Stoner sets the early MotoGP pace in Qatar
1 Casey Stoner 1’56.474 AUS HONDA Repsol Honda Team
2 Jorge Lorenzo 1’56.648 SPA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing Team
3 Nicky Hayden 1’56.924 USA DUCATI Ducati Team
4 Ben Spies 1’56.982 USA YAMAHA Yamaha Factory Racing Team
5 Dani Pedrosa 1’57.130 SPA HONDA Repsol Honda Team
6 Cal Crutchlow 1’57.395 GBR YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
7 Alvaro Bautista 1’57.512 SPA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini
8 Andrea Dovizioso 1’57.547 ITA YAMAHA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
9 Hector Barbera 1’57.912 SPA DUCATI Pramac Racing
10 Valentino Rossi 1’57.914 ITA DUCATI Ducati Team
11 Karel Abraham 1’57.939 CZE DUCATI Cardion AB Motoracing
12 Stefan Bradl 1’58.934 GER HONDA LCR Honda MotoGP
13 Randy De Puniet 1’59.985 FRA ART Aspar Team MotoGP
14 Colin Edwards 2’00.044 USA SUTER NGM Mobile Forward Racing
15 Michelle Pirro 2’00.322 ITA HONDA San Carlo Honda Gresini
16 Aleix Espargaro 2’00.720 ESP ART Aspar Team MotoGP
17 Ivan Silva 2’01.138 SPA BQR-FTR BQR
18 Mattia Pasini 2’01.261 ITA ART Speed Master
19 Yonny Hernandez 2’01.276 COL BQR-FTR BQR
20 Danilo Petrucci 2’01.352 ITA IODA Ioda Racing Project
21 James Ellison 2’03.421 GBR ART Paul Bird Racing
The 2012 MotoGP™ World Championship got underway at Losail on Thursday with the first practice session of the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar, and immediately into the groove was reigning World Champion Casey Stoner. His best lap of the session – a 1’56.474 – headed the opening 45-minute run of the weekend as the new 1000cc machines made their first outing of the season.
The Australian did not have it all his own way however as the leading spot changed hands a few times in the closing minutes of the session, Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) being one rider who led before settling in second at just 0.174s off Stoner with a 1’56.648.
Making it three different bikes in the top three Nicky Hayden rode his factory Ducati to a best time of 1’56.924, whilst Ben Spies on the second Yamaha Factory Racing machine was fourth and the final rider under 1’57”.
Dani Pedrosa (Respol Honda) was just under seven-tenths of a second off his team-mate Stoner as the Spaniard ended the session fifth, and Cal Crutchlow put in an impressive showing on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine to secure the highest satellite position of sixth in a time of 1’57.395. The Brit was also the final rider to get inside a second off Stoner’s benchmark.
Álvaro Bautista (San Carlo Honda Gresini), Andrea Dovizioso (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Héctor Barberá (Pramac Racing), all riding for new teams in 2012, and Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) completed the top ten. The Italian was fractionally under a second off his team-mate Hayden.
Rookie Stefan Bradl, the 2011 Moto2 World Champion, finished his first MotoGP session in 12th place as he began setting up his LCR Honda RC213V machine for Sunday’s race, and the debut of the CRTs witnessed Randy de Puniet (Power Electronics Aspar) lead the pack as he timed in 13th quickest with a lap of 1’59.985 on his Aprilia.
Colin Edwards was just 0.059s off the Frenchman on the Suter-BMW machine of the NGM Mobile Forward Racing team, with Michele Pirro (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and Aleix Espargaró (Power Electronics Aspar) close on De Puniet’s trail as the new CRT machines laid down their first World Championship practice session laps.
The MotoGP class returns to the track on Friday for its second and third practices, but the Moto2™ and Moto3™ classes both ran two sessions on Thursday.
Earlier on Thursday MotoGP riders Crutchlow and Barberá were joined by Moto3 youngster Viñales and Moto2 wildcard Nasser Al Malki as the quartet took part in the official pre-event. Embarking the ‘Magnifico’, the riders took in the Doha skyline and had a tour of the luxury vessel, before posing for photographs and discussing their expectations for the weekend.
In Moto2™ Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Paddock) topped both practices and posted a best time of 2’00.767 in the second, to get his weekend off to a strong start.
Lüthi led a top three which included Claudio Corti (Italtrans Racing Team) and Pol Espargaró (Pons 40 HP Tuenti), with the Italian also getting under 2’01” in a best time of 2’00.918. Espargaró and team-mate Esteve Rabat, who was fourth fastest, were the last riders to lap within 0.5s of Lüthi.
Marc VDS Racing Team riders Scott Redding and Mika Kallio were separated by just 0.024s in fifth and sixth positions respectively, with 2011 Championship runner-up Marc Márquez (Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol) seventh.
