Motourage

FTR Moto and the Monlau Competicion Team’s Kev Coghlan know they must win Sunday’s seventh and final round of the CEV Buckler Moto2 Spanish Championship to stand any chance of claiming the 2010 title.

Coghlan sits 21 points behind series leader Carmelo Morales with one race remaining and needs to win at Jerez and hope Morales fails to score points in the season finale

Coghlan won at Albacete in May and Aragon in July but was disqualified after his round-three victory at Jerez in June after a technical infringement with his Honda motor.

“We’ve had a bit of an up and down year but for a first season in Moto2 I think we’ve achieved more than we maybe expected,” said Coghlan. “I’ll be firmly head down from Friday morning and working towards the win on Sunday for FTR and the Monlau Team.”

One year after the FTR Moto2 machine’s Spanish Championship debut, FTR’s Steve Bones believes the performance of the M210 and its aerodynamics package have ensured Coghlan and the Monlau – Joe Darcey joint operation have remained competitive throughout 2010.

“Kev had a good opening sixth place at Catalunya on the M209 then once he got the M210 he won the next three races,” recalled Bones. “He’s finished fourth and fifth since so the consistency of Kev, the FTR M210 along with the Honda motor and Michelin tires is proven.

“At Jerez we just want to stay focused on repeating Kev’s victory of June this year and see if it is enough to win the Championship – strange things tend to happen in final rounds!”

Lorenzo produces ride of his life to take rousing victory in Jerez

Jorge Lorenzo produced one of the rides of his life to take a superb win in Spain today, the grandeur of a full-to-bursting Jerez providing a fitting amphitheatre for his first MotoGP win on home soil. Valentino Rossi finished third, making it a sixteenth double podium for the Fiat Yamaha pair since 2008.

Lorenzo got a bad start and had dropped from second to fifth by the second lap, as he struggled to find a rhythm with a full fuel tank. On lap five he was able to pass Casey Stoner and then, five laps on, Nicky Hayden but he looked destined to stay in third as he languished 1.5 seconds adrift of Rossi, who was in turn the same distance from Pedrosa. With a third of the race to go however the Spaniard picked up pace, suddenly the fastest man on track as he stormed up on his team-mate. On lap 22 he dispatched the Italian but with only five laps left and a two second gap a victory still looked unlikely. The tenacious youngster was not giving up however in pursuit of a sixth premier-class win and he rapidly gained on his fellow Spaniard to bring himself within striking distance on his penultimate lap. His first attempt to pass resulted in a dramatic moment as they both momentarily looked like running off track and in the end he had to leave it to the last lap to make the definitive move, passing Pedrosa on the brakes at the end of the back straight and crossing the line 0.543 seconds ahead. Lorenzo, who turns 23 on Tuesday, celebrated in hilarious style by leaping into the lake in the middle of the circuit, much to the rapture of the home fans who were already celebrating Spanish wins in the 125cc and Moto2 classes earlier in the day.

Rossi was happy to make the podium, having struggled all weekend to overcome his injured shoulder and set-up problems with his M1. The World Champion got a great start from the second row and was second behind Pedrosa for most of the race. He stayed in touch in the early stages but began to drop back as his bike started to slide, eventually giving best to his charging team-mate and settling for the final podium spot and a valuable 16 points, 0.4 seconds behind Pedrosa.

The Championship is now led by Lorenzo with 45 points, while Rossi is four points off him in second. The riders now have a three-week break before the French round at Le Mans on May 23.

Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 1st, Time: 45’17.538
“It has always been one of my dreams to win a MotoGP race in Spain and this was like a movie, everything that could possibly happen did! It was a very hard race because I made such a bad start and then found it very difficult in the first laps – I gave myself a tough job to do. After that I started to feel better and rode like a demon to get to the front. Once I passed Valentino I knew that I couldn’t take it easy, I had to try everything to win and it was all I could think about. I had a great fight with Dani and in one moment we nearly crashed so I had to try again, on the very last lap! I know it’s better to win races calmly, from the front, but lately that hasn’t been the way for us and I have had to fight on every lap. I saw the lake on Thursday and thought it would be funny to jump in and I think the fans liked it, but I didn’t really think about how heavy I’d be with wet leathers and for a minute I thought I wasn’t going to get out! This has been an amazing day; I can’t believe I’ve achieved this dream of mine, in front of all the Spanish fans at this magical place.”

