider will start alongside Team Calvo’s Maverick Viñales and Ongetta-Rivacold’s Alexis Masbou, with championship leader Luis Salom in fifth place.
Qualifying in the Czech Republic marked the first time this weekend that Rins had topped a session, as title rivals Viñales and Salom had led the way in practice. The magic number for the Barcelona rider was 2’07.622, impressively over half a second quicker than nearest challenger and compatriot Viñales as France’s Masbou claimed his first front row starting position since Silverstone last year. Jack Miller’s fourth place was arguably just as notable, as the Australian Caretta Technology – RTG rider had undergone surgery for a broken collarbone earlier this week.
Salom (Red Bull KTM Ajo), who leads the championship from Viñales and Rins by nine and 16 points respectively, will start from the middle of Row 2, having been a second slower than Rins who is on pole for the fifth time this year; incidentally, Salom is also riding injured after sustaining damage to a foot in a highside crash at Indianapolis a week ago, leaving him temporarily on crutches.
There was an incident this afternoon for Rins’ teammate Alex Marquez, who will start sixth, whereas the top ten is rounded out by Jonas Folger (Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3), Arthur Sissis (Red Bull KTM Ajo, who also crashed in qualifying) plus Mahindra Racing’s Efren Vazquez and Miguel Oliveira.
Other crashes came for GO&FUN Gresini Moto3’s Niccolo Antonelli (16th on the grid, jumping up one spot due to a six-place penalty for CIP Moto3’s Alan Techer) and Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3’s Eric Granado (15th). Wildcard riders Andrea Migno (GMT Racing) and Jules Danilo (Marc VDS Racing Team) will set off from 32nd and 34th spots, while the 35-rider grid is completed by Luca Amato, who has replaced Danny Webb at Ambrogio Racing.
Jack Miller (Caretta Technology-RTG): 4th – 2m 08.483 – “It’s disappointing to lose my first front row at the end, but it was a really good session. Everything went to plan except that I was alone in the last laps, which wasn’t the plan, so I couldn’t find a slipstream at all. But I had a constant pace close to my personal best, with a good, good feeling. We’ve also worked on tyre life, and done everything that matters. My shoulder is not so bad: I may have split the stitches, but they can fix that.”
Arthur Sissis (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 8th – 2:08.843 – “The qualifying session went pretty well. I went out on new tyres and I rode pretty fast. In qualifying we made some changes to the bike, but we did not improve with them, so we’re back to the setup that we used initially. I took my best time despite the traffic and the next lap I crashed. It was quite a heavy fall and I think it’s the worst I’ve had so far this season. Tomorrow I’ll likely be a bit achy, especially in my neck.”
Sunday’s Moto3 race commences at 2:30pm local time (GMT +2); in a change to the usual schedule, it will follow the races of Moto2 and MotoGP.
Moto3™ Qualifying Practice Classification
1- Alex Rins SPA KTM 2:07.622
2- Maverick Viñales SPA KTM +0.567
3- Alexis Masbou FRA FTR Honda +0.837
— Yamaha Report
Yamaha Factory Racing riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi delivered fifth and seventh respectively today in qualifying for tomorrow’s Grand Prix of the Czech Republic.
Lorenzo has been on dominant form since the first free practice session yesterday morning and a constant presence in the top two positions as one of the fastest riders on track with a highly competitive race pace. This afternoon however the reigning world champion was unable to replicate that form in the 15 minute qualifying heat with too much spinning on the rear tyre holding him back. Despite a promising last lap with initial red splits the Mallorcan had to settle for fifth on the third row of the grid for tomorrow’s race after being unable to retain the momentum up the hill to the finish line.
Teammate Rossi shared a similar qualifying experience to Lorenzo. Having been quick to get onto a very competitive race pace early in the weekend practice the Italian was unable to make best use of the qualifying tyres in the quick fire session. Excessive tyre spin prevented Rossi from closing on the front row so he will start from the third row in seventh for tomorrow’s race.
Jorge Lorenzo 5th / 1’55.949 / 7 laps – “I waited for much more because I wanted to improve seven tenths or a second from the pace to make a fast lap but I couldn’t take profit from the power of the new tyre. We had so much spinning and we went slow. The pace from all the top riders is quite similar so it’s going to be important to get a good start and try to overtake some riders at the beginning of the race and then we can see how we are.”
