Aleix Espargaro quickest overall at red hot Barcelona-Catalunya on Friday
Friday afternoon’s MotoGP FP2 at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya ended with Bradley Smith setting the pace, as Stefan Bradl and Marc Marquez joined him in the top three, but Aleix Espargaro was Friday’s fastest rider overall courtesy of an FP1 hot lap.
Monster Yamaha Tech3’s Smith set his best time of the afternoon with the track temperatures reaching over 50°C, his 1’42.123 lap well over a second quicker than he had gone in the morning.
The Briton ended the afternoon run just ahead of LCR Honda MotoGP’s Bradl and Repsol Honda Team Marquez, but it was NGM Forward Racing’s Espargaro who recorded the best time of the day (1’41.672) on a softer compound rear tyre at his home track in the morning session.
Completing the top five on the combined timesheet was the race winner for the last two years at Barcelona-Catalunya, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) who was just over 0.6s down on Espargaro’s P1 time. Lorenzo’s best lap came in the afternoon heat, with the many riders using harder option front and rear tyres in the Mediterranean sunshine.
Sixth and seventh overall were Italians Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) and Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) courtesy of their best times in FP1, with Iannone escaping unhurt from a turn 10 tumble into the gravel in the morning outing.
The overall top ten was completed by Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3), Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team).
Nicky Hayden (Drive M7 Aspar) rode 32 laps over the course of the day as he assessed the condition of his right wrist, on which he had surgery after missing Mugello. He ended the day 19th overall.
Moto2: Rabat dominates round seven Friday sessions
The first day of practice at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya saw Tito Rabat (Marc VDS Racing Team) top both sessions. On the combined timesheet Jonas Folger was second with Mika Kallio third.
Rabat was the only rider able to drop into the 1’46s with a 1’46.955s in FP2, 0.746s clear of his closest rival Folger (AGR Team), who recorded a 1’47.701s lap in the afternoon to put him second overall. Kallio (Marc VDS Racing Team) did not improve on his FP1 time of 1’47.836s in the second session, but remained third in terms of combined times.
Sam Lowes (Speed Up) was fourth overall despite two crashes in FP2 and he was the only non-Kalex rider in the overall top five. Mattia Pasini (NGM Forward Racing) rounded out the leading quintet with a 1’47.951s, from FP1.
Maverick Viñales (Paginas Amarillas HP 40), Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP) and Takaaki Nakagami (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) were all able to improve their times in FP2 to end the day in an overall top ten which also featured Dominique Aegerter (Technomag CarXpert) and Luis Salom (Paginas Amarillas HP 40).
Turns 5 and 10 proved to be tricky with the majority of the day’s crashes occurring there across the two sessions. Thomas Luthi (Interwetten paddock Moto2) fell in FP1, whilst Folger, Azlan Shah (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) and Lowes all crashed in FP2, with Lowes tumbling twice. All riders were unhurt.
Moto3: Quick Ajo demonstrates Montmelo strength
Moto3 FP2 at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya on Friday afternoon saw Niklas Ajo show his pace around the Mediterranean track, leading from Jack Miller and Isaac Viñales.
In hot and humid conditions at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit, with ambient temperatures reaching 32°C, it was a demanding session for the riders – but Finnish youngster Ajo adapted best to the heat, to put his Avant Tecno Husqvarna Ajo machine top with a 1’51.930 lap.
The best times came late in the session with standings leader Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and in-form rider Viñales (Calvo Team) joining Ajo in the top three, both within 0.015s of the top spot.
Completing the top five were Italian compatriots Niccolo Antonelli (Junior Team GO&FUN) and Romano Fenati (SKY Racing Team VR46), who have had contrasting fortunes thus far in 2014, the former crashing out of the last three races.
The top ten was rounded out by Alex Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0), Enea Bastianini (Junior Team Go&FUN Moto3), Alex Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0), Efren Vazquez (SAXOPRINT RTG) and Brad Binder (Ambrogio Racing).
There were crashes for Vazquez, Karel Hanika (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Luca Grünwald (Kiefer Racing) but none of them were seriously hurt.
MotoGP Rider Quotes
Yamaha Report
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi were back on track today for the first free practice sessions of this weekend’s GP Monster Energy de Catalunya.
Both Lorenzo and Rossi were quick to re-familiarise themselves with the Montmelò circuit in the first session, Lorenzo leading most of the session before wrapping up in second with Rossi in fourth, just 0.022 seconds behind his teammate.
The afternoon practice saw scorching hot weather and track temperatures of 52 degrees, changing the track conditions and slowing the times a little. Both Lorenzo and Rossi were quick to get on the pace, taking turns to run in the top spot in the first minutes on the medium compound tyre. They dropped a few places down the timesheets having taken pit stops but were back in the hunt towards the end of the session having switched to the harder compound rear tyre.
