Results, reports notes and quotes from MotoGP day one at Silverstone

Grand Prix motorcycles returned to Silverstone for the first time in over two decades today as MotoGP landed at the iconic British track. Jorge Lorenzo, the sole representative of the Fiat Yamaha Team whilst Valentino Rossi is recovering from injury at home, took to the new track with aplomb, finishing the day at the top of the standings in a session cut slightly short by rain. After sunshine had greeted the paddock yesterday, today was much cooler and the track temperature did not climb much above 20 degrees throughout the session. Lorenzo was nonetheless determined to get to grips with the new circuit and completed 23 laps, more than any other rider this afternoon. With just under ten minutes to go he put in his best time of the day and moved into first place, remaining the only rider to dip under the 2’06 mark. Casey Stoner was second and Andrea Dovizioso third.

Jorge Lorenzo – 1st, Time 2.05.991, Laps: 23
“I’m happy with our first day’s work here at Silverstone and I’ve really enjoyed the new circuit; it’s fast and fun to ride. We’ve worked really hard and I’ve ridden a lot of laps in order to begin to understand every corner and every straight. Unfortunately it was cold today and the asphalt was cold too, which meant that without any reference points in the beginning it was quite difficult, but hopefully tomorrow and Sunday will be better. Then in the last three minutes it started to rain so we decided to stop. We made a good start and then step-by-step I improved, so I think we are in good shape for a good race weekend. We will continue in the same way tomorrow and aim for the front row.”

Wilco Zeelenberg – Team manager Jorge Lorenzo
“The target was to learn the track in a safe way and Jorge did well in this task, starting gently and learning step-by-step, without forcing himself into mistakes. The bike feels great with some really good points and some that could be a bit better – for example in the exit of the corners – but we are in good shape. We think we can improve more but we’re already feeling strong. Tomorrow everyone will know the track better and therefore be faster but hopefully we will be too!”

Spies and Edwards get to grips with spectacular Silverstone

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team successfully navigated new territory today with Ben Spies and Colin Edwards making a positive start to the first British MotoGP race to be staged at the spectacular Silverstone track in over two decades.

The Texan pairing made significant progress throughout the opening session this afternoon, Spies and Edwards wasting no time in working on fine-tuning their machine settings to suit the challenging 3.667-miles layout as MotoGP returned to Silverstone for the first time since 1986. Spies was once again in impressive form, the 25-year-old taking his time to build up his speed before his challenge picked up serious momentum in the closing stages.

A best lap of 2.07.250 saw the reigning World Superbike champion finish fifth quickest before heavy rain started to fall in the final five minutes to bring a premature end to proceedings. Edwards has raced at Silverstone previously in his successful World Superbike career, but any knowledge of the venue counted for little with the circuit impressively transformed by a £5m revamp. Despite finishing outside of the top ten in 12th, Edwards is confident that he can make big strides tomorrow with the experienced American planning overnight changes to make his YZR-M1 more agile through the fast sections of the circuit.

Ben Spies 5th 2.07.250 – 19-laps
“It is a super fun track with a really cool design. It is really fast in a lot of places and I really like the fast right and left combination where they are building the new pits and paddock. And coming out of the first corner you are really picking up a lot of speed before that twisty part and it is all about finding the limit, learning how deep you can run it in. It was a decent session though it took me a while to get going. With everybody shooting in the dark in terms of set-up, we were missing a little bit in places with the gearbox setting but overall I’m happy. I think everybody will improve quite a bit tomorrow and I know I can be much faster. I tried a completely different set-up to Mugello and that has helped in a couple of places and towards the end I was getting more comfortable with it. We can improve the bike, particularly with the gearbox, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow now we’ve got some experience and information on the track.”

Colin Edwards 12th 2.08.525 – 21-laps
“The track is absolutely awesome and hats off to Silverstone because they did a fantastic job. The first corner is cool and then you’re flat-out going all the way to the twisty section and you really need to be brave at that point. It is so fast and reminds me of Phillip Island where you can really push the bike to the limit of its performance and the whole lap is just fast, flowing and really challenging. It’s just a lot of fun and they’ve done a great job. You’re going so fast that it takes time to get your brain in gear so you can work out how to go faster. I know there were some concerns about bumps. There are some out there but definitely no more than any other track. I’m only 12th which isn’t fantastic but I know there is a lot more to come. The bike at the moment just feels a bit heavy and not just in the change of direction. It is a bit of an effort just to get the bike back upright from maximum lean angle, but we know we can make it better for tomorrow and get it feeling easier.”