Valentino Rossi 7th / 1’56.186 / 7 laps – “At the end I’m not so happy because seventh position is my worst position of the weekend and it was qualifying. I improved my lap time but the other guys were faster. My target was to start in the first five but unfortunately I have to start from seventh on the third row. Anyway, I have a good pace and was always with the front guys in the free practices. Now we have to make some changes to the bike, we have been competitive all weekend so I think and I hope we can be competitive during the race. Yesterday the harder tyre we used was good but today it was no good, maybe because it was ten degrees less, so I think we will use the soft tomorrow.”
Wilco Zeelenberg – Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager – “A very tight qualifying but of course not the result we wanted to see. A lack of grip on the rear was causing a lot of issues; it looked to be better in free practice this morning as we do have a very good pace. We will try to make the best package possible for tomorrow and go for it.”
Massimo Meregalli – Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director – “The qualifying didn’t go quite as we wanted, but we have a good package and the race pace is very competitive for both Jorge and Vale. Of course we will continue working tonight to make it even better and then we are ready for the race. Unfortunately the weather forecast is not good for tomorrow so maybe the work we have done so far will have to change direction to give us a good rain set up. Let’s see what we can put together tonight, we will be ready whatever the circumstances.”
Record lap fires Crutchlow to stunning pole position in Brno
Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider Cal Crutchlow claimed the second pole position of his career this afternoon with a stunning qualifying performance that made the British rider the fastest man ever on two wheels at the Brno track. A stunning lap of 1.55.527 beat reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo’s 2012 pole position record of 1.55.799 to secure Crutchlow top spot in qualifying by well over 0.2s.
Crutchlow started QP2 brimming with confidence after a best lap of 1.56.156 saw him set the fastest time in free practice. He was immediately on a blisteringly fast pace in QP2 and his first flying lap of 1.56.081 sent him soaring to the top of the leaderboard.
Crutchlow’s sixth lap of the 15-minute session though was a record-breaking stunner, the 27-year-old improving by over 0.6s to secure him a second premier class pole position after he claimed top spot in qualifying at the historic Dutch TT in Assen back in June.
Brno was the scene of Crutchlow’s maiden MotoGP podium one year ago and he will start tomorrow’s 22-lap race with optimism that he can register a fifth podium in the 2013 World Championship.
Crutchlow’s record-breaking exploits showed once again the high level of the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team package and today saw another fantastic performance from teammate Bradley Smith.
The rookie equalled his best ever qualifying result by taking a richly deserved sixth position, his best lap of 1.56.014 less than 0.5s behind Crutchlow’s scintillating pace and just over 0.1s from securing the 22-year-old a phenomenal first front row.
Smith has been lapping comfortably inside the top 10 all weekend and his best time in QP2 perfectly illustrated the major progress he is making, as he was almost two seconds faster compared to the pace he set in first practice.
Smith has now qualified inside the top 10 for the last five races and he is looking forward to a strong race tomorrow to help him strengthen his challenge for a top 10 position in the World Championship standings.
Cal Crutchlow 1st 1.55.527 – 7 laps : “I am really happy to be on pole position again and I have to say a massive thanks to my Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team. It has not been an easy weekend while we have been working on improving the bike, but in every session we have progressed and got faster. I felt really good on that lap and to set the circuit best lap is a great achievement for the whole team to be proud of. I just pushed as hard as I could and it is nice to take another pole position because I feel this is more of a true pole after Assen. Jorge wasn’t in Assen but this time it feels great to be fastest with everybody on track. I am looking forward to the race and the objective is to finish on the podium like last year. It would be great to have a strong result tomorrow so I can go to my home race in Silverstone with some big confidence.”
Bradley Smith 6th 1.56.014 – 7 laps : “Today was another great day for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team. It is very exciting to have Cal on pole position again and from my side of the garage it is a brilliant achievement to be in the top six. The atmosphere in the team is great and both of us are really looking forward to the race tomorrow. I am less than 0.5s away from pole position and very close to the top three and it shows the progress I am making. We’ve made some changes to the front-end of the bike and it is really working. Now my main focus will be to remain smooth at the start of the race and not make mistakes like I did in Indianapolis. It is going to be a hard race over 22 laps because this track is very physical and it is very important to keep on a good line. I will try and get a good rest tonight and be ready for tomorrow. Getting a good start like in Indianapolis will be important and then I will try and learn as much as possible.”
— HRC Report
Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini RC213V rider Alvaro Bautista claimed second-fastest qualifying time at Brno today, narrowly edging Repsol Honda RC213V rider Marc Marquez to third, to make two Hondas challenging on the front row of the starting grid.
