Following Sunday’s fantastic race at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya, the MotoGP™ teams carried out a full day of testing at the Barcelona-Catalunya track on Monday, with World Champion Marc Marquez registering the fastest lap time.
The day started with the riders carrying out a 30-minute test of the shorter track loop at Turn 10, with the purpose of assessing whether its use could potentially enhance safety in the future. The riders will provide formal feedback on the trial to the Grand Prix Safety Commission at the next event in Assen.
The test took place in dry and sunny conditions throughout the day, with dark clouds briefly threatening mid-afternoon but no rain affecting proceedings.
Marc Marquez worked with Repsol Honda Team on bike settings and electronics configuration, with the approaching visits to Assen and the Sachsenring in mind. Like most of the riders present, the World Champion also tried a new Bridgestone front tyre with an updated composition which may be introduced later in the season.
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi worked on a new 2015 specification engine and tried a new Akrapovic exhaust system on their factory Yamaha YZR-M1, with the Italian and Spaniard posting laps respectively three and nine tenths of a second slower than Marquez’s 1’41.184 time.
Ducati Team’s full-time riders tested updated software which Michele Pirro also used over the race weekend, with the Italian test rider set to continue testing at Barcelona-Catalunya over the coming 48 hours.
Randy de Puniet tried a new engine with the Suzuki MotoGP Test Team and will continue his work at the track over the next two days. Suzuki are also focusing on chassis development and software evolution, whilst they will aim to find a suitable setup for racing at this circuit before they return to full competition next season.
Stefan Bradl worked on suspension geometry and electronics tweaks, whilst Alvaro Bautista wrapped up early after brake and suspension tests, still feeling the effects of his big crash on Saturday.
On the other side of the GO&FUN Honda Gresini garage, Scott Redding was testing new geometry settings and along with the rest of the Open riders had new Magneti Marelli software to try out.
Swiss Moto2™ rider Dominique Aegerter tested Mike di Meglio’s second Avintia Racing bike, putting in a huge workload of 90 laps as he his first gained experience on premier class machinery.
- Marc Marquez 93 ESP Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1’41.184
- Bradley Smith 38 GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 1’41.224
- Jorge Lorenzo 99 ESP Yamaha Factory Racing YAMAHA 1’41.515
- Pol Espargaro 44 ESP Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 1’41.640
- Stefan Bradl 6 GER LCR Honda MotoGP HONDA 1’41.655
- Andrea Iannone 29 ITA Pramac Racing DUCATI 1’41.874
- Dani Pedrosa 26 ESP Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1’41.969
- Yonny Hernandez 68 COL Pramac Racing DUCATI 1’42.138
- Aleix Espargaro 41 ESP NGM Mobile Forward Racing YAMAHA 1’42.153
- Valentino Rossi 46 ITA Yamaha Factory YAMAHA 1’42.174
- Andrea Dovizioso 4 ITA Ducati Team DUCATI 1’42.379
- Alvaro Bautista 19 ESP Go & Fun Honda Gresini HONDA 1’42.542
- Cal Crutchlow 35 GBR Ducati Team DUCATI 1’42.909
- Scott Redding 45 GBR Go & Fun Honda Gresini HONDA 1’43.294
- Michele Pirro 51 ITA Ducati Team DUCATI 1’43.305
- Karel Abraham 17 CZE Cardion AB Motoracing HONDA 1’43.449
- Randy De Puniet 14 FRA Suzuki Test Team SUZUKI 1’43.683
- Hector Barbera 8 ESP Avintia Racing MotoGP FTR-KAWASAKI 1’44.163
- Colin Edwards 5 USA NGM Mobile Forward Racing YAMAHA 1’44.364
- Mike Di Meglio 63 FRA Avintia Racing MotoGP FTR-KAWASAKI 1’44.624
- Michael Laverty 70 GBR Paul Bird Motorsport ART & PBM 1’45.076
- Dominique Aegerter 77 SWI Avintia Racing MotoGP FTR-KAWASAKI 1’45.370
- Broc Parkes 23 AUS Paul Bird Motorsport PBM 1’45.534
Yamaha Report
Fresh from yesterday’s GP Monster Energy de Catalunya, the Movistar Yamaha riders were back on track today to complete a test at the Montmelò circuit.
Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi took time to test a new Akrapovic exhaust and a new Bridgestone hard front tyre for use in Sepang. There was also an opportunity to test a new engine spec for 2015 M1 and work on some small set up changes to overcome acceleration issues suffered by Jorge in yesterday’s race.
The team will now move to Aragon for a further one day private test on Wednesday.
