Motourage

The Suzuki Endurance Racing Team has won the 2011 FIM World Endurance Championship after a close finish at yesterday’s final round in Qatar.

With a depleted two-rider team of Vincent Philippe and Anthony Delhalle following a mid-week injury of third rider Daisaku Sakai – who turned up to support his team – the duo brought the GSX-R1000 home in third place overall in the eight-hour race at Losail to clinch its eleventh title ahead of closest rivals BMW Motorrad France 99, which finished just ahead of Yamaha Racing France in second.

After qualifying in fourth position, SERT’s Philippe grabbed the sprint to the lead on the opening lap ahead of Yamaha Racing France, BMW and Monster Yamaha YART. But the lead changed hands frequently during the opening four hours after which Yamaha made its position a permanent one at the head of the 26-rider field to secure victory with 231 laps completed.

From there on, the Suzuki team made good use of pit stops, and with consistent lap times played a tactical race to ensure it stayed ahead of the BMW team on points. BMW entered the fifth and final race nine points adrift of SERT in the Championship standings.

The only significant position change was at the seven-and-a-half hour mark when SERT pitted, dropping the team back into third position, but with less than 50 seconds separating the three top teams, it was a well-timed maneuver that helped seal Suzuki’s success again at the top-level of World Endurance racing.

Qatar Results: 1 Yamaha France GMT 94 iPhone (Yamaha) 231 laps, 2 BMW Motorrad France 99 (BMW) – 30.134 seconds, 3 SERT (Suzuki GSX-R1000) – 49.023 seconds, 4 Monster Yamaha YART (Yamaha) – 1 lap, 5 Honda TT Legends (Honda) – 4 laps, 6 YMES Folch Endurance (Yamaha), 7 DGS Sport (Yamaha), 8 Motors Events Bodyguard (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 9 Qatar Endurance Racing Team (QERT) (Suzuki GSX-R1000), 10 MCS Racing Ipone (Suzuki GSX-R1000).

An incredible day today for the Pramac Racing Team at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar. After a very promising warm up, where Randy De Puniet registered the fifth-fastest time, the race did not go as expected. After a few turns from the start, the French rider lost control of the back of his bike, which rose into the air, the front wheel hitting the clutch of teammate Loris Capirossi. The Italian rider managed to stay on track, but two laps later he returned to the pits with a sharp pain in his left hand. He went immediately to the mobile clinic; the X-ray to his hand showed no fracture but a bad bruise. The results of the season’s first race has left the team speechless, but with a great desire for prompt redemption at Jerez in two weeks’ time for the first MotoGP race in Europe.

A disappointed Randy De Puniet could be seen icing his bruised knee following his first-lap crash

Fabiano Sterlacchini – Pramac Racing Technical Director
“I think this is the first time that such a thing happens to me: both riders out of the race after a few turns on a clash between them. These things happen and there’s not much to say about it. We are naturally very disappointed because after the warm we were expecting a good race. Now we have to think about the future, we are only at the first race of the championship and we will have many opportunities to make up for it.”

Loris Capirossi – Pramac Racing rider – DNF
“Disappointed, but in racing these things can happen. I am very sorry it had to happen with my new team-mate who has no faults however. Again, anything can happen in racing. We now hope that fortune turns around and we will have better luck next time. The only positive aspect is that the hand is not broken, I felt a lot of pain and I had some concerns, but we will be in Jerez!”

Randy De Puniet – Pramac Racing rider – DNF
“I’m sorry for the fall and to have the misfortune to hit my team-mate. The rear tire was probably still cold on the left side and as soon as I opened the throttle the bike rose in the air and all of a sudden I found my nose on the ground. It’s really a shame because we were very confident after the good warm up that we had done. The only thing we can do is think of Jerez where in two weeks’ time we will try to redeem this unfortunate weekend.”