Valentino Rossi – Position: 3rd, Time: +0.890
“This just wasn’t our race this year. We have struggled all weekend, first with my shoulder and then with the bike, and in the race today I couldn’t do any more than third. I got a great start and was fast with the new tire, I tried to go with Dani but then I started to slide a lot and I just had to play it safe. I made no mistakes and I’m happy about my race in the circumstances, these 16 points are very important. At the end I had a front-row seat to the Spanish party and I admit I was sorry not to be involved, Jorge did a great job today and I think it was very exciting for all the fans. I want to say thank you to Dr. Costa and all the staff at the Clinica Mobile, plus everyone back in Italy who has worked on my shoulder to allow me to be able to race this weekend. I will hopefully be back to full strength in Le Mans so I’m looking forward to that.”

Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager
“It’s fantastic to win this race in this way. The race itself was amazing, especially the last ten laps; a fight on the edge. Before the race started our target was just to be on the podium again and we managed the highest step, so we could not ask for more! Jorge was so fast at the end of the race, really amazing. We have wondered why he seems to get much stronger at the end of races; I think it’s a combination of his riding style and confidence, because from a technical point of view there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong. Apart from a less than perfect start, he controlled the bike very well during and kept a very good pace. He was able to keep the pace at the beginning and never gave up; he just got better. The target for the season remains the same, to keep aiming for the podium every weekend. We all know there are a lot of great riders out there and they all want to win, so it won’t be easy. We have always been confident about our potential and now we are even more so. Well done to Jorge and all the team.”

Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“Considering his recent injury we can see this as a very good result. The shoulder was okay and in fact the setting was the bigger problem, but the team did a great job to improve it as much as they could and we are happy that we made it onto the podium. Valentino got a fantastic start and was fast in the early stages but later on he couldn’t keep pace with Lorenzo and Pedrosa so 16 points is good for us today. We have some work to do for Le Mans, when we hope Valentino will be back to full fitness. Well done to Jorge and all his side of the garage, he did a great race today.”

Tough Spanish MotoGP race for Monster Yamaha Tech 3

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team was left to contemplate what might have been after a difficult and disappointing Spanish MotoGP race at the Jerez circuit this afternoon.
Colin Edwards fought a determined battle at the rear of a frenetic battle for seventh position in front of a sun-drenched crowd of 122,048 passionate Spanish fans.
The Texan eventually had to settle for 12th position after he encountered small rear grip issues in the crucial final stages that left him unable to mount a sustained offensive on the exciting mid-pack dice.

It was also a frustrating first Jerez MotoGP experience for 25-year-old Ben Spies, who had started the race with high expectations after a brilliant performance in practice and qualifying.
The reigning World Superbike champion made a blistering start and gained two places on the opening lap to sit menacingly behind former world champion Casey Stoner in sixth position.
But just as Spies looked to consolidate his place in the leading group, he encountered a front-end issue that saw him unable to maintain his fast pace.
Despite his valiant efforts to continue and score valuable points for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team, Spies opted to retire at the end of lap eight after he’d fallen out of the top ten.

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team will be hoping for improved fortunes when the MotoGP world championship resumes in France later this month. The Le Mans clash is the all-important home race for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team, with high hopes of a strong display in the third round of the 2010 campaign.

Colin Edwards – Position: 12th, Time: +38.371
“I think I’ve had one good race at Jerez in my entire career and today wasn’t it. This weekend has been a struggle and I’ve never been comfortable on the bike to show the pace I know I am capable of. Right from the start I had issues with the rear grip and I couldn’t hold any load on the tire at full lean angle. That also created some problems with the front-end, so I just struggled with the balance of the bike. It’s the exact same issue that I had in Qatar even though the set-up I’m running is quite a bit different. I’d just like to be in a race. At the moment I just feel like I’m riding around and suffering. I can only look forward to Le Mans knowing that I go really well at that track and so does the Yamaha.”

Ben Spies – Position: DNF
“It’s just one of those things that can happen but it’s really unfortunate because after coming here and learning the track really quick I thought we had a really good package for the race. The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team had worked really hard but I just had some problem with the front-end. I’m not sure what the problem is but I’ve looked at the data and you can clearly see I had an issue. The bike just wasn’t reacting like it should and it is a big shame. I got a really good start and was right behind Casey but pretty much from the first lap I knew I had a problem. I tried to round around the problem but at the end of the day I wasn’t going to be scoring any points and I’d have risked crashing if I’d continued. The consolation is that I know we had the speed for a good result and there are a lot of positive points to take from the weekend. We can go to Le Mans confident that I’ll be able to show more of my true potential.”