—  Ducati Report

Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden made their debut at the new Silverstone circuit today, as the British Grand Prix got underway beneath grey and cloudy skies, with light rainfall appearing at the end of the opening free practice. The pair set about finding a setting for the fast and spectacular track, which remains bumpy in the first couple of sections, which are part of the old layout and have not been relaid.

Stoner and Hayden finished the session with the second and tenth fastest lap times respectively after trying a variety of set-up solutions, with more work to do tomorrow.

CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 2nd (2’06.133)
“The layout of the track is simply fantastic. It is great fun to ride and some of the corners are awesome. Unfortunately there are a few bumps on the ‘old’ part of the track where the asphalt hasn’t been relaid but when they get around to doing it I think we can safely say it will be one of the best circuits in the world. We’ve worked hard on the set-up today and for the moment we are still looking for the right solution. The bike was a little too stiff for the bumps and it was difficult to find the limit or understand how fast we can really go. We’ll make some changes tomorrow and hope the weather is good to us.”

NICKY HAYDEN (Ducati Marlboro Team) 10th (2’08.300)
“The first impressions of the circuit are good I just do not like that much the first chicanes and we need to make the bike a bit more manageable there. The surface is more smooth on the second half of the lap where the grip also is better. I was on the pace for the first part of the session, then we tried some set-up changes on the second bike and they didn’t work out how we planned. We dropped back so I got back on my first bike but only got a couple of laps in before the rain came. I would have preferred the opportunity to stay out there until the very end to keep learning the track but all in all I think it was a positive enough first day for us.”

—  Repsol Honda

The Repsol Honda pair of Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa finished in third and sixth places in MotoGP free practice today as the Road Racing World Championship returned to the Silverstone circuit for the first time since 1986. With a track layout that is totally new to the riders and crews – save for the few laps they completed on a scooter yesterday – today’s single session was very much about assessing the new circuit, establishing the basic racing line and confirming the gear ratios and machine settings they will work on tomorrow.

Dovizioso spent significant time at the top of the timesheets today and was immediately comfortable on his RC2121V on Silverstone’s bumpy surface. The Italian rider won last year’s British Grand Prix at Donington Park and is determined to extend his run of three podiums from the first four races of 2010 on Sunday. At 5.902km (3.667 miles), the new Silverstone circuit has the longest lap on the MotoGP calendar and Dovizioso’s best lap today of 2.06.347s reflected this. The next longest lap is at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia (5.548km, 3.447 miles) where the race lap record is 2m 02.108s.

Pedrosa took his usual methodical approach to learning a new track and upped his pace steadily through the session, finishing with a lap time 1.239s behind his team-mate. Like Dovizioso, he enjoyed his first encounter with the Silverstone circuit and also commented on the bumpy surface. The 24-year-old Spaniard, who is looking for back-to-back wins after his victory in Mugello two weeks ago, is confident there’s plenty more to come in tomorrow’s practice and qualifying sessions. Pedrosa’s RC212V was the fastest machine through the speed trap today recording a top speed of 310.8km/h (193.2mph). Dovizioso was second fastest on 309.5km/h (192.3mph).

Today’s first practice session was held in cool, cloudy conditions and with five minutes to go rain brought proceedings to a halt just at the time when the fastest laps of the session are usually set. The weather is set to improve through the weekend with sun forecast for Sunday’s 20-lap race, which begins at 13.00 (GMT +1 hour).

ANDREA DOVIZIOSO – 3rd – 2m 06.347s +0.356s
“The first impressions of Silverstone are very positive. It’s a technical track, very fast and I had a lot of fun riding here today. There are different kinds of asphalt but this is not an issue, the main difficulty is the bumps. There are many bumps and it’s difficult to control the bike because of these. I’m happy that I managed to interpret the track layout quite quickly from the beginning of the session. I had a good feeling with the bike and I think that we are starting from a good base. I also think there is a lot of room of improvement and we didn’t push too much at the end because it started raining. We didn’t test the new frame we have available here because it was important to learn the new circuit first. I hope we will have dry conditions tomorrow and for race day. Anyway the weather forecast is good so I’m optimistic we can have another good weekend.”