Mike di Meglio (S/Master Speed Up), Takaaki Nakagami (Italtrans Racing Team) and former Moto2 World Champion Toni Elías (Mapfre Aspar Team) completed the top 10 with Japanese rider Nakagami just under a second off Lüthi.
The new Moto3™ category debuted on day one at Losail as a new era in the World Championship began, and it was last year’s 125cc Rookie of the Year Maverick Viñales (Blusens Avintia) who was the leading rider in both sessions.
Viñales topped the second practice session – in which all riders set their best time – with a time of 2’08.160, which left him 0.498s clear of second place, as the talented young Spaniard set a scorching marker for the rest of the field.
Malaysian rider Zulfahmi Khairuddin (Airasia-SIC-Ajo) led the charge behind Viñales with a time of 2’08.658, with Red Bull KTM Ajo rider Danny Kent putting a problematic first session behind him in which he had technical issues to time in third quickest at 2’08.967.
Miguel Oliveira (Estrella Galicia 0’0) was the last rider under 2’09” with an effort of 2’08.979, and his rookie team-mate Alex Rins (Estrella Galicia 0’0) rounded off an impressive day by placing fifth in the order. With his time of 2’09.107 Rins was the last rider to get within a second of leader Viñales.
Sandro Cortese (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Alberto Moncayo (Bankia Aspar Team), Louis Rossi (Racing Team Germany), Héctor Faubel (Bankia Aspar Team) and Niccolò Antonelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Moto3) completed the top 10 on a day on which the Moto3 class made its World Championship bow.
The action resumes at 6pm local time on Friday, when the MotoGP riders head out on track for the second practice session. All categories will then complete their third and final practice, before qualifying commences on Saturday.
– Repsol HRC Report
The 2012 MotoGP World Championship began tonight under the footlights of the spectacular Grand Prix of Qatar.
The Repsol Honda riders took to the Losail circuit for the first time this season in a short free practice of 45 minutes, and started to work on the set up of their RC213V for the opening race of the Championship.
Casey Stoner set the fastest time with 1’56.474 and his team mate Dani Pedrosa finished fifth with 1’57.130.
The action continues tomorrow with two more practice sessions to prepare for qualifying on Saturday.
CASEY STONER 1st 1’56.474
“The track tonight wasn’t so bad, I expected the conditions to be much worse but in general it was ok. We started this evening with huge chatter issues and I was a little afraid we couldn’t fix this but after a few more exits we managed to reduce it to a more comfortable level. This is a positive point for the weekend but with such a short session and then nothing until tomorrow it’s slightly strange. It was an ok start tonight, we finished quickest which is good but we’ll have to wait until tomorrow for some real track time and with the conditions a little better and see where we are”.
DANI PEDROSA 5th 1’57.130
“There are some corners where we are struggling a lot with the chattering, especially in the area where you slide more, but it’s like this and we will need to adapt the best we can. On my first exit I had an issue with the tyres and I had to stop in the garage; I felt a vibration in the wheels, so we decided to change both tyres. I lost some time there and at the end of the practice I went wide twice. Anyway, it’s been good to go out there and get the feeling back at this track after a long time without riding here. Tomorrow, with two practices sessions, we will start working more with the chassis and electronics to improve and prepare for the race”.
– Yamaha Report
The long winter wait is finally over as the MotoGP grid took to the track this evening under the spectacular floodlights of the Losail circuit for the first session of the 2012 season. Yamaha Factory Racing riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies took up where they left off in winter testing, putting in quick, consistent competitive laps from the start. Texan Spies led for a good part of the session and was the first rider to break under the 1’57 second barrier. He finished the session in fourth, 0.508 seconds from top. Team mate Lorenzo was quick to follow, delivering a blistering 1’56.648 in the last minutes to wrap up in second just 0.174 seconds from first.
There was no dramatic changes to either riders bikes for this first session, the cobwebs were blown off and the base set up was assessed for the Losail circuit.
Jorge Lorenzo / Position : 2nd Time: 1’56.648 Laps: 13
“A quite good start, the track seems pretty dirty though, we are very far from the lap times of last year but that’s the same for everybody. I feel good, we are in the top close to Casey and we have improvements to come tomorrow from the bike, the track and myself. At the end we made a small change to gain some rear grip on all the corners which helped drop the lap time.”
Ben Spies / Position : 4th Time: 1’56.982 Laps: 17
“I was happy with tonight, we were generally pretty close to the top. The bike seemed to work pretty well; we made just two small changes to it and kept the same set of tyres on the whole time. We made our fastest lap when the tyre had dropped off with almost race distance on it. I’m quite pleased with how the bike performed. We’ve tested at Sepang, Jerez and here and the bike has been good at all three so I’m happy with the bike, the team and myself. We’ve just got to keep rolling and keep the momentum going.”
Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager
“That’s the first free practice done, P2 is quite good and we’re happy to be there just one tenth from Casey. It seems to be that what we’ve learnt and solved over the wintertime is working here. Jorge is riding very well, calm and relaxed and focused so I believe we can make some more steps forward when the track is a little cleaner and get faster. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.”
Massimo Meregalli – Team Director
“It’s definitely a good start for us. I think everything we saw in the winter tests meant we were confident we could come here and do well. We led the practice for a while and we had a very consistent pace and were able to put in fast laps with a used tyre. What a promising start, the base of the bike is really good as you can see with four Yamaha’s up there being competitive from the start.”
– Ducati Report
Nicky Hayden third, Valentino Rossi tenth on day one in Qatar
The 2012 MotoGP World Championship kicked off this evening at Qatar’s Losail International Circuit, where the first free-practice session of the new season took place under the lights.
On a dirty track surface, Ducati Team riders Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi spent the single 45 minute session working on finding a race setup, as well as continuing to familiarize themselves with the still-new Desmosedici GP12. Toward the end, the American managed to post the third-fastest time of the session, while Rossi, who used just a single hard tyre, finished the night tenth-quickest.
Tomorrow evening will find the MotoGP riders participating in two more free practice sessions, with qualifying to take place on Saturday night and the first race of the year on Sunday evening.
Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 3rd (1:56.924)
“The first session went well. This track is a lot different than what we experienced in Jerez, more open and a lot wider. It was quite dirty and not very grippy, which helped us a bit. We started off on the hard tyre and then switched to the soft for the last exit, and I was able to do a nice lap. In general we were pretty fast and consistent, and I’ve certainly had worse sessions here, but we’ll just stay calm, keep trying to improve and try to get a good grid spot on Saturday night. It’s just one session, and there’s a long way to go. Sunday night is what counts, and it would be nice to get this team a result it deserves.”
Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 10th (1:57.914)
“It’s the first practice and I used the hard tyre the whole session, trying to do a lot of laps in order to understand it. The new tyre is much better for warming up, so good for safety, but it started to slide a lot after some laps and made some of the understeer worse. We have to work with the setting and also the electronics. The soft will be important for Saturday, but the hard will be the tyre for the race. Tomorrow we’ll try to do better.”
– Bridgestone Report
Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium & Extra-Hard; Rear: Medium, Hard (Asymmetric)
Weather: Dry. Ambient 27-27°C; Track 30-29°C (Bridgestone measurement)
The first laps of the 2012 season were completed tonight at the Losail International Circuit, with Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner taking first place in a session that saw the highly anticipated return of the 1000cc machines to competitive MotoGP™ action.
Stoner’s best time of 1:56.474 saw him finish almost two-tenths faster than Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo and a half second ahead of a determined Nicky Hayden aboard the Ducati GP12, though the reigning champion’s time was set on the harder rear tyre, with Lorenzo and Hayden setting their benchmark times on the softer rear option.
With no pre-season test at Qatar this year, teams spent the first session evaluating many front and rear tyre combinations as they unleashed their new 1000cc machines onto the Losail Circuit for the first time. Track temperatures hovered around the 30°C mark for the first practice session, but patches of sand around the circuit made conditions less than ideal for fast running.
The next free MotoGP™ practice session is scheduled for tomorrow evening at 1800 local time (GMT+3).
Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department
“As is often the case at Qatar, track conditions for the first practice session were not ideal today with a lot of sand on the circuit, but the feedback we got from the riders that the 2012 specification tyres were handling the variable track conditions very well.
“Due to the changing track conditions and perhaps also the riders using their new 1000cc motorcycles at Qatar for the first time, there was no preferred front and rear tyre combination among the riders during the first session. Finding a race setup at Qatar can be difficult as the track temperatures during the race can be lower than during practice, so we consider this fact when choosing our tyre allocation and advising teams on what tyre combination might work best for them.”
– Red Bull Rookies
Bright sunshine blessed the 3rd and final day of the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup test in Estoril, Portugal. Fastest overall was Kyle Ryde and the 15 year old Briton was less than a 10th faster than German 15 year old Florian Alt who was in turn just a fraction ahead of Czech 15 year old sensation Karel Hanika. Only 3 seconds separate 1st to 24th.
“I was smiling,” said Ryde. “Because I knew I’d done a good lap on Tuesday but really the most important thing was that we’ve got the bike set up. We made more progress here in three days than we did in the whole of last year. It’s hard to explain why, I guess its’s just that I’ve got the confidence now to try different things,” explained the British 125 Champion.
