Stoner comes out firing at Estoril
After early damp conditions threatened to throw the day´s practice sessions into disarray, the weather steadied and the track dried out to play host to some fantastic free practice action in the afternoon across all three MotoGP™ classes at the Grande Prémio de Portugal Circuito Estoril.
It was reigning World Champion Casey Stoner who threw down the gauntlet for this weekend by setting the fastest time of the day in the second MotoGP practice session. Stoner´s lap of 1.38´396 put him just three tenths ahead of Yamaha Factory Racing´s Ben Spies, who has worked tirelessly all day to get his season back on track, after some disappointing performances in the previous rounds.
Rounding out the top three is Monster Yamaha Tech 3´s Cal Crutchlow, who continues to impress on his satellite Yamaha, finishing just over two-hundredths off Spies. Stoner´s team mate Dani Pedrosa set the fourth fastest time of the day, as he looks to repeat his victory at the track from the previous year.
In fifth, Yamaha´s birthday-boy Jorge Lorenzo was having a subdued session at the track where he has taken three victories in the past four outings. Behind him, San Carlo Honda Gresini´s Álvaro Bautista set the sixth fastest time just over half a second off Stoner, as he continues to get to grips with his satellite Honda.
Ducati Team´s Nicky Hayden, who will be looking to repeat his front row start last time out at Jerez, occupies seventh place. He finished in front of Pramac Racing´s Héctor Barberá, who once again got the better of Hayden´s teammate Valentino Rossi, who could not finish any higher than ninth, despite a good showing in the morning session. Completing the top ten is Tech 3´s Andrea Dovizioso, who remained in the pits for quite some time with a bike issue.
Top CRT honour went to Power Electronics Aspar rider Randy de Puniet, who is looking to improve on his DNF in Jerez. Came IodaRacing Project´s Danilo Petrucci had to end his session early with a mechanical issue as well.
1 Casey Stoner 1’38.396 AUS HONDA Repsol Honda Team
2 Ben Spies 1’38.717 USA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing Team
3 Cal Crutchlow 1’38.742 GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
4 Dani Pedrosa 1’38.797 SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
5 Jorge Lorenzo 1’38.930 SPA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing Team
6 Alvaro Bautista 1’38.959 SPA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini
7 Nicky Hayden 1’39.029 USA DUCATI Ducati Team
8 Hector Barbera 1’39.193 SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing
9 Valentino Rossi 1’39.357 ITA DUCATI Ducati Team
10 Andrea Dovizioso 1’39.615 ITA YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
11 Karel Abraham 1’40.207 CZE DUCATI Cardion AB Motoracing
12 Stefan Bradl 1’40.898 GER HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP
13 Randy De Puniet 1’41.088 FRA ART Aspar Team MotoGP
14 Aleix Espargaro 1’41.634 ESP ART Aspar Team MotoGP
15 Yonny Hernandez 1’41.638 COL BQR-FTR BQR
16 Mattia Pasini 1’41.973 ITA ART Speed Master
17 Michelle Pirro 1’42.252 ITA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini
18 Colin Edwards 1’42.587 USA SUTER NGM Mobile Forward Racing
19 Ivan Silva 1’42.804 SPA BQR-FTR BQR
20 Danilo Petrucci 1’42.984 ITA IODA Ioda Racing Project
21 James Ellison 1’43.665 GBR ART Paul Bird Racing
In the second practice session of the Grande Prémio de Portugal Circuito Estoril it was Marc VDS Racing Team´s Scott Redding who set the weekend´s benchmark by topping the combined Moto2™ timesheets ahead of Marc Márquez.
With a time of 1.41´775, the consistently lapping Redding set the fastest time of the day, in front of Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol´s Márquez, just two tenths behind.
Third place is occupied by Interwetten-Paddock´s Tom Lüthi, who is looking for his first win of the season at the Portuguese track. Behind him in fourth is the surprise of the day in the form of Mapfre Aspar Team´s 2010 Moto2 World Champion Toni Elías, who is beginning to rekindle some of his previous form.
