MotoGP 2009 - Round Two

MotoGP 2009 - Round Two - Day One

Valentino Rossi was quicker than Casey Stoner on Friday in Japan. That was the result that everyone was awaiting after the latter’s dominance in Qatar, but the Italian’s fightback doesn’t tell the whole story of the first free practice session for the Polini Grand Prix of Japan.

Reigning World Champion and 2008 racewinner Rossi left his final push to the last possible moment, cutting more than half a second off his previous best time in the session to edge out the current series leader. The Italian stopped the clock at 1’48.545 to bring an end to Stoner’s perfect record in practice, qualifying and warmup sessions in 2009.

Ducati Marlboro man Stoner threw himself into the challenge with an early 1’48.601 lap of the Twin Ring Motegi circuit, but elected to return to the garage instead of returning fire once Rossi had taken the advantage.

Rossi’s Fiat Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo had expressed his desire to record times closer to those of Stoner in the run-up to Japan and, like Rossi, his ultimate lap was also his most effective. The Spaniard was the final rider to go round in under 1’49.

Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi showed that Rizla Suzuki’s efforts to improve the GSV-R over the winter had been something of a success, both in the top six at a track that did not go well for the duo in 2008. They sandwiched satellite Yamaha rider Colin Edwards on the timesheet, whilst the top ten also included fastest Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso, Hayate Racing surprise Marco Melandri, 2007 podium finisher Toni Elías and Monster Tech3 Yamaha’s James Toseland.

Home rider Yuki Takahashi ran off track in the session, whilst fellow rookie Mika Kallio had a spectacular highside –from which he returned to action during the 45-minute run.

1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'48.545
2. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team 1'48.601
3. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1'48.965
4. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'49.382
5. Colin Edwards (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1'49.697
6. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1'49.980
7. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Repsol Honda 1'50.030
8. Marco Melandri (ITA) Hayate Racing Team 1'50.123
9. Toni Elias (SPA) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'50.209
10. James Toseland (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1'50.342
11. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 1'50.391
12. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team 1'50.393
13. Yuki Takahashi (JPN) Scot Racing Team 1'50.404
14. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Grupo Francisco Hernando 1'50.538
15. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1'50.601
16. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1'50.669
17. Mika Kallio (FIN) Pramac Racing 1'51.643
18. Niccolo Canepa (ITA) Pramac Racing 1'51.929

-- Ducati Report

The MotoGP World Championship has arrived in Japan much earlier than usual, with the Motegi circuit hosting the second round of the season as opposed to one of the decisive later races, and the springtime temperatures provided the teams and riders with a fresh challenge – figuratively and literally speaking – out on the track, and with 45 minutes available in today’s first free practice session, Ducati Marlboro pair Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden had to work quickly on the set-up of their Desmosedici machines.

Stoner was fast from the moment the red lights turned to green and after just a handful of laps he was already top of the time sheets with a good advantage over the rest of the field. However, the gap steadily reduced over the course of the session and the Australian was dislodged in the final moments by Valentino Rossi. Hayden, who headed into the action with the stitches he had inserted into his chest, shrugged off the discomfort to turn in a productive afternoon’s work, building on the progress made with his own GP9 set-up during the race in Doha.

CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 2nd (1’48.601)
"We’re not too far from setting some very decent lap times and considering how cold it was this afternoon I think everything has gone as well as we could have expected. It looks as though the weather forecast is not good for tomorrow so this session might not turn out to be so important in terms of qualifying, but then if it’s dry again on Sunday it could turn out to be crucial. In general the bike feels quite good - we need to try and find a bit more grip on the rear and we have a few ideas that we think could work – but now it’s just a case of seeing what the heavens throw at us tomorrow and dealing with that as best we can."

NICKY HAYDEN – (Ducati Marlboro Team) 13th (1’50.393)
“The track was quite slippery when we first went out and the air felt so cold, with the humidity, it felt like it could rain any second. We certainly had to be careful getting some heat into the left side of the rear and into the front. We tried a few things out with the set-up – I ran both bikes and worked in the direction we’d found in Qatar, where the balance of the bike had felt much better in the later laps, with less fuel on board. Obviously the lap time isn’t great but we improved with every run and pretty much every lap, we got a good number laps in just in case it does rain tomorrow and we worked out a basic direction we need to take for the race, so I’m satisfied. ”

-- Repsol HRC

Low temperatures were on everybody`s mind during the first free practice session at Motegi as the riders prepare for the Japanese GP, a race that will be held this weekend at the Circuit of Motegi. There was little grip for the bikes and this combined with the cold weather and cold tarmac meant that the two Repsol Honda Team riders were not tempted to take any risks on the first day of practice.