2011 MotoGP Qatar race results:
1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Honda
2. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Yamaha
3. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda
4. Andrea Dovisioso (ITA) Honda
5. Marco Simoncelli (ITA) Honda
6. Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha
7. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Ducati
8. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha
9. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati
10. Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN) Honda
11. Cal Crutchlow (GBR) Yamaha
12. Hector Barbera (SPA) Ducati
13. Karel Abraham (CZE) Ducati
DNF Toni Elias (SPA) Honda – crash
DNF Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati – retire
DNF Randy De Puniet (FRA) Ducati – crash

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team riders Colin Edwards and Cal Crutchlow declared themselves satisfied with early progress at the end of the opening practice session for the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar tonight.

Colin Edwards

In windy conditions that were as unpredictable as those experienced during a two-night test earlier this week, experienced Edwards made big improvements to the set-up of his YZR-M1 machine to post the 10th fastest time at the floodlit Losail International Circuit.  The Texan was encouraged by his pace having concentrated exclusively on using the hard compound Bridgestone rear tire, though he plans to make overnight changes to improving turning performance in the faster sections of the 5.38km track.  Highlighting just how competitive the 2011 MotoGP World Championship promises to be, Edwards’ best time of 1.56.879 was less than half-a-second away from the top three.

Crutchlow produced a performance that demonstrated his incredible courage and determination as he finished just over 0.5s behind Edwards in 14th position. Crutchlow lost the tip of his left little finger when he crashed on the second night of testing on Monday evening and rode tonight in considerable discomfort.  The British rider had to use a modified clutch lever to ease the stress on his badly damaged finger and he clocked a best time of 1.57.429 in 17-laps. He too concentrated on fine-tuning the set-up of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine to suit the harder compound Bridgestone tire. But it was a late front-end change that boosted his confidence and helped him lap nearly 0.5s faster than he managed during the test earlier this week.

Colin Edwards, 10th, 1’56.879
“I actually feel really good on the bike but unfortunately I am not quite fast enough at the moment. The number beside my name on the timesheets doesn’t look that good but I’m actually better off than the charts suggest. I’m missing those crucial two or three tenths but I’m confident I can find it. We just need to get the bike to turn just a little bit better and I’m sure if we can work in that area, we’ll find that time I’m losing. But I did my best lap on the hard tire right at the end, so that gives me a lot of confidence with a couple more changes to the bike that I can be higher up. I think a lot of the guys in front of me ran the soft tire, so the race set-up isn’t that far away. I got with (Andrea) Dovizioso on the Honda and behind Valentino (Rossi) and our package is pretty strong, but the times tonight prove how competitive it is going to be this season.”

Cal Crutchlow, 14th, 1’57.429
“That was not easy at all and being honest, the pain from the finger is really bad and it was tough to ride. The crash was only three days ago and when I took the bandage off tonight; I learned there’s some nerve damage where the fingernail was. The pain when the bandage came off was something I can’t describe, so considering how uncomfortable it is, I’m pretty pleased to be where I am and doing some decent times. I was having trouble using the clutch so I modified the lever, but I was still having some problems shifting, particularly at the first corner when I kept going down to first instead of second. That was costing me time but I couldn’t do anything about it. We made a change to the front-end at the end of the session that we haven’t tried since Sepang and it felt night and day different. I was much faster and felt much more comfortable because I felt like the front tire was loaded more in the corner and I could turn better. I’m looking forward to working more with the new front-end set-up tomorrow because I believe we can make another step and hopefully the finger will be a little bit better too.”

2011 MotoGP Qatar
Losail Circuit 17/02/2011
1 Casey Stoner, Honda, AUS, 1’55.752
2 Dani Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 1’56.362
3 Hector Barbera, Ducati, ESP, 1’56.421
4 Marco Simoncelli, Honda, ITA, 1’56.441
5 Valentino Rossi, Ducati, ITA, 1’56.479
6 Ben Spies, Yamaha, USA, 1’56.493
7 Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, ESP, 1’56.586
8 Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, ITA, 1’56.592
9 Randy De Puniet, Ducati, FRA, 1’56.790
10 Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 1’56.879
11 Nicky Hayden, Ducati, USA, 1’56.910
12 Hiroshi Aoyama, Honda, JPN, 1’56.987
13 Loris Capirossi, Ducati, ITA, 1’57.366
14 Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha, GBR, 1’57.429
15 Karel Abraham, Ducati, CZE, 1’57.821