Jerez race-winner, Pons 40 HP Tuenti rider Pol Espargaró, could not repeat his feat in the morning session where he finished first, yet still managed a strong showing in fifth, just over half a second behind Redding. He finished in front of Tech 3 Racing´s Bradley Smith, who will be looking for a stronger performance this weekend after a slightly disappointing outing in Jerez.
Seventh place went to NGM Mobile Forward Racing´s Alex de Angelis, ahead of Technomag-CIP´s Dominique Aegerter and JiR Moto2´s French rookie Johann Zarco. Rounding out the top ten is Redding´s teammate Mika Kallio, just under a second off the top.
Thai Honda Gresini Moto2´s Ratthapark Wilairot crashed with 22 minutes remaining, while S/Master Speed Up´s Mike Di Meglio followed suit with seven minutes to go. Both were unhurt and managed to return to the pits.
The Moto3™ class enjoyed a dry, but windy afternoon free practice session at the Grande Prémio de Portugal Circuito Estoril, where Estrella Galicia 0,0´s local rider Miguel Oliveira topped the timesheets ahead of Red Bull KMT Ajo´s Sandro Cortese.
With a time of 1.48´497, Oliveira laid down the marker for the weekend and gave home fans something to cheer about, with Germany´s Cortese closely behind by less than two hundredths.
RW Racing GP´s Luis Salom, who has been consistently fast this season so far, set the third fastest time of the session just under four tenths behind Cortese. He managed to oust Blusens Avintia´s pre-season championship favourite Maverick Viñales into fourth.
Fifth spot is occupied by Caretta Racing´s Alexis Masbou, with Team Italia FMI´s championship leader and rookie sensation Romano Fenati in sixth. Cortese´s teammate Danny Kent managed seventh, sitting just over a second off the front.
Completing the top ten are Racing Team Germany´s Louis Rossi, JHK T-Shirt Laglisse´s Adrian Martín and Kent´s teammate Arthur Sissis.
Wild card entry, Thomas Sabo GP Team´s Kevin Hanus from Germany, crashed out of the session with 15 minutes to go, yet walked away unhurt.
IodaRacing Project´s Jonas Folger is still suffering from glandular fever and has been replaced this weekend by Italian rider Armando Pontone, while TT Motion Events Racing´s Niklas Ajo is replaced by Spain´s Joan Olivé, after the Finn was banned following an altercation with a race official at the last round. Caretta Technology´s Jack Miller is replaced this weekend by Italian Manuel Tatasciore, after the Australian fractured his collarbone in Jerez.
– HRC Report
The Grand Prix of Portugal, third round of the 2012 MotoGP World Championship, began today at the Estoril circuit with Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner on top of the time sheets (1’38.396). Team mate Dani Pedrosa finished in fourth position (1’38.797) with the combined practice times, after another tight battle between the Honda and Yamaha riders as we’ve already seen in the first two races of the season.
The weather played a big part in the first MotoGP practice session and again, as was the case in Jerez last week, the Portuguese GP got underway with wet patches and cold temperatures in the morning. The Repsol Honda riders went out on track on slick tyres with only 10 minutes of the first session remaining and both Casey and Dani had to wait until the afternoon to get some proper track time on the tricky Estoril circuit with the new 1000cc machines.
