MotoGP – Second Free Practise Session at Jerez de la Frontera on Friday 1st April 2011

Well after FP1 being all about the Honda’s…guess what FP2 was once again all about Danni and Casey.  It took Danni only 13 laps to hit the top spot with a time of 1.40.101, with Casey only 0.188 behind his fellow team mate with a time of 1.40.289.

All times were slightly slower than this morning due to there being a bit more wind out on the track than there had been in the morning session.  There was also speculation on twitter that this was causing a few riders to miss their markers going into turn 1.

Less than one second split the top 8 riders with Nicky Hayden being in 8^th place only 0.957 behind Danni.  Valentino managed a credible 5^th place marginally behind the San Carlo Honda of Marco Simoncelli with a time of 1.40.956.

Jorge Lorenzo was able to split the 3 Honda’s of Danni, Casey and Marco and the take 3^rd spot with a lap of 1.40.623 and 0.522 behind Danni.  But Marco was right behind him and only 0.600 off Danni’s time.

Conditions at the track in this afternoon session were Dry, with an Air Temperature of 27°, Humidity at 22%, a little down on this morning and of course the Ground Temperature was up to 42 °

Final Session Results

1              27           Dani PEDROSA                      SPA         Repsol Honda Team             HONDA 1'40.101

2              26           Casey STONER                      AUS         Repsol Honda Team             HONDA 1'40.289

3              46           Jorge LORENZO                    SPA         Yamaha Factory Racing       YAMAHA 1'40.623

4              58           Marco SIMONCELLI             ITA          San Carlo Honda Gresini     HONDA 1'40.701

5              1              Valentino ROSSI                   ITA          Ducati Team                          DUCATI 1'40.956

6              4              Randy DE PUNIET                FRA         Pramac Racing Team           DUCATI 1'40.982

7              11           Ben SPIES                              USA         Yamaha Factory Racing       YAMAHA 1'41.053

8              5              Nicky HAYDEN                      USA         Ducati Team                          DUCATI 1'41.058

9              14           Hiroshi AOYAMA                 JPN          San Carlo Honda Gresini     HONDA 1'41.292

10           69           Karel ABRAHAM                   CZE          Cardion AB Motoracing      DUCATI 1'41.304

11           17           Colin EDWARDS                    USA         Monster Yamaha Tech 3     YAMAHA 1'41.337

12           8              Andrea DOVIZIOSO             ITA          Repsol Honda Team             HONDA 1'41.407

13           7              Hector BARBERA                 SPA         Mapfre Aspar MotoGP        DUCATI 1'41.665

14           35           Loris CAPIROSSI                   ITA          Pramac Racing Team           DUCATI 1'41.810

15           24           Cal CRUTCHLOW                  GBR         Monster Yamaha Tech 3     YAMAHA 1'41.854

16           65           John HOPKINS                      USA         Rizla Suzuki MotoGP            SUZUKI 1'42.305

17           21           Toni ELIAS                             SPA         LCR Honda MotoGP             HONDA 1'42.690

Suffice to say the next qualifying sessions are going to be interesting and as usual it is “Tight at the Top”.
Thanks
Jen
fc60ad4cc6839acd3c6bb66a4dd8fe18687bf694b4b32f0820

MotoGP – First Free Practise Session at Jerez de la Frontera on Friday 1st April 2011

As the first sessions of the “Gran Premio de España” get under way at the Jerez circuit its Casey Stoner that doesn’t waste any time getting to the top of the sheets.  It takes him only 15 laps to put the 1.39.551 which keeps him at the top for the rest of the session.

As suspected though, most of the “paint swapping” action of the session is provided by the two Honda riders Casey Stoner and Danny Pedrosa.   Danny finished in 2^nd place only 0.028 behind his team mate with a time of 1.39.579

Valentino Rossi fans are ecstatic to him closer than he has been of late and in touch with the impressive Honda’s.  He finished the session in 3^rd place a mere 0.526 behind Casey with a lap of 1.40.077

Conditions at the track today were Dry with an Air Temperature of 22°, Humidity of 38% and a Ground Temperature of 26°.  Last year’s conditions were a bit warmer with the Ground Temperature being 42°, almost double what it was today, but then again last year this round was a month later.

