Motourage

This weekend’s final round of the 2011 MotoGP season, the Grand Prix of Valencia, got underway yesterday in difficult track conditions. The morning practice was run on a partly damp but drying circuit and the afternoon session was fully wet. Yamaha Factory Racing rider Ben Spies took his first ride since withdrawing from the Malaysian Grand Prix, gradually building up speed to finish in sixth, 0.7 seconds from first in the difficult conditions. The afternoon session saw the Texan crash out after a small mistake braking into turn one, crossing the white paint and losing grip on the slippery surface. Spies escape relatively unscathed but sore and unable to complete the session, wrapping it up in 14th place.

Jorge Lorenzo’s replacement rider, Katsuyuki Nakasuga, was fully committed to the challenge of learning Valencia’s Ricardo Tormo Circuit in treacherous weather conditions. Nakasuga-san gradually built up confidence over the day as his circuit knowledge increased, moving from last place in the morning practice to 11th in the second session.

Ben Spies, 6th, 1.46.259, 26 laps:
“I’m a little beat up, but that’s normal after a crash. I got a little wide over the white line and hit a puddle and hydroplaned the front, lost it and went down. The bike was starting to feel pretty good and we were getting up to speed. It’s not the best way to come back; I’m not really happy about it, but we’ll look forward to tomorrow and make it better. We made a change at the beginning of the second session which was bad, then went back to the settings from the morning and were making progress so we’ll continue with that set up in final practice.”

Katsuyuki Nakasuga, 16th, 1.46.581, 37 laps:
“This is my first time at this track and it was pretty difficult at the beginning to learn the way. I’m more comfortable now as I can remember the layout. I would prefer a dry track as I think it’s very easy to crash here in the wet. On Sunday I believe I can challenge for a good position, this is my target.”

Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager:
“A rainy first day in Valencia. We were afraid because it can be very slippery and Nakasuga-san has never ridden here before. He did quite well in the end, step by step he improved and quickly understood the track conditions. The weather actually gave him a little extra time to slowly learn the track and build up pace. We are quite satisfied with the set up so far and also his performance. We’re not sure what the conditions will be like tomorrow but we believe he still has room to improve. A tough day for Ben, hitting the white line is bad under these conditions but thankfully the crash was not so serious and he is ok for tomorrow.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director:
“Unfortunately, Ben crashed today and hit his shoulder on the ground. For sure this isn’t going to help his physical condition over the weekend as he’s pretty sore. Hopefully he can manage the pain and keep pushing to deliver as strong results as possible. Nakasuga-san did a good job today for his first time here in wet conditions. By Sunday he should be used to the track so we’ll see what he can do.”

Yamaha Factory Racing riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies managed to escape the threat of rain today and enjoy a third free practice and subsequent qualifying session under dry and sunny conditions. Lorenzo will start the
Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya tomorrow from the front row in third position on the grid, his team mate Spies taking fourth for a second row start.

Ben Spies hopes to get back to his rookie-season performance

Both riders made big steps forward from yesterday with the improved weather; the reigning World Champion Lorenzo finding over a second from day one to wrap up qualifying 0.315 seconds from pole. The improvement from Spies was even more impressive, the Texan finding nearly two seconds today and running as high as second place during qualifying. A front row start was looking possible until a concerted effort by his Mallorcan team mate relegated him to the second row at the end of the heat, just 0.014 seconds behind Lorenzo.

Jorge Lorenzo, 3rd, 1.42.728, 25 laps
“It has been a tough session today. In the morning it was good but in the afternoon we struggled a little bit. I pushed as hard as I could for pole but it was not possible. The race will also be tough because we are still quite far from the front but not as far as yesterday. If we can take one or two tenths we can fight for something, but I think a win would be a miracle.”

Ben Spies, 4th, 1.42.742, 27 laps
“It was a good session although we were missing a little bit of time out there. Looking at the ideal split times it would have put us on the front row. We’re in a good position in fourth all the way to the left of the grid so hopefully we can have a good start and have a good first couple of corners. The bike is working really well and we’ve been top five for most of the weekend. The weather’s looking like it might be ok for tomorrow now so I’m looking forward to the race. It’s been a while since we’ve been consistently quick so hopefully we can make the bike better, we’re going to try some set up changes in the morning and I’m feeling a lot happier on the bike.”

Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager
“Not the best qualifying we’ve had so far. This morning it went well and we made some adjustments after that. This afternoon they didn’t really work out, Jorge was missing some front end feeling so was pushing hard, we need to solve that for tomorrow. Anyway we are happy to be on the front row because that’s important but it’s more important now to solve our front end problem.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director
“I’m satisfied with the results, Ben is feeling a lot more comfortable and has a better feeling on the bike; he rode very well in all the sessions and is clearly enjoying riding the bike. It’s very important to start the race from a good position which he has in fourth on the grid. The crew is working really well and Ben is happy with the behavior of the bike; he is being smooth, fast and consistent which is a good signal for tomorrow. We completed a long run with good pace so now we have to decide which tire to use tomorrow, other than that we are pretty much set. Jorge is starting from the front row which is very important for his race here at his home track. He will for sure fight for the best result possible.”

2011 Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya
1. Marco Simoncelli, Honda, ITA, 1’42.413
2. Casey Stoner, Honda, AUS, 1’42.429
3. Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, ESP, 1’42.728
4. Ben Spies, Yamaha, USA, 1’42.742
5. Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, ITA, 1’42.749
6. Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha, GBR, 1’43.202
7. Valentino Rossi, Ducati, ITA, 1’43.223
8. Nicky Hayden, Ducati, USA, 1’43.228
9. Alvaro Bautista, Suzuki, ESP, 1’43.447
10. Hector Barbera, Ducati, ESP, 1’43.656
11. Hiroshi Aoyama, Honda, JPN, 1’43.734
12. Randy De Puniet, Ducati, FRA, 1’43.764
13. Loris Capirossi, Ducati, ITA, 1’44.068
14. Toni Elias, Honda, ESP, 1’44.510
15. Karel Abraham, Ducati, CZE, 1’45.661

Circuit Length: 4727
Temp: 25 deg C
Weather: Dry
Lap Record: 1’43.195 (Valentino Rossi, 1/1/2005)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1’41.186 (Casey Stoner, 6/8/2008)
Last Year’s Winner: Jorge Lorenzo

After several years as team manager for the Yamaha Motor Italia Supersport Team and then manager for the World Superbike Team from 2005 to 2010, Massimo Meregalli will now move across to join the Yamaha Factory MotoGP Team in 2011 in a management role. Joining the WSB team for 2010 to replace him will be current Moto2 team manager and fellow Italian Andrea Dosoli.

Massimo Meregalli’s career with the World Superbike Team reached a high in 2009, securing the World Championship title with American rider Ben Spies. Over the five year tenure under Massimo’s management the WSB team achieved an impressive 24 Superpoles, 104 podiums and 33 race wins with riders including Spies, Noriyuki Haga, Troy Corser, Cal Crutchlow, Andrew Pitt and James Toseland. The team also secured the World Superbike Constructors’ Championship in 2008 for Yamaha.

38yr old Andrea Dosoli brings a wealth of road racing experience to his new role with the team, having been chief mechanic, responsible for data acquisition, MotoGP team manager and Moto2 team manager/co-owner for the duration of the 2010 season. Andrea will take on the responsibility of team management with the Yamaha World Superbike Team from the 10th of November 2010.

Yamaha Motor Europe wishes to express thanks and appreciation for Massimo’s loyalty, dedication and hard work with the World Superbike Team and wish him all the best in his new role with the factory MotoGP team next season.

Yamaha Sterilgarda riders Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland ended the first World Superbike qualifying session at Brno today satisfied with a good base setup. Despite suffering earlier in the day with a severe lack of grip on the track, the afternoon’s qualifying saw both improve their times as they fine tuned the set up. Starting qualifying with a setup that didn’t suit the track so well, Crutchlow spent some time in the session waiting in the pit while it was changed. Despite the lack of track time he came out in the dying minutes to take second fastest on the board, less than three tenths off the lead.

Teammate James Toseland was also looking comfortable in the session despite suffering from a chest infection. The first 20 minutes saw Toseland lapping comfortably and consistently inside the top four, only dropping to ninth towards the end and finishing just three tenths off fourth.

