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.”

Team Joe Darcey Monlau Competicion’s Kev Coghlan took fifth place in Sunday’s sixth and penultimate round of the CEV Buckler Spanish Moto2 Championship at the Valencia circuit to retain second place in the series.

Coghlan qualified in sixth  on the FTR M210 and held that position for most of the 19-lap thriller before setting his fastest lap on lap 17 to move ahead of Spaniard Xavier Fores and secure a fifth place finish, ending the race just 3.1s behind winner Carmelo Morales.

Coghlan’s title rival Morales grabbed the lead and the victory from Axel Pons on the last lap to extend his Championship lead to 21 points over Coghlan heading into next Sunday’s seventh and final round at Jerez.

“It was a tough weekend for us,” admitted Coghlan. “But to be in the top five in today’s race and stay second in the Championship gives us plenty to fight for in next week’s final race.”

Italian Federico D’Annunzio took 11th place on the last lap on his FTR while Russian Alexey Ivanov – having qualified in 25th place – was up to 18th before being forced to retire on the 11th lap.

“Coming into the weekend we were very much focused on challenging for the win,” said FTR’s Steve Bones. “In the end Kev’s finished just three seconds away from winning so he was on the pace but in the end was forced to settle for fifth.

“He also went faster in the race than he did in qualifying so the signs from Kev and the M210 continue to be positive. He won the Jerez race earlier in the year on the M210 so we’ll be hoping for a repeat performance next Sunday.”

Eugene Laverty

Yamaha World Superbike 2011 teammates Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty took to the track together for the first time today, taking part in a one day test at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia. Despite strong winds both riders enjoyed a sunny dry track, enabling them to put both the 2010 and new 2011 race bike through its paces. The test was the first track outing for new Team Manager Andrea Dosoli, joining the team for 2011 in place of Massimo Meregalli who moves within the Yamaha family to work with the Yamaha Factory Racing MotoGP Team.

The session was Melandri’s first opportunity to ride the Yamaha YZF-R1 and also his first day working with his new team. Riding on the Pirelli tires for the first time, the Italian adapted quickly, spending the majority of the day on the 2010 bike to get acquainted with the R1 and give the team time to make basic set up changes to fit his physical shape on the bike. He impressed the team, settling in quickly to set an impressive fastest lap time on a qualifier tire, only two tenths of a second off times from the previous day’s MotoGP test.

Melandri’s new teammate Eugene Laverty got straight down to business today. Having already experienced the powerful 2010 R1 at the Mangy Cours Official World Superbike Test three weeks ago he took the opportunity to spend some time not just on the 2010 bike but also on the new 2011 YZF-R1 race bike, providing valuable data for the team in preparation of the upcoming test at Phillip Island in Australia at the beginning of December.

The new YZF-R1 follows a design philosophy of reduced weight and optimal weight balance for greater traction. The bike tested today also featured the new for 2011 Ohlins front forks, tested by both riders. The bike adheres to the 2011 FIM regulations for the championship, featuring standard fuel injectors, fuel pump and fuel regulators.

Marco Melandri, Yamaha World Superbike Team (1’33.9, 79laps)
“It was a very good first day. In the beginning it was a completely different feeling to a MotoGP bike, much bigger! Lap by lap the feeling got better and better and I really enjoyed it. I was riding smoothly and I was especially happy with the Pirelli tires, I got a really good feeling for the bike with them. I love the engine, it was impressive so I am very excited to go to Australia and carry on.”
Eugene Laverty

Eugene Laverty, Yamaha World Superbike Team (1’34.9, 76laps)
“I’m feeling really comfortable with the bike. At Magny Cours I didn’t want to judge too much by one track, Valencia is very different so to feel good here as well is very positive. I rode the 2011 bike and we managed to gather a lot of really useful data to help prepare for the next test at Phillip Island. I’m feeling really positive; I think we’re heading in the right direction to have a very competitive bike for the new season.”