Final Session Results

1              27           Casey STONER                      AUS         Repsol Honda Team             HONDA 1'39.551

2              26           Dani PEDROSA                     SPA         Repsol Honda Team             HONDA 1'39.579

3              46           Valentino ROSSI                    ITA          Ducati Team                          DUCATI 1'40.077

4              58           Marco SIMONCELLI             ITA          San Carlo Honda Gresini     HONDA 1'40.176

5              1              Jorge LORENZO                   SPA         Yamaha Factory Racing       YAMAHA 1'40.420

6              4              Andrea DOVIZIOSO              ITA          Repsol Honda Team             HONDA 1'40.429

7              11           Ben SPIES                             USA         Yamaha Factory Racing       YAMAHA 1'40.887

8              5              Colin EDWARDS                  USA         Monster Yamaha Tech 3     YAMAHA 1'41.063

9              14           Randy DE PUNIET                FRA         Pramac Racing Team           DUCATI 1'41.064

10           69           Nicky HAYDEN                      USA         Ducati Team                         DUCATI 1'41.233

11           17           Karel ABRAHAM                   CZE          Cardion AB Motoracing      DUCATI 1'41.398

12           8              Hector BARBERA                 SPA         Mapfre Aspar MotoGP        DUCATI 1'41.601

13           7              Hiroshi AOYAMA                 JPN          San Carlo Honda Gresini     HONDA 1'41.816

14           35           Cal CRUTCHLOW                 GBR         Monster Yamaha Tech 3     YAMAHA 1'41.949

15           24           Toni ELIAS                             SPA         LCR Honda MotoGP             HONDA 1'42.157

16           65           Loris CAPIROSSI                   ITA          Pramac Racing Team           DUCATI 1'42.313

17           21           John HOPKINS                      USA         Rizla Suzuki MotoGP            SUZUKI 1'42.538

All I can say is…I’m very much looking forward to the next session later today…are you?

Thanks

Jen

Post Race 2 Reflections, Riders Quotes and Pukka Pics from The FIM WSBK at Donington Park

Race 2 saw even more drama than the first race, but I’m happy to report it did not come in the form of any more wheels parting company with their respective bikes.

The temperature rose in the afternoon to an almost tropical 12C which is double what it had been in the morning. Perilli confirmed that this allowed Carlos Checa (Ducati), Michel Fabrizio (Suzuki), Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki), Eugene Laverty (Yamaha) and Ruben Xaus (Honda) all to start race 2 with the softer tyre compounds.

There was drama even before the green light, when an anxious Max Biaggi appeared to loose grip of clutch and break the beam on his starting block, a false start ensued, which carries a ride through penalty.  Deeply engrossed with his on track battles Max failed to see his pit board informing him of his penalty resulting in a black flag and an untimely end to his race.  A marshall from the track was heard saying “the only place that wouldn’t have been a jump start was Monza”.  This was truly the icing for the cake for Max especially after his “handbags and dawn”  or some would say “Hero to Zero” incident with Marco after Superpole on the Saturday which resulted in them both receiving fines.  Not to mention the altercation between Max and Michel, involving a lot of hand waving and gesturing in true Italian style.

Carlos was happy to wipe away memories from his 1998 crash at Craner Curves, which left him with a ruptured spleen and temporary blindness.  He was able to pass Leon after just 2 laps and after that he never looked back going on to win by a margin of 3.397s from Marco Melandri.  Carlos said after the race "We opted for the softer tyre in race two," he said. "We knew it would be very high performing although a bit less so towards the end of the race. It remained pretty consistent but towards the end I had to change my riding a little to manage the situation. My strategy was to get to the front, built up a bit of a lead and then manage that lead and today everything worked perfectly. It was great to win at Phillip Island but today meant even more to me. A lot of people may remember what happened to me here many years ago; that day I lost something here but today I can say that I found it again."

Starting from 9^th place Marco Melandri worked his way successfully through the pack to take 2^nd place ahead of Leon Camier.  He managed to pass Leon Haslam on lap 6 but had to wait until the Englishman had made a mistake at Copice a couple of laps later before he was able to make it stick. After the race Marco said "Race two was a little more difficult. I was suffering from a head cold and lost concentration a little mid-way. I am very pleased to be on the podium again. We have been working very hard in preparation for the races and we did very well. I had a lot of fun and I think we proved that we have a very good package. I'm looking forward to the rest of the season.  Thanks to Yamaha, my team and my sponsors."

Leon Camier had a fantastic 2^nd race, after recovering from a bout of glandular fever, the man from Kent shrugged off his disappointment after his first race finish of 8^th and went on to collect 3^rd place and a podium finish.  Leon was quoted as saying “I can’t believe it’s happened to be honest.  At the start of the year to have the troubles with illness and go to the first race struggling was really frustrating.  So to come back from that and come to my home round and get on the podium is awesome. In the first race I had a few problems, but we changed a few things in between the two races and it worked well which was great.  I had a good battle with Marco Melandri in the second race and I was hoping I could take it to him at the end, but it didn't quite work out.  But I felt comfortable on the bike and to get a podium is awesome and hopefully we can really move on from here and keep getting on the podium.”