Lorenzo wrapped up the second session in fourth, just 0.159 from first whilst Rossi finished in sixth, 0.506 from the front.
The results put Lorenzo in fifth in the combined times for the day on 1’42.282 and Rossi in seventh on 1’42.423.
The Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team had a great start of the weekend. With 5 minutes to go in the afternoon session, rider Bradley Smith rode a brilliant lap, boosted him to 1st position for FP2 and second place in the combined classification. Tomorrow, the British rider will aim to continue in this form by gunning for a front row grid position in qualifying. Young local hero Pol Espargaro also began the race weekend in a positive manner, finishing in 8th in the combined standings. For tomorrow he looks optimistically towards the qualifying session where he will be aiming for a top six start at his home GP.
The best scorer of the day was NGM Forward Racing Team’s Aleix Espargaro who finished the morning session with the fastest time, a 1’41.672. Nobody was able to improve on his laptime in the afternoon session, putting the older local hero in first place in the combined classification, while teammate Colin Edwards finished in the 16th place.
Jorge Lorenzo – 5th / 1’42.282 – “In the morning it was good so I didn’t expect to have so many problems in the afternoon, but the track was much hotter and we had problems with grip and tyre consistency. Tomorrow we have to decide which tyre to use in the front and rear and try to make the bike more stable in acceleration.”
Valentino Rossi – 7th/ 1’42.423 – “It’s a shame because the track is fantastic but it’s very difficult to ride, especially with the high temperatures, the tyres suffer very much because the load on them is very hard. The surface has a lot of bumps and not much grip. I think we have to work for the future because the surface is quite finished. It’s difficult to control the bike and I’m not very happy about my speed and position. We followed one way with the setting but it was not the right way. This afternoon when it was very hot I suffered in the entry of the corner. We will check the data and decide on the tyres as all options are possible. We also have to decide on the strategy for qualifying.”
Massimo Meregalli – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team Director – “We started very well this morning, both Jorge and Vale were quickly comfortable and we were able to set a competitive pace for the first session. Unfortunately in the afternoon the temperatures rose considerably and made the situation more complicated, changing the track conditions a lot. With this heat it is more challenging for us to find grip on the corner entry for Vale and stability under acceleration for Jorge, tyre life is certainly an issue. The track surface is also not great which doesn’t help matters. We will take the data form today and work to find solutions for tomorrow’s third practice.”
Bradley Smith – 2nd / 1’42.123 – “To finish in 1st in FP2 is certainly great. I am pleased as we undertook some key work in Mugello and the results are shining through here as well. The setting is very positive with the bike although I wasn’t able to show it last time unfortunately. The main thing we looked at today was the front contact, the turning of the bike as well as front tyre choices. There are still a few areas we need to make some small adjustments on such as the balance and how it behaves in sector 4 of the circuit which is a bit tough. Overall, I feel confident and happier plus I enjoy Barcelona as I run strongly here. It’s been a tricky few races but we have always worked hard and now I aim to keep this positive momentum for this weekend and the next few MotoGP races and continue to try my best.”
Pol Espagaro – 8th / 1’42.608 – “I believe we can be satisfied with our performance today. The first sessions are always tricky for us as I need to understand the lines and get the feeling of how to ride a MotoGP bike on the track and especially here it has been an emotional start, as its just so close from where I have grown up. But finishing 5th this afternoon, whilst improving our lap times also with the hotter conditions, is really positive and gives me a lot of confidence for tomorrow. It goes without saying that we still have a margin to improve and also Bradley doing such a great job during the second session which proves that we can definitely go faster, but we will check the data now to understand what we need to change to be even more competitive tomorrow.”
Aleix Espargaro – 1st / 1’41.672 – “I’m happy with this morning’s result. We were able to do a fast lap and also the pace was quiet good. We suffered more in the afternoon with the hot temperatures as the track was very slippery and the traction control was not supporting us as we would like. We made some changes on the front and we tested some different electronics settings, but we couldn’t improve our lap times and tomorrow we will keep on working on the electronics.”
Colin Edwards – 16th / 1’43.819 – “This morning we tried different settings and in the afternoon we continued with positive results. We need to find the best way to integrate the new chassis with this engine and electronics. In the afternoon the feeling improved a bit and also the lap times, but we will keep on working on the electronics to make it more consistent.”
Ducati Report
Difficult day 1 for Ducati Team riders in Catalunya GP free practice
The two Ducati Team riders, Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow, and test-rider Michele Pirro, entered in the Spanish race as a wild-card, struggled more than expected today at the Montmeló circuit, where the first two free practice sessions for the GP of Catalunya were held.