Second Repsol Honda RC213V rider Dani Pedrosa, still nursing a recovering collarbone fracture, was fractionally fourth fastest, heading the second row from defending champion Jorge Lorenzo and Bradley Smith (both Yamaha). It was Smith’s team-mate Cal Crutchlow up front, on a fast dry afternoon where the top two both broke the circuit’s outright lap record.
LCR Honda RC213V rider Stefan Bradl was the next-best Honda in a batch of close times, the top nine all within a second of pole, at the long 3.357-mile track with a lap time approaching two minutes. The German, on pole at Laguna Seca, was eighth-fastest at Brno, in the middle of row three.
Australian grand prix rookie Bryan Staring (GO&FUN Honda Gresini FTR Honda) placed his Honda CBR1000RR-powered CRT bike 24th, bouncing back from a tumble yesterday, and for once at a circuit where he has prior track knowledge.
Bautista’s best qualifying this year is more proof of his improving form, after blotting his copybook with two first-lap crashes in the early part of the 18-race season. He was on the front row also at Laguna Seca, where he went on to claim his best finish of the year with a close fourth place. The former 125cc World Champion is the only rider to use Showa suspension and Nissin brakes, combining his quest for results with a race-testing role for the Japanese equipment, made by companies closely associated with Honda.
Pedrosa won the race last year, with a fierce last-corner attack on Lorenzo; while Marquez took victory in the Moto2 class. A record-breaking rookie in the premier MotoGP class, the 20-year-old has won the last three races in succession, and leads the World Championship from 27-year-old team-mate Pedrosa.
In a sensational rookie season, Marquez has claimed four pole positions and taken four race wins. He was already the youngest-ever pole qualifier and the youngest-ever race winner, and the youngest to lead the championship. He is a strong candidate to become the youngest-ever champion, supplanting former Honda rider Freddie Spencer, World Champion in 1983.
His older team-mate is still suffering from the after-effects of a collarbone fracture before the summer break. It happened in practice for the German GP, ruling him out of the race and also losing him the points lead he had taken from Marquez with two previous race wins.
After choosing natural healing rather than surgery, Pedrosa is having to draw on all his reserves of courage and race-craft in an intensive period of racing: the Czech Republic GP is the middle one of three races on consecutive weekends. Last Sunday they raced at Indianapolis in the USA, where Marquez and Pedrosa were first and second; next weekend they race again in the British GP at Silverstone.
Bradl has also been showing improving form, after his brilliant pole and second place at Laguna Seca, the last race before the summer break. The German rider was fastest on the first day of qualifying, but failed to reproduce that form in the hectic 15-minute final session.
In the all-Honda powered Moto2 class, Takaaki Nakagami (Italtrans Racing Team Kalex) claimed his second pole of the season, by an impressive margin of four tenths of a second. The Japanese rider is fresh off a career-best second place at the last round at Indianapolis a week ago.
He took the position ahead of Tuenti HP40 Pons Kalex team-mates Pol Espargaro and Tito Rabat. The team-mates set identical lap times, but Espargaro did it first, and is placed ahead on the grid.
Rabat claimed his second win of the year at Indy, and is working hard to improve his third-overall position. Espargaro is similarly engaged on a quest: to move from second overall back into the lead he held earlier in the season. His rival is points leader Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team Kalex), currently ahead of the Spaniard by 26 points, but qualified only 13th, albeit only four tenths of a second behind his rival.
All Moto2 machines use race-tuned Honda CBR600 engines supplied by the organisers, ensuring close and reliable racing. Nakagami apart, the qualifying times confirmed how even the contest can be. Second to 20th places were covered by just one second.
Redding’s team-mate Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing Team Kalex) heads the second row from Moto3 champion Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP Kalex), in his best qualifying position in his first year in the class. German GP winner Jordi Torres (Aspar Team Moto2 Suter) qualified sixth; then Johann Zarco (Came Ioda Racing Project Suter), Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Suter), Nicolas Terol (Aspar Team Moto2 Suter) and Dominique Aegerter (Technomag carXpert Suter) completed the top ten.
In the Moto3 class, up against rival factories, Honda-powered riders fared their best all season, with Ongetta-Rivacold FTR Honda rider Alexis Masbou shouldering Australian Jack Miller (Caretta Technology-RTG FTR Honda) off the front row of the grid in the dying minutes of the final qualifying session.
