MotoGP 2012 – Round 11 – Indianapolis
— Pole for Pedrosa; Stoner injured
In a dramatic Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix qualifying session that was marred with heavy crashes, it was Repsol Honda Team’s Dani Pedrosa who grabbed pole position in front of Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso. Pedrosa’s teammate Casey Stoner remains a doubt for tomorrow’s race, while Ducati Team’s Nicky Hayden has been ruled out after suffering concussion.
Pedrosa put in a new fastest ever lap in the high 1.38s, relegating Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo into second on the grid, after he had struggled with his bike in the preceding sessions. Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Andrea Dovizioso completes the front row, having improved steadily all weekend on his satellite machine. Heading up the second row in fourth is Lorenzo’s teammate Ben Spies, who did incredibly well to walk away from a big crash whilst pushing hard on a hot lap. LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl will be very pleased with his day’s work, after the German rookie managed to put his bike fifth on the grid.
Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner, who set the sixth fastest time, suffered a monstrous highside early in the session, causing the red flag to appear, which resulted in small marginal fractures in the ankle.. He is undergoing further checks at the Indianapolis Methodist Hospital to confirm his injury and determine his race fitness for tomorrow. In seventh place on the grid, Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow was unable to match his teammate’s feat, but will no doubt be pleased with his session, after having suffered two crashes in previous outings.
Ducati Team’s Nicky Hayden was viciously thrown off his bike in the same bend as Stoner and Spies (Turn 13), in the latter part of the session, briefly rendering him unconscious. The red flag was once again shown while Hayden received medical attention. He was spared any serious injuries, though has been declared unfit to race and fractures to his 2-3 metacarpus. His time would have placed him eighth on the grid. This moved San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Álvaro Bautista into eighth, with Power Electronics Aspar’s Randy de Puniet putting in a terrific performance to place ninth on his CRT machine.
Ducati’s Valentino Rossi could only manage 10th place, after suffering a scare in turn 13 with his bike, causing him to abort his fast lap. Attack Performance’s Steve Rapp and GPTech’s Aaron Yates, both CRT wildcards this weekend, managed to qualify for the race, in 22nd and 23rd place respectively. Many of the riders spoke out about the track surface after the qualifying session sighting safety concerns after the three heavy crashes.
Pramac Racing Team’s Héctor Barberá, who has been replaced by Toni Elías after fracturing three vertebrae in his back, is currently on his way back to Barcelona for further medical assessments.
1 Dani Pedrosa 1’38.813 SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
2 Jorge Lorenzo 1’38.913 SPA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing Team
3 Andrea Dovizioso 1’39.235 ITA YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
4 Ben Spies 1’39.279 USA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing Team
5 Stefan Bradl 1’39.437 GER HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP
6 Casey Stoner 1’39.465 AUS HONDA Repsol Honda Team
7 Cal Crutchlow 1’39.549 GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
8 Nicky Hayden 1’39.748 USA DUCATI Ducati Team
9 Alvaro Bautista 1’40.072 SPA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini
10 Randy De Puniet 1’40.437 FRA ART Aspar Team MotoGP
11 Valentino Rossi 1’40.763 ITA DUCATI Ducati Team
12 Aleix Espargaro 1’40.803 ESP ART Aspar Team MotoGP
13 Yonny Hernandez 1’41.197 COL BQR-FTR BQR
14 Karel Abraham 1’41.295 CZE DUCATI Cardion AB Motoracing
15 Mattia Pasini 1’41.370 ITA ART Speed Master
16 Michelle Pirro 1’41.449 ITA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini
17 Toni Elías 1’41.866 SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing
18 James Ellison 1’41.978 GBR ART Paul Bird Racing
19 Danilo Petrucci 1’42.553 ITA IODA Ioda Racing Project
20 Colin Edwards 1’42.599 USA SUTER NGM Mobile Forward Racing
21 Ivan Silva 1’42.768 SPA BQR-FTR BQR
22 Steve Rapp 1’43.673 USA N/A Attack Performance
23 Aaron Yates 1’44.312 USA N/A GP Tech
Under sunny skies at the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix it was Pons 40 HP Tuenti’s Pol Espargaró who stormed to pole position in front of Marc Márquez and Andrea Iannone in Moto2™ qualifying.
