MotoGP 2012 – Round 12 – Brno
— Pedrosa quick at Brno
As the MotoGP™ classes got their first taste of the track for this weekend’s bwin Grand Prix České republiky at Brno it was Repsol Honda Team’s Dani Pedrosa who set the tone after posting the fastest time of the day in the premier-class ahead of Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso.
Set in hot conditions on the harder rear tyre, a lap in the high 1.56s placed him ahead of Yamaha Factory Racing’s Lorenzo, who was a surprise crasher half way through the afternoon session, focussing his efforts on the softer rear tyre. Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Andrea Dovizioso completed the top three as he continued his good form this season, finishing less that two tenths off the top. In fourth, his teammate Cal Crutchlow was having a good day as he put in a fast lap at the end of the afternoon practice, matching his performance of the morning. LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl set the fifth quickest time of the day, with the German even setting the fastest time in the first sector of the track.
Sixth place was occupied by Ducati Team’s Valentino Rossi, who had one of his best outings all season, finishing less than half a second off Pedrosa’s Honda. In seventh, Yamaha’s Ben Spies suffered a crash in the afternoon session, and was unable to better his time from the morning. San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Álvaro Bautista went eighth fastest, also crashing out in the afternoon with three minutes left after pushing for a faster lap. His best time was also set in the morning.
Power Electronics Aspar’s Randy de Puniet finished the day in ninth and as top CRT and was the only other rider in the top ten not to improve in the afternoon. His teammate Aleix Espargaró set the tenth fastest time of the day, yet also dropped his bike in the gravel with only two minutes left in the latter session. Pramac Racing Team’s Toni Elías, standing in for the injured Héctor Barberá was 11th. Avintia Blusens’ Yonny Hernandez caused the red flag to come out briefly for air-bag fence repairs, after crashing his bike for the second time in the day in the second practice, while Came IodaRacing Project’s Danilo Petrucci was a crasher in the morning session. None of the riders were hurt in the incidents.
1 Dani Pedrosa 1’56.858 SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
2 Jorge Lorenzo 1’56.911 SPA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing Team
3 Andrea Dovizioso 1’57.055 ITA YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
4 Cal Crutchlow 1’57.215 GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
5 Stefan Bradl 1’57.250 GER HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP
6 Valentino Rossi 1’57.315 ITA DUCATI Ducati Team
7 Ben Spies 1’57.446 USA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing Team
8 Alvaro Bautista 1’57.501 SPA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini
9 Randy De Puniet 1’58.667 FRA ART Aspar Team MotoGP
10 Aleix Espargaro 1’59.185 ESP ART Aspar Team MotoGP
11 Toni Elías 1’59.228 SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing
12 Karel Abraham 1’59.251 CZE DUCATI Cardion AB Motoracing
13 Yonny Hernandez 1’59.256 COL BQR-FTR BQR
14 Michele Pirro 1’59.833 ITA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini
15 Mattia Pasini 2’00.206 ITA ART Speed Master
16 Colin Edwards 2’00.296 USA SUTER NGM Mobile Forward Racing
17 Ivan Silva 2’00.773 SPA BQR-FTR BQR
18 James Ellison 2’01.137 GBR ART Paul Bird Racing
19 Danilo Petrucci 2’01.625 ITA IODA Ioda Racing Project
On the first day of free practice at the bwin Grand Prix České republiky in Brno it was Pons 40 HP Tuenti’s Pol Espargaró who set the fastest time ahead of Interwetten-Paddock’s Tom Lüthi and NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Alex de Angelis.
Espargaró set his quickest lap late in the morning session, when track conditions proved their most ideal. Lüthi on the other hand, who had been on the pace throughout the day, was on his best form in the afternoon until he crashed his bike 20 minutes before the end. And despite not being able to get back out on track, his time of 2.03’103 put him just a fraction behind the Spaniard. Third quickest was NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Alex de Angelis, finishing just ahead of Marc VDS Racing Team’s Scott Redding. The Brit had looked on record pace in the afternoon session, yet his best lap was scrapped, due to him cutting the track at turn two.
Came IodaRacing Project’s Simone Corsi put in a terrific performance for fifth, ahead of Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol’s Marc Márquez, who was less than two tenths down on the Italian. Speed Master’s Andrea Iannone clocked the seventh fastest time of the afternoon, as he looks to fight for the win once more like he did last year.