Third equalled the experienced 26-year-old Frenchman’s career-best qualifying position, offering him a chance to equal or improve on his best-yet second place in the class.
But it brought disappointment to Miller (18), who had been in line for his first front-row start until the closing minutes. Fourth equals his best so far. Miller broke his collarbone at Indy last weekend, but reported no problems with the freshly-plated fracture.
The session brought joy also to class rookie John McPhee, next best Honda rider and team-mate to Miller in the Caretta Technology-RTG squad. The FTR Honda rider (19, from Scotland) qualified 11th, his best so far in his first full season, in the middle of the fourth row.
Isaac Vinales (Bimbo Ongetta-Centro-Seta FTR Honda) was 13th, one place ahead of Alessandro Tonucci (La Fonte Tasca Racing FTR Honda), with France’s Alan Techer (CIP Moto3 TSR Honda) close behind in 16th, at the head of a group of five Hondas filling 16th to 20th places: Niccolo Antonelli (GO&FUN Gresini Moto3 FTR Honda), Matteo Ferrari (Ongetta-Centro Seta FTR Honda), Lorenzo Baldassarri (GO&FUN Gresini Moto3 FTR Honda) and Brad Binder (Ambrogio Racing Suter Honda).
The Brno circuit is scenic and spectacular, running down into a deep wooded valley and back up to the paddock area through a series of mainly fast corners. Vast crowds are expected as always to pack the hillsides that form superb natural grandstands.
So far the weather has been dry, but there is a chance of rain tomorrow, and the possibility of a flat-to-flag race in which riders pit to change bikes to match changing conditions.
Honda MotoGP Rider quotes
Alvaro Bautista (Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini): 2nd – 1m 55.754 – I am really happy with our performance today. Already this morning I could feel an improvement with the set-up of the bike and we had better grip on the rear. My pace was good on used rubber and then when we put the fresh tyres on in qualifying I was able to take advantage. It was good fun and now I am just hoping to get a good start and run at the front for as long as possible. I felt great on the bike today so hopefully we can have a similar feeling with it tomorrow and keep the pace up when the tyres drop off. I want to thank the team for the great job they have done, as well as Honda, Showa, Nissin and our main sponsor, because they have had to wait a while for a moment like this.”
Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda RC213V): 3rd – 1m 55.863 – “I’m not entirely happy because I had the confidence and determination to fight for pole. I could not take advantage of the second tyre because there was a lot of traffic and some riders were waiting for a tow. But it is what it is – one day I will look to follow them, another day it will be the opposite! With regards to the race, I feel confident as I’m comfortable on the bike and have a good foundation and good pace. If the race is dry, then I feel ready to challenge for the win.”
Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda): 3rd – 1m 55.868 – “The sessions were pretty difficult today, because we had trouble finding a set-up that I was happy with. In the last minute we were able to improve it, coming up with something that is more suited to my riding and which allowed me to ride more comfortably. Still, the times for everyone have been very close throughout the weekend, so we will have to fight hard. The important thing will be holding up physically, getting a good start and having a good race -whatever the conditions.”
Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda RC213V): 8th – 1m 56.477 – “Definitely it’s a frustrating day for me and the team. I am not happy with the bike; actually I am missing edge grip and cannot carry the corner speed I would like. Our qualifying session was very tough because I was not able to take advantage of a new rear tyre because I was pushing the front too much into the corner trying to make the lap time. As I opened the throttle I could not use the rear tyre because we had too much spinning. I am not able to make a good exit out of the corners and for this reason we are losing too much time. We are working hard to find a solution but, so far, we are struggling to find a good setting”.
Bryan Staring (GO&FUN Honda Gresini FTR Honda): 24th – 2m 00.827 – “Unfortunately we have only made a very slight improvement compared to yesterday. We are still struggling with the same issues and I am not able to ride the bike as I would like. It is disappointing because I felt I could do much better than this, especially coming to a circuit I already knew.”
Honda Moto2 Rider quotes
Takaaki Nakagami (Italtrans Racing Team): 1st – 2m 0.202 – “I am quite happy to be back on pole. My last lap was not perfect … I made a small mistake, but the lap time was still good. I have to thank my team: they did a really good job every session. At Indianapolis I led almost to the end. I don’t think I will change my tactics here, because more than that race I have a good rhythm and am very constant. This morning I did 20 laps to try to understand the tyre wear better than at Indy. I am ready now to fight for my first victory.”