DANI PEDROSA – 6th – 2m 07.586s +1.595s
“It’s funny because there was a very precise forecast of rain to arrive at 2.50pm and that’s exactly when it came – with five minutes to go – so in fact we were very lucky to have most of the session with a dry track on our first visit to Silverstone. It’s quite good fun to ride at this circuit – and it’s also pretty bumpy. You can feel the difference between the old and the new parts of the track because the old sections are bumpy and slippery whereas the new sections are quite good. There are two or three very fast corners and some long straights, and obviously we’ve started with an approximation of the right gearing and we will need to adjust this a little bit. I think that the lap times will be very different tomorrow. At the beginning of the session we had a lot of traffic because everyone was checking the track. I didn’t really push today for a lap time – I preferred to check my braking points and get my bearings. The circuit was also quite dirty especially at the start of the session, but I think it will improve tomorrow and the times will come down a lot.”

TOSHIYUKI YAMAJI – REPSOL HONDA TEAM MANAGER
“This was a positive start for the Repsol Honda Team on our return to Silverstone. Both riders have learned a lot in this session and I’m sure their times will improve rapidly through the weekend, which is usually the case, but especially so at a new circuit. The surface is quite bumpy and we need to work on the right settings for this, but overall our machine package seems to be working well here so far.”

—  Suzuki Report

Rizla Suzuki has completed the first day of practice at the British Grand Prix with Álvaro Bautista and Loris Capirossi taking their time to become accustomed to the new circuit at Silverstone.

Bautista (P13, 2’08.666, 19 laps) was certainly more comfortable on his Suzuki GSV-R today than at Mugello recently, as he still battles back to full fitness from his recent injuries. He made steady progress throughout the session and was pleased with his first day’s effort, but realises that improvements still need to be made by both him and the bike as the weekend progresses.

Capirossi (P15, 2’09.805, 16 laps) found the going tough today as he struggled to find the grip he was looking for around the 5,902m Silverstone circuit. Capirossi and his crew made some major changes to the Suzuki GSV-R in the session and at the end of the hour he believed they had made steps in the right direction that should come to fruition tomorrow.

Today’s practice was held in very overcast conditions with track temperatures only getting up to 21ºC, the fastest time of the day was set by Jorge Lorenzo on his factory Yamaha.

Rizla Suzuki has one more practice session tomorrow morning to get everything in place for the qualifying in the afternoon. Sunday’s 20-lap race is round five on the calendar and the main event gets underway at 13.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT).

Álvaro Bautista: “It has been a good experience today, because when we came here earlier in the year and did some laps on a road-bike it was totally different to riding the GSV-R here today. It was like riding a totally different track – mainly because the corners now feel closer together due to the power of the GSV-R. My shoulder is better, but still not 100%. It is stronger than Mugello and now I can start to work a lot more normally on the bike than I did there. We need to do some work on the exit of the corners because we’re getting a lot of movement and that is pushing me wide and making it difficult to get on the gas. Tomorrow we must find a solution for this and make sure we improve on today.”

Loris Capirossi: “At the start of the session we didn’t get the grip we wanted from the bike so we tried to change the set-up a bit, but in the first pit-stop we didn’t quite solve the problem and after the second one the feeling was a bit better. I tried to go a bit faster and push a bit harder, but it started to rain and we couldn’t really do a full test. It seemed a bit better but we didn’t have enough time after losing so much with the pit-stops. Overall the track is good and it is nice to ride. It is an interesting layout and quite bumpy in parts and now we just have to fix the bike to work on it and we’ll be ok.”

Paul Denning – Team Manager: “This was not really the start we wanted for the team’s home Grand Prix and especially for Loris it was difficult to find any rhythm, given that the bike just didn’t work well out of the box. Clearly everyone will go quicker as the track improves and the riders’ knowledge and confidence also improves, but we’ve got bigger steps to make than most and we’ll have to hope that the direction changes we make overnight will allow the riders to push much harder tomorrow morning and get much closer to the leading group.”