After a difficult first session, both Dovizioso and Crutchlow slightly improved their times in the afternoon: the Italian finished the day in tenth place with a time of 1’42.812, while his British team-mate lapped in 1’43.725 to finish back in fifteenth place.
Michele Pirro was unable to improve in the warmer afternoon conditions, and he ended up in 14th place, with a time slightly quicker than that of Crutchlow.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 10th (1’42.812) – “I am quite happy because we managed to improve on this morning’s set-up. This afternoon the conditions were more difficult because there was less grip with the hot weather (50° C track), but we got a bit closer to the leaders. I didn’t do a great lap with the soft tyre, because at the front I had fitted a harder used one. But I managed to get into the top 10 and that’s positive.”
Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team #35) – 15th (1’43.725) – “Obviously today I’m not very happy with the situation, we’ve made hardly any improvement and my Desmosedici GP14 had very little grip. We need to improve tomorrow, but for the moment it’s difficult because we still have the same problem in that we cannot turn the bike the way we want to. I think Dovi is in the same boat, but he is just able to do a faster lap time than me at the moment.”
Michele Pirro (Ducati Test Team #51) – 14th (1’43.624) – “Today we tried various things with my GP14, but in the end I was not able to improve on this morning’s time with the warmer track. Tomorrow we’ll try and work on the set-up and make another step, and I feel sure we can make some progress.”
Repsol HRC Report
It was a strange day with the Repsol Honda Riders, Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa, working hard to find the best setting on their RCV213V Hondas. This morning when the air temperature was 31ºC and the track 44ºC, Dani finished 6th with his lap of 1’42.664 (lap 5/18) and Championship leader, Marc, only able to manage seventh with 1’42.742 (lap 8/19).
This afternoon, temperatures rose to 34ºC (air) and 55ºC (track) and Marc was able to improve by half a second using the hard option front and rear tyres finishing third in the session and fourth for the day with 1’42.274 (lap 8/19). Dani was not able to better his morning time which he recorded on soft option front and rear tyres. He finished tenth for the session (1’43.078 on lap 6/17) and ninth for the day in the combined times.
Marc Marquez – 4th – 1’42.274 – “Despite not being at the top today, I am happy with how this first day of practice for the Catalan Grand Prix went and I’ve made good progress. In the first session I found things a little difficult, but in the second session we improved and this has led to us having a clear direction to go in tomorrow. I think this is the most important thing to take from today.”
Dani Pedrosa – 9th – 1’42.664 – “The good news is that I was able to ride better today than in Mugello. I hope that with a few more laps under my belt I will loosen up even more, and things will go even better. This afternoon we tried out the larger brake discs, which react better and mean that you need to use the brake lever a little differently with your fingers, which is something I am getting used to. We also worked with the hard tyre compound on the front and the rear, and I was able to use them for the entire afternoon session”
Drive M7 Aspar Team
With Aleix Espargaró leading the way on day 1 of the Catalan GP, Friday showed the closeness of the premier class field. Many riders count the venue for this weekend’s race as one of their favourites, but this time it was some less familiar faces who topped the timesheets on a hot day. Many set their best times in morning, but Aleix Espargaró, Rossi, Márquez, Lorenzo, Bradl and Smith all took their turn on top. Espargaro benefitted from using the soft tyre compound to go fastest today, but all of the riders are close together so far and a great battle awaits on Sunday.
Nicky Hayden landed in Catalonia with the state of his right hand unknown, after the operation he underwent last week. But he responded well on the first day out on track. The DRIVE M7 Aspar rider knew that this would be a tough weekend for him, but was able to work consistently to set the nineteenth fastest time of the day in the morning session. In contrast, Hiroshi Aoyama set his best time in the second session and ended the day a position and 0.088s behind his teammate. After this positive first day, both DRIVE M7 Aspar riders will try to keep improving tomorrow.
19th Nicky Hayden 1.44.008 (32 laps): “Fortunately today we were able to ride uninterrupted to gather a lot of data. I am confident that we can improve over the weekend. We know that this won’t be an easy Grand Prix, but it is a home race for the team and we will try to do our best. The operation last week went better than expected and I feel considerably better than at Mugello. Unless tomorrow morning when I get up I have a specific problem, my goal is to ride all weekend. I hope to score plenty of points on Sunday. My main problem is my right hand when braking, but it’s something I already had in mind, so I’m willing to deal with this situation. The Circuit de Catalunya is a track I like, but sometimes I feel comfortable here and sometimes not so much. This weekend we will fight to give the best showing of ourselves. This morning we worked on electronic mapping, trying to find more power and acceleration.”