Pol Espargaro (Tuenti HP40): 2nd – 2m 02.599 – “It was a good qualifying – a hard one. I pushed all the time to try and improve the time, and I did it – then after that Taka did an incredible lap, the best of the weekend. We’ve been working on improving the performance with the tyres. They have improved a lot. Yesterday I did 28 laps, and the tyre was still normal, still good. Thanks to Dunlop, they are doing a great job. Maybe the grip is not the best, but they are improving, and so are we.”
Tito Rabat (Tuenti HP40): 3rd – 2m 02.599 – “After the Indy win, I have been happy all weekend. We have a good set-up, and do our best. I found some traffic in the middle of the qualifying session, but still I enjoyed it a lot, and made a good lap time. I am ready to race.”
Honda Moto3 Rider quotes
Alexis Masbou (Ongetta Rivacold): 3rd – 2m 08.459 – “I am happy. It is a long time since I was in this position. All weekend we have been fast, and I was surprised to be fourth this morning, but it made me think I could do something good. I feel very confident on the bike, and my team never stopped working. This track is better for us than Indy because there are no first-gear corners. If you can exit the corner well then you can keep the speed. I’ll try to stay with the fast group tomorrow, and see what happens.”
Jack Miller (Caretta Technology-RTG): 4th – 2m 08.483 – “It’s disappointing to lose my first front row at the end, but it was a really good session. Everything went to plan except that I was alone in the last laps, which wasn’t the plan, so I couldn’t find a slipstream at all. But I had a constant pace close to my personal best, with a good, good feeling. We’ve also worked on tyre life, and done everything that matters. My shoulder is not so bad: I may have split the stitches, but they can fix that.”
John McPhee (Caretta Technology-RTG): 11th – 2m 09.111 – “All year we’ve been working hard, trying to get a good base set-up – chasing our tails. Finally here we found it, and it makes me feel stronger as a rider. The engine is working very well. This track is so flowing, with no slow corners, and the top-end performance is not so bad. I’ve been ill all week, but this helps me to forget it.”
— Ducati Report
Following qualifying for the Czech Republic GP, Andrea Dovizioso’s and Nicky Hayden’s positions were the same as yesterday—ninth and tenth, respectively—but the Italian in particular was happier with his performance than he had been at the end of day one.
Conditions were cooler in the Q2 session than they had been on Friday afternoon, with the air temperature measuring 21º C and the track surface registering 30º (70º and 86º F), and Dovizioso’s Desmosedici GP13 gave him a good enough feeling that his final lap put him onto the third row for tomorrow. Hayden, meanwhile, is still unsatisfied with his bike’s setup, and he and his team will try to make a positive step in tomorrow morning’s warm-up session to better prepare him for the race.
Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team, 9th (1:56.825)
“We knew it would be tough, but it went better than we could’ve expected before today’s sessions. I thought it would be difficult to get under 1’57”, but I was able to do it. There was a bit of traffic on the track, so I was waiting to get a free lap, and I managed to do a good time on the last lap. I’m happy because we were able to improve over yesterday, when it was warmer and it was hard for all the Ducati riders. Things went better today, both in the morning and in the afternoon. The weather conditions for tomorrow are somewhat uncertain, but with this temperature we can have a decent pace.”
Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team, 10th (1:56.979)
“If I’m honest, today hasn’t been as good as we’d wished. We worked extremely hard and tried a lot of stuff to get a better feeling and improve the bike over the bumps and in the turns, but we haven’t been able to make any big steps. Maybe I confused myself a little bit too. It’s certainly frustrating for the gap to be so big, not just to the front, but also to the group ahead of me. In the morning warm-up, we’ll see what kind of a setup we can find for the race.”
— Bridgestone Report
Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft & Hard. Rear: Soft, Medium & Hard (Asymmetric)
Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Soft (Main), Hard (Alternative)
Weather: FP3 – Dry. Ambient 19-20°C; Track 22-23°C (Bridgestone measurement)
FP4/QP – Dry. Ambient 24-24°C; Track 30-34°C (Bridgestone measurement)
Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Cal Crutchlow claimed his second pole position of the season after the British rider recorded a new Circuit Best Lap time of 1’55.527 in qualifying at the Czech Republic Grand Prix.