Espargaró put in yet another record-breaking lap with a 1.42’602 to beat his compatriot Márquez on board the Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol Suter machine. The championship leader was pushing hard towards the end of the session to try and put his bike on pole, causing some near falls whilst dodging other lapping traffic. Speed Master’s Andrea Iannone looked to have no such troubles as he put his machine on the outside of the front row, improving drastically from the morning practice.
Blusens Avintia’s Julián Simón made a rare appearance at the front and will undoubtedly be pleased with today’s efforts, as he looks to get back to fighting for a podium step. Technomag-CIP’s Dominique Aegerter was also on top form as he placed him machine in fifth, with Marc VDS Racing Team’s Scott Redding completing the second row. Redding, who had been quick all weekend, sighted a slipping clutch as one of the issues he was having during qualifying.
Italtrans Racing Team’s Claudio Corti heads the third row, ahead of Redding’s teammate Mika Kallio and Interwetten-Paddock’s Tom Lüthi. Lüthi still looked to be struggling at the Indianapolis circuit, where he has failed to find his rhythm in any session so far. Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2’s Nico Terol however continued his resurgence in form as he put his Suter in the top ten. NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Alex de Angelis crashed his FTR early on, yet was able to re-join and finish the session in 16th.
It was Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Sandro Cortese who was on top from during an eventful qualifying for the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix as he took a superb pole position ahead of Danny Kent and Maverick Viñales.
The session got off to a bad start as Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3’s Héctor Faubel suffered a huge highside in the final turn, sending him summersaulting over the handlebars. Qualifying was red-flagged for approximately ten minutes while Faubel was taken to the medical centre, where he was cleared of any serious injury. He was however been taken to Indianapolis Methodist Hospital which revealed a belly trauma with abdominal free liquid. He will be kept there overnight and reassessed in the morning.
Once proceedings got back under way it was Cortese who put in a top time of 1.48’545 to earn him a start from the front in tomorrow’s race. Lining up next to him in second is teammate Kent who will be frustrated that he was pipped to pole by a very small margin. Blusens Avintia’s Viñales completes the front row after being caught up in traffic on his final laps.
The second row is headed by RW Racing GP’s Luis Salom, with fifth spot on the grid going to AirAsia-SIC-Ajo’s Zulfahmi Khairuddin. Sixth place is occupied by Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Alex Rins, who was unable to repeat his practice performance. JHK Laglisse’s Efrén Vázquez finished the qualifying session in seventh, after having to abort a fast lap in the final seconds. Next to him in eighth, Team Italia FMI’s Romano Fenati put in a solid showing, while completing the third row in ninth is Andalucia JHK Laglisse’s Alberto Moncayo.
The session was marred with further accidents, as Caretta Technology’s Jack Miller suffered an unfortunate crash shortly after the restart, which saw his bike slide into and take out JHK Laglisse’s Adrián Martín. The Spaniard was able to re-join, yet Miller broke his left collarbone for the second time this season, having also broken the right side this year.
With only ten minutes left, San Carlo Gresini Moto3’s Niccolò Antonelli added to the crash list with a tumble at turn 11, though was able to ride back to the pits. This was followed shortly by Mahindra Racing’s Danny Webb, who highsided his machine at turn four, sighting serious pain in his right arm and wrist. New addition to the Moto3 field, Ambrogio Next Racing’s Alex Márquez, suffered three crashes throughout the session, with the latter one, a big highside, bringing out the red flag with only 23 seconds left on the clock. Márquez also went to the medical centre sighting pain in his foot.
— HRC Report
— HRC Report
It was a day of mixed fortunes for the Honda team in MotoGP qualifying at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa earned his third pole position of the season with the fastest ever lap by a motorcycle at the famed 4.216Km Brickyard, while team-mate Casey Stoner ended up in the medical centre after a vicious high-side crash early in the twice red flag-interrupted one hour session, held on a warm, sunny day in Speedway, Indiana.