Andrea Dosoli, Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager
“Today was good, it feels nice to be involved in such a professional environment, the team is working really well. I believe there is a good base here to achieve great results and have a good feeling with both the riders. I was a little worried about Marco’s first experience on a heavier bike with different tires but I’m really happy that he had a good feeling and adapted quickly to the new tires and bike, the lap time for him was not so bad either. Eugene has a lot of potential and is very motivated; he was working on different settings between the 2010 and 2011 bikes and was providing very clear feedback for the team to work with. We will go away now and use this information to prepare for the test in Australia in three weeks time.”

FTR Moto and the Monlau Competicion Team’s Kev Coghlan are looking to follow up the FTR 1-2 in the Valencia Grand Prix last Sunday by stepping up their bid for the CEV Buckler Spanish Moto2 Championship at this weekend’s sixth and penultimate round, also at Valencia.  Coghlan sits seven points adrift of Championship leader Carmelo Morales with Coghlan having taken two wins already this year on the FTR M210, at Albacete and Aragon.

“We had a really good test at Valencia two weeks ago,” reported Coghlan. “The FTR guys flew in some new parts that their Grand Prix riders had tried and tested and they’ve definitely improved the machine.”

Victory at Valencia for Coghlan, the 2009 Spanish and European Supersport Champion, would prepare the 22-year-old Scotsman ideally for the following week’s final round at Jerez – his final race before heading into the World Championship in 2011, riding an FTR M211 for Alex Debon’s Motor Sport 69 Team.

“The CEV Buckler Spanish Championship is of great value to us,” said FTR director Steve Bones. “It’s where we made our debut as a constructor with Diego Lozano and Graeme Gowland on the machine at the end of last year.

“We’ve obviously moved on from that and taken a handful of GP victories and had a great year in the first ever Moto2 World Championship so we’d now like to conclude the season with the Spanish Championship title.

“Victory at Valencia for Kev and the M210 on Sunday would set up a great final round in front of a big crowd at Jerez the following week.”

The Valencia Moto2 action gets under way with two 40-minute free practice sessions on Friday followed by two 40-minute qualifying sessions on Saturday. Sunday’s action begins with a 15-minute warm-up followed by a 19-lap race.

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team was back in action at the Valencia circuit in Spain today with Colin Edwards and Cal Crutchlow commencing their 2011 MotoGP World Championship preparations.

With excitement and anticipation reaching fever pitch ahead of the first day of the winter testing schedule, proceedings were delayed when rain started to fall an hour before the circuit was due to open for action at 10am.

Cold temperatures meant the track was slow to dry, but once clear blue skies emerged in the early afternoon, Edwards and Crutchlow were able to begin lapping the Ricardo Tormo Circuit. A gusting wind though that worsened as the session wore on made for unpredictable conditions.

It was still a productive afternoon for experienced Texan Edwards as he began preparations for his ninth season in the MotoGP World Championship. The 36-year-old needed a few laps to adjust his riding style back to the YZR-M1 MotoGP machine after he completed more than 50 laps yesterday evaluating the Tech 3 Racing Team’s 2011 Moto2 machine.

Edwards had a busy schedule to work through with his crew as he evaluated an updated YZR-M1 engine and revised chassis. He also tested different spec Bridgestone rear tires with positive results.

Crutchlow was unleashed on the MotoGP field for the first time today after a successful campaign in the World Superbike Championship with Yamaha’s factory squad. The talented British rider tested a YZR-M1 machine at Yamaha’s Fukuroi test track in Japan last month. But today gave him the opportunity to line up against the star-studded MotoGP line-up for the first time and he acquitted himself superbly. The former World Supersport champion immediately formed a good understanding with experienced crew chief Daniele Romagnoli and was able to reel off several laps in the 1.34 bracket.

Crutchlow had a small crash at the fifth corner but returned to the track later in the day and impressively built up his confidence again to post a best time of 1.34.314 in his 59-lap stint. It was a hugely encouraging display from Crutchlow and he was able to lap faster than Loris Capirossi and new Moto2 world champion Toni Elias, as well as fellow rookie Karel Abraham.

