Saturday afternoon’s Q2 at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya ended with Dani Pedrosa securing pole position, ahead of Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Marquez on row one for Sunday’s race – with Marquez suffering a late crash in the session.
At his home event Pedrosa took his first pole since the 2013 Catalan Grand Prix with a 1’40.985s lap in the Barcelona-Catalunya heat and in doing so the Repsol Honda rider ended Marquez’ successive pole run.
Following his fascinating battle with Marquez at Mugello Lorenzo qualified in second place and will be looking forward to fighting the Honda riders again at a track where the Mallorcan has a strong record and has won the last two MotoGP™ races.
Marquez walked away from his first crash of the year after losing the front end at turn 1 towards the end of the session. The young MotoGP™ World Champion therefore starts third on the grid, his first non-pole result since Motegi last year.
German rider Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP), who himself suffered two big crashes at Mugello, qualified fourth after looking sharp in practice earlier in the day.
Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) admits qualifying is not currently his strongest point but he equaled his second best Q2 result of 2014 so far in fifth, having qualified 10th last time out in Mugello.
Another home rider Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) was delighted with his qualifying effort as he completed row two, just 0.323s behind Pedrosa.
Row three will feature Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) and Yonny Hernandez (Energy T.I. Pramac Racing), with Hernandez riding well for ninth.
The fourth row will comprise Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3), Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) and Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini). Iannone and Bautista made it through from Q1 as spots of rain threatened to disrupt Q2.
The conditions stayed dry but Bautista suffered a big Q2 highside at turn 7 and was stretchered away, though he appeared to be ok.
MotoGP Qualifying Practice Classification
Moto2: Qualifying wrapped up with Rabat on pole
The Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya action on Saturday saw Tito Rabat secure pole in the final session of the day, with Mika Kallio and Maverick Viñales set to accompany him at the front of the Moto2™ grid.
Rabat notched up his fifth pole position of 2014 with a 1’46.569 best lap which put him over a half a second clear of his nearest challenger, Marc VDS Racing Team teammate Kallio. Rabat will go in search of a fourth win of the season as he looks to extend his championship lead on Sunday.
For Kallio his quest is to prevent another Rabat win and to reduce the 22 point deficit at the top of the standings, which he will attempt to do from second on the grid. The front row was completed by Moto3™ World Champion Viñales (Paginas Amarillas HP 40), who trailed Rabat by 0.623s.
Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP) was one of three crashers in the session – Mattia Pasini (NGM Forward Racing) and Louis Rossi (SAG Team) also had spills without major consequence – though Cortese still qualified in fourth. Cortese’s compatriot Jonas Folger (AGR Team) and Pasini join him on the second row.
The top ten on the grid was rounded out by Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2), Johann Zarco (AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing), Sam Lowes (Speed Up) and Dominique Aegerter (Technomag carXpert).
Moto2 Qualifying Practice Classification
Moto3: Younger Marquez takes first ever pole
Moto3™ QP at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya resulted in Alex Marquez taking pole, with Enea Bastianini and Alex Rins joining him on the front row.
Marquez produced a superb 1’50.232 lap to shatter the Barcelona-Catalunya Moto3 pole record and outpace his nearest rival by more than 0.6s.
Bastianini (Junior Team Go&FUN Moto3) will be delighted with his qualifying result, featuring on the front row for the first time, at just his seventh Grand Prix.
Marquez’ Estrella Galicia 0,0 teammate Rins ended up third but had a huge turn 10 highside at the end of the session and suffered a fractured toe on his left foot, with his fitness to be reviewed on Sunday morning.
Improving pair Brad Binder (Ambrogio Racing) and Niklas Ajo (Avant Tecno Husqvarna Ajo) qualified on the second row, ahead of in-form Isaac Viñales (Calvo Team).
Miguel Oliveira (Mahindra Racing) heads row three, joined by Efren Vazquez (SAXOPRINT RTG) and championship leader Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo), with Vazquez missing much of the session due to an electrical fault which caused issues with putting fuel into his Honda bike.
John McPhee (SAXOPRINT RTG) completed the top ten, whilst Romano Fenati (SKY Racing Team VR46) will start from 16th on the grid. Bryan Schouten and Ana Carrasco both crashed but escaped without serious consequence.