The team-mates had dominated practice for the 11th round of the 2012 MotoGP World Championship. Stoner was fastest in Free Practices 1 and 3, with Pedrosa second in both sessions. Pedrosa was fastest in FP2-Stoner was second-and again in qualifying.
Once Pedrosa took command of qualifying, just over 22 minutes into the session, he was never headed. Over the course of the final 38 minutes he strengthened his pole position three times, ending with a new fastest ever lap of 1m, 38.813s. Stoner held the circuit best lap of 1m, 38.850s from 2011. It did not hurt that he also clocked the fastest ever top speed by a motorcycle at IMS, 335.5Km/h
Pedrosa’s MotoGP pole tally reached 22 all-time, two at IMS, and three this year; he was also on pole at Le Mans and Mugello.
Stoner was one of three riders to fall victim to the same section of track, the double left turns 13-14. The reigning world champion was exiting turn 13 when the rear of Repsol Honda RC213V came around, caught traction, and spat him into the air. Stoner landed face down, first hitting his toes and knees. When he tried to stand up his knees buckled. He was transported to the infield care centre where it was initially determined he may have a torn ligament in his right ankle. With debris on the track, the session was red flagged.
Stoner was fastest at the time of his crash, but fell to sixth overall.
The team will make a decision later this evening on Stoner’s fitness to race on Sunday.
Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP RC213V) had his second best qualifying performance of the season.
The German MotoGP rookie qualified fifth fastest-he had been fourth in Assen-on his first visit to the Brickyard on a MotoGP machine. Bradl had shown promise in the cooler morning temperatures by finishing fourth fastest, then took advantage of the warmer track in the afternoon to up his pace on the softer option rear tyre.
Alvaro Bautista (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC213V) qualified ninth fastest after his work programme was interrupted by the red flags. (In addition to the Stoner red flag, a second one came with only eight minutes remaining.) The Spaniard and his crew were trying to make the most of the hard rear tyre, the presumptive race rubber, but the interruptions made it difficult to get a gauge on their effectiveness. And when he fitted the softer option his lap times did not improve.
San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Michele Pirro also could no make the most of the softer tyres. The Italian MotoGP rookie, attacking the Brickyard for the first time on the Honda-powered San Carlo Honda Gresini CRT machine, ended up setting his fastest time on well worn hard rear tyre. Pirro qualified 16th in the top half of the CRT pack.
The Moto2 class had an extended summer break following the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello. The time off served Pol Espargaro (Pons 40 HP Tuenti – Kalex) well, with the Spaniard taking his second pole in a row and third of the year after the four weekend respite.
Espargaro finished the session with a new Moto2 circuit best lap of 1m, 42.602s, lowering the previous time of 1m, 44.038s set last year by title rival Marc Marquez (Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol – Suter).
In addition to poles here and in Italy, Espargaro earned his first pole at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, a race he won.
Marquez had been the fastest rider until the 22-minute mark when Espargaro dropped him to second. Marquez spent the rest of the hour trying to regain his supremacy, only to fall short by .231s. Still, he hasnbeen on the front row for every race except Silverstone, where he qualified fifth.
Marquez enters Sunday’s tenth round of the Moto2 World Championship 34 points ahead of Espargaro and Andrea Iannone, the Speed Master – Speed Up rider who qualified third. Iannone was an identical distance from Marquez that Marquez was from Espargaro, .231s.
Iannone concentrated on his race set-up and testing tyre durability during much of qualifying.
Maverick Vinales (Blusens Avintia FTR-Honda) qualified on a very tight front row and top 12 for Sunday’s Moto3 race. Vinales was third fastest behind KTM team-mates Sandro Cortese and Danny Kent, but less than a tenth of a second from pole.
Vinales starts the second half of the season trailing Cortese by nine points (164-155) and after having ended the first half with a win from pole in the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello.
Alex Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Suter Honda) was sixth fastest and exactly half a second from the pole time.
Just behind Rins came JHK Laglisse FTR-Honda rider Efren Vazquez. Vazquez was .529s off pole and one of 12 riders on the same second as the pole-sitter.