With rain almost 100% guaranteed this weekend and the uncertainties surrounding what will happen before the race on Sunday, the 45 minutes that the riders and teams have to set up their bikes in the first free session of MotoGP were nowhere near enough – all the riders are complaining about this new rule – but even so nothing untoward happened out on the track, although the times were slower than in previous years.

Dani Pedrosa, who has gone to the Japanese GP in a much better condition after the injury and operation on his left leg, did not have a good start to the weekend. The lack of a good set up on his motorbike prevented him from reaching the level needed to be competitive in this first free practice, and he finished in a disappointing eleventh position.

Things did not go much better for his teammate, the Italian Andrea Dovizioso, who in spite of his determination to finish higher on the leaderboard, in the end had to make do with seventh place, almost a second and a half off the best time, and a little more than 3 tenths of a second faster than Dani Pedrosa.
Tomorrow the weather forecast prediicts heavy rain, so the uncertainty of what may happen on the Sunday, a wet race or in the dry, means that the race will be very complicated, above all because of the lack of time available to set up the bikes.

Dani PEDROSA >> 1’50.391 secs, 19 laps, 91 km.
“It’s exciting to be back at Motegi for Honda’s home race, though we didn’t get as far forward today as we would have liked.
We went in the wrong direction with our set-up for this practice, which meant that we couldn’t get as far forward on the timesheets as we should be. It looks like it’s going to be raining tomorrow so perhaps we won’t so much more set-up time if the race is dry, but still, we’ll continue to work on the settings and see how things pan out tomorrow.”

Andrea DOVIZIOSO >> 1’50.030 secs, 16 laps, 77 km.
“Well it’s great to be in Japan at Honda’s home track and already I can feel the enthusiasm and support from the Japanese fans. Today we had a bit if a tricky session though. The cold temperatures meant that the machine was quite difficult to control so we need to improve the settings to better suit these conditions. I was wheelying quite a lot too, so that’s something we need to address. I really hope that tomorrow we’ll have two dry sessions to work with - though it’s not looking too likely. We’ll see.”

-- Yamaha Report

Fiat Yamaha riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo made a promising start to Yamaha’s home Grand Prix at the Twin Ring Motegi this afternoon, with Rossi finishing at the top of the time sheets and Lorenzo close behind in third. This afternoon’s session was run in cool, dry conditions but with the weather looking unsettled for the rest of the weekend this might be the only dry session before the race and therefore data gathered today could prove key.

Rossi, who claimed his eighth championship title at this track just six months ago, was fast from the outset and found his M1 was working well despite the cold conditions. Lorenzo too felt confident with his base setting immediately and spent some time at the top of the time sheets mid way through the 45-minutes. In the closing stages it looked like the Yamaha pair would end the day in second and third, behind Casey Stoner, but Rossi’s final lap edged him ahead and he finished the day with an advantage of 0.056 seconds over his Australian rival.

Rossi - Position: 1st Time: 1'48.545 Laps: 18
“This is a very good start because we’re at the top and this is very important! The conditions today were hard and it was difficult to reach the limit and work to the maximum with the bike and tyres, but it looks like we have a good potential here so I am happy. It’s important to be in front, even though it’s only Friday, because in Qatar we were second in every session and really we don’t like second so much; for sure first is much better! Tomorrow it seems it may rain but we haven’t had the chance to try the new Bridgestone rain tyres yet so I think that this could be an important chance for us to understand how they are. It will be interesting and I hope they are good!”

Lorenzo - Position: 3rd Time: 1'48.965 Laps: 19
“I’m so happy with this practice session because we often struggle a bit at the start of the weekend but today this wasn’t the case at all and I felt great from the start. My M1 felt good when braking, under acceleration and in the corners so I think we are in good shape and now I hope we can continue like this tomorrow even if it rains, in fact I am quite curious to see what happens in the rain and how the lap time is.”

Rossi's Team Manager
“It’s nice to be back on top, even if it’s only Friday! It was always going to be very important to make the most of this session because there’s a chance it could be the only dry one, so we wanted to try to explore a few different things. It went ok; we can definitely improve more but we have made a good start.”

Lorenzo's Team Manager
“We’ve made a good start today and we’re confident that we have a good base for this circuit, which is very different to Qatar. Because this could be the only dry session we worked to collect some extra data for the race to make sure that we’re prepared if it’s wet tomorrow and then dry on Sunday. We have made good use of this first session.”

Edwards and Toseland set promising pace in Japan

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 duo Colin Edwards and James Toseland showed promising form to end the first day of action in Yamaha's all-important home race at the Twin Ring Motegi in fifth and tenth places respectively.