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (2nd, 1’59.571)
“It wasn’t too bad today considering we all struggled for grip at the start of the sessions, it came a bit better later on. From my point of view we’ve got a lot of work to do chassis set up wise. We tried the set up we had in Imola but it didn’t work here, so we didn’t get many laps in the qualifying session as we were changing the bike. We’ve gone back to our old base set up and it seems to be working better here. We’re struggling for side grip a bit but the lap times towards the end of the fifteen laps I did weren’t so bad. We’ll see for tomorrow, and I hope Troy Corser is OK and back with us tomorrow.”

James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (9th, 2’00.451)
“I’m not feeling very well at the moment, I’ve got a chest infection so it’s been a tough day today. Consistency wise I think we’re there and I’m quite pleased with the way the bike has been round the track today. I like the circuit a lot and we seem to be working pretty well. I just hope I’m feeling a bit better tomorrow.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team
“For the first day it was ok today. Pirelli bought some new tires that we tested in Imola to run here as well. For sure the bike set up for both riders is pretty much there now so the main job we have is to find the right race tire for both James and Cal. We also need to fix some small details as both riders have some things they want to improve. Overall we are quite satisfied.”

Crutchlow fights hard for fourth in a hot second race at Misano

There were no easy points to be had today for the Yamaha Sterilgarda team as a hot track surface and rapidly disappearing grip tested the skills of both riders. Despite being mobbed by riders in the first corner of race two, Cal Crutchlow fought back with an inspired push, coming from ninth all the way up to take third from Michel Fabrizio by lap 19. He held for a further three laps but was passed back with two laps to go, taking fourth at the line. Race one had seen Crutchlow lose the front early on as he pushed on to catch the leaders, forcing retirement from the race. Race two also saw Crutchlow make the new lap record as he worked his way through the pack, scoring an impressive 1’36.546. Teammate James Toseland also experienced a tough race day at the Misano circuit. Starting from a less than perfect 13th on the grid on the hard to overtake track, Toseland fought to pass several riders, taking tenth at the line. Race two saw him losing the front end going into a corner on the tenth lap and forcing early retirement. Crutchlow leaves Misano in tenth place in the championship standings on 120 points, just ten behind Leon Camier in ninth. Team mate Toseland sits in seventh on 138 points, just 23 points adrift of Checa in fifth as they head to Brno in two weeks time.

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (DNF, 4th)
“I had an ok start in race two, but got beaten up a bit in the first corner on the first lap and basically had to recover from then on. I was disappointed to lose out to Fabrizio at the end, I just lost a bit of drive out of the corner and he managed to get back under me. To come here and do the race pace we did at these grip levels was incredible, hopefully we can make some improvements at this week’s Imola test and be even better. Race one was a stupid mistake, I had a full tank of fuel and just pushed the front a bit too hard trying to catch the front runners and lost the front, but I think I redeemed myself in race two.”

James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team, (10th, DNF)
“What can you say, another tough weekend. I’ve got the pace when the tire grip is good but just find it difficult when losing the grip on the bike to keep with the other bikes coming off the corners. We need to work hard on this area as it’s so important. We’ll meet about it tonight, if we can improve that it’ll be a big help. The time I’m losing on the corners to the others means I have to keep catching up on the brakes which means pushing the front, which is why I crashed in the second. Brno is a little bit faster and flowing so if we can keep the revs high we shouldn’t have too many problems.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager
“After the test last week we were expecting better results. By Friday we realized this weekend was going to be tougher than we thought. Cal did a good job in the second race, although unfortunately he crashed in the first. He didn’t have the best start in the second and he was pushing really hard to catch the front pack. Unfortunately this meant he destroyed his rear tire which meant at the end the rear grip was suffering but he pushed to the line for fourth. James had a difficult weekend, for sure starting from the fourth row is always hard. He did what he could and unfortunately he didn’t finish the second race due to a crash. Fortunately he is not hurt. Tuesday and Wednesday we will go to Imola to test and hopefully we can fix some of the issues we have.”

Circuit Length: 4060
Weather: Hot and Sunny

Lap Record: 1’37.135 (Noriyuki Haga, 01/01/2009)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1’35.001 (Troy Corser, 27/06/2010)
Last Year’s Winner: Jonathan Rea