Circuit Length: 5380
Weather: Dry
Lap Record: 1’55.537 (Casey Stoner, 1/1/2009)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1’53.927 (Jorge Lorenzo, 3/9/2008)
Last Year’s Winner: Valentino Rossi

Loris Capirossi and Randy De Puniet are ready for the first official session of the 2011 MotoGP World Championship season this weekend at the Losail circuit. Finished with the last day of winter testing, for the Pramac Ducati Racing Team, it’s time to get serious.

Randy De Puniet, Pramac Racing Team Rider
“There was much anticipation for this season. The test in Malaysia had not gone as we all hoped. In Qatar we worked differently. The Ducati is responding well. We tried many different solutions changing tires to understand the various reactions. We are on track. Losail takes me well, I hope to get good results. My personal goal is to vacation to be able to do better than they did last season”.

Loris Capirossi, Pramac Racing Team Rider
“Unfortunately, these last days of testing did not go as hoped, but I think that we can improve and get good results. We know we can be competitive, I can’t wait to be able to show on the track. My goal is simple: get number 100 on the podium. I’m at 99th, the goal is not so far away”.

Fabiano Sterlacchini, Pramac Racing Team Director.
“The budget of the latter-day test is positive, we did tests that have yielded good results, unfortunately the type of track is not easy to deal with. We had two crashes, we have some compromise but we believe for the race. For half turn we had the best time of all the Ducati’s, after the fall it was difficult to trace. We tried experimental tires, some drivers have found a benefit, others less so. With Loris we are not in trouble, we are confident”.

Pramac Ducati's Randy De Puniet hopes to improve on last season's career-best 9th place finish

FTR Moto is hoping to get the 2011 Moto2 World Championship under way in the same manner as last year with a podium finish in Sunday night’s Qatar opening round.

Alex Debon took second in the inaugural Moto2 race last year at Losail

It was FTR-mounted Alex Debon finishing second a year ago under the lights of the Losail circuit – 15 miles outside the country’s capital of Doha. Now FTR heads into this year’s first round with 10 riders carrying the hopes of the Buckingham company.

Riding the unique M211 machines, BQR Team riders Esteve Rabat and Yonny Hernandez are joined in the same garage by Kenny Noyes with the American running with backing from GP Tech and FOGI Racing. Scottish youngster Kev Coghlan appears in the Debon-run Aeroport de Castello Team for his World Championship debut season.

The Italian IODA Racing Project operation fields Simone Corsi and Mattia Pasini on FTRs while the 2010 race-winning Speed Up squad have placed their hopes, and their M211s, in the hands of youngsters Pol Espargaro and Valentin Debise.

The Stop and Go Team has the second of the Hernandez brothers from Colombia, Santiago, paired with Thai tough guy Ratthapark Wilairot – back in action and all set for his FTR debut after a serious road traffic accident in early December while at home in Thailand.

“We had a really good time in our debut year last year,” recalled FTR’s Steve Bones. “But now it feels like we’re taking a big step forward. We’ve gone from four machines on the grid last year to 10 now, it’s exactly what we were hoping for – for the Grand Prix paddock to confirm its belief in our machine.

“We’ve made a lot of subtle changes and improved the machine for 2011 but it’s also thanks to the four riders we had last year that they were regularly on the pace and pushing our M210 to the maximum to ensure we received the very best and most accurate feedback.

“From those four riders – Alex Debon, Gabor Talmacsi, Karel Abraham and Andrea Iannone – all of them finished on the podium and two of them won races, and there were a handful of fastest laps and pole positions – the same again in 2011 is our initial target but we have to keep developing the M211 – the World title is what we ultimately want.”

