Torrential rain affects second day of Valencia MotoGP test
After a busy day on Monday which saw 27 riders on track in Valencia, Tuesday’s test sessions were heavily affect by rain, with Danilo Petrucci going fastest of the 11 men who decided to lap on the wet track at the first 2015 season Valencia MotoGP Test.
Many of the championship’s biggest name riders decided not to take any risks in the rain with the likes of Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo and Monster Yamaha Tech 3 pair Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith electing not to ride – having all featured towards the top of the timesheet on Monday.
Indeed Italian rider Petrucci (1’42.431) was over a second ahead of the next fastest participant as he spent his second day working with his new team Pramac Racing, adapting to their Ducati machine.
Having not ridden on Monday Drive M7 Aspar rider Nicky Hayden put in 24 laps and ended up second, with the new RC213V-RS Open machine now available to the American. Further down the timesheet Hayden’s new colleague Eugene Laverty was also on track, as he undertook his second day’s work with the Aspar team.
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi was fourth fastest, but only completed eight laps, with Repsol Honda’s World Champion Marc Marquez completing 16 laps and ending the day eighth.
Meanwhile, having noted that his new RC213V factory Honda specification bike is significantly different to ride than his 2014 Open machine, Team Estrella Galicia Marc VDS rider Scott Redding put in 42 laps on the wet track and ended up third (+1.382s)
Redding crashed towards the end of the day without consequences, whilst there were also crashes for Petrucci, Loris Baz (NGM Forward Racing) and Cal Crutchlow (CWM LCR Honda). Crutchlow crashed early in his only run, not marking a lap time and deciding not to go back out for a second outing.
Factory Aprilia Gresini pair Alvaro Bautista and Marco Melandri – the latter yesterday confirmed to ride for the team next year in MotoGP – both also featured with Bautista the busiest man of the day as he notched up 47 laps in fifth place on the timesheet.
The test will conclude on Wednesday with the riders and teams hoping for dry weather conditions at the Valencia track.
- Danilo Petrucci (ITA), Pramac Racing, 1’42.431
- Nicky Hayden (USA), Drive M7 Aspar, 1’43.598
- Scott Redding (GBR), Marc VDS Racing Team, 1’43.813
- Valentino Rossi (ITA), Movistar Yamaha MotoGP, 1’43.813
- Alvaro Bautista (SPA), Factory Aprilia Gresini, 1’43.827
- Yonny Hernandez (COL), Energy T.I. Pramac Racing, 1’44.432
- Marco Melandri (ITA), Factory Aprilia Gresini, 1’44.873
- Marc Marquez (SPA), Repsol Honda Team, 1’45.715
- Loris Baz (FRA), NGM Forward Racing, 1’46.143
- Eugene Laverty (IRL), Drive M7 Aspar, 1’46.871
Repsol HRC Report
Today heavy rain in Valencia restricted the number of laps completed by the class of 2015, and some chose not to test at all as steady rain fell throughout the day.
Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez ventured out on track at 12pm for three exits and completed a total of 17 laps aboard the 2014 spec RC213V machine. Marc worked with a new brake disc and callipers to check performance in colder conditions. He and his team will look to confirm their findings in hot conditions during the Sepang test next February. Marc’s fastest time of 1’45.715 (lap 16/17) placed him 8th for the day.
Teammate Dani Pedrosa, who yesterday tested the new 2015 prototype bike, chose not to go out on track. Both riders will be hoping for better weather for the final day tomorrow in order to give feedback to the HRC engineers before the Winter break.
Marc Marquez – 8th – 1’45.715 (17 laps) – “Today was a day in which we couldn’t do too much. Nevertheless, we managed to test a couple of things in the wet which worked well for us. We only put in a few laps, but at least we could make a little progress with our workload. The weather forecast for tomorrow is for better than today, so let’s hope we can try the new bike!”
Yamaha Report
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP has decided to postpone their testing plans until tomorrow after rain put action to a halt at the second day of MotoGP testing in Valencia.
Valentino Rossi was one of only eleven riders who braved the rainy weather at a soaking wet Ricardo Tormo Circuit. The Italian sensibly decided to wait for conditions to get better before mounting his 2014 Yamaha M1, saving the 2015 bike for dry conditions.
