Moto GP

[Rev004]

The Jerez Round has kicked the 3rd round off with Rossi Setting the pace and Stoner a little slower than normal considering how quick he was here in testing but it's only early days I spose.

So here some gos and the results from the 1st round of free practice from Friday.

Rossi starts Jerez weekend on front foot
Friday, 01 May 2009

World Champion Valentino Rossi was MotoGPâ€s best performer in southern Spain on Friday.


The MotoGP action at the Gran Premio bwin.com de España got underway on Friday afternoon at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit with Fiat Yamahaâ€s Valentino Rossi setting the pace ahead of his premier class rivals.

In pleasant riding conditions The Doctor started the Spanish visit with a best effort of 1â€39.647 on the 16th of the 21 laps which he squeezed into the 45-minute first free practice session, continuing the good pace he demonstrated in the Official MotoGP Test at the same track in March.

Three other riders who also performed well in the final preseason test, Rizla Suzukiâ€s Loris Capirossi (1â€40.011), Ducati Marlboroâ€s Casey Stoner (1â€40.268) and Fiat Yamahaâ€s Jorge Lorenzo (1â€40.441) lapped second to fourth quickest respectively, whilst Repsol Hondaâ€s Andrea Dovizioso was around a second off Rossiâ€s pace - completing a top five which featured four different manufacturers.

The likes of Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda), Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki), Marco Melandri (Hayate Racing) and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) all registered top ten times, Pedrosa lapping a second and a half off the pace.

After an incident free session, the likes of 11th placed James Toseland (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), 12th placed Sete Gibernau (Grupo Francisco Hernando) and Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro) will hope for better results on Saturday in the continued dry conditions which are forecast for day two of the third race weekend of 2009.


De Puniet ok despite bee sting to face
Friday, 01 May 2009

Seventh on the timesheet was a decent way to begin the weekend in Spain for LCR Hondaâ€s Randy de Puniet, despite some unwelcome attentions from a bee during FP1.


French Randy de Puniet summarises the first day of action at the Gran Premio bwin.com de España from an LCR Honda perspective, after clocking the seventh best time at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit in MotoGP free practice 1.

Randy de Puniet – 7th
“One bike was set up as we tested it during pre season official test and the other one was set up as we raced in Japan but we fixed several issues. I compared both bikes and my pace was pretty fast from the beginning of the session. I was happy with my package and at the end I lapped on a hard set of tyres which will be our race tyre if the track temperature remains the same. Unfortunately on the last lap a bee stung just below my left eye, but I am OK. Our to-do list for tomorrow includes engine mapping and chassis set up, but basically we have already had a very positive start.”


Top six placing for Edwards as round three commences
Friday, 01 May 2009

The thoughts of Tech 3 riders Colin Edwards and James Toseland, at the end of day one at the Gran Premio bwin.com de España.


Colin Edwards made a flying start to the Jerez weekend on Friday, the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider clocking the sixth best time in opening free practice.

James Toseland, meanwhile, looks to build on his first top ten result of the season in Japan last weekend. A best lap of 1.41.461 pushed the British rider into the top ten in the closing stages, but the 28-year-old eventually dropped down to 11th.

Colin Edwards - 6th
“That was a good solid start and I'm happy with the bike. Yamaha has done a great job because we seem to go from track to track and be right up with the leaders from the start. There are a couple of things with the electronics and chassis set-up that we can definitely find at least another half-a-second to go consistently quicker around the 40.3 area. That's not going to trouble Valentino (Rossi) but that would be a big step for us and put us in contention. With the electronics we just need to get the anti-wheelie working a bit better. Yamaha did a great job with that in the winter and we needed that improvement on a track like this where you accelerate hard out of a lot of slow hairpins. I'm losing a little bit of time on acceleration and we can still make it better, but my guys at Tech 3 know what they are doing and I know we'll make a big step for tomorrow. I'm doing those lap times and I'm not 100 per cent comfortable, so that bodes well for the weekend knowing we've got a lot of room for improvement.”
James Toseland - 11th
“We went for a harder setting on the front fork to help with some of the heavy braking points but it didn't really work as we'd liked. We also changed the rear a bit from Japan and the balance wasn't really there. We didn't really have time to go back to plan B but even with a couple of small issues I'm not too displeased with my time and I know my potential is much higher. I think what is going to be crucial is to conserve the tyre here over race distance and that's something I'll work out with my team. I ran the harder rear today because of the hot conditions and even that was sliding around a little after about eight laps. I could see a few other people were having the same problems, so a decent race set-up will be critical. A bit more time would have put me in the top eight and it wouldn't have been a bad afternoon, but we know where we can improve on the setting and be much stronger tomorrow.”