Herve Poncharal – Team Manager
“I won’t say it’s a disaster but it certainly is a big disappointment for us. We had high hopes after we saw how quickly Ben mastered the track and it wasn’t unrealistic to hope that he could have been at least in the top five again like in Qatar. He got a good start but after a few laps it was obvious that he couldn’t maintain his pace and he was losing ground. He had to pull into the pits and he said he didn’t have any feeling with the front. We’ll analyze the data and check everything with Bridgestone to see if we can find out exactly what caused the problem. It is a shame for Ben but we have to accept it. Colin was never really comfortable with the bike all weekend. He had an interesting fight but it wasn’t the result he wanted, so we’ll work hard to understand some of his issues. Hopefully Le Mans will be better because that is a hugely important race for Tech 3 and Monster.”

Circuit Length: 4423
Weather: Dry
Lap Record: 1’39.818 (Valentino Rossi, 01/01/2009)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1’38.189 (Jorge Lorenzo, 30/03/2008)
Last Year’s Winner: Valentino Rossi

2010 MotoGP Spain – Jerez de la Frontera 02/05/2010

The most-senior member of the Spanish Armada struck first today on his home turf as Repsol Honda’s #1 rider Dani Pedrosa scored an unexpected pole in the Jerez sunshine. Tech 3′s Ben Spies was the highest-placing rookie, putting himself in the 8th position, .019 behind teammate Colin Edwards. The rest of the rookie field are grouped in 12th position or lower, with last year’s 250 champion Hiroshi Aoyama at that position.

MotoGP Gran Premio bwin de España starting positions.

Lorenzo strong in Jerez, Rossi better than expected

Local hero Jorge Lorenzo looked back to his best today, finally fully recovered from his broken hand and on fast form in Jerez to finish practice in second place. His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi is now the one recovering from injury but the World Champion was happy to find he was able to ride well enough to keep in touch, setting the fifth fastest time.

Lorenzo always enjoys this race and has taken pole position for the last four years, twice in the 250cc class and twice with Yamaha in MotoGP. Able to use his hand properly today for the first time since the opening test of the season, last year’s runner-up was delighted with his form and found he had a strong race pace from the word go. His time today was just off last year’s lap record and 0.144 off fastest man Casey Stoner, but he and his team hope that a few small tweaks tomorrow will see them on their best game for tomorrow’s qualifying session.

Having damaged his shoulder in a recent motocross accident, Rossi’s primary concern today was finding out how strong he felt on the bike and how hard he was able to push. He and his crew were relieved to discover the situation was not too bad; the 31-year-old was able to ride 25 laps without any painkillers and was only 0.628 off Stoner’s time. He hopes that improvements to his setting, a bit more rear grip and possibly some pain management will put him closer to the front for the rest of the weekend.

Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 2nd, Time: 1’39.875Laps: 30
“I’m really happy with this first day. Everything has gone well and I don’t have any pain in my hand anymore. I feel as good on the bike as I felt last year when I got pole, although my aim is to make sure I don’t repeat the same mistake in the race this time! I always feel like I ride well here and I’ve already got a good pace; with some small modifications we can be even better. I don’t think the perfect MotoGP bike exists but our Yamaha is definitely nearly there, maybe we just need a bit more top speed… Tomorrow my aim is to improve my pace just a bit more to be consistently in the 39s; I’m excited about the weekend.”

Valentino Rossi – Position: 5th, Time: 1”40.359Laps: 25
“The shoulder is a bit sore, especially in the two or three harder braking areas, but the most important thing is that I can ride! Of course this pain makes it more difficult but I was able to do 25 laps today without painkillers, and the pain didn’t get any worse as the session went on. I didn’t take any painkillers because I wanted to understand the level and so tomorrow and Sunday we will consider something for the pain. Today we used two different settings and now we will decide which direction to go in for the rest of the weekend. We need to find a bit more rear grip in order to be more competitive, because at this moment this is slowing us down more than the shoulder.”

Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager
“Jorge loves this track and it showed today, with him on the pace immediately. The bike is giving him a lot of confidence already, which helps us a lot because we can just concentrate on making small improvements. We need to try to improve the grip a little bit but this is a good start. Tomorrow we’ll try to find a couple of tenths so that we can mount a strong qualifying challenge.”

Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“The best thing is that Valentino can ride okay, even if he is not at 100% with his injury. We have had two things to think about today, the set-up for the bike and the situation with his shoulder, and this session has been more about finding out our level in both of these areas. With regards to the set-up, we have worked in two different ways today and now we will decide which is best in order to improve our pace for tomorrow.”

Valentino Rossi : Information
Age: 31
Lives: Tavullia, Italy
Bike: Yamaha
GP victories: 104 (78 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc)
First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc)
First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc)
GP starts: 228 (168 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc)
Pole positions: 58 (48 x MotoGP/500cc, 5 x 250cc, 5 x 125cc)
World Championships: 9 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 6 x MotoGP)

Jorge Lorenzo: Information
Age: 22
Lives: Barcelona, Spain
Bike: Yamaha
GP victories: 26 (5 x MotoGP, 17 x 250cc, 4 x 125cc)
First GP victory: Brazil, 2003 (125cc)
First GP: Jerez, Spain, 2002 (125cc)
GP starts: 129 (34 x MotoGP, 48 x 250cc, 46 x 125cc)
Pole positions: 35 (9 x MotoGP, 23 x 250cc, 3 x 125cc)
World Championships: 2 (250cc, 2006/7)

Jerez: Record Lap
V. Rossi (Yamaha) 2009, 1’39.818

Jerez: Best Lap
J. Lorenzo (Yamaha) 2008, 1’38.189

Grand Prix Results: Jerez 2009
1. V.Rossi (Yamaha) 45’18.557
2. D.Pedrosa (Honda) +2.700
3. C.Stoner (Ducati) +10.507
J. Lorenzo (Yamaha) DNF

This weekend marks Rounds 6 and 7 of the Motourage Fantasy Riders Racing League season.
Due to the postponement of the Motegi MotoGP round, no points were scored in Round 4.  Round 5 was scored with the Assen Round of the World Superbike Championship, and teams will score this weekend based on the results of the MotoGP-Jerez and British Superbike-Oulton Park races.
The top scorer in Round 5 was Brad Boutilier’s East Coast racing team with a very impressive 70 points, but a big weekend by Luckyguess mixed up the standings at the top of the chart.

In MotoGP, Valentino Rossi’s health may have been in question at the beginning of the weekend due to an injury he sustained during a motocross crash, but he finished free practice at the #5 position.  Stoner, Lorenzo, Hayden and Pedrosa rounded out the top spots, but the Jerez race is anyone’s to win.  Will the Spanish Armada flex its collective hometown muscle or will it be an Aussie an Italian or even one of the field’s three Americans atop the podium on Sunday?

The British Superbike field is another story altogether, with a total of seven riders sitting this weekend out.  Hampus Johansson, James Edmeads, James Ellison, Pat McDougall, Scott Smart, and Simon Andrews are watching from the stands, and the big news is the sudden retirement of World Superbike Champion (and a familiar face in the AMA paddock for four seasons) Neil Hodgson, who was forced out due to his aggravating a two-year-old shoulder injury by crashing at Brands Hatch.

Team lineups have been locked in since Noon EST today, so sit back and get ready for some two wheeled action, both on the track and in the virtual world.

The current Motourage Fantasy Riders Racing League standings are below. Good luck to all the Motourage teams.

Team Marlboro Ducati’s Casey Stoner set an early target that his rivals were unable to follow in this afternoon’s opening free practice for the MotoGP Grand Prix of Spain, clocking what proved to be the fastest time of the session after just four laps. An effort of 1’39.731 was inside the quickest lap of last year’s race and secured the Australian’s position at the top of the timesheet overnight, despite a crash at the end of the session from which he escaped unharmed.

His teammate Nicky Hayden also made an impressive start to the weekend, racking up 25 laps and clocking the third fastest time of the session. Hayden’s form continues a positive start to his season, having been challenging at the top of the time sheets throughout winter testing and battling for the podium at the opening race in Qatar three weeks ago.