American Edwards continued his stunning start to the 2009 MotoGP campaign, ending the 45-minute session with a best time of 1.49.697 to finish just 0.7s outside of the top three. Today's session was run under cool and grey skies, and looks certain to be the only dry session ahead of Sunday's 24-lap Japanese MotoGP race. Tomorrow's forecasts predict a 90 per cent chance of rain. As a result of tomorrow's gloomy outlook, Edwards spent the entire session using the same hard compound Bridgestone front and rear tyres to gain crucial endurance data, with the 35-year-old expecting the harder compounds to be his race selection.

British rider Toseland adopted the same tactic to easily produce his best performance on the impressive 2009 Yamaha YZR-M1 so far. After a difficult winter testing campaign and a disappointing first race in Qatar, the 28-year showed his motivation remains as strong as ever as he featured in the top six for the majority of the session. Fine-tuning a new front fork set-up to help with braking stability, Toseland's final position of tenth didn't reflect his brilliant return to form on the 2.983 miles circuit, and he's confident of mounting a strong challenge in Sunday's race.

Colin Edwards - Position: 5th Time: 1.49.697 Laps: 19
"Today was all about gathering information. My thinking even yesterday was to start with the hard tyre because we knew it was going to be cold and the forecasts were showing rain for tomorrow, so I needed to get some information in the dry before the race. I started out with the hard tyre and didn't change it for the whole session, just switching the same tyre between bikes to play around with the setting. I'm sure if I had run the softer compounds I could have gone quicker, but Bridgestone think the hard front and rear will be what I'll need for the race. It feels to me like the left side of the tyre is a little bit too hard and I've got to make sure I get it warmed up. The right side feels really good, but you can't take too much risk in the beginning on the left, but once it comes to temperature it works fine. The bike feels really great to show what a great job Yamaha has done again. Today was a good start to the weekend and hopefully I can continue that to give Yamaha a good result in Japan."

James Toseland - Position: 10th Time: 1.50.432 Laps: 19
"That was a bit more like it. Right to the end I was looking good to be around the top six but I caught (Yuki) Takahashi on my last lap when the tyre was working pretty good, so I'm sure I could have got into the 1.49s. My guys have done a great job because I had a slightly different setting on the front fork today to get a bit more control under braking. This place is all about hard braking and that is an area I've needed to work on. I've got a bit more control on initial braking so it doesn't upset the bike as much when I'm turning in. I ran most of the session on the hard tyre with the weather not looking too good for tomorrow, but I did try the softer one at the end just to check on it. I doubt we'd be able to run it in the race, even if the temperature is quite low. So if it rains tomorrow and it's dry for the race, at least I know I'll run the harder tyre. It was a difficult first race but we're not losing motivation and my team have all stuck together. Rain or shine I'm determined to get a good result for them and Yamaha in their home race."

-- Suzuki Report

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP began on a positive note during the first day of testing for this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix in Motegi.

Chris Vermeulen led the way for the team with the fourth fastest time of the day, as he recorded a best lap of 1'49.382 from his 17-laps around the 4,801m Motegi circuit. Vermeulen got through a large amount of work with his crew - despite the session only being 45-minutes long - and was able to complete three good runs that supplied him, and the Suzuki Technicians, with valuable data as they prepare for this Sunday's race.

Loris Capirossi was narrowly behind his team-mate as he clocked a quickest time of 1'49.980 from his 19 laps, to give him sixth place overall. Capirossi was pleased with the day's work, but is convinced that there is more to come from him and the Suzuki GSV-R. Capirossi and Vermeulen were two of only six riders that clocked sub one-minute-fifty-second laps today as they continued to show a competitive edge during the first practice session.

Today's single session was held in cold and overcast conditions with air temperatures only reaching 12ºC and track temperatures at a high of only 22ºC. With rain forecast for tomorrow and similar weather as today expected on race-day, the information gathered by the team today will be vital to ensure they get the best set-up on Sunday. Today's fastest time was set by reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi.

Rizla Suzuki has one more free practice session on Saturday morning, followed by a 45-minute qualifying session in the afternoon to decide grid positions for Sunday's 24-lap race that gets underway at 15.00hrs local time (06.00hrs GMT).