Lorenzo disappointed with Free Practice fourth
Friday, 01 May 2009

MotoGP series leader wants more speed for Sunday race.


Struggling with unforeseen acceleration problems at his home circuit, MotoGP World Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo was left deflated despite the Spanish sunshine in Jerez. The Fiat Yamaha rider placed fourth on the timing screen at 3/4 of a second slower than teammate Valentino Rossi, and looks to make up ground on Saturday.

Jorge Lorenzo -4th
“Itâ€s nice to be back in Spain and in the sunshine, but I am a bit disappointed about the day. I had a problem at the start with my helmet and we were delayed to go out on track. Once I got started I felt good with the soft Bridgestone tyre, but when we tried the hard one later we had a few problems and the bike didnâ€t feel completely stable. Tomorrow we need to come back to a different setting and I hope things will be better.”


Capirossi in search of further improvements
Friday, 01 May 2009

Although he was second fastest on Friday in Jerez, Loris Capirossi is still not 100% comfortable with his set-up at the Spanish track.


Loris Capirossi is aiming for a strong result this weekend at the Gran Premio bwin.com de España, having looked good in preseason testing at Jerez and having started with a good lap time on Friday.

With the first day of practice in southern Spain held in warm and sunny conditions - air temperatures at 23ºC and the track surface rising to 48ºC - Capirossi enjoyed the sunshine, but explained that he does not have his GSV-R set-up correctly yet to make the most of the tyre options available at a venue which has a new layer of asphalt since last yearâ€s race.

“It is really the first time that we have had very good weather for testing things here and we hope to have two more dry sessions tomorrow because we still need to work things out on the bike,” commented the veteran Italian. “Friday was good but we still donâ€t have a perfect setting. We have a few ideas about what to do on Saturday on the bike but anyway, Iâ€m quite happy.”

He continued, “It is really easy to select tyres this year as there are only two compounds, but the soft one is too soft for us here and the harder one is still a bit too soft for us. Everyone has the same problems though. We will have to adjust the bike a bit so that we use a bit less tyre. Anyway, I feel very good on the bike and I know that when we fix the problems we will go quicker.”

Paul Denning, the Rizla Suzuki Team Manager added, “Itâ€s difficult to assess the real potential from this short single session today. Obviously itâ€s good to have Loris right up there in second place, but we have a lot of work still to do in these warmer conditions to try and find a good step in rear grip with the harder compound tyre, which looks like it will be the only option open to us for the race.”

“We need to get the bike set up to increase the durability of the tyres, but a least we've had a solid Friday afternoon, and we've managed to gather a lot of information as we look to get a good result here in Jerez.”


The Repsol Honda Team take up their places in Jerez
Friday, 01 May 2009

Andrea Dovizioso, fifth best time, and Dani Pedrosa, tenth, held back by some electronic problems.


The MotoGP World Championship has returned to Europe today after its transoceanic wanderings with events in Qatar and Japan. Today, the top category, after offering a virtuoso demonstration last weekend in Motegi –the first five riders to classify came in with less than ten seconds between them-, has kicked off in Jerez, the scenario of highly intense moments over the last few years. With the Spanish Grand Prix arrive the sun, the heat, a huge audience, excitement and the incredible atmosphere experienced every year in the grandstands at the Jerez circuit.

Out on the circuit, today the two Repsol Honda Team riders have made initial contact. Andrea Dovizioso, fifth at the end of the first 45 minutes of the practice sessions, got into what should be his natural position in the first free practice on his new official Honda: within one second of the best time, and gradually improving every time he went out on the track. Andrea, who has tested some new parts today, developed to eliminate the problems that the two Repsol Honda Team riders are having with the front wheel of their bikes when braking, said that he is very satisfied with the results of the first tests and of the first free practice session.

For Dani Pedrosa, todayâ€s position –tenth-, is obviously not the position he should occupy, in spite of not having completely recovered from the injury to his knee, and his lack of physical form, which he will recover little by little. However, the third on the podium in the Japanese Grand Prix has had several set up problems on both of his bikes today, as well as an electronic problem on one of them, which forced him to go back into the garage and come back out on the track on the second. In the end, Pedrosa finished tenth, a second and a half off the best time, clocked up by the Italian Valentino Rossi.