Monster Yamaha Tech3 riders Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro undertook a detailed test programme to both finish inside the top 4 today at the Catalunya circuit and achieved highly confidence boosting results for future MotoGP races.
Bradley Smith performed a colossal 75 laps around the 4727 metre Catalunya circuit to clearly illustrate his competitive intentions for the rest of the season by snaring a superb 2nd place. The British rider meticulously investigated various aspects of his Yamaha YZR-M1 and devoted his testing time to thoroughly explore suspension, geometry as well as engine braking settings during the test. Smith completed the session with an impressive time of 1.41,224 set on lap 74 which left him a blink of an eye behind the leading bike of Marc Marquez with a gap of only 0.040. Additionally his lap was quicker than his qualifying time by almost three tenths of a second. The 23-year-old rider’s rigid test programme which concluded positively, allowed him and his Monster Yamaha Tech3 to obtain valuable information as well as set him in a good light for the next GP at Assen where he intends to confidently battle for a 5th placed finish.
Furthermore, Pol Espargaro completed the test day in a superb 4th position. The Spaniard embarked on testing various aspects of his Yamaha YZR-M1 as he proceeded to further strengthen his knowledge during his impressive rookie season. He set about thoroughly testing electronics, traction control and engine braking as well as experimenting with the setting of the bike in order to improve grip, specifically in fast corners and under hot conditions akin to those at the circuit today. The reigning Moto2 World Champion’s tireless efforts saw him setting a best time of 1.41,640, set on lap 45 out of 60 which was quicker than his qualifying time by 0.037 of a second and only one tenth of a second behind multiple world champion Jorge Lorenzo in 3rd place. His successful day sees him poised to competitively compete at the top of his game for round 8 of the 2014 MotoGP world championship at the Iveco Daily Dutch TT.
Jorge Lorenzo – 3rd / 1’41.515 / 67 laps – “I expected to stay more tired because we had three days of riding, but I didn’t feel it today and I was able to make a lot of runs of more than six laps. We’ve tried some things to make the bike more stable on the throttle and to pick up the bike a little earlier we were able to improve it and make quite big steps so I’m happy as it’s not so easy to find some really important things in a test. We tried a front tyre, the feeling is a little better, even if we are just going to use it in Sepang, it’s better for stopping.”
Valentino Rossi – 10th / 1’42.174 / 58 laps – “We had some interesting stuff to try, some different exhausts for during the season and also we worked for next season. We had a different engine to try for 2015 and then after something to try for Bridgestone, a front tyre which was an important test. It was ok, I felt good with the bike and we found something new. Now we have to continue like this.”
Massimo Meregalli – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team Director – “Both Jorge and Vale have worked hard today on their fourth consecutive day of riding and it has been a successful first test of the week. The schedule went well and we were able to test and compare all the required materials for the day. The most important items were one exhaust and an engine spec for the 2015 M1. We will make a final comparison of the exhaust in Aragon on Wednesday to make a final decision. If the result is positive we will start to use the exhaust from Assen.”
Bradley Smith – 2nd / 1’41.224 / 75 laps – “All in all today’s test was really positive, as we achieved everything we set out to as well as clarifying a few mysterious problems from yesterday. I felt a lot more comfortable on the bike today plus I did 75 laps with my fastest time at the end which was even quicker than what I was able to achieve in the GP. In general we tested a lot of different things such as geometry settings, electronics, engine braking plus a new tyre from Bridgestone so it was a busy but productive schedule. Our main focus of the day was to improve braking stability and the engine-braking situation, we certainly achieved both of these factors. For me to be able to do a 41.2 lap time is really encouraging and I am definitely happy with the results. Now, I am looking forward to going to Assen to see how this new information we have gathered can be of benefit.”
Pol Espargaro – 4th / 1’41.640 / 60 laps – “I am very pleased with what we have accomplished today. At the first test in Jerez in May we made some really good improvements that have clearly helped me to understand my Yamaha in a better way and I am convinced that we can safely say the same here. After a tricky weekend the team and I tested a lot of different settings on the bike which will be very interesting for the future races plus the lap times and the rhythm were very positive. The Yamaha felt great and the team worked really hard as always so we have definitely made a step forward in the areas which we were working on and for sure we have improved the bike a lot when compared to yesterday. On a Monday, it’s a bit late to say but the lack of experience in setting up the bike seems to be my biggest struggle at the moment and I am sure it is the reason for our performance this weekend. However, I now look forward to the next race at Assen as I am keen to see the value of the testing results.”
Ducati Report
Less than twenty-four hours after the seventh round of the 2014 world championship, the Catalunya GP held in Barcelona (Spain), the MotoGP teams returned to the track at the Montmeló circuit to take part in a one-day test organized by IRTA.