Colin Edwards: Position: 7th, Time: 1’33.513, Laps: 49
“It was a really good day and we got through a lot of work, despite losing quite a bit of track time this morning. It took me a while just to tune my brain back into MotoGP mode after the Moto2 test but once I’d done that, it was a positive afternoon. It is only half-a-day on track but already I can tell Yamaha has done a really good job with the bike. The engine feels smoother than last season’s and I really like the new chassis. All year I’ve been struggling with turning performance but with this new chassis we have improved a lot in that area and I can get into the corner easier and with a lot more confidence. I also did a fair amount of work for Bridgestone and they’ve been working hard too. I tried a couple of things that are really interesting for next year, so it was a productive start to 2011.”

Cal Crutchlow: Position: 14th, Time: 1’34.314, Laps: 59
“It was good to be finally part of MotoGP and to get in some dry track time on the bike because the rain hampered my first ride in Japan. It wasn’t the easiest day I’ll have because there is just so much to learn about riding a MotoGP bike fast, but my pace was good and I’m happy with my times. I’m happy with my performance and so are the team and it was good to start working with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew. I’m losing most of my time in just three points of the track but that is just down to experience. I had a small crash at the left-hander before the back straight. I think it must have been the wind because I had a slower corner speed and less brake pressure than before. But these things will happen when I’m on such a big learning curve. Lap times and position are not bothering at my moment. I just need to be getting laps in on the bike to build up my experience and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Results
1 Jorge Lorenzo – Yamaha – 1’32.012
2 Casey Stoner – Honda – 1’32.775
3 Ben Spies – Yamaha – 1’32.878
4 Dani Pedrosa – Honda – 1’32.912
5 Marco Simoncelli – Honda – 1’32.919
6 Andrea Dovizioso – Honda – 1’33.190
7 Colin Edwards – Yamaha – 1’33.513
8 Alvaro Bautista – Suzuki – 1’33.558
9 Nicky Hayden – Ducati – 1’33.716
10 Valentino Rossi – Ducati- 1’33.882
11 Randy De Puniet – Ducati – 1’33.914
12 Hiroshi Aoyama – Honda – 1’33.953
13 Hector Barbera – Ducati – 1’34.110
14 Cal Crutchlow – Yamaha- 1’34.314
15 Loris Capirossi – Ducati – 1’34.631
16 Toni Elias – Honda – 1’35.058
17 Karel Abraham – Ducati – 1’35.076

Yamaha Factory Racing Team riders Jorge Lorenzo and new teammate Ben Spies completed a successful first day of the official MotoGP test at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia today, topping the timesheets as only two of five riders to dip below the 1.33 minute mark. Rain in the morning saw the day’s session delayed until the track had dried with all riders waiting until the afternoon before venturing out onto the circuit.

Reigning 2010 World Champion Lorenzo continued to show the form that delivered the world title this year, taking just five warm up laps to go straight to the top of the timesheets where he remained unbeaten for the entire session. The Mallorcan split his riding time between the 2011 prototype YZR-M1 and an updated version of his 2010 machine.

Taking his first outing as a Yamaha Factory rider, the 2010 Rookie of the Year Spies spent the majority of the afternoon riding the 2011 prototype YZR-M1. The American rider and his crew used their inaugural session to focus on the chassis settings of the new bike, moving quickly up the timesheets, delivering consistent fast laps to end as the third fastest rider of the day.

Jorge Lorenzo: Rider No.1, Position: 1^st, Time: 1’32.012, Laps: 48
“Today we tried the new chassis on the 2011 M1 which felt good, although it is still too early to say too much about it. We also tried the new Ohlins suspension, which felt better to me on the track. The new engine seems to have less wheelie but we will see more tomorrow in the next session.”

Ben Spies: Rider No.11, Position: 3^rd, Time: 1’32.878, Laps: 42
“For the first day of testing I’m super happy with the team, a lot of things are new including obviously riding the prototype bike. There are a lot of subtle changes from last year so I spent some time getting used to it along with working with a new Japanese engineer who is very, very good. I had a couple of new mechanics who were learning the ropes as well so it was a lot of learning today. I’m really happy, I can feel the potential of the bike and I think there’s quite a bit more to come.”

Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager – Jorge Lorenzo
“2011 has started I would say. We finished the session on top so I think everything went quite well. Our lap times were good and we improved on our qualification time from Sunday’s race. We managed to test everything we wanted to today so tomorrow we will continue with more and see how far Jorge can go.”

Massimo Meregalli
“As a first day, I think Ben’s crew worked really well. He was very satisfied with the new 2011 prototype YZR-M1 bike which is a good sign. We didn’t make many changes to the setup in the session so it’s clear that we have a good base to work with. Tomorrow we will start to test the 2011 tires as today Ben used the same ones as he ran for Sunday’s race.”

Rizla Suzuki still has a lot of work to do in tomorrow’s final free practice session of the year after a challenging day today left them at the wrong end of the timesheets.

Loris Capirossi (P15, 1’34.248, 40 laps) couldn’t find the grip levels for his Suzuki GSV-R at Valencia today, despite trying both compounds of tyres to get the best performance from his machine. He will certainly be looking to improve considerably tomorrow to make sure he is in the best position for Sunday’s race.

Alvaro Bautista

Álvaro Bautista (P16, 1’34.296, 45 laps) was the hardest working rider out on the 4,005m track this afternoon as he completed 25 laps trying to get the optimum performance from his bike. He made a number of changes to the set-up of his GSV-R today and now has a clearer direction in which way to go tomorrow.

Today’s air temperatures just made it up to 20°C during this afternoon’s session, with track surface temperatures only getting to 26°C. The fastest time of the day was set by World Champion Jorge Lorenzo.
Tomorrow will see the last practice and qualifying sessions of the season as the riders make their final preparations for Sunday’s 30-lap Grand Prix, which will get underway at 14.00hrs local time (13.00hrs GMT).

Loris Capirossi:
“It has been quite difficult for us today because the conditions have been a bit colder than we expected. Like most times this season the day before first practice has been lovely, but then on the first day the temperature has dropped. We are struggling to get a good and constant feeling from the tyres, even though we tried both compounds. We have to try and discover something for tomorrow, the whole team is working hard to find a solution, but it is not easy. When it’s not that warm we have struggled to get the grip and that is how it has been today, so hopefully it will warm up for us tomorrow.”

Álvaro Bautista:
“This morning we tested different frame settings in the two bikes and I chose just one of them to continue with this afternoon. We tried a new spec with that setting, but the feeling was a little bit worse than this morning because I just couldn’t get the exit from the corners I was looking for with the softer tyres. It was a used tyre and had done more than 30-laps, so we tried a new harder compound in the front and rear, but the feeling stayed the same. Tomorrow morning we will do the same setting from this morning, but with a few changes and we will see if we can improve – I certainly hope that we do.”

GP Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana Free Practice Classification:
1. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1’32.690
2. Casey Stoner (Ducati) +0.207
3. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) +0.776
4. Marco Simoncelli +0.778 (Honda)
5. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) +0.780
15. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.558
16. ÁLVARO BAUTISTA (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1’34.296

FTR Moto is looking to close the inaugural Moto2 World Championship in successful fashion with victory in this weekend’s 17th and final round at Valencia in Spain.

Leading FTR M210 rider Andrea Iannone, in the FIMMCO Speed Up Team colors, could clinch second place in the Championship if he can overcome a six-point deficit to Julian Simon in Sunday’s 27-lap race at the 2.49-mile circuit.

FIMMCO Speedup Moto2 rider Andrea Iannone

Iannone has three race wins this year – at Mugello, Assen and Aragon – and has taken five pole positions, two more than any other rider. The 21-year-old Italian has also recorded the fastest lap of six of the 16 races so far.

“Andrea has been a stand-out rider in 2010 and has achieved far more than anyone anticipated,” admitted FTR’s Steve Bones. “When he rode a four-stroke for the first time – in a Spanish Championship race at Valencia at the end of last year – he really looked like he would take a long time to adapt. Thankfully he quickly got used to the FTR M210 and has been devastating at times.”