The Honda factory riders made the most of the second free practice to begin tuning the set up of their RC213V’s at one of the most challenging tracks on the calendar, which combines a fairly long straight with long corners and very hard braking. The action continues tomorrow with FP3 and the qualifying session to decide the grid for Sunday’s race
CASEY STONER 1st 1’38.396
“We did a few laps this morning to try and understand the bike, to make sure everything was working and like Jerez we wanted to see where the wet patches were on the track. Then this afternoon, unfortunately there were still areas of the track that hadn’t dried out but we managed to get some good dry time, the bike seems to be working ok at this point and we have a fairly good idea of what we need to do tomorrow”
DANI PEDROSA 4th 1’38.797
“It was quite similar to Jerez, in the first session we were almost unable to ride and in the afternoon it was difficult because the track conditions were poor, it was very slippery, we had no grip in the front or rear and it was kind of hard to get feedback from the bike because the tyres were just sliding. Water is holding on the new asphalt, so it’s necessary to change the line. It would be good if it doesn’t rain anymore and if they could dry this area up in some way because in the last corner especially, it’s very damp. I hope the track gets better tomorrow on the grip level, so we can start working hard on the suspension. As long as the track improves, the bike will do also”.
– Yamaha Racing
Yamaha Factory Racing rider Ben Spies was back on form in Estoril today for the first practice sessions of the Portuguese Grand Prix. The Texan was one of the first riders to venture out in the morning session, braving mixed track conditions of wet and dry to test a big set up change. The new direction proved to be confidence inspiring, Spies topping the morning timesheets and remaining highly competitive in the afternoon, leading for a while and eventually finishing in second place, 0.321 seconds behind Casey Stoner.
Team mate Jorge Lorenzo decided to sit out the morning session with little valuable data to be gained from the mixed track conditions. The afternoon session saw him hunting a set up to provide more rear grip for his YZR-M1, eventually settling for fifth in the timesheets. The team will look to find a solution tomorrow to be ready for qualifying. Today marks not only Lorenzo’s 25th birthday but also the ten-year anniversary to his first GP session at the Jerez circuit.
Ben Spies / Position 2nd – Time 1.38.717 – Laps 33
“It’s a good feeling today but it’s still early, it’s Friday. The most important thing is I have to thank my crew, they made a huge change to the bike, not only to the front but we also changed some rider position settings that I asked for and the bike seems good. Not only are the lap times fast, it’s much easier to ride at that speed than the slower times at Jerez. Right now the bike is quick and easy to ride, we need to make some more improvements to it. To be in the top three on the first day after two difficult weekends is a positive start.”
Jorge Lorenzo / Position 5th – Time 1.38.930 – Laps 16
“Today was so-so because we didn’t find a good set up or a good feeling with the bike. Also the new asphalt is not the best, I think it’s worse than last year in some places and also the weather doesn’t help with some wet patches in corners. I expect a lot of things to improve tomorrow, especially the rear of the bike which is not right in some corners.”
Wilco Zeelenberg – Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager
“This afternoon was the first free practice for us as we sat out the morning due to the weather conditions. We’re not perfect yet; we’re missing some rear grip, especially in corner entry so we need to find it for tomorrow. We’re confident we will and will be ready for qualifying.”
Massimo Meregalli – Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director
“Definitely a promising start today, the new set up is giving Ben the right confidence so now it’s a matter of some little adjustments but he is up there which is the most important thing. Jorge missed the morning session due to the bad conditions; I think tomorrow he will be where he should be. A good starting day, let’s see what tomorrow brings.”
Crutchlow continues red-hot form in Estoril
Cal Crutchlow’s phenomenal start to the 2012 MotoGP World Championship continued in impressive fashion in Portugal this afternoon, the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider finishing third quickest after the opening two practice sessions.
The British rider completed just five laps in tricky conditions this morning when treacherous wet patches left by overnight rain prevented vital work on the race set-up of his YZR-M1 machine from being carried out at the 2.599 miles Estoril circuit.
In cool but dry conditions this afternoon, Crutchlow del ivered another stunning performance to back up his fantastic fourth place finishes in Qatar and Jerez, and the former World Supersport champion was challenging for a top three placing throughout.
He ended with a best time of 1.38.742 to easily finish top non-factory rider on the leaderboard and he was only 0.025s behind factory Yamaha rider Ben Spies. Crutchlow’s pace was only 0.346s off the fastest time set by reigning World Champion Casey Stoner and he is confident that he can convert his early weekend speed into a top five challenge on Sunday.