This weekend marks the end of a long winter of waiting as the hugely anticipated 2011 MotoGP season bursts into life on the floodlit Losail International Circuit in Qatar. Reigning MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo steps up to the grid to challenge for a second title at the controls of his YZR-M1 with nothing less than victory in his sights. Joining him in the garage and completing Yamaha Factory Racing’s line up for this season will be 2010 MotoGP Rookie of the Year Ben Spies.

The 2010 season saw Lorenzo firmly cement his place as one of the Grand Prix elite. The 23-year-old Mallorcan stormed through the 18-round season to take an impressive nine race wins and a premier class record breaking 383 point tally on his way to title victory. The Yamaha Factory rider has started every MotoGP race in his premiership career at Qatar from the front row, taking a pole position in his 2008 MotoGP debut and has always finished on the podium, although a race win has so far eluded him.

Spies, the Texan Factory newcomer, is no stranger to Yamaha having taken the Yamaha Factory Superbike to victory in the 2009 World Superbike Championship. He went on to impress in his debut season in MotoGP in 2010 on the Tech3 Yamaha M1, securing sixth in the championship standings as the highest placed non-factory rider, scoring two podiums and a dazzling pole position start for his home race at Indianapolis in the process. The 2010 season opener at the Losail circuit saw the 25yr old push on from a fourth row grid start position to finish the race in fifth, just 3.9 seconds from the race winner.

The preseason winter testing has seen both riders perform strongly, posting impressive race pace as they set up their 2011 M1s for what will be the final year of the 800cc MotoGP class. The updated 800cc machines have made advances in grip level, stability and electronics to give Lorenzo and Spies the best possible weapons in their fight for the checkered flag.

Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha Factory Racing Rider
“The new season is here and I’m very proud to be able to start it with the number one. Our bike has been better and better from the first test but there is still room for improvement. Winning the World Championship last year was a great achievement but everybody starts the same this weekend with no points and the competition is very tough. I have been training very hard over the winter to be ready and I am excited to start.”

Ben Spies, Yamaha Factory Racing Rider
“It feels really good to be here as part of the Factory Team, we worked really hard last year to get here. I’ve got a great crew around me; I’ve worked with most of them before in different teams so it’s almost like a reunion! Everything has gone really smoothly in the tests, I have to say I’m more of a racer than a tester so I’m pretty impatient now to get to it and see what we can do.”

Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager
“We are now in the same position as we were here in Qatar last year, starting with zero championship points. Last season Jorge started injured and was recovering from his broken thumb so the pressure was not on him. Now he is World Champion and physically fit but his rivals have been extremely fast during the winter tests, so to me it means again he can start without the pressure from being the favorite!”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director
“This is a very exciting moment for Yamaha Factory Racing, we are starting this season at a special time marking the 50th Anniversary of Yamaha’s involvement i n Grand Prix racing. We have two very strong riders, the reigning World Champion and the 2010 Rookie of the Year onboard so we have the potential to do very well. I am confident that come Sunday everybody will perform to their best. The competition this year is possibly the highest it has been in MotoGP for some time so it will be a tough season, however our expectations are high. Whilst we prepare for our first race, our thoughts and sympathies are also with those in Japan following the terrible recent tragedy.”

2011 MotoGP Qatar
Losail Circuit 17/02/2011
26 Laps
Circuit Length: 5380
Lap Record: 1’55.537 (Casey Stoner, 1/1/2009)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1’53.927 (Jorge Lorenzo, 3/9/2008)
Last Year’s Winner: Valentino Rossi

American Ben Spies has consistently been near the top of the time charts throughout preseason testing

The biggest threat on the track yesterday for Yamaha Factory Racing riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies was not other riders but fiercely strong winds blowing across the Losail circuit in Qatar. The final pre-season MotoGP test session before next weekend’s opening race was a battle against the elements.

American rider Spies built steadily up the time sheets, slotting in as second fastest rider just before the midway point of the session. He took his last opportunity before the race weekend to work through some further geometry settings with Crew Chief Tom Houseworth as they hunted down extra grip on the track, wrapping up at the end in third 0.613 seconds from the front. Spies’ team mate Lorenzo struggled to make a significant step forward from yesterday’s session, hampered by the winds the Mallorcan was unable to find the best set up for the conditions. He finished the session with an extended run to check on fuel consumption, ending the final test of the winter off-season in seventh position on the time sheets.