Redding’s teammate Mika Kallio, Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2’s Nico Terol and Italtrans Racing Team’s Claudio Corti, a crasher in the morning practice, completed the top ten. As well as Lüthi, other fallers included Desguaces La Torre SAG’s Marcel Schrötter, Corti’s teammate Takaaki Nakagami, Kiefer Racing’s Max Neukirchner and Espargaró’s teammate Axel Pons. Neukirchner’s fall resulted in a fracture of the third metacarpus in his right hand.
It was Blusens Avintia’s Maverick Viñales who went quickest on the first day of practice at the bwin Grand Prix České republiky in front of Jakub Kornfeil and Danny Kent by setting the top time in the afternoon session.
Spaniard Viñales was in scorching form on the opening day, as he posted the fastest time of 2.09’480 to make his intentions clear this weekend, having to make up for his DNF last time out. It was however local rider Kornfeil on board his Redox-Ongetta-Centro Seta that stole the show to take second spot of the day with a lap just under three tenths off the top. Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Danny Kent finished the day in third, doing well to recover from his crash in the morning.
AirAsia-SIC-Ajo’s Zulfahmi Khairuddin had led a large part of the afternoon practice, yet was unable to capitalise on this in the final stages. He nonetheless ended the day in a respectable fourth, ahead of San Carlo Gresini Moto3’s Niccolò Antonelli, who improved significantly on his showing in the morning session. RW Racing GP’s Luis Salom, last race’s winner, brought his bike home in sixth, over seven tenths off Viñales in top spot. Behind him, the morning’s pace setter, Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3’s Jonas Folger came in seventh, with Racing Team Germany’s Louis Rossi behind.
Red Bull KTM Ajo ‘s Sandro Cortese had a subdued day for his standards finishing ninth, and only jumped into that position after his final lap in the afternoon practice, with Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Miguel Oliveira completing the top ten. Oliveira’s teammate Alex Rins crashed out of the session with 16 minutes left, whilst MZ Racing’s Toni Finsterbusch did the same earlier in the afternoon. The morning session was also marred with crashes, as Mahindra Racing’s Ricardo Moretti took out Andalucia JHK T-Shirt Laglisse’s Alberto Moncayo, while Caretta Technology’s stand-in rider Michael Ruben Rinaldi slid off track at the same time as Technomag-CIP-TSR’s Alan Techer. Moretti suffered fractures to his number 6 and 7 ribs on his right side, while Techer was concussed, rendering him unfit for the race.
— Yamaha Report
Yamaha Factory Racing riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies were back on track today in Brno for the first sessions of the Grand Prix of Czech Republic. After a very difficult weekend in Indianapolis both riders were enjoying the fast flowing Brno circuit and were quick to find pace in the morning. Both were unfortunate to crash in the afternoon session but no injuries were sustained and both were able to continue. Spies crashed on his preferred bike set up, compromising the remainder of the second session riding with less ideal bike settings whilst Lorenzo was able to continue dueling with Dani Pedrosa for the top two positions.
Jorge Lorenzo / Position 2nd – Time: 1’56.911 – 19
“Today was much better than Indianapolis, we tried to improve the bike but we still need to find some solutions for more grip in the corners. I had a small crash in a slow corner, I tried to lean a little more and found the limit of the grip. I’m quite satisfied overall, we are there with Dani fighting for the best lap time every practice which is good.”
Ben Spies / Position 8th – Time: 1’57.446 – Laps 14
“The second session wasn’t great for us but the first session was really good. We went out in the afternoon and the bike was working really well but we had an older front tyre from the morning on. I just think I might have been pushing a little too hard at that point with the track temperature being a little hotter and we had a small low side crash. Unfortunately the second bike had a very different setting on it which I wasn’t comfortable on. It was too far off to really make a step forward. We know the pace is good with the original setting so we’ll work on improving that tomorrow.”
Wilco Zeelenberg – Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager
“An ok first day today, the small crash was a pity but nothing really damaged and no injuries. It’s very tight at the top; it looks like they are trying to get maximum grip out of the tyre and everyone seems to be struggling a little with similar issues. Let’s see for tomorrow if it can be a bit smoother and we can improve the lap time.”
Massimo Meregalli – Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director
“Ben had a little crash in the afternoon which compromised the second practice. Unfortunately we were trying two different set ups and the one he crashed with was the one that he was more comfortable with. The feeling he had with the other was not perfect. This morning he ran really well and is confident with the set up and the tyres. We’ll work on some improvements tonight and tomorrow I don’t think we’ll be far from the best set up.”
