2010 MotoGP Championship – Round Seven – Catalunya – Day One
Championship leader, Jorge Lorenzo, took first blood in the stifling heat of Barcelona, topping the timesheet with a time of 1’43.259 at the end of this afternoon’s first MotoGP free practice session ahead of the Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya.
With the ambient air temperature topping 37ºC and the track temperature rising to 52ºC during the session, free practice was demanding of riders, bikes and tyres this afternoon but Lorenzo, who is going for a third straight win this weekend in front of his home crowd, still managed to lap the 4.727km Catalunya circuit 0.153s faster than Casey Stoner. The Ducati Team rider had a run-off early on in the session at Turn 1 but it was a minor event, as he went on to record the second fastest time aboard his Desmosedici GP10 at a track he declared as fun to ride.
Completing the top three was Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa who finished almost four-tenths of the time of his fellow countryman, Lorenzo. Seeking an improvement in the consistency of his results on his RC212V this weekend, Pedrosa started his quest in promising fashion at a track on which he has won races in three different classes.
Teammate Andrea Dovizioso was 0.094s further back in fourth, while Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Ben Spies put in a hot penultimate lap to shoot up from 15th to fifth inside the final minutes of the session, as he set about learning another new track.
Aleix Espargaró’s improvements continued on board the Pramac Ducati as he set the sixth fastest lap of the session, just under nine-tenths off Lorenzo, whilst Randy de Puniet is also on track for another good result at Catalunya having finished seventh and just 0.06s behind Espargaró.
Nicky Hayden made a step up towards the end of the session to move into eighth spot, with Colin Edwards and Marco Simoncelli also posting top-ten lap times.
The only crash of the session occurred 23 minutes in when Álvaro Bautista fell on his tenth lap whilst running fifth fastest, with his team checking to see if a problem with his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R had caused the crash. The rookie was back out shortly after and completed a further ten laps, eventually finishing 12th – one spot behind teammate Loris Capirossi – despite having banged his injured shoulder once again in the crash.
San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Marco Melandri was 14th, a brave ride from the Italian, who looked to be in some pain with the shoulder injury and fractured sternum he sustained in a practice crash at Assen just eight days ago.
Wataru Yoshikawa started his first GP weekend as Valentino Rossi’s substitute on the Fiat Yamaha team and was 17th fastest, just behind Kousuke Akiyoshi who continues to fill in for the injured Hiroshi Aoyama on the Interwetten Honda.
MotoGP FP1 |
1 Jorge Lorenzo 1m 43.259 SPA YAMAHA Fiat Yamaha Team 2 Casey Stoner 1m 43.412 AUS DUCATI Ducati Marlboro Team 3 Dani Pedrosa 1m 43.631 SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team 4 Andrea Dovizioso 1m 43.725 ITA HONDA Repsol Honda Team 5 Ben Spies 1m 43.854 USA YAMAHA Tech 3 Yamaha 6 Aleix Espargaro 1m 44.136 SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing 7 Randy De Puniet 1m 44.196 FRA HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP 8 Nicky Hayden 1m 44.440 USA DUCATI Ducati Marlboro Team 9 Colin Edwards 1m 44.551 USA YAMAHA Tech 3 Yamaha 10 Marco Simoncelli 1m 44.634 ITA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini 11 Loris Capirossi 1m 44.641 ITA SUZUKI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 12 Alvaro Bautista 1m 44.692 SPA SUZUKI Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 13 Mika Kallio 1m 44.745 FIN DUCATI Pramac Racing 14 Marco Melandri 1m 44.806 ITA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini 15 Hector Barbera 1m 45.004 SPA DUCATI Paginas Amarillas Aspar 16 Kousuke Akiyoshi 1m 47.757 JPN HONDA Interwetten Honda MotoGP 17 Wataru Yoshikawa 1m 48.015 JPN YAMAHA Fiat Yamaha Team
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— Yamaha Report
Fresh from consecutive wins at the last two races, Jorge Lorenzo continued his blistering run of form today by topping the time sheets on day one at Montmeló, his home track. Wataru Yoshikawa joined him on the other side of the garage, the Japanese filling in for the injured Valentino Rossi. In keeping with his recent trend, Lorenzo went to the top of the standings early on in the session and remained there throughout, completing 27 laps despite punishing temperatures in excess of 35 degrees. Despite the impressive lap times the Mallorcan, who lives just down the road in Barcelona, found he was lacking some rear grip on his M1 and he and his crew will concentrate on improving this tomorrow. He finished the day 0.153 seconds ahead of Casey Stoner. Yoshikawa has completed many miles on the M1 during testing but he admitted that the bike he rode today was a little different to the winter development prototype. The 41-year-old from Tokyo has also had to learn the track, having never ridden here before, but he was happy with his first day of work in the factory team and is looking forward to making a step forward tomorrow after finishing 17th today. Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 1stTime: 1’43.259Laps: 27 Wataru Yoshikawa – Position: 1st Time: 1’48.015 Laps: 24 Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager Davide Brivio – Team Manager Fifth for fast learner Spies in sunny Spain Ben Spies slipped seamlessly and impressively back into learner mode today, the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider quickly mastering the challenging Catalunya circuit near Barcelona with a supremely composed display. Temperatures soared to a physically demanding 37 degrees during the opening MotoGP practice session and Spies was able to produce a hot pace with a flying lap of 1.43.854. That put the reigning World Superbike champion in fifth place on the timesheets as the 25-year-old made significant progress with improving corner entry performance on his YZR-M1 machine. Methodically building up his speed on a track he’d never seen before, Spies was able to knock one second off his previous best lap time on his final quick lap to finish just 0.595s behind fastest rider Jorge Lorenzo. Using the harder front and rear Bridgestone tyre options to cope with the extreme track temperature that hit 53 degrees, Spies was just 0.129s behind Andrea Dovizioso in fourth to once again finish top non-factory rider. Fellow American Colin Edwards was also delighted with the progress he made with the turning performance of his Yamaha. Weight distribution changes gave Edwards much more confidence on corner entry and he put the modifications to good use. A best lap of 1.44.551 put him ninth with Edwards spending the entire session using the same hard compound Bridgestone rear tyre to gain crucial information in preparation for Sunday’s 25-lap race. Ben Spies – Position: 5thTime: 1’43.854Laps: 27 Colin Edwards – Position: 9th Time: 1’44.551Laps: 21 — Ducati Report Ducati Marlboro Team riders Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden began with the difficult task of finding a set-up to cope with the sizzling Spanish summer at Barcelona today, as the Grand Prix of Catalunya got underway in 37ºC ambient temperatures, with the track surface reaching 53ºC. Such conditions always take their toll on the riders, their bikes and in particular their tyres but both Stoner and Hayden made encouraging progress in the opening free practice. The Australian was happy to start out with a better base set-up than he has found in recent weeks, whilst the American struggled for edge grip in the first half of the session before making important steps forward in the final few minutes CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 2nd (1’43.412) NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Marlboro Team) 8th (1’44.440) — Repsol Honda Repsol Honda Team riders Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso clocked the third and fourth fastest times in the opening practice session for this weekend’s Grand Prix of Catalunya as the MotoGP series was given a very warm welcome back to Spain today. Air temperatures soared to 37 degrees and the track surface reached a tyre-sizzling 53 degrees as Pedrosa and Dovizioso lapped the fast, undulating curves of the Circuit de Catalunya. Though much attention will be focused on his Spanish team-mate this weekend, Dovizioso is confident he can also pose a serious challenge to the frontrunners. The Italian likes this circuit a lot and was quickly on the pace this afternoon, clocking a time just 0.094s back from Pedrosa’s. Dovizioso and his crew will focus on electronic settings tomorrow and is confident that the intense heat – which is forecast to continue for the rest of the weekend – could actually favour the power of the Honda RC212V. Sunday’s 25-lap race looks set to be a test of both machine speed and rider endurance. DANI PEDROSA – 3rd 1m 43.631s +0.372s ANDREA DOVIZIOSO – 4th 1m 43.725s +0.466s TOSHIYUKI YAMAJI – REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER — Suzuki Report Rizla Suzuki’s Alvaro Bautista started his home Grand Prix at Montmelo near Barcelona in promising style today before an unlucky crash hampered his preparations after only nine laps. Bautista (P12, 1’44.692, 20 laps) started the hour session very confidently and was running in the top-three in the early stages. As he began his second run on the Suzuki GSV-R around the 4,727m Circuit de Catalunya, he suffered from a technical issue that caused him to run off the track at high-speed. As he entered the gravel trap he decided to lay the bike down rather than run on into the wall. Bautista sustained no further injuries and was able to continue with the rest of the session when he returned to the pits, but he did aggravate his shoulder injury and will seek further medical advice this evening. Loris Capirossi and his crew made a major change to his GSV-R and they are sure this is the way to progress as he looks for the best set-up for his machine. Capirossi completed 23 laps and recorded a fastest time of 1’44.641. This was enough for a position just outside the top 10, but the gap between Capirossi and the riders in-front of him was much less than it has been in previous weeks and he is convinced he can close that further still over the weekend. Today’s belting sunshine made temperatures soar to a sweltering 37ºC, taking track temperatures up to a baking 53ºC. Spain’s Jorge Lorenzo recorded the fastest time of the day. Rizla Suzuki has one more practice session on Saturday morning, followed by qualifying in the afternoon. Sunday’s 25-lap race is round seven of the MotoGP World Championship, with the action getting underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT). Álvaro Bautista: Loris Capirossi: Paul Denning – Team Manager: — LCR Honda The opening day of free practice for seventh round of the season in Catalunya was conducted in perfect summer weather today with ambience temperature of 37C with LCR Honda MotoGP racer Randy De Puniet in good form again posting the 7th fastest time. The Frenchman riding the Honda RC212V circulated the Spanish circuit 26 times throughout the 60-minute hot free session clocking his fastest lap time on 1’44.196. De Puniet is the highest ranking non-factory rider one-third of the way through the 18-race calendar and arrived in Catalunya with the aim to maintain his position. He worked with his crew to adjust his machinery following the high surface temperature which rose up to 53C and, after the first run out, LCR crew is now analysing the data ahead tomorrows sessions. De Puniet – 7th- 1’44.196 — Bridgestone Report Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Medium, Hard. Rear: Hard, Extra Hard (asymmetric) The slick tyre specifications selected by Bridgestone for this weekend are the same as those used last year when Stoner lapped within 0.5seconds of Pedrosa’s lap record, so they are well used to dealing with such hot conditions. Tyre selection today was mixed as riders tried to get a feeling for both compounds whilst ensuring they have sufficient of the compound they think will be preferable for tomorrow’s qualifying session and Sunday’s race. Andrea Dovizioso finished less than 0.1seconds adrift of teammate Pedrosa in fourth, and newcomer to Catalunya Ben Spies was fifth for the Monster Yamaha Tech3 squad, just ahead of Pramac Racing’s Aleix Espargaro. Tohru Ubukata – Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department “Today the track temperature was high, but within our expectation and very similar to the conditions we saw here last year. Our slick tyre choices are the same here as they were in 2009 and I can say that both specs are performing well with Dani and Ben setting their best times on the softer rear. The left shoulder of the rear tyres is subject to quite low loads in Catalunya, so although the track and ambient temperatures are high, our soft compound rubber is required to generate good grip at a lower tyre temperature, particularly as the left shoulders have time to cool between turn ten and the next left-hander at turn two which are separated by four right-handers and the main straight. Most riders favoured the harder front tyre option although even front tyre choice was mixed with a few riders completing laps on the softer slick.” |
Moto2
Eager to delight a strong home crowd this weekend at Catalunya and with a Championship lead to maintain, Toni Elías made the perfect start by topping the opening practice session with a best lap of 1’48.425. The Gresini Racing Moto2 rider posted his effort on the 23rd of 25 laps, placing him 0.107s clear at the head of the timesheet. Following him was Sergio Gadea who is looking to return to the scoring positions this weekend after his run of registering points in every race so far was broken at Assen. At just over a tenth off Elías, Gadea was 0.09s faster than Shoya Tomizawa, although it is the Japanese rider who lies second in the Championship standings ahead of Sunday’s race. Interwetten Moriwaki Moto2 rider Tom Luthi continued to impress with the fourth fastest time, just eight-thousandths off Tomizawa. The Swiss rider, who has ridden in the last two races – finishing on the podium in each and currently lying third in the standings – with a damaged collarbone, only had surgery last Saturday after Assen but was again on the pace here in Catalunya. In fifth was Andrea Iannone, who comes into this weekend off the back of his second win of 2010 at Assen. Completing the top-eight positions were Gabor Talmacsi , Yonny Hernández and Julián Simón, with Jules Cluzel and Scott Redding both within 0.534s of Elías as they registered top-ten times as well. Vladimir Leonov, Iannone, Redding, Cluzel, Alex de Angelis and Raffaele De Rosa all ran off track, but none were prevented from completing the session as a result. 125cc Marc Márquez matched the scorching weather conditions in Barcelona on Friday afternoon by setting the hottest lap of FP1, topping the opening 125cc session of the weekend with a best time of 1’51.219. The Red Bull Ajo Motorsport rider is seeking his fourth straight win of 2010 at his home GP and made his intentions clear during the hour-long practice. Second on the timesheet and searching for his second podium of the season, Bradley Smith was 0.246s off Márquez with the British rider’s Bancaja Aspar team-mate and current Championship leader Nico Terol in third, over half a second off his colleague’s pace as he made himself the final rider under the 1’52” mark. Pol Espargaró, who crashed without injury during the session, was a further 0.019s back in fourth. The gap to fifth-placed Efrén Vázquez was far more substantial at 1.269s, just over two seconds off Márquez’s pace at the front. Jonas Folger, Sandro Cortese, Johann Zarco, Randy Krummenacher and Esteve Rabat were separated by less than two-tenths as they completed the top ten. British rider, Danny Webb, was 12th. As well as Espargaró there were crashes for wildcard rider Peter Sebestyen and Louis Rossi towards the end of the session with none experiencing any lasting effects. |
Moto2 FP1 | 125cc FP1 |
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