Ben Spies, Factory Yamaha, 3rd, 1’56.294 (45 laps)
“It’s been a good test, I’m happy with it. We tried a few different things today and improved the bike some more. We’ve now got a couple of days to look over the data ready for the four day weekend, there’ll be plenty more riding opportunities before Sunday. I was pretty confident coming here after Sepang; hopefully we can make the bike even better before the race. Last year we saw that the M1 worked well at every track, it’s Yamaha’s strong point and I think it’s the same this year.”

Jorge Lorenzo, Factory Yamaha, 7th, 1’56.707 (48 laps)
“Today wasn’t the best day for me. It was not because my riding is bad, I always admit when it is, we struggled with the setup of the bike during the session and unfortunately we didn’t make a step forward. The wind was tough but that was a problem for everyone. We also tried a different swing arm today but it didn’t make an improvement. We will work over the next few days to be ready to improve in the next sessions on Thursday.”

Wilco Zeelenberg – Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager
“Today was a very windy day in Qatar, compared to yesterday we struggled a little bit with the feeling and the balance of the bike because of it. We made a long run at the end even though we hadn’t found a perfect feeling to see what our fuel consumption was and also gather some more electronic information. The bike set up wasn’t perfect for it but it was necessary to do.”

Massimo Meregalli – Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director
“We are satisfied with Ben’s bike set up, he was consistently quite fast. Ben didn’t push 100% which makes us confident for the race weekend. We didn’t try a really long run but managed to maintain a consistent fast pace with a used tire. We didn’t make as big a step forward today on Jorge’s side as we would have liked however we completed a useful longer run to gather some valuable data. We’re confident that we have enough sessions before Sunday’s race for both riders to find an optimum and competitive set up.”

FTR Moto will make its World Championship debut in Qatar on Sunday in the opening round of the inaugural Moto2 Grand Prix Championship.

The FTR Moto 2010 machine will be used by Motor Sport 69 Team rider Alex Debon and the Speed Up Team riders Gabor Talmasci and Andrea Iannone.

“It’s more than a year since this project began for us so to actually see our machines on the grid will definitely offer a sense of achievement,” said FTR director Steve Bones. “We’ve worked very closely with Alex Debon throughout testing and despite the collarbone fracture he suffered in February and subsequent surgery he’s very optimistic.

Perennial 250 rider Alex Debon will make his Moto2 debut on an FTR Moto machine in Qatar

“Alex has worked well with the Ohlins staff and his own technical team and can clearly see a lot of potential in our M210 chassis. With the Speed Up Team the development during testing has been more in their own direction and they’ve also made good progress.

“We know there will be a lot of attention on the results of the first ever Moto2 race in Qatar but we’re also aware that the World Championship is over 17 rounds and over eight months and I’m sure there will be a lot of twists and turns during that period.”

FTR Moto will also have machinery contesting the Spanish CEV Buckler Moto2 Championship in 2010 and is in the final stages of planning for a debut in the Isle of Man TT Races and the Senior TT race on Friday June 11.

Bones concluded: “From an initial plan to initially join the World Championship we’re happy with the growing interest in the FTR Moto brand and from the Grand Prix machine to the trackday machine we’re all pretty positive about 2010.”

The waiting is over as MotoGP kicks off in Qatar

The long winter break draws to a close this weekend as the 2010 MotoGP season gets going under the floodlights of the Losail International Circuit. Fiat Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo are fresh from the recent pre-season test and both last year’s World Champion and the runner-up are aiming to kick off their 2010 campaigns with a successful opening weekend.