Iannone’s teammate Gabor Talmacsi will be looking to protect his sixth place in the Championship at Valencia after the Hungarian scooped a first pole position in Portugal last week and finished the race in eighth place.

Karel Abraham, riding the Cardion AB Motoracing Team M210 for the final time before moving to the MotoGP class, can climb as many as five place in the Championship if results were to go his way on Sunday at Valencia – a circuit where he took a 250cc career-best sixth place finish last year.

Luckless Alex Debon and his Aeroport de Castello-Ajo Team will miss this weekend’s final round after Debon suffered a fractured right collarbone during practice at Estoril last week.

“The final round promises to throw up some spectacular action with a lot of riders wanting to end the Championship on a high, some are still to confirm a place for 2011 so therefore keen to impress and most are just looking for some final round glory,” added Bones.

“Since Estoril we’ve been moving forward with our own 2011 plans and had some really interesting track time with potential new riders at Aragon on Monday. In all we’re pretty confident about next year’s program with the much-improved M211.”

Crutchlow and Toseland get set for round three in Valencia

After an exciting second round in Portimao which saw both Yamaha Sterilgarda WSB riders make good progress on their bike set up and development, the team are now gearing up for round three in Valencia this weekend. Moving forward from a difficult first round in Australia, round two saw big improvements in the 2010 bike with both riders making good use of the increased power available. Crutchlow caught the attention of the paddock, impressing with a new Best Lap record in Superpole, knocking nearly half a second off last year’s time set by Ben Spies. The 25yr old British rider also took the first podium finish of the year for the team in the second race. Team-mate James Toseland made up for a less than perfect grid start position in both races, starting from 15th he pushed hard to break the top ten, delivering a 7th and then a 6th place finish.

The Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia is known to both riders, and with Toseland getting back to full fitness as his hand recovers, the weekend has the potential to deliver great results for the team.

“After my podium at Portimao I’m keen to get to Valencia,” said Cal Crutchlow. I think we can continue our good streak. I don’t know how the bike will be there as we used the 2009 bike in our winter test but I’m optimistic. Lots of the teams have tested there recently so we’ve got some work to do, but hopefully we’ll be up there and have a good result.”

“We’ve made massive improvements from Australia to Portugal,” said James Toseland, “which obviously the podium from Cal proved. The second race in Portimao was particularly good for me; I had a really good race pace but couldn’t get to front which was disappointing as I started from too far back. The Valencia test went well in the winter and I’ve done a lot on the Spanish track compared to Portugal so I’m looking forward to getting out there and getting stuck in, being able to concentrate on the bike set up without having the added focus of learning the circuit.”

Valencia technically speaking according to Marcus Eschenbacher, Cal Crutchlow’s Crew Chief
“Valencia is one of the WSB circuits with the most stadium character; the track is flat and has some banked corners. The track conditions vary a lot so it is never certain what it will be. The infield is technical and physical for the riders, the last corner is particularly hard for the tires over race distance so the track is more difficult than it appears. We made some adjustments to the bike in Portimao which Cal really liked, adding weight to the rear to improve the balance for him. We hope that we can find some new improvements again for the coming round.”

Valencia technically speaking according to Frankie Carchedi, James Toseland’s Crew Chief
“We had a successful test over the winter. We have continued to work extremely hard since Portimao to continue improving the electronics on the bike. Valencia is a very challenging circuit, a good front fork setting is important, and a good handling bike, as a lot of corners link together. We will start on a very similar setting to race two in Portimao, with the biggest change coming from a new electronic strategy for corner exit. James will be one step closer to full fitness, and hopefully with another step of improvement from the bike, we can be challenging at the front!”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager
“Our test at Valencia over the winter went well. Following Portimao we will bring some more electronic updates for the bikes to the Spanish circuit in order to continue the progress we made from the first two rounds and be as competitive as possible. The electronics are our focus for development at the moment so these updates will include new maps for both James and Cal. Unfortunately the time is very short between these races but I am confident that we will get more improvements this weekend again.”