—  LCR Honda

LCR Honda MotoGP rider Randy De Puniet clocked the 4th fastest lap time (2’06.439) at today’s opening free practice session at redeveloped Silverstone race track which host the fifth round of the calendar. The Frenchman riding the Honda RC212V nr. 14 went about his business in dry conditions with cloudy skies (with poor rain in the last minutes of the practice) with ambience temperature of 16C and made a total of 20 laps in the 60-minute session at the 5.902 km British track.

After the sixth position obtained in Mugello ten days ago, De Puniet aims to continue his impressive start to the 2010 MotoGP season and he is a big fan of the new MotoGP venue. The 29-year-old set consistent lap times swinging among the first and the fourth place throughout the whole session as he can rely on his machine set up. Todays pacesetter Lorenzo set a best lap time of 2’05.991.

De Puniet: “Well… I had fun today and I am a big fan of this track. It suits my riding style and I am enjoying myself very much. In my opinion this is the best track in the calendar! It’s just a bit bumpy but we can rely on our machine set up. I lapped on hard rear tyre and the pace was consistent and gathered some useful data for tomorrows session. We must fix some small things as this is our first outing here on this machine but I am pretty confident ahead tomorrows qualifying session”.

—  Bridgestone Report

Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Medium, Hard. Rear: Medium, Hard (asymmetric)

After the first hour-long practice session at the new Silverstone circuit, the timesheets show that both of Bridgestone’s slick tyre options are well suited to the track. Having never competed in the premier class of motorcycle grand prix racing at Silverstone, Bridgestone had to predict the best tyre compounds to use at this circuit using data gathered from Formula One activity in recent years and careful analysis and inspection of the track after construction was completed.

Jorge Lorenzo finished on top of the timesheets completing 23 laps on just one set of medium compound slicks front and rear which shows good durability ahead of Sunday’s 20-lap race. By contrast, Casey Stoner was second fastest using the medium compound front slick and the hard compound rear, indicating just how closely matched both options are. Third fastest was Andrea Dovizioso using a medium rear, followed by Randy de Puniet who set his best lap using a hard rear. Track temperature for the session was low at only 22 degrees and the conditions remained dry until the final minutes when a rain shower sent the teams back to their respective garages for the remainder of the hour.

Tohru Ubukata – Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department
“I am very pleased today because we have seen that both our tyre choices for Silverstone were correct which means our track inspection and analysis was accurate. This was a significant decision for us as it is the first time our tyres have been used on a MotoGP bike at the new Silverstone. Rider feedback has been good for both compound options, and we can see that both the medium and the hard slicks are performing well. Jorge has recorded more than race distance on the softer option slicks which shows that they can manage race distance durability, and Casey has shown that the hard compound tyres are performing well even with this low track temperature.

“Both our rear slick tyre options at Silverstone are asymmetric, which means they feature a harder compound in the right shoulder and a softer compound in the left shoulder. I am pleased with their performance today as they are providing good durability through the circuit’s ten right-handers whilst giving good warm-up performance through the eight lefts. We are still continuing to monitor tyre performance and durability as the circuit was still a little dirty today and as it cleans the challenge for tyres will increase.”

Shoya Tomizawa took top spot on the timesheet in the first free practice at Silverstone on Friday, setting a fastest lap of 2’28.020 on a wet track as the rain that had started to fall lightly at the end of the MotoGP session turned heavier throughout the Moto2 hour.

The Technomag-CIP rider, who is currently second in the Championship standings, was 0.582s faster than Australian Anthony West (MZ Racing) in the complicated conditions, with Xavier Simeon – who is substituting for the injured Yannick Guerra on the Holiday Gym G22 team this weekend – third at just over a tenth further back. Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) handled the wet well to place fourth, whilst Alex de Angelis (RSM Team Scot) set the fifth best time before falling right at the very end of the session.

British rider Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing) got his weekend off to a confident start with sixth spot, and Alex Baldolini (Caretta Technology Race Dept) and Dominique Aegerter (Technomag-CIP) completed the top eight. Championship leader Toni Elías (Gresini Racing Moto2) was 22nd in the session, with third placed Simone Corsi (JiR Moto2) one spot ahead of him in 21st.

125cc

In form and coming off the back of his first ever World Championship GP win at Mugello, Marc Márquez (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport) was quick off the mark at Silverstone as he set the best time in the opening 125cc practice session with a lap of 2’15.835 on the new circuit.