The dry conditions this afternoon were a welcome boost for Andrea Dovizioso, who is concentrating on fine-tuning his riding style to best suit the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine.
The Italian rider has impressed with top five finishes in the op ening two rounds in 2012 but he still believes he can make significant strides in improving his confidence and feeling with the YZR-M1. He tried a different swingarm this afternoon and finished with a best time 1.39.615. That put him 10th on the combined timesheets and he is optimistic he can lap considerably faster with further modifications to his bike ahead of tomorrow’s final free practice and qualifying.
Cal Crutchlow / Position 3rd – Time 1.38.742 – Laps 25
“I’m happy with the way we have started this weekend. This morning was similar to the first session in Jerez and we couldn’t really learn anything with the track being so damp in parts. The problem was the patches were really big at the last corner and to be honest it was pretty dangerous, so we might have to look at that in the Safety Commission. We never changed the tyres from this morning to the afternoon and that is a big plus. For that reason I’m really happy with the pace I was able to set, especially because we know that some other guys did put in a new tyre at the end to go a bit quicker. We were just concentrating on working on the race set-up and we still have plenty of margin to improve. The first two races have given me a lot of confidence and I am looking forward to carrying on the good start this weekend.”
Andrea Dovizioso / Position 10th – Time 1.39.615 – Laps 29
“We tried a different swingarm on the second bike during my last run and when we made this modification we also changed the rear tyre, but it did not get to the right temperature. We tried to find out if the swingarm or the tyre was the problem but because of this situation we lost quite a lot of time and I am a bit frustrated because until that moment we were close to the fastest time. I was feeling well on the bike and I was sure I still had some margin to improve my time. It is important to try the parts to help us improve and we will be in a better situation tomorrow. I just hope that we will have good weather to continue the work we started this afternoon.”
– Ducati Report
Weather conditions were typically fickle for Estoril during the first day of practice at the Portuguese Grand Prix, with the first MotoGP free-practice session marked by a damp track, whereas the surface was mainly dry in the afternoon. Nonetheless, Ducati Team riders Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi were able to gather valuable information that should be useful over the weekend and in the future.
Both riders opted to spend much of the morning session in the garage, but when they ventured out near the end, Hayden and Rossi set the second- and third-best times, respectively. Although they were seventh and ninth in the afternoon, both riders were able to ride near their limits, and their gap to the front was reduced compared to most of the previous dry sessions this season.
Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 7th (1:39.029)
“Conditions weren’t perfect this morning, but since they were calling for a good chance of rain in the afternoon, we thought it was worth having a look toward the end. The track was patchy, but I’ve got to say that Bridgestone’s new tyre is much better and safer in those conditions. This afternoon, the track was completely dry except for water seeping up in the last corner, which made it tough to see the line. We made a couple of gains during the session, but I felt like the time went by really quickly. We’ve still got a lot of work to do, especially in the side-to-side sections, where I’m having some difficulty changing direction. Hopefully we can do a good job with the data tonight and be more consistent tomorrow.”
Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 9th (1:39.357)
“We had a decent start to the weekend because I was able to ride the bike pretty well, I didn’t finish so far from the front in terms of lap times and, most importantly, I was fast in several sections of the track. I’m only losing a lot in the last split, T4, so along with the technicians, I’m trying to understand why I’m having such a hard time in the last corner, where there’s very limited grip and the back of the bike slides a lot. Still, I can brake hard and enter the corners pretty quickly, and if we’re able to fix the rear, we can get closer. Our goal is to try to be competitive around the entire track. We’ll see what the weather is like, because this morning’s mixed conditions were difficult, and then they were better in the afternoon. Although we went well in the wet, we hope the weather stays nice and that it will be completely dry on Sunday.”