Moto3™ Qualifying Practice Classification
Yamaha Report
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo delivered a front row start in front of his home crowd this afternoon, taking second in qualifying for tomorrow’s GP Monster Energy de Catalunya.
Teammate Valentino Rossi left it to the last lap to make his move, securing fifth on the second row of the grid.
In a reversal of normal practice Lorenzo was the last to leave the pits for the 15 minute qualifying heat, allowing the MotoGP pack to move on before hitting an empty race track. He moved straight into third with his first flying lap, a 1’41.463. He was unable to beat the time on his first tyre, returning to the pits with just under seven minutes remaining for fresh rubber. With just five minutes left on the clock he was back on track, ready to attack again as a late lap by rival Stefan Bradl dropped him to fourth. The local hero delivered a perfect lap with just over a minute remaining, delivering a flying 1’41.100 second lap to snatch second on the grid, just 0.115 seconds behind Dani Pedrosa on pole.
Rossi kept the tension high to the last moments of the qualifying heat, leaving the pits late like his teammate, he took tenth on his first flying lap with a 1’42.076 but unable to climb any higher on his first tyre. A pit stop with seven minutes remaining offered a fresh rear tyre and another chance to step up. As the clocked tick it took until the last minute for a clear run and a good lap, the nine-time world champion shooting five places up the timesheets with a 1’41.290 to take fifth for a second row start, 0.506 from pole.
Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team rider Bradley Smith again displayed fast times during Q2 session. The 23 year old Britain was fast from the start of in the 15 minute qualification session, despite experienced some small balance issues. At the end of the session Smith rode his best lap of 1.41,491, allowing him to clinch 8th on the grid, while Pol Espargaro best lap of 1.41,677 will have him start his home Grand Prix from the 10th position. Tomorrow both riders will be aiming to make a good start and produce positive results for the seventh Grand Prix of the season.
NGM Forward Racing rider Aleix Espargaro continues his good momentum. The local rider repeated his strong performance from yesterday in today’s qualifying session, setting the sixth fastest time of 1’41.308. Teammate Colin Edwards had a tougher outing. His best time was a 1’43.226, which means he will start tomorrow’s race from 17th place.
Jorge Lorenzo – 2nd / 1’41.100 – “I made a very good lap, I risked a lot, especially in the braking to make it. Finally we made a good setting for this track, it’s hard because with the track and temperatures it’s hard to make the bike stable. Tomorrow we will try to make it even more stable. We hope to remain consistent and strong like in Mugello to fight for the win again. We all hope it doesn’t rain because a wet race would be difficult to judge. It would be great to win, everyone wants to!”
Valentino Rossi – 5th / 1’41.290 – “I’m quite satisfied with this afternoon’s result because the target was to stay in the top 5 and I am there at last. For sure the front row is always better and makes things easier but the three Spanish guys in front have showed to be very strong. They have a great pace whilst mine is not at their same level at the moment. Later today and tomorrow morning we’ll try hard to improve the bike and stay with them, hopefully closer than we are today. As for the tyres for the race, I guess everybody is going to use the medium rear tyre, while the choice for the front is still open and will depend on tomorrow’s temperature and weather conditions.”
Massimo Meregalli – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team Director – “We have improved every session and that makes us happy with today’s result. Second and fifth place make us confident for tomorrow’s race. We still have to slightly improve the race pace, although Jorge’s job this afternoon was very good. The weather forecast for tomorrow says that temperatures might be a little lower, which is good for our M1’s. It’s going to be a hard-fought race, especially with the first three riders who showed to have the best race pace but I expect Valentino to be the outsider and be part of the game until the very end. We still have half day to find something to test tomorrow morning in the warm-up. I am sure at 2pm we will be ready to get the best possible results.”
Bradley Smith – 8th / 1’41.491 – “Although I’m not where I want to be and a little frustrated I still feel positive for the race tomorrow. We tried a few different settings on the bike in which some worked better than others and I consistently went faster in every session which of course is a big positive. This was despite the fact that in the end it wasn’t quite enough to get to the front. I wasn’t too confident with the turning of the bike and it felt like I had my elbows buried in the ground! This is something we will look to work on tomorrow morning during the warm up. In the race I aim to get a good start then push as much as possible especially during the first laps, so that I can try to follow the leading pack for as long as possible.”