Chris Vermeulen:
"We've had quite a good start to the weekend here at Motegi. It has not been a track I have gone well at in my last three years with Suzuki, but it has been a big improvement today. We have taken a big step forward with the bike in certain areas - especially accelerating off the corners. There are a lot of those on to long straights here and it all seems to be working well for us. Today we used the same set of tyres for the whole session. They worked pretty well, but did drop-off a bit towards the end of the session, but if it is similar conditions on race-day we know what we will be using. The team did a great job today and we got through everything we needed to in the 45-minutes. With it being a shorter session now, we did well to get in three good runs and try out everything we needed to. Hopefully it will be dry tomorrow so we can learn more about the bike and keep improving."

Loris Capirossi:
"The problem we are finding is that this is the only practice we have on Friday now and we don't have another one to keep working on the bike. We need more time to get the bike just right. It is working quite well but we still have a bit of work to do on the setting. The conditions didn't help today because it was very cold and we couldn't get the tyres up to temperature. We used one set of tyres for the whole session and the left side still looks like new! We will see how things turn out tomorrow, but there is a forecast of rain and then it might be fine for the race, so we will just have to see what happens and try our best!"

Paul Denning - Team Manager:
"We are happy that some of the problems that we suffered in the Qatar race haven't come up today here in Motegi. That has been reflected in the relatively competitive showings from both riders. The low temperatures and lack of grip was the same for everybody, so we have to be confident in the ability of the riders and the team to get the GSV-R working at its very best in these conditions. It is a solid start to Suzuki's home Grand Prix, but I think that we can find a fair bit more speed for both guys if it's dry tomorrow!"

-- Bridgestone Report

Tyre compounds used: Front: Soft, Medium. Rear: Soft, Medium

Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi finished at the top of the timesheets after a dry first free practice at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit. He headed home Ducati Team’s Casey Stoner by just 0.05 seconds with a decisive performance on the last of his 18-lap session.

Jorge Lorenzo, who qualified pole here last year, put both Fiat Yamaha machines in the top three at their home grand prix, finishing 0.36 seconds adrift of Stoner.

The race has moved from its usual slot in September to an April date this season, resulting in an air temperature that was eight degrees Celsius cooler than last year, aided by an overcast sky. More importantly, the track temperature recorded by Bridgestone was 19 degrees Celsius cooler than the peak temperature of 41 degrees Celsius seen during qualifying for the 2008 race, leading to some riders struggling with warm-up performance.

The MotoGP field will take to the circuit again tomorrow at 1005hrs local time for the second free practice, for which rain is forecast.

Tohru Ubukata - Bridgestone Motorsport – Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development
“I am reasonably happy as even though the temperature here today was even cooler than we expected the soft compound slick Bridgestone gave reasonable grip. Some riders did have problems with getting enough heat into their tyres from cold, but then some riders used the medium compound slicks as well so I think this shows that rider style can make a big difference to tyre performance this season. “In these cold conditions we had no problems with consistency on the soft compound slicks throughout the session. If the weather stays dry I think there must be more of a mix of tyre compound choices for this race than we saw in Qatar, when everyone chose the medium Bridgestones.

“Motegi is a demanding circuit on tyres, featuring hard braking followed by hard acceleration that loads the centre construction of the tyre. There are also eight right hander corners and six left handers, so the right side of the tyre gets worked harder and stays hotter. Turn three is particularly tricky because of the circuit layout, as it is the first left hander after the left shoulder has cooled down along the straight and round the first two corners.”

-- Minor Categories

In need of World Championship points after missing the opening race of the season, Marco Simoncelli came out swinging in the first 250cc free practice session. The 2008 Motegi racewinner and reigning World Champion put in a series of isolated hot laps, culminating in a 1’53.093 time that gave him the early advantage in the quarter-litre class.

Simoncelli was over six-tenths of a second faster than rival Hiroshi Aoyama, who just missed out on the podium at round one and is determined to return to the rostrum for his home race. The Scot Racing rider was in turn just over a tenth faster than Álvaro Bautista, another rider keen to make amends for disappointment in the season opener.

Despite finishing the session fourth, Mattia Pasini’s late crash on Friday afternoon leaves his Team Toth mechanics with plenty of work to do ahead of Saturday practice and qualifying. Series leader Héctor Barberá returned to the scene of his 2008 season-ending crash with the fifth quickest time in the quarter-litre class.

The current leader in the 125cc standings, Andrea Iannone put the heat on his lower cylinder category rivals in the first session of the day. Ongetta Team I.S.P.A’s Italian rider opened up with the quickest time of the 125cc run, a 2’00.685 lap.

Qatar poleman Julián Simón was second fastest, less than two-tenths of a second slower than the man with whom he had the briefest of battles at the Losail race. 2008 racewinner Stefan Bradl came in third quickest, running off track on one of his final hot laps. Meanwhile, Esteve Rabat and Nico Terol increased the Spanish representation in the top five.

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