CASEY STONER (Ducati MotoGP Team)  1st (1’39.731)
“My first run was okay but we had some problems in braking so we spent the rest of the session trying to improve this area, comparing the two bikes. The crash at the end was a similar situation to Qatar – I went into the corner with less pressure on the front and it closed. It’s never nice to crash but at least it gives us a better understanding of what happened in Qatar and which direction we need to take with the set-up over the rest of the weekend. Other than that I am really happy – I think this is the first time I’ve been fastest in any MotoGP session at Jerez. We’ve started out strongly, we have no worries and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

NICKY HAYDEN – (Ducati MotoGP Team) 3rd (1’40.148)
“The session went well and I’m really happy right now because this is a big one for us. I was fast in Malaysia and Qatar but that was after a lot of testing at those tracks, experimenting with many different settings, but we’ve come here and been fast out of the gate, which was one of my goals for this season – to be on the pace on Fridays. We didn’t set the world on fire or break any track records so we’re not getting carried away but the bike is close and if we can get it a little better in the fast corners we should have a good package. The team made one little change today that helped a lot and on my last exit I was able to stay in the 1’40s from the first lap to the last. It’s a good start and if we keep working in this way we can have a good weekend.”

Circuit Record: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha – 2009), 1’39.818 – 159.518 Km/h
Best Pole: Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha – 2008), 1’38.189 – 162.164 Km/h

The British-built FTR Moto2 machines continue to impress in round two of the World Championship at Jerez in Spain, and FTR director Steve Bones believes there is much more to come from the Buckingham-based company’s machinery.

Alex Debon Impressed at Qatar aboard an FTR Moto machine

Alex Debon, riding the Aeroport de Castello-Ajo Team machine finished runner-up in the opening round of the Championship in Qatar three weeks ago and Bones is confident Debon can maintain that form at his home race this weekend.

“Right now the focus is on a wide variety of areas including an improvement to the cooling system, testing the latest swing arm options we now have, improving the balance of the machine for the Jerez circuit and ensuring we get the maximum from the rear Dunlop tire in Sunday’s race,” said Bones.

He continued: “The chassis is clearly working well but we need to continue the development with Alex and his team in the direction they advise. Everything remains very new still so we never know what problems we will encounter as we try to get the machine working in the best possible manner at any given race track.”

Iannone and Talmasci showed promise during Jerez Free Practice today

FTR’s other two machines, running under the Fimmco Speed Up Team banner with riders Gabor Talmasci and Andrea Iannone, continued their improvement on Friday at Jerez and Bones believes they should be able to challenge for honors very soon.

Bones reported: “The Speed Up guys simply didn’t get the same amount of winter testing as many of the other teams but Gabor showed his ability with a fighting ninth place in Qatar and I’m sure he’ll be at the sharp end of races soon.  Andrea is still getting up to speed with the four-stroke machinery characteristics but he’s a Grand Prix winner and I’m certain that will begin to show again soon.”

Debon was fastest in Friday’s opening free practice at Jerez with Talmasci second. Iannone ended the day in 27th place in the 42-strong entry despite running off the circuit during the session.

MotoGP emerges from the ash cloud to land in Spain

MotoGP finally resumes action this weekend, after the recent Icelandic Volcano forced the postponement of the Japanese GP. It has been a frustrating time for the paddock as the ash cloud has billowed over Europe and it will be an excited Fiat Yamaha Team that lands in Spain this week, with Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo itching to get back to action after their brilliant one-two in the opening round.

Rossi has an impressive record at Jerez, with seven wins in all classes there including three for Yamaha in 2005, 2006 and last year, when he overhauled Dani Pedrosa to take his first win of the season. Despite being on a high from his brilliant win in Qatar, Rossi was perhaps more grateful than most for the volcano’s eruptions as he slightly damaged his shoulder muscles in a motocross training accident ten days ago. The cancelled race has given him unexpected extra time to recover and he hopes to be in good enough shape to put up a fight in Jerez.

Lorenzo is now hopefully back to full fitness after breaking his hand in the pre-season and the 22-year-old has a score to settle with the first Spanish track of the year, after he crashed out when challenging for the podium last year. It was at this track where he made history as the youngest ever rider to compete in a Grand Prix and he has won there twice since, on the way to his two 250cc titles in 2006 and 2007.