– Bridgestone Report
Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium; Rear: Medium, Hard (Asymmetric)
Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Soft (Main), Hard (Alternative)
Weather: Wet (FP1) Dry (FP2). Ambient 16-19°C; Track 17-31°C (Bridgestone measurement)
Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner took over where he left off at Jerez by setting a benchmark time of 1m 38.396s in FP2 to top the Friday timesheets ahead of Yamaha Factory Racing’s Ben Spies and Monster Tech3 Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow.
Track conditions for Friday morning’s FP1 session were poor with large wet patches on track due to early morning rain and though the track dried towards the end of the session, conditions were still challenging for riders with a resurgent Ben Spies setting the fastest time in FP1 with a 1m 40.813s lap. For FP2 track conditions were dry, but cloud cover kept track temperatures low and as a result lap-times were slower than expected. After some exploratory runs using the combination of the soft compound front slick tyre and medium compound rear, most riders switched to the medium compound front slick tyre as FP2 drew to a close.
The next MotoGP™ session, FP3 takes place at 1010 local time (GMT+1) with the one hour qualifying session starting at 1355 local time.
Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Division
“As often happens at Estoril, weather conditions were variable today with early morning rain causing the track to be wet for FP1. As there were just a few dry patches many riders decided to head out on track with wet tyres to begin with before switching to slicks later as conditions improved. In FP2 the track was dry but track temperatures were still quite low which affected grip levels, so most riders went for the soft rear slick tyre for its greater warm-up performance.
“There is a possibility of wet weather again tomorrow so we will make our main wet tyre, which at Estoril is the soft compound, as well as the alternative wet tyre in the hard compound available to enable riders to best deal with what could be inconsistent conditions. Regardless of what the weather brings, I think we will see a close qualifying session tomorrow as in FP2 the top ten riders posted similar lap-times.”
– MARC VDS Moto2
Scott Redding was the fastest man on track at Estoril today, topping the timesheet during this afternoon’s second free practice session. Mika Kallio was tenth fastest, after using today’s two sessions to evaluate different front-end settings on his Kalex Moto2 machine.
Redding was third fastest in this morning’s opening free practice session, which was run on a drying track but with damp patches still evident following overnight rain. The Marc VDS rider continued to run up the front during this afternoon’s 45-minute session, for which the track had finally dried out fully.
The 19-year-old Briton posted his fastest time just after the halfway point this afternoon, in a session where all his flying laps were within just a few tenths of his fastest time. Redding was almost half a second clear at the top of the timesheet, until a concerted effort by Marc Marquez cut the gap to just two tenths shortly before the chequered flag.
Kallio struggled with the front-end set-up last timeout in Jerez, so focussed today on evaluating two different front suspension options on his Kalex Moto2 machine. Both options offered both positives and negatives, but the set-up for this afternoon’s session didn’t give the 29-year-old Finn the necessary confidence to push for a fast lap time. Kallio is confident that his crew have a clear direction with the set-up for tomorrow’s free practice and the all-important qualifying session.
Both Marc VDS riders are confident of fighting for a place on the front two rows of the grid during tomorrow afternoon’s 45-minute qualifying session.
Scott Redding #45: 1st – 1’41.775
“We had a good weekend in Jerez, we’ve made some progress with the bike and now I want it; I want it bad! This afternoon I just pushed as hard as I could throughout the session and my times were both fast and consistent, which is exactly what I was looking for. Tomorrow I’ll be doing exactly the same, with the front two rows of the grid the target in qualifying. My crew chief, Pete Benson, celebrates his 50th birthday today and I hope we’ll be able to give him the present he deserves in the race on Sunday.”
Mika Kallio #36: 10th – 1’42.711
“Today we tried two different front end settings on the bike, one in the morning session and one in the afternoon. For the second free practice session I didn’t really have the confidence in the front to push hard, because the front tyre wouldn’t really hold a line and was skipping over the bumps in the turns. The grip was also a bit inconsistent, which doesn’t inspire confidence either. To be honest there was something missing with each of the two set-ups, but by testing them both today we now have a clear direction for tomorrow. Scott showed what the bike is capable of; he was unbelievably fast this afternoon. Now we need to match his times tomorrow.”
Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Scott push so hard in a free practice session, but a lot of it was down to the confidence he now has in the bike after the race last weekend in Jerez. If qualifying is dry tomorrow then I’m confident he will start the race on Sunday from the front two rows of the grid. Mika used the two sessions today to evaluate different front-end set-up options on his bike, after some issues in Jerez. It meant he wasn’t able to set a fast time this afternoon, but the work will pay off tomorrow in qualifying, when he too will be aiming for the front two rows of the grid.”
– Red Bull Rookies Cup
Ivo Lopez stole pole position with the last breath of qualifying for this weekend’s Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup races at the Portuguese Grand Prix in Estoril. The 15 year old Portuguese had been on the leader-board throughout and chased round the last few laps with 16 year old Czech Karel Hanika. The pair pushed each other faster with Hanika less than 4 tenths slower to claim 2nd place on the grid on their final lap.
Bradley Ray, the 14 year old Briton and 16 year old German Florian Alt were ahead of them on track and also charging round together to take 1st and 2nd on the timing screen until being pushed back by Lopez and Hanika a few seconds later.
“That was great fun,” said Lopez as he ‘high-fived’ with Hanika in the pit lane. “We were chasing each other and going fast but it was hard to get the lap times because there were quite a few riders out there not going so quick. The bike is great, we are having fun and I think we can do the same in the race,” concluded the home track hero.
Hanika was every bit as pleased. “It was really great fun in that session, towards the end the rear tyre was really worn and sliding around a lot but we won’t have that problem in the race. The bike setting is good and I can’t wait for tomorrow.” The blond Czech is in his 1st Rookies season but took to the KTM and the Estoril track at the pre-season test where he was 3rd fastest.
Alt was 2nd fastest at that test, won the opening race of the season and headed the table for much of qualifying only to be denied at the close. “That’s OK, things just got a bit crazy in the last lap, I was trying for a good time, I’m not sure what some of the other riders were doing. Of course I would like to have got pole but the race is another thing, I did a lot of fast laps and I hope I can get on the podium, or even win,” he concluded with a grin.
It was Brad Ray who pushed Alt onto the 2nd row and the bespectacled teen admitted he took advantage of the German ahead even though he too had been on the leader-board anyway. “Sure it helped, just right for that last lap. The bike is good though, we only changed it a little from the test because it was working pretty well then. I think it’s going to be a good race,” affirmed the Briton who led race one in Jerez before crashing.
5th fastest was Hafiq Azmi, the 14 year old Malaysian. “I am much happier with that. I still had some problems with the bike under braking. The rear is jumping around all over. I will have a talk to the technicians and see if they can help with something for the race.”
Scott Deroue, the 16 year old Dutchman qualified an excellent 6th while 14 year old Briton Kyle Ryde was lucky to be 7th even though he was fastest at the pre-season test and obviously had the pace in qualifying. He was struck down with appendicitis half way through the first session and taken to the medical centre. The pain subsided enough for him to go out in the 2nd session where he was quick again only to be forced back into the pits with the stomach pain. A drink, and he went out again gritting his teeth and determined. Then the bike seized. Fortunately he had done enough for a decent place on row 3 and must hope that both his bike and his body are in better shape for the races.
Another man with bike problems was Philipp Oettl, the German who celebrated his 16th birthday on Thursday, was only 11th fastest after his bike stopped with electrical problems. Cup leader and defending champion Lorenzo Baldassarri, the 15 year old Italian, is alongside him on the grid in 12th place. “I managed to get the bike working a bit better towards the end of that session but I was struggling very badly earlier and I just could not progress any more during the session. Hopefully the race will be better.”