Dovizioso and Crutchlow impress in Brno practice
The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team enjoyed a positive start to the bwin Grand Prix Ceske Republiky today after Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow both mounted a strong challenge for the top three in hot and sunny conditions at the Brno circuit.
Dovizioso arrived back in Europe brimming with confidence after scoring his fifth podium in seven races at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway last weekend. And his impressive form continued today after a lap of 1.57.189 put the Italian in third position in this morning’s opening practice session.
With temperatures soaring to a demanding 28 degrees, Dovizioso improved his pace to a 1.57.055 this afternoon to finish third quickest again and his time was just 0.144s behind World Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo in second position.
British rider Crutchlow was also satisfied with his fast pace after he finished fourth fastest in both sessions. The 26-year-old made a confident start this morning with a lap of 1.57.418 and in the second session he was able to lower his pace to a 1.57.215.
Just 0.160s split Dovizioso and Crutchlow on the combined timesheets and both are optimistic that overnight tweaks to improve the set-up of their YZR-M1 machines they can fight for a front row start in tomorrow’s qualifying session ahead of Sunday’s 22-lap race.
Andrea Dovizioso / Position 3rd – Time: 1’57.055 – Laps 33
“I am really satisfied with the work we have done today. Obviously we arrive here in great shape after the fantastic podium in Indianapolis and immediately I was comfortable with the bike and the big positive is in both sessions I was very close to the front. I was only 0.186s behind Dani this morning and 0.197s behind him this afternoon and it is great to start the weekend being so competitive. In every race I have been on the podium this season I have not started this strongly, so hopefully this is a good indication that we will be very strong in the race on Sunday. The good thing about today is we can start to work immediately on improving the set-up of the bike because unlike in Indianapolis, the Brno track isn’t dirty and there was a lot of grip. I’d like it to be a little easier to make the lap time because it feels I am quite close to the limit on the front. But we have a plan for tomorrow that should help us in that area.”
Cal Crutchlow / Position 4th – Time: 1’57.215 – Laps 36
“Today wasn’t a bad start to the weekend because I was fourth in both sessions and very close to Andrea. But we can definitely make some improvements to the bike. This afternoon I struggled quite a lot with the hard tyre and we need to have a look at the data closely to get more of an understanding why. I’ve got good pace on the soft tyre and I’m convinced I can be a bit quicker because I didn’t put in a soft tyre until right at the end of this afternoon’s session. I feel confident for tomorrow and am sure we can challenge for a decent grid position for Sunday.”
— Ducati Report
The Ducati Team today began its preparations for Sunday’s Czech Republic Grand Prix, with Valentino Rossi posting the sixth-best time in the first two free-practice sessions.
On a sunny day with mild temperatures, the Italian rode at a good, consistent pace. On his fastest lap, his gap to the front was under half a second.
In the meantime, Nicky Hayden reported from the U.S. that the hand he injured in Indianapolis is improving and that he is confident he’ll be able to return for the Misano Grand Prix.
Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 6th (1:57.315)
“I’m happy because we went pretty well today, and in particular, the gap to the front makes us fairly optimistic. This is a beautiful track that I like a lot. It’s where I got my first win and my first world title, and we were also pretty strong here last year on the Ducati. Both of today’s sessions were good. We worked well, trying to find the best setup compromise for this circuit, and when we put on the soft tyre, we were finally able to improve the performance and to do a number of laps not too far from the leaders’ times. The pace is also decent. The riders ahead certainly still have some margin, so tomorrow, in addition to choosing which tyre to use in the race, we’ll have to try to improve a bit ourselves as well. At the moment, the soft is performing better, but we’ll see.”
— Bridgestone Report
Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium, Extra-hard. Rear: Medium, Hard (Asymmetric)
Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Soft (Main), Hard (Alternative)
Weather: FP1 – Dry. Ambient 26-26°C; Track 34-34°C (Bridgestone measurement)
FP2 – Dry. Ambient 29-29°C; Track 42-43°C (Bridgestone measurement)
Dani Pedrosa was fastest in both practice sessions today as the Repsol Honda rider topped yet another session in this year’s MotoGP™ championship.
After setting the best time in the morning FP1 session, Pedrosa set a time of 1’56.858 in FP2 to end the session and the day as the quickest rider, just 0.053 seconds ahead of Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo, while Monster Yamaha Tech3’s Andrea Dovizioso was third fastest overall with a time of 1’57.055.