Crutchlow set the pole-winning time on his penultimate lap to finish 0.227 seconds ahead of GO&FUN Gresini Honda’s Alvaro Bautista who qualified in second place. Bautista’s personal best lap time was also under the existing qualifying lap record, the Spaniard narrowly beating compatriot Marc Marquez who will line up on the grid in P3 after the Repsol Honda rider set a qualifying time of 1’55.863. NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Colin Edwards was the top CRT qualifier for the second race in a row, the American rider qualifying for QP2 and finishing twelfth overall with a time of 1’58.392. All riders in QP2 set their best lap time on the combination of the softer rear and harder front slicks.
Today’s weather conditions were fine but slightly cooler than yesterday with track temperatures peaking at 34°C. Riders took advantage of the good conditions to perform race simulations in FP4, with both the softer and harder rear slick options tested in the final practice session. Rear tyre choice for the race could be influenced by tomorrow’s weather as some riders may use the harder rear slicks if warmer conditions are present for the race, although the majority of riders seem to favour the softer rear slick at this stage. Front tyre choice for the race is likely to be largely in favour of the hard compound front slick.
Current weather forecasts indicate a chance of rain tomorrow afternoon so there is a possibility of a wet race. The next scheduled MotoGP™ session is Morning Warm Up at 930 local time (GMT +2) with the race set to start at 1300.
Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department – “That was a great qualifying session and I am pleased that we have had a new qualifying record set in two consecutive races! We had fine weather again today so there was plenty of time for teams to find a good setup for the race, with some riders trying the harder rear slicks in FP4. Although the harder rear performed well, I think this option will only be considered for the race if track temperatures are higher tomorrow. The softer rear slicks also exhibited strong performance as well as good durability, so if the same cool conditions as today occur tomorrow, I think this option will be widely used for the race. Front tyre choice was similar to yesterday’s practice sessions with the hard compound being preferred by the majority of riders. There is a chance of rain tomorrow and although personally I hope we have a dry race, we are prepared for whatever the weather brings!”
— Red Bull Rookies
Karel Hanika had the stadium section crowd erupting with a cacophony of horns and screams as he passed Manuel Pagliani half way round the final lap to win his home Grand Prix in Brno. The 17-year-old Czech fought off repeated attacks by the 17-year-old Italian for the rest of the tour while 15-year-old Spaniard Jorge Martín shadowed, ready to take advantage of any error.
Hanika and Pagliani touched as they climbed the rise into the last section but both stayed upright and Martín was third ahead Joe Roberts who had shared the battle for the lead for most of the race but fell back in the closing stages. The 16-year-old Californian missed out on the podium but went home with the lap record having bettered his own standard from 2011.
The six-rider fight for fifth was every bit as intense as that for the win and it was only in the last few laps that 14-year-old Japanese Soushi Mihara broke away leaving Scott Deroue to take sixth just ahead of Marcos Ramirez, Diego Perez, Bradley Ray and Jordan Weaving.
Unluckiest man of the day was 16-year-old Turk Toprak Razgatlıoğlu who stalled on the middle of the front row of the grid. He had to start from the pit lane and then exceeded the pit lane speed and so had to serve a ride through penalty.
The day was Hanika’s but it wasn’t easy, he could not get close to his pole position pace. “That’s right and I’m not sure why, I didn’t get a great start and had to work hard to get to the lead. I didn’t feel as confident on the bike as I did in qualifying, something didn’t feel quite right but you have to race with what you have.”
“There was no way that I could break away, Jorge and Manuel were riding very well and Manuel was particularly good both on the brakes and getting out of the corners so it was a very very tough race. When it came to the last lap I didn’t have a plan, that wasn’t possible, I just went as hard as I could and it worked. It is an incredible feeling to do it at home, the best race of my life.”
Pagliani had ridden superbly, smooth and stylish all the way. “It was a great race, I was at the front all the way and really enjoyed it. Obviously I tried everything to win but on the last lap coming up the hill we touched and that put me in the wrong place for the last corners, that’s racing.”
Martín had not been happy with the bike at the end of qualifying but some good work from the Rookies technical staff and WP engineer resulted in just the right adjustment to the front forks. “The bike was really great, it was a tough, tough fight. I was looking for a way past on the last lap but Manuel and Karel were fighting hard and there was no way through. There’s next weekend, I love Silverstone so I will go for it there.”
Hanika has extended his Cup points lead to 51 points over Martín. Pagliani has moved to third displacing Stefano Manzi who failed to score. The 14-year-old Italian crashed into 15-year-old fellow countryman Enea Bastianini as they battled in the lead group early on. Both tumbled heavily but escaped serious injury. Five races remain with 125 points on offer for the victories, the first two of those are at Silverstone next weekend.