Pol Espagaro – 10th / 1’41.677 – “I can’t be satisfied with our qualifying performance today. We struggled the whole weekend in one sector of the track, where we are losing more time than in the rest of the lap and unfortunately we cant find a solution yet. But when I was behind Jorge during the last minutes of the session I tried to follow his line and we will check the data now to compare what might be best compromise. Of course starting from the 10th position will not make things easy for tomorrow but I will try to get a good start and keep my head down to offer a good show for my fans.”
Aleix Espargaro – 6th / 1’41.308 – “I’m very happy with today’s result. The feeling with the bike improved a lot and I have a good pace. To start from the second row, just 0.323 from Dani and very close to Valentino and Jorge is good and tomorrow I will do my best to get a great result in front of my home crowd. We worked a lot on the electronics, solving some problems we had yesterday and in the last races. I want to thank my team and Magneti Marelli for their great support.”
Colin Edwards – 17th / 1’43.226 – “It has been a difficult weekend so far. Today I struggled a lot and I had no confidence with the electronics. It’s disappointing because I have always liked this track but I’m not comfortable. We need to find some confidence with the electronics and then the chassis will also work well.”
Ducati Report
Andrea Dovizioso will start from row 3 of the grid for the Catalunya Grand Prix, the seventh round of the MotoGP World Championship which will take place tomorrow at the Montmeló circuit, after recording a best time of 1’41.337 in the decisive qualifying session.
The Italian was particular impressive in the final fifteen-minute Q2 session, just missing out on the front row by two-tenths of a second. Dovizioso also lapped just three-tenths away from the pole position mark and is confident that his pace for tomorrow’s race is quite good.
Team-mate Crutchlow was in a bit more difficulty today, missing out on a top 10 position after the three free practice sessions. He then had to take part in Q1, but he was only third quickest in that session and so was excluded from the final run. The British rider will start tomorrow’s race from row 5 with thirteenth quickest time.
Michele Pirro, test-rider of the Ducati Test Team, placed two positions behind Cal with fifteenth quickest time and will also start from row 5.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 7th (1’41.337) – “I am very happy with my time, because I did a really good lap. This afternoon it was really hot and it wasn’t easy to set such good times. Unfortunately I’ll be starting from the third row, I just missed out on the front row by a few tenths! Luckily we’re all pretty close together, and I don’t have such a bad race pace either. We know the race will be tough and doing 25 laps in this heat will be very tiring, but I am satisfied because together with my team, we worked really well this weekend.”
Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team #35) – 13th (1’42.578) – “Qualifying was obviously very disappointing. I was unable to make a good lap time, and I am way too far away from Andrea, but also from Yonny Hernandez, who with his GP13 made a very good time. For sure we need to improve if we want to get a good result in tomorrow’s race.”
Michele Pirro (Ducati Test Team #51) – 15th (1’42.955) – “Even though the weather was a bit hotter than this morning, in the afternoon I still managed to improve my time and verify that the bike was working well with the new electronics strategies we were trying. I am quite happy because my feeling with the GP14 was much better. We have prepared as well as possible for tomorrow, hopefully we can have a good race.”
Repsol Honda Report
Local boy Dani Pedrosa has taken his first pole position since Catalunya last year at his home circuit with teammate Marc Marquez, who was been on pole every race so far this season, crashing out on his final run in qualifying.
Dani, who is still recovering from his arm surgery five weeks ago, has been gradually improving all weekend after being tenth in Friday’s FP1. His time of 1’40.985 (lap 5/7) was just 0.092 off his pole record from 2013 (1’40.893). Marc had taken provisional pole on his first run, but again the 2013 World Champion and his team opted for a three-run qualifying to give him the best chance at his seventh consecutive pole of 2014. However, on his final run Marc crashed in turn one ending his session. Fortunately his time of 1’41.135, recorded on his first run, was enough for the front row for tomorrow’s 25 lap race.
Dani Pedrosa – 1st – 1’40.985 – “I am very happy to have taken pole position today, in front of my family and the home fans! I am also delighted that, for the first time this year, I felt good on the bike in qualifying. I’ll try and get a good start from pole position tomorrow, I am sure that it will be very hot and we will have to manage the tyres well during the race, but we will try to do as well as possible!”