Almost every rider set their best lap time of the day on the combination of the softer rear and harder front slicks at a circuit where having good rear grip for drive out of corners, and the highest amount of front-end stability for confidence under braking and in high-speed corners is of utmost importance. Some riders performed long runs on the softer rear slick in FP2 with feedback suggesting good levels of durability with this option for both the works and CRT bikes, with widespread evaluation of the harder option rear slick – which was seldom used today – expected to take place tomorrow.
Weather forecasts indicate a good chance of rain tomorrow with Bridgestone’s main wet tyre for this weekend being the soft compound, although every rider will also have access to a limited number of the alternative hard compound wet tyre. If rain does occur in between sessions tomorrow causing track conditions to deteriorate without leaving the tarmac fully wet, the superior warm-up performance and edge grip of the softer slick compounds will make these options more suitable to riders heading out on a damp but drying track.
The MotoGP™ riders will next take to the Brno circuit for FP3 at 1010 local time (GMT +2) before the one hour qualifying session begins at 1355.
Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department
“Today we had warm and dry weather with most riders preferring the combination of the harder front and softer rear slick. Rider feedback from both the works and CRT riders indicates that the softer rear option is working well, with good levels of grip being maintained over longer runs, though testing of the harder rear slick tomorrow will help teams decide which is the better race option for them. At this stage it looks like we could have rain tomorrow and perhaps Sunday, in which case we will have both the soft compound as well as a limited number of hard compound wet tyres on standby for riders to use. The top eight riders today set personal best lap times within six-tenths of a second of each other, so this bodes well for a closely fought qualifying session tomorrow.”
— Red Bull Rookies
Local hero Karel Hanika set a blistering pace in the 1st Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup qualifying session at Brno in the Czech Republic and though the pack closed on his time in the 2nd session it was still good enough to secure pole position for the 16 year old.
Cup leader Florian Alt cut the Czech’s advantage to just 0.111 seconds to take 2nd on a beautiful afternoon and the 16 year old German just managed to hold off the two 14 year old Spaniards Jorge Martin and Marcos Ramirez, both doing a great job on their first visit to Brno.
Though it is Hanika’s 1st Rookies Cup season he does know his home track well and was over half a second quicker than 2nd placed Scott Deroue in the 1st qualifying session. Hanika explained why he did not then improve. “The 2nd session did not go so perfectly for me. Once I over-revved the engine, I then came into the pits so the mechanics could check it as I didn’t want to damage it. Then towards the end I was on a fast lap but had a bit of a highsider coming through the last corner and that ruined 2 laps.”
“It’s OK though, I am happy with the time from the 1st session, the bike is working well and I think I can go a little faster in the race. Of course I am a little bit more nervous than at the other GPs but I think it helps me actually, it works for me.”
Similarly Alt was quite happy with his day’s work. “We improved the bike through the day, made the front a bit softer and slowed the rebound, that helped a lot so I was much happier in the 2nd qualifying session. The only thing against us was that I was in a big group, sometimes that was an advantage and sometimes not, but 2nd is certainly OK for the race.”
Martin was thrilled to complete the front row. “I am very happy with that. We changed the bike quite a lot through the day, both front and back. We got it working well at the end and I’m very happy with the time. I managed that riding on my own so I’m looking forward to the race, it’s a great track.”
His compatriot Ramirez agreed about the circuit. “I like the track, I really like the changes of direction, like big chicanes, a lot of fun. The bike was working well all day, we didn’t change much and I feel good for the race.”
Deroue, the 16 year old Dutchman, could not hold his 2nd place from the 1st session, slipping to 5th even though he went quicker. “For the race it is OK, I just couldn’t do any good laps at the end, I got a terrible headache and couldn’t concentrate for the last 4 laps or so. I guess it could be the heat, perhaps I didn’t drink enough today. I am sure it will be better tomorrow, it should be a great race.”
Completing the 2nd row is 15 year old Belgian Livio Loi who was quickest in the morning’s free training and 4th in the 1st qualifying. “I enjoyed that today. I came to race here a couple of months ago so that helped with getting on with the track this morning. The bike is great and I am looking forward to the race, I just need to get my neck sorted out, I am not sure what I did but I got a real pain in it towards the end of the last session.”
Cup champion in 2011, Lorenzo Baldassarri continues to struggle to find the same success and the 15 year old Italian lines up 12th. “Finally we got the bike working better towards the end but by then the tyres were destroyed. Early on I was really struggling. I think it should be good for the race.”