Leon Haslam lead for the first 2 laps of the race until he was then overtaken by Carlos Checa who went on to the win the race. Whilst Leon was in a battle for 2^nd place with Marco Melandri , he had a moment which saw him having to do a bit of grass tracking before re-joining the race, all be it much further down the pack.   Leon said "I made a mistake myself and went back to 10th place at one point.  I had a big high-side coming out of Coppice. I was thrown through the screen and I lost about eight seconds.  I was close to coming off. My head was near the front wheel as I went through the screen and I cut my neck open as well.  It was a good recovery and I was happy that I got back up to fourth."
 

 Picture thanks to @realleonhaslam

On a separate note we would like to wish James Toseland a speedy recovery back into PIT LANE, after his bone crunching crash during testing at Aragon the weekend before Donington.  I must admit to see this made me a little bit sad.

Race 2 results
1 – Carlos Checa  (Althea Racing)  Ducati 1098R 34'21.537
2 – Marco Melandri  (Yamaha World Superbike Team)  Yamaha YZF R1  34'24.93
3 – Leon Camier   (Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team)  Aprilia RSV4 Factory  34'27.439
4 – Leon Haslam   (BMW Motorrad Motorsport)  BMW S1000 RR  34'35.379
5 – Joan Lascorz   (Kawasaki Racing Team)  Kawasaki ZX-10R  34'35.790
6 - Jonathan Rea (Castrol Honda)  Honda CBR1000RR  34'40.950
7 – Michel Fabrizio   (Team Suzuki Alstare)   Suzuki GSX-R1000  34'41.815
8 – Jakub Smrz   (Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R  34'42.697
9 - Ayrton Badovini   (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team)   BMW S1000R  34'45.835
10 - Ruben Xaus   (Castrol Honda)  Honda CBR1000R  34'46.444
11 - Sylvain Guintoli   (Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing)   Ducati 1098R  34'53.977
12 - Tom Sykes   (Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike)  Kawasaki ZX-10R  34'54.216
13 - Troy Corser   (BMW Motorrad Motorsport)   BMW S1000R  34'55.607
14 - Eugene Laverty   (Yamaha World Superbike Team)  Yamaha YZF R1  34'57.955
15 - Roberto Rolfo  (Team Pedercini)   Kawasaki ZX-10R 35'05.574
16 - Mark Aitchison   (Team Pedercini )  Kawasaki ZX-10R  35'13.949
17 - Noriyuki  Haga (PATA Racing Team Aprilia)  Aprilia RSV4 Factory  35'18.171
Not classified
RT - Maxime Berger  (Supersonic Racing Team)  Ducati 1098R   1'41.588
EX – Max Biaggi   (Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team)  Aprilia RSV4 Factory  13'50.189

Post-Race 1 Reflections, Rider Quotes and Pukka Pics from FIM World Superbikes at Donington Park

Well now that we have had a few days to absorb all of the events that happened over the course of both races here is my look back at Race 1.

Unfortunately the weather had gone from the sunburn of Friday to “thermals required” on race day, this coupled with no data available from last year made supplying the correct tyre for Pirelli a little more of a challenge.   They successfully stepped up to the plate supplying a tyre specifically developed for this round which produced a record setting qualifying lap of 1.28.099 for Carlos Checa putting the Spanish rider on Pole Position for the race.

 With a track temperature of only 6C the majority of the riders on the grid chose to select the SC1 which is a soft front and the new mid-soft compound rear. This included the race 1 winner Marco Melandri who made gallantly made his way through the pack from his lowly grid position of 9^th place. He showed fantastic grit and determination to catch and pass Jacob Smrz on the very last lap to take his maiden superbike win.  Marco said "I had a great win in race one, I was just behind a very aggressive bunch of riders so I had to work hard to keep my rhythm and push through. I managed to close in on Smrz with five laps to go and take my first win."

 Jacob Smrz had surprisingly chose to run a SC1 soft rear even in those low temperatures which seemed to serve the man from the Czech republic well as he lead for 15 laps. Jacob said after the race “Of course I am disappointed to not win the race but it was really nice and I am back on the podium, which is important. The feeling all race was very good and the bike was perfect, but in the end my rear tyre was gone and I could not push any more. Marco passed me and I did not want to risk anything in the end.”