Marc Marquez – 3rd – 1’41.135 – “Today I made the first mistake of the season, so I need to apologise to the team because it was my fault. The strategy we had set out was coming together perfectly, but when riding with the last tyre I braked too late. I knew it was my last attempt, so I tried to go into the corner anyway. That was not the best choice; I should have written off the lap, but these things happen when you are riding at home; you always try to give a little bit extra. We know for tomorrow that there is no more room for improvement on that corner and that we have a good setup with which to fight for the win”
Gresini Honda
It’s been a day of mixed fortunes for the Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini at the Gran Premi de Catalunya: rookie Scott Redding claimed the fourth position in the Qualifying 1 session, which means that the young Briton will start tomorrow’s race from 14th place, in front of all the other three Open Class Honda RCV1000R, but unfortunately his team-mate Alvaro Bautista was only 12th fastest following a huge high side crash during the decisive Qualifying 2 session.
Bautista was on his second flying lap of his first exit when he had a huge high side crash at turn 6: although battered, he went again out on track in the final stages, posting his best lap time, 1’42”024. The Spaniard was then taken to the medical centre for additional checks, wich fortunately excluded fractures but highlighted only a few bruises, particularly in the chest and right ankle.
Scott Redding put in a good 1’42”730 to claim the 14th position on the grid: the English rookie lowered his best lap time from free practice by over 0.7 seconds, beating rival Nicky Hayden, who rides a similar Honda RCV1000R, by 0.3 seconds.
Alvaro Bautista – (12th – 1’42″024) – “It’s been a big crash and now I’m sore, especially in the chest and right ankle, but fortunately nothing is broken. Today the feeling with the bike was better than yesterday, although everything is not yet in place as we would like: during the third free practice session we were not far from the fastest riders, and it was a shame not to be entered directly into Q2. In any case, we faced the Q1 calmly, then in Q2 I fell while I was on my first attempt, with the tyres already used in Q1. At least I had time to get back on track with the other bike in the end, in order to forget soon what happened… As I said we are not one hundred percent but I am confident for the race, because our pace is not very far from that of the other riders. We’ll have to keep an eye on the weather, and in any case we will give our best, as always”.
Scott Redding (14th – 1’42″730) – “I’m really happy with my qualifying time; it’s only a shame we couldn’t get into Qualifying 2, but we knew we have a big disadvantage here with two long straights. Anyway, now we need to work for the race: we want to try and collect a few more points for the championship. Today we have been the fastest ‘Production Racer’ Honda, which is still our target, and now we want to make the same thing tomorrow in the race. Unfortunately we don’t know yet if we can use the softer tyre: it could be difficult, so maybe we have to use the hard tyre for the race distance. Hovewer, we will give everything and we will se how it goes”.
Fausto Gresini – “Unfortunately, after having entered into the Qualifying 2 with the fastest time in Qualifying 1, Bautista fell during the decisive session and therefore has not had the opportunity to improve further. Anyway, the most important thing is that Alvaro is good: fortunately there is nothing broken, though obviously now he’s feeling some pain. We will start the race from the back, right, but tomorrow we will try our best to get a good result, as always. Redding did a very good lap time, leaving behind him all the other Open Class Honda machines: we are confident that tomorrow we can confirm ourselves as the best ‘Production Racer’ bike on track”.
Drive M7 Aspar Report
Yesterday in the premier class practice for the Catalan GP, things were at their most varied this season. Espargaró closed the day with the fastest time, Smith dominated the afternoon and several other riders were closing in on the top positions. This trend continued on Saturday morning with the best time going to Stefan Bradl, but in the afternoon practice Marc Marquez was quickest and seemed set for a seventh consecutive pole position. The qualifying session saw him out in front from the opening minute, but fast laps from Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo –plus his own crash late on- knocked him down to third. There is a chance of rain during tomorrow’s race, which is set to be a thriller if recent rounds are anything to go by.