Dani Pedrosa, 1â€41.208 secs
“Itâ€s a good feeling to be back in Europe and especially to be riding at Jerez again. Itâ€s only Friday but there are already a lot of fans out on the banking so I know itâ€s going to be another special weekend for the Spanish riders. The first session didnâ€t go quite according to plan for us though and I think we can go faster than this tomorrow. We had an issue with one of my bikes and our general machine set-up still needs some work. The Bridgestone tyres seem to be working pretty well though, so set-up will be the main issue for us tomorrow.”
Andrea Dovizioso, 1â€40.601 secs
“Today the conditions of the track and the weather were perfect and I was able to ride fast from the beginning of the session. For part of the practice I was trying some new parts and I was impressed with the laptimes I could do without a lot of set-up time. Time is very limited with only 45 minutes per session but weâ€ve found some potential. We need to do quite a lot of work to maximise this potential, but Iâ€m satisfied of this first test session for Spainish Grand Prix.”


Stoner starts Spanish sojourn on slower pace than at test
Friday, 01 May 2009

Australian experiences lack of confidence with front end slippage.


The standout rider of the Official Test at Jerez, Casey Stoner encountered some early difficulties as the 2009 race weekend began at the track. The first practice session, in which the Australian finished third with a time of 1â€40.268, was dedicated to finding a solution to a front end problem, although he remains self-assured of a better run on Saturday.

“We found that we were running too much pressure on the front tyre, and kept losing the front end,” analysed Stoner after his re-acquaintance with the Spanish track. “Unfortunately we had a problem with the engine on the second bike, and were unable to use it. We tried a few different things with the bike that we had, and I lost a little bit of confidence.

“We couldnâ€t understand if the back was pushing too much or not. We think that itâ€s just the front, so hopefully tomorrow will be a different situation.”

Stonerâ€s result in the Gran Premio bwin.com de España will come under close scrutiny following his disastrous 2008 race at the circuit, and also his not placing on the podium last time out in Japan. The former MotoGP World Champion however, has little respect for previous form as he aims to regain the title.

“Weâ€re struggling a bit more than we were in the test here, although the bike does seem to be turning really well. We need a bit of time before race day, but weâ€re confident.”


Rossi cites Jerez temperatures as big test for tyres
Friday, 01 May 2009

Fastest in MotoGP Free Practice 1, Valentino Rossi predicts a tough race for the premier class field if temperatures stay high in Spain.


A hot day in Jerez provided Valentino Rossi with the chance to shine in the opening practice for the Gran Premio bwin.com de España, as he set a scorching lap time that made him the only rider to breach the 1â€40 mark on Friday.

Fiat Yamahaâ€s reigning MotoGP World Champion was at his stunning best as he opened the first European leg of the 2009 season, recording the fastest time of the day –a 1â€39.647- on his second bike. More than anything, though, the day served as a chance for Rossi to get a step up on preparation for an all-important Sunday race and show that Casey Stoner hadnâ€t had the last word at Jerez during last monthâ€s BMW M Award session.

“There was no car this time, but it was still a very important session for us. We modified something with our setting and tried to fix some of the problems from the first few races,” said the Italian after the 45-minute run.

“We worked through everything from the soft to the hard tyre very quickly, and we can see that for sure it will be a tough race for the tyres if the temperatures are like this.”

Rossi also revealed that the initial difficulty with his main Yamaha M1 hadnâ€t caused too much of a setback, adding that; “We had a little problem at the beginning of the session with the first bike, so we went out on the second bike. But the second one was ready; we needed to modify the schedule of the practice a bit, but it was ok.”

MotoGP practice continues on Saturday from 10.05am local time.



MotoGP Free Practice

Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Motorcycle Lap time Km/h Gap
1 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1'39.647 273.556
2 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 1'40.011 275.299 0.364
3 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 1'40.268 269.932 0.621
4 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1'40.441 275.299 0.794
5 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1'40.601 272.796 0.954
6 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1'40.703 276.923 1.056
7 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 1'40.866 270.880 1.219
8 7 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 1'41.063 274.599 1.416
9 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki 1'41.182 274.809 1.535
10 3 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1'41.208 272.796 1.561
11 52 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1'41.461 273.279 1.814
12 59 Sete GIBERNAU SPA Grupo Francisco Hernando Ducati 1'41.531 272.865 1.884
13 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1'41.557 265.030 1.910
14 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing Ducati 1'41.584 274.390 1.937
15 24 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1'41.736 276.356 2.089
16 72 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN Scot Racing Team MotoGP Honda 1'41.898 268.723 2.251
17 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 1'41.916 276.994 2.269
18 88 Niccolo CANEPA ITA Pramac Racing Ducati 1'42.063 267.857 2.416