 Carlos Checa didn’t make the start off the line that he had hoped for and soon found himself in 11^thplace.  Undeterred he fought his way back through the pack to pass Leon Haslam on the last lap and make the podium in 3^rd place.  After the race Carlos said "In Race 1 I was struggling at the start, I didn't have feeling with the rear tyre and as a result I lost a lot of positions. But I have to say it was one of the most exciting races of my career, so many riders touching, crashing, everything! After the first laps I was able to build up a good rhythm and start moving up through the pack one rider at a time. It wasn't easy but I pushed hard and then two laps from the end I realised that I could maybe get past Haslam too for third. I'm really happy because I didn't think I'd get from 11th on lap one to the podium. We made the decision to use the hard tyre solution for the race and even thought we paid for this at the start it turned out to be the right decision in the end."

 Local hero Leon Haslam made a great start on race 1 and lead for 6 laps before being passed by Jacob Smrz on lap 7. He was eventually piped to the post for the last podium position when on the very last lap he was passed by Carlos Checa .  Leon later said “It’s not the sort of day I wanted but I’ll certainly take the points,” said Leon. “After qualifying in second place I really felt that we were in with a chance of winning but it’s very early days for me and BMW and my expectations are maybe a little high at present. In the end I simply didn’t have the pace to win but the consistency is certainly starting to show now”

 The drama of race 1 was not just confined to the fight for the top 4 places.  Eugene Laverty was fighting his way through the pack from his starting place of 13^th on the grid and was just beginning to make progress when, on lap four he suffered a massive crash.  He was taken immediately to the medical centre where he was examined and later released deemed fit enough to ride for race 2.  Eugene said “The race one crash was bizarre. I almost crashed in the corner before and lost a little bit of confidence afterwards, and I think this was what sparked it.”

 The most dramatic and unusual crash happened to Maxime Berger,  as he was turning onto the start finish straight to complete his 6^th lap, the back wheel came away from his Supersonic Racing Team Ducati leaving him pirouetting on the track, bewildered as to what went wrong.  Thankfully the incident, caused by a defective rim happened at a slower part of the track or this could have resulted in a more serious outcome.  Maxime said after the race “I'm disappointed and incredulous.  The rim broke and I was lucky because it broke in a slow corner. I found myself on the ground without knowing what happened.”

 Picture thanks to @McWill99

Lap 14 saw Michel Fabrizio retire after already pulling into the pits after a near crash at coppice that resulted in him ending up in the gravel trap. Luckily he managed to save the bike from falling and returned to the pits to change his rear tyre from a hard to a medium compound.  Hoping this would help, he returned to the race but only for 3 laps where he was forced to retire due to lack of grip.  Michel said "It's just a shame about the first race. I'm not exactly sure what happened. All I know was that suddenly I had no rear grip at all going into Coppice. I went into the gravel, but managed not to crash. I thought there was something wrong with the rear tyre, so I pitted and changed the rear to a medium. My first lap was in the 1:30s and the second was pretty good also, but the third was way off the pace. From then, it got worse. I was dead last with no chance of catching anybody and, because I didn't feel safe carrying on, I pulled into the pits. When we looked at the rear tyre, it was completely destroyed.”

  Also in the wars was Tom Sykes after such a strong SuperPole and starting from the front of the grid the Englishman couldn’t help but be disappointed when with only 5 laps remaining he crashed out at the Esses whilst in 4^th place.  Tom said “Not what I was expecting going into the day after a front row start,” he said. “I was quietly confident of coming away with top three or top four results. Race one was going to plan but I had a bit of an issue and it was mainly my mistake that I had a crash at the Esses while lying fourth on lap 18.”

 Race 1 result were: 

      1.  Marco Melandri (Yamaha World Superbike Team) Yamaha YZF R1 34'33.189
2. Jakub Smrz (Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 34'35.644
3. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 34'39.028
4. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 34'39.365
5. Jonathan Rea (Castrol Honda) Honda CBR1000RR 34'42.228
6. Noriyuki Haga (PATA Racing Team Aprilia) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 34'42.404
7. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 34'43.149
8. Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 34'48.049
9. Troy Corser (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 34'48.066
10. Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 34'49.371
11. Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 34'59.009
12. Ruben Xaus (Castrol Honda) Honda CBR1000RR 35'01.567
13. Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team) BMW S1000 RR 35'05.058
14. Roberto Rolfo (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 35'13.204
15. Mark Aitchison (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 35'33.317
RT. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team Superbike) Kawasaki ZX-10R 25'35.167
RT. Michel Fabrizio (Team Suzuki Alstare) Suzuki GSX-R1000 24'17.861
RT. Maxime Berger (Supersonic Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 7'43.215
RT. Eugene Laverty (Yamaha World Superbike Team) Yamaha YZF R1 4'37.934

Race 2 reflections coming up next.

Jen