That lack of grip is the dominant trend at this Grand Prix is nothing new, and there are several MotoGP riders who have complained about the traction deficit. The DRIVE M7 Aspar riders fought with all their might to get the best possible results today. Nicky Hayden, despite discomfort in his right wrist, did a great job throughout the day, especially in the qualifying. He managed his best time of the weekend so far in that session, placing sixteenth on the grid. The Kentucky Kid knows that tomorrow’s race will be tough, but a couple of improvements made today and other ideas for the race give him motivation to take a good result tomorrow. He will be starting from the sixth row of the grid. His teammate, Hiroshi Aoyama, suffered from a lack of rear grip on the rear but tried out a thousand solutions in an attempt to improve. In the end he placed twentieth, from where he hopes to ride a positive race at a circuit he loves.
16th Nicky Hayden 1.43.043: “Riding a qualifying session with my wrist in better shape and with less discomfort would have helped me, but we are here to fight and bouncing back from these situations is part of the game. I guess that tomorrow will be a tough race because of the heat, because of how technical the circuit is and because my wrist is not in perfect shape, but I’ll fight as I have done throughout the weekend to try to get the most points possible. This morning I woke up feeling quite good, my wrist wasn’t hurt from yesterday after the two sessions and that’s good news. We also found two improvements for the qualifying session and we have some more ideas for the morning warmup session, which gives us motivation. After this Grand Prix I will try to continue recovering as quickly as possible during the week-off before Assen.”
20th Hiroshi Aoyama 1.43.564: “This morning I felt comfortable, but in the afternoon we made a change in the setup that, instead of helping us, lost our feeling. We thought we were on the right track but it was not the case, so the afternoon sessions were difficult. We wanted to take a step back for qualifying but did not have time. Still, we made some changes to try to improve slightly and to set a good time. The main drawback today was the lack of rear grip, which hurt us on the fast corners. We have seen our shortcomings, so tomorrow we will try something different.”
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: FP3 – Dry. Ambient 25-29°C; Track 37-43°C (Bridgestone measurement)
FP4/QP – Dry. Ambient 30-33°C; Track 46-54°C (Bridgestone measurement)
Dani Pedrosa claimed pole position at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the second year running, after the Repsol Honda rider set a time of 1’40.985 to lead an all-Spanish front row at the Catalan Grand Prix.
On another hot day where track temperatures reached over 50°C, Pedrosa kept his cool to claim the front slot on the grid from Yamaha Movistar MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo by just 0.115 seconds. Completing the front row was Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez, who crashed while chasing his seventh-straight pole position but still managed to clock the third quickest time of 1’41.135. All riders on the front row used the medium compound slicks front and rear during their time attack in Qualifying Practice 2.
The peak track temperature today of 54°C was recorded during Free Practice 4, with today’s objective for the teams being to find a tyre combination that could tame the greasy track conditions brought on by the scorching temperatures. With grip hard to come by from the track surface, the riders looked for maximum grip and stability from their tyres, and as a result, the medium compound front slick was preferred by almost every rider. Rear tyre choice for the race also became clearer after today’s practice sessions, with the Factory Honda and Yamaha riders, and the majority of the Ducati riders almost certain to race the medium compound rear slick. Most of the Open-class riders look set to choose the soft compound rear slick for the twenty-five lap Catalan Grand Prix.
Weather forecasts indicate a high probability of rain tomorrow, and tomorrow’s Warm Up session at 0940 local time (GMT+1) may be the only opportunity for the riders to assess the circuit in wet conditions before the race commences tomorrow afternoon at 1400.
Masao Azuma – Chief Engineer, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department – “Today we had the same hot conditions and during the practice sessions the riders were able to test a few different tyre combinations, so we now have a much clearer idea of what will be used for the race. The combination of the high track temperature and the low-grip surface here at Montmeló means that the riders need as much grip as possible from their tyres to compensate. This means that we don’t expect any Factory-class riders to use the hard compound rear slick tomorrow; instead the medium compound will be their main race tyre. Rear tyre choice for the Open-class riders is more varied, with most of them preferring the soft compound rear, while others feel the medium compound rear offers more consistent performance over race distance. Front tyre choice is more straightforward, with almost every rider preferring the medium compound front as it gives good cornering grip and strong braking performance at the end of the straights. There is still a strong possibility of rain tomorrow, in which case the teams will have two wet tyre compound options to choose from for the race. ”