20th Hiroshi Aoyama 1.44.096 (37 laps): “Catalonia is like my second home Grand Prix, because I spend a lot of time here during the season and have been living in Barcelona for years. I have many friends who come to watch me and encourage me. All this gives me extra motivation. This morning we struggled to get on the pace, but in the afternoon we worked on the setup of the bike and I started to feel better. We still don’t have the complete confidence that we would like to push hard, especially on specific corners where I am losing a lot of speed. I hope that tomorrow we can improve the performance of the bike when cornering. Today we were two seconds off the fastest time, so I hope that tomorrow we can reduce the difference.”
Go & Fun Honda Gresini Report
The Gran Premi de Catalunya, seventh round of the 2014 MotoGP World Championship, kicked off today with the first two free practice sessions. This first day on track saw mixed results for the Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini: Alvaro Bautista was only 11th in the combined classification, slowed by set-up issues on his Honda RC213V, while his team-mate, rookie Scott Redding, performed really well as he resulted the fastest among the riders aboard the “Production Racer” Honda RCV1000R, thanks to a good 1’43”612, posted in the afternoon with higher temperatures.
Alvaro Bautista (11th – 1’42″833) – “Today we had a lot of problems with the front end: I can’t get the bike turned, so it was quite difficult. In every corner, I lose time on entry and as a consequence I’m also late on the throttle on the exit. I felt this problem this morning during FP1, therefore this afternoon we tried a base set-up which we already used in the past on this track, but actually it was worst. We analyzed the data and we realized that we were taking the wrong direction, so basically we lost almost all the second session. We will need to work a lot tomorrow on suspension and chassis set-up, and hopefully we can improve our lap times and also our position”.
Scott Redding (13th – 1’43″612) – “I’m pretty happy, even though it’s been a little bit difficult because there has been a big difference in the temperature between the morning and the afternoon, with the track coming greasy. Anyway, we have been faster in the second session and this is quite good. I also made a few mistakes in my fastest lap, but actually I felt pretty good. We just have to decide which tyre to use for the race, because we are not sure yet, but hopefully we will decide it tomorrow after some more laps. This circuit it’s not one of my favourites, but it’s quite enjoyable with a MotoGP bike: I enjoyed to spin the rear and things like that”.
Fausto Gresini – “It’s been a disappointing start of the weekend: unfortunately, Bautista was not able to improve his lap times throughout the day and now we need to better understand what’s the reason. For sure, at the moment we are late and I’m disappointed, because we know that Alvaro has the potential to fight at the top. We tried different setting solutions, but actually at the moment we have yet to identify which might work better. Scott has instead improved his performance between the morning and the afternoon, ending the day as the best ‘Production Racer’ Honda, so he has definitely done his job. He doesn’t like the track, but nevertheless is working well and he’s progressing steadily”.
Bridgestone Report
Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium & Hard; Rear: Soft, Medium & Hard (Asymmetric)
Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Hard (Main), Soft (Alternative)
Weather: FP1 – Dry. Ambient 24-28°C; Track 38-42°C (Bridgestone measurement)
FP2 – Dry. Ambient 34-34°C; Track 52-54°C (Bridgestone measurement)
NGM Forward Racing’s Aleix Espargaro was quickest in Friday practice for the Catalan Grand Prix, the Spanish rider setting a time under the current Circuit Record Lap in this morning’s Free Practice 1 session.
Espargaro revelled in the conditions at his home circuit, and at the end of FP1 with a new, soft compound rear slick fitted, set a scorching time of 1’41.672. Second quickest on combined times today was Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Bradley Smith as the British rider was quickest in the scorching hot FP2 session in the afternoon with a personal best time of 1’42.123. Third quickest on the opening day at Montmeló was LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl with a time of 1’42.130.
The sun mercilessly beat down on the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona today, sending track temperatures soaring. Track temperatures were already well into the 40°C range for the morning FP1 session and reached a peak of 54°C during FP2. The dry conditions enabled riders to assess many slick tyre combinations, with all slick compound options front and rear being utilised today. Although more track time is needed before the best race tyre combination for each rider can be decided, rider feedback from today’s sessions indicates that both rear slick options for the Factory and Open-class entrants are performing well, while for the front, the medium and hard compound slicks each have their own advantages depending on riding style and bike setup. Cooler conditions are forecast for tomorrow, yet this shouldn’t have a significant influence on tyre choice for the practice and qualifying sessions.
Masao Azuma – Chief Engineer, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department – “We often experience very hot conditions at Montmeló and that was the case today, as we had extremely high ambient and track temperatures. One of the characteristics of this circuit in hot conditions is that the tarmac can get quite greasy which can make it difficult for the riders, but the riders reported that today tyre performance was good, with lap times for the opening day being quite quick, while tyre degradation is predictable which is helping the riders maintain consistent lap times during their runs. Tomorrow’s practice sessions will help riders decide on their race tyre combination, and with cooler temperatures being forecast the general pace of the field should improve.”