The Andalucian city of Jerez is a shrine for Spanish motorcycle racing and draws one of the biggest crowds of the year. More than 120,000 fans make the pilgrimage south and pack into the natural amphitheatre to create a three-day carnival. The track itself has few hard braking points and little opportunity to fully open the throttle, but often throws up some spectacular racing. The 4.423 km layout features regular and quick changes in direction, meaning the rider requires a responsive overall set-up and good grip at maximum lean angles.

Valentino Rossi – “Amazing atmosphere and fantastic fans”
“Of course it was a pity not to go to Japan, Yamaha’s home race, but we will go in October now and for me it was quite lucky to have this extra week. I didn’t hurt myself badly in the motocross fall but my shoulder was quite sore so it was good to give it more time to recover. I don’t know yet how much it will affect me this weekend, I hope not too much. The win in Qatar was fantastic but we saw there that we are lacking in some areas compared to our rivals so we have work to do. I love to race at Jerez, the atmosphere is amazing and I have fantastic fans in Spain. Last year I had a great win and I hope we can challenge again this time.”

Jorge Lorenzo – “You can hear the crowd!”
“I was sad not to go to Japan because I love the country and the race and last season I won, so I was looking forward to going back. Anyway, we can’t change it and at least we will still go, in October. Now we go to Jerez, an amazing track where you can actually hear the crowd as you race! At Nieto and Peluquil corners especially you can feel the people; it’s like nowhere else in the World Championship. Last year I crashed when I was trying to pass Stoner and get the podium but until then the weekend had been good, I was fast and took pole position. This year I’m confident that I can finish the race and get as close as possible to the front.”

Davide Brivio – “A good track for Yamaha and Valentino”
“We are going straight to Jerez after a longer rest than we expected. Unfortunately Valentino won’t be in the best shape due to his recent injury sustained while training with a motocross bike. We will have to see to what extent it affects him but we hope he will be okay. Jerez has always been a good track for Yamaha and Valentino likes it very much. It will be an interesting race because several riders will be competitive there and we hope to see another close race like Qatar. It will be nice to be back in Europe and to meet all the European fans again after such a long time.”

Wilco Zeelenberg – “Back to full strength”
“It was a shame not to race in Japan but it seems like the best decision was made; it would have been bad if only half the teams could get there! Jorge was looking forward to racing there but he will get another chance and the good thing is that it’s given him more time to regain full strength in his hand. He showed in Qatar how determined he is, when we weren’t expecting him to be that strong so soon, and we’re looking forward to seeing what he can do in Jerez at his first home race.”

Valentino Rossi: Information
Age: 31
Lives: Tavullia, Italy
Bike: Yamaha
GP victories: 104 (78 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc)
First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc)
First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc)
GP starts: 228 (168 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc)
Pole positions: 58 (48 x MotoGP/500cc, 5 x 250cc, 5 x 125cc)
World Championships: 9 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 6 x MotoGP)

Jorge Lorenzo: Information
Age: 22
Lives: Barcelona, Spain
Bike: Yamaha
GP victories: 26 (5 x MotoGP, 17 x 250cc, 4 x 125cc)
First GP victory: Brazil, 2003 (125cc)
First GP: Jerez, Spain, 2002 (125cc)
GP starts: 129 (34 x MotoGP, 48 x 250cc, 46 x 125cc)
Pole positions: 35 (9 x MotoGP, 23 x 250cc, 3 x 125cc)
World Championships: 2 (250cc, 2006/7)

Jerez: Record Lap
V. Rossi (Yamaha) 2009, 1’39.818

Jerez: Best Lap
J. Lorenzo (Yamaha) 2008, 1’38.189

Grand Prix Results: Jerez 2009
1. V. Rossi (Yamaha) 45’18.557
2. D. Pedrosa (Honda) +2.700
3. C. Stoner (Ducati) +10.507
J. Lorenzo (Yamaha) DNF

A crash during Saturday's session affected Valentin Debise's performance for the rest of the weekend

Johan Zarco struggled all weekend with the setup of his Aprilia

The WTR San Marino Team returned to the Andalusian track of Jerez de la Frontera this past weekend, less than 20 days since they last tested at the circuit. This time they were treated to warm weather and clear skies for the Saturday session, but Sunday’s rain showers dampened their progress after a much-improved first session.

During the first day of testing, Moto2 rider Valentin Debise crashed just minutes from the end of his session, but neither he nor the bike suffered any serious damage. 125cc rider Johann Zarco experimented with his setup throughout most of the session, which saw his laps times continue to improve.