MotoGP Rider Quotes: Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: Pole position – 1m, 38.813s “It was a tricky session because the asphalt was very slippery and we saw many nasty crashes already in Moto3 and then in MotoGP. It felt that you could control the slide, but suddenly many riders found themselves on the floor. It was crucial to keep the concentration on our riding and not make any mistake and achieve the lap time. To be in pole position is great at a track where the first sector is very tight and it’s always good to have a clean start. We did a very good job today, testing the tyres, working on the bike and being ready for the hot laps. I feel we have a good setting for tomorrow. We are confident for the race, but other riders look strong as well. (Jorge) Lorenzo picked up his pace, (Ben) Spies is strong here and I hope Casey has nothing serious and can be on the grid. We will need to fight at the maximum tomorrow.”
Stefan Bradl, LCR Honda MotoGP: 5th – 1m, 39.437s “I am very pleased with the adjustments we made on the bike and P5 is a good place for us. Basically we are quite fast on both tyres: we had a good pace on hard tyre and I was expecting a bit more from the soft one, but it’s okay anyway. I think we have a good race pace and a good overall package because today I felt very comfortable on the bike. The qualifying session was a bit weird with a lot of crashes. I found it a bit dangerous because out of the ideal line the surface was very slippery. The grip surely improved from yesterday but the track condition is perfect.”
Alvaro Bautista, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 9th – 1m, 40.072s “We worked hard today and took a step forward with the setting from yesterday although it is still not where we want it. In the afternoon we concentrated on getting some race data on the hard tyres and unfortunately the red flag interrupted us. Anyway, I was happy with our pace. On the soft tyre I actually had less grip and couldn’t improve my lap times or grid position, but I am confident for the race and with a good start I think I can be fighting for a top result.”
Michele Pirro, San Carlo Honda Gresini: 16th – 1m, 41.449s “Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make the most of the new tyres and so my best lap was on the hard option with ten laps on it. It’s a shame but the positive thing is that the race pace is close to the guys in front of me and if I get a good start we can be with them in the race.”
Moto2 Rider Quotes:
Pol Espargaro, Pons 40 HP Tuenti – Kalex: Pole position, 1m, 42.602s “I am very happy with this third pole position of the season, achieved with an amazing time that I didn’t think I was going to make yesterday afternoon. The track is complicated and the asphalt is very special, but we have adapted to it and I managed to be the fastest. To be the first on the grid does not guarantee anything and I know that tomorrow will be a tough race. And not just Marc (Marquez), because surely (Andrea) Iannone, (Scott) Redding and some others will also be there to put forward difficult races. I’ve always been on the podium at this circuit, four times and with a win in the 125cc class, and I hope the fifth tomorrow, possibly ahead of Marquez to close the gap that he has in the standings.”
Andrea Iannone, Speed Master – Speed Up: 3rd, 1m, 43.064s “I’m very happy for the result we got today. Yesterday we were struggling a little, but we worked hard and we managed to improve the set up of my bike and to achieve a good feeling. Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaró were very fast since the beginning of the session. The race of tomorrow will be tough and there’ll be some great battles. We’ll do our best and we’ll see what happens.”
Moto3 Rider Quotes: Maverick Vinales, Blusens Avintia – FTR Honda, 3rd – 1m, 48.643s “I am fairly satisfied with how we are progressing, step-by-step. We will continue working in tomorrow’s warmup to continue our improvement. I am satisfied with the times that we are setting and motivated for tomorrow. The KTM bikes are performing better at this GP and we will have to put up with that this time, but soon we will get to tracks at which we have the advantage.”
Alex Rins, Estrella Galicia 0,0 – Suter Honda, 6th – 1m, 49.045s “I am satisfied with the performance of the team today, despite there being a few aspects that we will need to improve tomorrow. We got a good time in the afternoon, although some problems with the rear slowed us down a little. In any case, I am calm about tomorrow and sure that my team will solve these problems for tomorrow. (Sandro) Cortese has the best pace at the moment, but the race will be run in groups and we have to be up at the front in order to fight alongside the rest.”
— Yamaha Report
Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo gave it everything this afternoon in an incident packed qualifying session to take second on the grid for tomorrow’s Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Having struggled to find pace all weekend the team made a big step for qualifying, dramatically improving his speed and resulting in a qualifying time just 0.1 seconds from pole.