Not to be outdone, his fellow Spaniard Pol Espargaró (Tuenti Racing) was just 0.016s further back as he also displayed a strong pace, making himself the only other rider to get under the 2’16” mark in the hour-long session.

Efrén Vázquez (Tuenti Racing) was third fastest and made it an all-Derbi top three, with home rider Bradley Smith (Bancaja Aspar) fourth and his team-mate and Championship leader Nico Terol fifth. The trio were all separated by less than a tenth of a second.

Randy Krummenacher (Stipa-Molenaar Racing) and Tomoyoshi Koyama (Racing Team Germany) have been impressive this season and they took sixth and seventh respectively. Another home rider Danny Webb (Andalucia Cajasol) completed the top eight. The highest placing wildcard was Red Bull MotoGP Rookie rider Danny Kent (Aztec GP) in 24th.

1. Shoya TOMIZAWA JPN Technomag-CIP Suter 2’28.020
2. Anthony WEST AUS MZ MZ-RE Honda 2’28.602
3. Xavier SIMEON BEL Holiday Gym G22 Moriwaki 2’28.733
4. Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing FTR 2’28.759
5. Alex DE ANGELIS RSM RSM Team Scot  GP210 2’29.189
6. Scott REDDING GBR Marc VDS Racing Team Suter 2’29.267
7. Alex BALDOLINI ITA Caretta Technology I.C.P. 2’29.342
8. Dominique AEGERTER SWI Technomag-CIP Suter 2’29.364
9. Arne TODE GER Racing Team Germany Suter 2’29.658
10. Jules CLUZEL FRA Forward Racing Suter 2’29.659
11. Thomas LUTHI SWI Interwetten  Moriwaki 2’29.745
12. Claudio CORTI ITA Forward Racing Suter 2’29.923
13. Vladimir LEONOV RUS Vector Kiefer Racing Suter 2’29.965
14. Lukas PESEK CZE Matteoni CP Racing Moriwaki 2’29.972
15. Gabor TALMACSI HUN Fimmco Speed Up 2’29.992
16. Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Blusens-STX BQR 2’30.041
17. Mike DI MEGLIO FRA Mapfre Aspar Team Suter 2’30.214
18. Alex DEBON SPA Aeroport de Castello – Ajo FTR 2’30.386
19. Mattia PASINI ITA JIR Moto2 Motobi 2’30.918
20. Julian SIMON SPA Mapfre Aspar Team Suter 2’31.015

1. Marc MARQUEZ SPA Red Bull Ajo Derbi 2’15.835
2. Pol ESPARGARO SPA Tuenti Racing Derbi 2’15.851
3. Efren VAZQUEZ SPA Tuenti Racing Derbi 2’16.038
4. Bradley SMITH GBR Bancaja Aspar Team Aprilia 2’16.268
5. Nicolas TEROL SPA Bancaja Aspar Team Aprilia 2’16.534
6. Randy KRUMMENACHER SWI Stipa-Molenaar Aprilia 2’17.561
7. Tomoyoshi KOYAMA JPN Team Germany Aprilia 2’18.230
8. Danny WEBB GBR Andalucia Cajasol Aprilia 2’18.407
9. Johann ZARCO FRA WTR San Marino Team Aprilia 2’18.421
10. Sandro CORTESE GER Avant Mitsubishi Ajo Derbi 2’18.613
11. Alexis MASBOU FRA Ongetta Team Aprilia 2’18.641
12. Alberto MONCAYO SPA Andalucia Cajasol Aprilia 2’18.742
13. Luis SALOM SPA Stipa-Molenaar Racing GP Aprilia 2’18.954
14. Esteve RABAT SPA Blusens-STX Aprilia 2’19.354
15. Jasper IWEMA NED CBC Corse Aprilia 2’19.696
16. Jonas FOLGER GER Ongetta Team Aprilia 2’19.711
17. Adrian MARTIN SPA Aeroport Castello – Ajo Aprilia 2’19.833
18. Simone GROTZKYJ ITA Fontana Racing Aprilia 2’19.854
19. Sturla FAGERHAUG NOR AirAsia – Sepang Aprilia 2’19.889
20. Marcel SCHROTTER GER Interwetten Honda 2’20.217