Both Ducati Team riders – Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow – were present, together with Test Team rider Michele Pirro. The day’s work revolved around set-up work and the new electronic software used during the race by Pirro, and today by the two Ducati Team men.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 11th, 1’42.379 (34 laps) – “Today we put the finishing touches to the base set-up, and worked on the electronics. We didn’t have any particularly new material to try, but it’s always important to do this sort of thing, because in a weekend you never have time to work calmly on the small details. It’s good to do a day’s testing, even though we didn’t do a lot of laps. We also tried the new Bridgestone tyre and the feeling is positive, even though there wasn’t much heat in the track surface.”
Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team #35) – 13th, 1’42.909 (67 laps) – “Today we had to confirm some settings from the race weekend. We improved them in a race condition, even though I didn’t set a fast time today, and I’m happier than what I was over the race weekend.”
Michele Pirro (Ducati Test Team #51) – 15th, 1’43.305 (70 laps) – “I am quite tired because I did 70 laps on the regular track and 10 laps this morning with the F1 curve! We continued to work on the new software we used in the race, and I am happy with the results. We’ll continue to test here tomorrow and Wednesday, and I hope to be able to improve these strategies even more so that they can then be used by the factory riders in the next races.”
Repsol Honda Report
After yesterday’s fantastic race, Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa were back on track today for the Official Post-Race Test.
Marc worked on electronics and mapping settings and tested a new Öhlins fork and the new front Bridgestone tyre, confirming the tyre felt safer and provided better feedback than the current one. This morning he tested the proposed new circuit layout which uses the tighter F1 corner at the end of the back straight as a possible safety change and agreed it would be better as riders are not so close to the wall. Dani’s test programme also included the new front tyre, front fork and mapping settings. He reported positively on the new tyre – even though he tried it when the track temperature was at it’s lowest – but unfortunately it seems it won’t be available until Sepang.
Marc was fastest for the day with his lap of 1’41.184 (just 0.049 off his qualifying time from Saturday) on lap 45 of 46. Dani finished the day seventh with a time of 1’41.969 on lap 18 of 61.
Marc Marquez – 1st – 1’41.184 – “Today we carried out a lot of testing: from the electronics, to the bike setup, to a bit of suspension work. I have to say, I felt very comfortable – even more so than during the Grand Prix weekend. There were also a few things that didn’t completely work out, or that we weren’t expecting, but this is also useful for us when it comes to picking up ideas and directions to go in for the future. Now we have to get ready for the next race in Assen”
Dani Pedrosa – 7th – 1’41.969 – “Today we tested two different front forks and we also worked on the electronics setup and on a new front tyre compound. The tyre gave us good results and could be positive for us at some rounds this year, in conditions similar to yesterday’s Grand Prix, as it’s not too soft, nor too hard. The overall verdict of the day is positive, although we had already made the step forward between Mugello and Barcelona. Bearing in mind the new parts that could be tested out, we have managed to find a good feeling”
Gresini Honda Report
Team GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista and Scott Redding were back on track today at Circuit de Catalunya for the second official post-race test of the season.
Still feeling pain after Saturday crash, a battered Bautista was able to complete only 24 laps recording a best lap time of 1’42”542: the Spaniard spent the the morning testing a new Showa front fork, new brakes provided by Nissin and a new engine map.
His team-mate, Scott Redding, completed a productive day of testing setting his fastest time on lap 40 of 68 with a time of 1’43”294. The Briton worked mainly on chassis geometry with the aim to improve his confidence under braking and corner entry, and he also tested the new Open Class software provided by Magneti Marelli for this test
The Team will be back in action in ten days time for the first free practice session of the Dutch TT at Assen.
Alvaro Bautista – (1’42″542 – 24 laps) – “Following Saturday crash, today I wasn’t feeling very good phisycally. Therefore, although we were able to complete some laps in the morning, we couldn’t test all the items we had planned. However, we tested some new materials for the braking system provided by Nissin, finding something interesting which can help us for the upcoming races; we also tested the bigger discs. Then I tested a new fron fork, but without finding improvements. In the end, I tried a different traction control mapping, to try to make it smoother, getting some valuable data for the future”.
Scott Redding (1’43″294 – 68 laps) – “This test was really useful: we found some more traction, which was what we were looking for in the race weekend, so I’m really happy with that. We put in many laps and I think we made some important steps forward, so we are ready for Assen. The new Open software we tried today is not much different, but it has a few more things to play with which work really well, but overall I didn’t feel a big difference in the lap times. Anyway, it could be helpful on race distance”.