Last year saw Rossi take his fourth title for Yamaha and the ninth of his career and, with 103 race wins already under his belt, the Italian hero has nothing left to do to cement his place in the history of the sport. Despite 14 seasons in the World Championship the 31-year-old still has the same hunger and desire for victory as he did when he first started out and he claims that this year will be no different. He has been in intimidating form during pre-season testing, finishing fastest on five out of six days, and he looks to have already found an excellent base setting for the 2010 YZR-M1. Rossi has won only twice before in Qatar, last year he finished second after starting from the same spot. He will be looking to go one better this time and take his first victory in a night race.

Lorenzo gave his more experienced team-mate an exciting run for his money last season but the 22-year-old eventually settled for the runner-up spot, an impressive feat nonetheless in just his second year in the premier-class. This year the Mallorcan’s pre-season has been interrupted by a hand injury sustained in a fall with his motocross bike and he missed the second Sepang test, but he was back on board for the recent Qatar outing. Although still not at 100%, he is well on the way back to full fitness after an intensive physiotherapy routine at home in Barcelona. Qatar will always bring back memories of his thrilling 2008 MotoGP debut, when he burst onto the scene with a fantastic pole position and a second-place finish, while last year saw him make a solid start to the season by finishing third behind his team-mate.

For the third time the opening race of the year will be run under the floodlights at the desert circuit, although hopefully without the torrential rain which saw last year’s race delayed by 24 hours. The infrastructure features 3,600 light fixtures using 250, 1500 and 2500-watt bulbs and the system needs 13 megawatt generators to produce the required 5.4 million watts of power – creating enough light to cover an area equivalent to 70 football pitches. The bulbs are fixed on 1000 poles with mounting heights from 3 to 36 meters, all linked together by almost 500 kilometers of wire and supported by 300,000 kilos of concrete.

Valentino Rossi – “A good pre-season”
“Finally we’re at the start of the season and we are all very excited. The pre-season has gone well for me, our new M1 is good, Yamaha and Bridgestone have done a great job and we have been fast. We have only had six days on track so we still have work to do and things to learn about the new bike, but we are starting in good shape. I expect this season to be a big battle with many riders very strong, and I hope that we will show some good racing to the fans! Qatar hasn’t been one of the best tracks for our bike in the last few years but at the test we went well so I hope this will continue again for the race.”
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Rizla Suzuki MotoGP completed the first day of a two-day night-time test held last night under the floodlights at Losail International Circuit in Qatar.

Loris Capirossi recorded a best time of 1’57.100 from his 40 laps of the Losail track to give him 11th place overall. He worked through only a small amount of his scheduled test program today because, unfortunately for Capirossi and the whole team, he had to finish the session early due to sickness.

Motourage favorite Alvaro Bautista found himself at the bottom of the time sheets after day one of testing at Losail

Alvaro Bautista (P17, 1’57.960, 56 laps), used the first day to acclimatize himself to riding a MotoGP bike at the 5,380m Qatari track under the strange atmosphere of artificial lighting. He started to find a rhythm with his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R as the test rolled on and is sure he can improve dramatically today.

The cooler track conditions were exactly what the team wanted, as it gave them a chance to evaluate the steps that have been taken this winter to improve the performance of the GSV-R in changeable conditions.
Rizla Suzuki has one final day at Qatar on Friday, which will then signal the end of pre-season testing for the MotoGP class, before the season begins – also at Qatar – early next month.

Loris Capirossi:
“I think that the bike is a bit better compared to last year’s, but I didn’t make many laps today because I don’t feel so good. This will now make tomorrow very important because we have some big things to try and some other bits to fix. I am really optimistic and think that the new bike is a step in the right direction and we have an opportunity to make an improved performance in the championship.”

Alvaro Bautista:
“The first day here has not had the same feel for me as I had on the last day in Sepang, this is because it is a new track for me on a MotoGP bike with new reference points and I don’t feel 100% yet. The problem I have is in the exit of corners, I can keep a good line and go out through them, but it is difficult to get it right every time and enjoy it. We’ve tried different solutions, but I don’t have a good feeling. We decided to stop a bit early because it has been a long day and my body is not feeling the changes we are making to the bike. Tomorrow we have another day and I hope to be 100% and to enjoy riding the bike and to go much better.”