Both riders scored their best times of the weekend during Saturdays tests, with Debise posting a time of 1:45.852 (compared to 1:44.00 posted by Claudio Conti on day three), and Zarco with a time of 1:49.157 (a best of 1:46.492 was posted by Marc Marquez later in the weekend).

Unfortunately, on Sunday, problems hindered the progress of the team, with technical problems on Johan Zarco’s 125cc machine interrupting his session.  Valentin Debise blamed the heat and the previous day’s fall to his lack of performance.

Only the last day today was marred by time: the sky was cloudy, in fact, downloaded during the first afternoon and rain ruined the final rehearsals. The 125 team has set today a good engine and good chassis, although he struggled a lot and lost some ‘the road during the past few days, bringing the pilot not to feel at ease with his Aprilia. When they are able to solve these problems, the rain ended the round.

The final sessions on Sunday were cut short by afternoon rain showers. Zarco had spent much of the morning adjusting setups, and by the time he felt comfortable with his Aprilia, the rain had moved in. Debise had already logged most of the 750km allowed for Moto2 testing, so he turned his final 30 or so laps before the weather turned sour.

The WTR San Marino Team will now turn its focus to preparing for the first race in Qatar, April 10.

Johann Zarco:
“I’m not very happy with the results of the three days of testing because I hoped to be among the top six. We made some changes to the setup, and the engine was very strong, but I did become tired. The bike was good today, but I lost a little confidence. By the time we had everything working, it was too late to improve because the rain came. But I’m confident we have prepared well for the first race, and we will do well.”

Valentin Debise:
“We were able to run successful tests this weekend compared to our previous tests at Jerez. We worked a lot on wide lines in preparation for Qatar, because here is very similar – not so bad – then also in anticipation of the race. Let’s see how it goes.”

Valentin Debise

Just a few days after the end of the first International Road Racing Teams Association privateer teams test at Valencia, the WTR San Marino Team returned to testing; this time in the rain at Jerez.

The first day, Saturday, was characterized by strong rain, which made it impossible to enter the track until 2pm, when, fortunately, the rain let up.  Both 125cc rider Johann Zarco and Moto2’s Valentin Debise gave the best of themselves, with Zarco finishing 2nd with a time of 1’57.479 – just 8 tenths off the pace -  and Valentin Vazquez finishing with the sixth-best time of 1’57.92; less than two seconds behind the Moto2 class leader, Alex De Angelis.

During the day Sunday, bursts of rain disturbed almost every session, forcing teams to withdraw almost every hour. The track remained wet and did not help either rider, who both posted their best times during the morning sessions. Debise finished 18th with a time of 1’46.821, and Zarco finished 11th with a fastest time of 1’50 .795.  Zarco also crashed twice during the day; once in the morning and once during the afternoon session.

Rain continued into Monday, and rather than risk injury to its riders and damage to its machines, the WTR San Marino Team called an end to their testing. IRTA testing continues at Jerez from March 27-29.

Johann Zarco
“These tests were a bit unstable, ruined by [lack of] time and by the heavy rain which fell. We could not try everything we wanted, but at least we managed to test a new engine, on which my mechanics have worked hard all winter and was really going strong.  We were therefore very happy about it. Saturday we rode until the afternoon because the morning was impossible for the wet track. I felt very good and the bike felt good. In fact, I finished in second place – positive for me and for the team.
Sunday we rode in both wet and dry conditions, but I didn’t feel as good as on the bike as I did at Valencia and I had no confidence. I should have stopped in to make more adjustments, but I kept racing, knowing that I had some problems, but it was a mistake because they continued, and I fell and ended my day. Throughout the evening the mechanics worked hard to fix the bike and to recover the lost time, but the weather wanted something else
I wanted to thank the mechanics for the work that they did on the bike and thank them for their efforts.
They are real fans and push me to always do better. I’m really happy because the bike is competitive and I have competent mechanics. I just have to relax and focus on my riding to catch up. ”

Valentin Debise
“Jerez is a circuit that is very different than Valencia, and we had to change the setup of the bike because it was all new to us. In Valencia there were only tight corners, whereas here they are very wide: so it was very, very different. Now I think we can be ready for the next test, here at Jerez later this month. “