Team mate Ben Spies continued to show the impressive pace he’s displayed all weekend for qualifying. The Texan looked on target for a record breaking pole lap nearly half a second clear until a big high side between T13 and T14. The difficult track conditions at that corner also claimed Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden with serious crashes. Spies was able to rejoin for the last eight minutes of qualifying but was unable to improve on his time so will start from fourth on the grid tomorrow with a time 0.4 seconds from pole.
Jorge Lorenzo / Position : 2nd Time: 1’38.913 Laps: 29
“A really tough weekend so far, I really thought I wouldn’t be able to deliver but finally we modified the bike a lot with some weight on the rear to enter the corners with more confidence. I felt great as a result, could lean a lot and open the throttle quickly so I got second and was close to Dani. We don’t have a bad pace but not as good as Dani yet, we need to improve a little in the morning.”
Ben Spies / Position : 4th Time: 1’39.279 Laps: 26
“My shoulder is really sore after that crash, maybe some torn ligaments so it’s pretty painful. I’m getting some treatment and we’ll see how it is tomorrow. It’s frustrating as we’ve been going really well all weekend and I’ve been feeling really confident with the bike, I think we could have been on pole. The track surface is pretty tricky at the end there, it seems to have caught a few people today.”
Wilco Zeelenberg / Team Manager
“A very positive qualifying, Jorge found a way to ride the infield better to go with the bike improvements, over a second quicker than this morning. We’re happy with the result and the consistency which is important for tomorrow’s race so let’s see what happens.”
Massimo Meregalli / Team Director
“Everything was perfect for qualifying apart from the last 500 metres of Ben’s great lap. His rhythm is very good which is important. Unfortunately due to the crash Ben is very sore now and we hope he will be ok to ride tomorrow. Jorge did a great job, they solved the problems and he found his speed so it will be an interesting race tomorrow. It’s going to be quite hot so I think the physical condition will make the difference.”
A Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider will start from the front row of the grid for the fifth time this season after Andrea Dovizioso set the third fastest time in an incident-packed MotoGP qualifying session at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway today.
In a session twice red flagged after reigning World Champion Casey Stoner and home crowd favourite Nicky Hayden fell heavily, Dovizioso produced a confident display to secure only his second front row start of the 2012 campaign.
Qualifying took place in gloriously sunny conditions with temperatures reaching close to 25 degrees and Dovizioso started the session confident he could challenge for a top three grid position.
The Italian rider had worked closely with his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew to improve grip throughout the weekend and he ended practice this morning in a morale-boosting fifth place after clocking a best time of 1.40.018.
Dovizioso, who is bidding for a fifth rostrum of the season in tomorrow’s 28-lap race, was an impressive 0.8s faster in qualifying and his best lap of 1.39.235 clinched his first front row start since the French Grand Prix at Le Mans.
British rider Cal Crutchlow will head the third row of the grid after he qualified in seventh position. A small crash this morning left the 26-year-old in ninth position at the end of practice but he too was able to demonstrate a significantly faster pace in qualifying to lap almost a second quicker.
Crutchlow set a best time of 1.39.549 and he was only 0.112s away from the top five and he is optimistic that he will be in the mix for another strong finish in tomorrow’s race.
Andrea Dovizioso / Position 3rd – Time 1.39.235 – Laps 30
“Honestly I didn’t really expect to be on the front row today because Ben and Casey have both been very fast all weekend and I knew it was going to be difficult to finish in front of them. I am sorry for what happened to them but I am really happy to be on the front row because that is always important. It is even more at this track beca use the first section is very tight and it will be important to try and break with the leading group. I’m sure I could have gone a little bit faster but I was just on a new tyre when Nicky crashed and the red flags came out again. I am looking forward to the race now because we have improved the bike in each session and made some really positive progress. I am confident that we can make another step forward for tomorrow but the race is going to be very hard. This track is very slippery and you really have to pay attention and at the end of the race there will be a lot of sliding. I am sure I can fight close to the front to put myself in contention for a strong result.”