Alt was similarly happy with things after also setting his best time on Tuesday. “The wind was a small problem today,” admitted Alt on Thursday. “It didn’t trouble me too much. The grip was better today than earlier in the week but then the tyres started to fade, we had done too many kilometres on them. For the final session we had new tyres front and rear so we were all determined to set a good time but it was just a bit too much wind.”
The most notable of those that did set their best time on the windier final day was Hanika. “I’ve really enjoyed the testing here. The KTM is better than bikes I have ridden before and I was very pleased that I could get on with it so quickly, I felt comfortable and we got good settings, it all went very well. There are a lot of fast riders here though and I know it is going to be a very tough season.”
Malaysian 15 year old Hafiq Azmi was 4th fastest. “I wasn’t happy because I had a crash but otherwise things went well, we have a good bike set up and I like the track, the chicane particularly is a lot of fun.”
Local hero Ivo Lopes shrugged off a grazed eye, sustained when a stone bounced into his helmet to set the 6th fastest time behind American 14 year old Joe Roberts and looks forward to the first round in Jerez full of confidence. “I am having a great time on the bike and I really think I can finish in the top 3 there at least, I’m really aiming to win.”
For the newcomers the three days was very much about learning to ride the KTM as well as the circuit. It didn’t seem to present much of a problem to Bradley Ray, the 14 year old Briton who was fast from early on and 9th at the end. “I’m really enjoying it, I love the bike and the track. I find the KTM quick to turn and it handles well but I don’t think it will be too difficult to swap back to the Honda I have at home for Brands this weekend. Estoril is a lot of fun, I love the fast right hand kink behind the pits.”
Some of the more experienced men were not finding it quite so easy including Philipp Oettl. The 15 year old German was 4th in last year’s Cup and came to Estoril fresh from victory in the opening round of the Spanish Moto3 Championship. Swapping from 4-stroke to 2-stroke proved tricky and he ended up 14th fastest. “It isn’t easy and I can’t say exactly what the problem is. I’ve done so much riding in the last 6 days (his father says over 1000km) that I can’t really sort out where the problem is. That is what I have to work on, understanding the differences and how to adapt.”
Lorenzo Baldassarri, the reigning Rookies Cup champion was 11th, also having swapped from Moto3 to RC125. The 15 year old Italian was not stressed about it. “It isn’t easy to swap, the 125 seems harder to ride, more critical, if you make a mistake on the throttle or anything you are in trouble and you lose time. The 4-stroke seems more forgiving. I am not so worried, I know I have to work that out and I think we have a good setting for the bike. This year is not going to be easy for sure.”
The only girl in the Cup, Yui Watanabe, the 15 year old Japanese, found no trouble with the bike and was very happy to be so quickly focussed on what she needed to do. “I can so quickly see where I need to improve, I am not getting into the corners on the right line and especially in the slow corners that is causing me a lot of problems. So far my strong point is getting on the throttle so I know what I have to work on.”
The first two races of the season are over the Spanish Grand Prix weekend in Jerez, April 28th and 29th with the Portuguese GP in Estoril following immediately on May 5th and 6th.
Combined classification, days 2 and 3 (day 1 not timed)
1. Kyle Ryde (GBR) 1 minute 51.877 seconds
2. Florian Alt (GER) 1 minute 51.949 seconds
3. Karel Hanika (CZE) 1 minute 52.026 seconds
4. Hafiq Azmi (MAS) 1 minute 52.300 seconds
5. Joe Roberts (USA) 1 minute 52.373 seconds
6. Ivo Lopes (POR) 1 minute 52.422 seconds
7. Diego Perez (ESP) 1 minute 52.460 seconds
8. Willi Albert (GER) 1 minute 52.486 seconds
9. Bradley Ray (GBR) 1 minute 52.660 seconds
10. Aaron Espana (ESP) 1 minute 52.699 seconds
11. Lorenzo Baldassarri (ITA) 1 minute 52.848 seconds
12. Marcos Ramirez (ESP) 1 minute 52.932 seconds
13. Scott Deroue (NED) 1 minute 53.372 seconds
14. Jordan Weaving (RSA) 1 minute 53.460 seconds
15. Livio Loi (BEL) 1 minute 53.461 seconds
16. Nicolo Castellini (ITA) 1 minute 53.527 seconds
17. Philipp Oettl (GER) 1 minute 53.583 seconds
18. Lukas Trautmann (AUT) 1 minute 53.594 seconds
19. Yui Watanabe (JPN) 1 minute 53.705 seconds
20. Simon Danilo (FRA) 1 minute 53.867 seconds
21. Stefano Manzi (ITA) 1 minute 54.076 seconds
22. Tarran Mackenzie (GBR) 1 minute 54.223 seconds
23. Filippo Scalbi (ITA) 1 minute 54.756 seconds
24. Jorge Martin (ESP) 1 minute 54.960 seconds