Cal Crutchlow / Position 7th – Time 1.39.549 – Laps 27
“I’m reasonably happy to be starting from seventh on the grid but obviously it would have been good to be further up the grid. The first couple of corners here are really tight, so you have to be pretty careful to avoid any trouble. If I can get away with those guys at the front I can do a good job but it is going to be a tough battle. There is a big group of guys close together, so there could be some close action out there tomorrow. For qualifying we made some good steps with the set-up of the bike but it was mayhem out there to try and go fast and get in a clean lap. Everybody was holding each other up and you’d waste a lot of time just cruising around trying to get space. That’s why I’m seventh but I felt I could have done a better job but I’ve got no excuses. I’ve got to get a good start and try and get away with the leading group.”
— Ducati Report
After a positive start to the day for Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden, who were able to further reduce their gaps to the front during the third free-practice session, the Ducati Team experienced a difficult qualifying session.
Approximately ten minutes from the end of the session, Nicky Hayden crashed in Turn 14 while on a fast lap with the soft tyre. After an initial check at the track’s Medical Center, the American was transferred to Indianapolis’ Methodist Hospital, where additional examinations revealed two small, non-displaced fractures to the second and third metacarpal on his right hand. The results of the CAT were negative, and the American should be discharged this evening or tomorrow morning, but in any case he won’t take part in the Grand Prix.
Valentino Rossi was confident after the practice session that he would be able to lower his time again in qualifying, but he wasn’t ultimately able to improve on the time he had set in cooler conditions.
Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 11th (1:40.763)
“It’s a shame because this morning went pretty well. I was able to do some good laps both with the hard tyre and the soft, and in the end I wasn’t so far off, actually lapping on the pace of the second group. That made me optimistic, and I thought that I could go 1’39” in qualifying, but I wasn’t even able to match my time from free practice. I didn’t have rear grip, and the rear tyre was sliding a lot. On the last fast lap, I had a big risk in the same turn where Nicky crashed. This track has strange asphalt that has less grip than what we’re used to but that still wears the tyres. For that reason, we have tyres with stiffer carcases at our disposition here. We’ll try to make some changes for tomorrow in order to gain a bit more grip, and we’ll see what my race pace is.”
— Bridgestone Report
Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium, Extra-hard. Rear: Medium, Hard (Asymmetric)
Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Hard (Main), Soft (Alternative)
Weather: FP1 – Dry. Ambient 19-22°C; Track 29-34°C (Bridgestone measurement)
FP2 – Dry. Ambient 25-27°C; Track 49-51°C (Bridgestone measurement)
Dani Pedrosa was again the quickest rider at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Repsol Honda setting a new pole position record to take the top slot on the grid for tomorrow’s Indianapolis Grand Prix.
Pedrosa set a lap time of time of 1’38.813 on his twenty-fifth lap of the session to finish 0.100 seconds ahead of Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo who found some pace after a difficult FP3 session where he was only seventh fastest. Completing the front row was Monster Yamaha Tech3’s Andrea Dovizioso who claimed his first front-row start for his new team. Power Electronics Aspar’s Randy de Puniet was top CRT rider in qualifying, the Frenchman setting an impressive time of 1’40.437 to qualify tenth on the grid for tomorrow’s race and just 1.6 seconds off the pole position time.
With track temperatures heading towards 50°C for the start of qualifying, most riders selected the harder option slicks front and rear for the first half of the qualifying session, before the field switched to the softer rear slicks when trying to set a quick time towards the end of the session. With similar track temperatures expected for tomorrow’s race, tyre choice could trend towards the harder compound options front and rear.
The lights will go out for tomorrow’s race at 14:00 local time (GMT -4), though before that the riders will take to the track for the 20 minute Warm Up session that starts at 9:40.
Masao Azuma – Chief Engineer, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department
“We had warmer weather today which pushed track temperatures past 50°C in qualifying and so teams used the first half of the session to do race simulations as we can expect similar temperatures tomorrow. Based on feedback from today’s sessions, at this stage we expect most riders, particularly those on works bikes, to select the harder slick tyres front and rear for the race, though some CRT riders could still opt for the softer rear option. Tyre temperatures recorded during the race simulations were well within operating limits, so our special construction rear slicks are coping well with the demands of this circuit.”