With two hours and forty minutes of the session remaining, the nine-time World Champion cautiously picked up the pace over his first flying laps. He soon rose to third place, posting a 1’43.813 on his eighth lap. Rossi then had a short stop at the pitbox before heading back out on the track. However, he was only able to complete 13 laps as weather conditions suddenly took a turn for the worse, leading the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team to decide to resume the testing program tomorrow instead.
Massimo Meregalli – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team Director – “Unfortunately the weather forecast was not ideal to continue with the testing program that we prepared yesterday. We took the opportunity to let Vale do a few laps with the wet setting. This year there have been a few circumstances where we weren’t satisfied about the setting, but we couldn’t do the testing we wanted because of the condition of the track. We wanted to do a lot of laps, but the conditions were too risky so we preferred to stop. It looks like tomorrow’s weather is going to be really nice and we will be able to continue with the 2015 development.”
Constant rain causes Espargaro and Smith to sit out day two of testing
Monster Yamaha Tech3 riders Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith opted to not run on the second day of the Valencia test and will wait for tomorrow to return to action with dry weather expected. Pol Espargaro decided against competing in order to give his injured foot time for recovery after the efforts of the weekend in preparation for the final day of testing. Whereas British rider Bradley Smith chose to wait for dry conditions tomorrow to focus on evaluating the important specifications provided by Yamaha, as it will be the last appearance before the Sepang tests in February.
Baz makes his debut on wet
The second day of practices at Valencia racetrack was spoiled by the rain. Stefan Bradl preferred not to go on track, postponing the work to the third and last day of testing, while for teammate Loris Baz was the occasion to test a MotoGP bike for the first time on the wet.
The Frenchman completed in total 32 laps, setting a lap time of 1.46.143 and finishing in 20th position. Two small crash in the afternoon, without consequences for the rider, didn’t stop Baz to smile. His feeling on the wet with the Forward Yamaha was good and he looks forward to continuing to work tomorrow.
Loris Baz – “The first impression on the wet is good. I wanted to know how the tyres work on the wet so I took advantage of the rain to test. I still need to gain more confidence also with the brakes but tomorrow we will continue to work. Despite two crashes, I’m satisfied.”
CWM LCR Honda Jack Miller Report
Australian rookie Jack Miller only made his first laps on board his new Honda RC213V-RS yesterday, so he and the team decided it was best to avoid the chance of any mishaps. Instead they worked in the garage through the information they had gathered on Monday.
Forecasts for Valencia are for more showers for tomorrow’s final day of tests, but with the chance of a brighter afternoon Miller will hope to be able to make further progress in his adaptation to the new machine.
Jack Miller #43 (No time set) – “Today was quite a boring day really, we didn’t get to do any laps. I’ve only done one day on the bike so far and we have lots more tests to come so we don’t need to take any risks going out in the wet conditions just yet. I spent most of the day looking through the data from yesterday to get a better idea of how things went in the dry conditions.”
CWM LCR Honda Cal Crutchlow Report
Rain fell throughout on the second of three days MotoGP testing at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia, meaning there wasn’t much in the way of action out on the Spanish track. With two new arrivals in the CWM LCR Honda Team still finding their feet on their new motorcycles there wasn’t too much to be gained from lapping in the chilly and wet conditions.
This was backed up even further when Cal Crutchlow suffered a minor spill on the only occasion he ventured out onto the damp surface. With air temperatures at just 11 degrees Celsius and a long sequence of left-hand corners at Valencia, the Brit lost too much heat in the right-hand side of his front wet Bridgestone and slid out at low speed at turn four.
Both Crutchlow and his bike were unharmed, and he will hope for better weather tomorrow to complete his final day of testing in 2014.
Cal Crutchlow #35 (No time set) – “We decided that it wasn’t really worth riding in the end today, especially after I crashed on a first flying lap out from the pits. The track temperature was so cold and I went into turn four with no heat whatsoever in the right hand side of the front tyre, and had a really small crash. We know why it happened and doesn’t affect me, I know I can ride in the rain and have done some very good races in the past few years in MotoGP. My experience probably caught me out a bit today, because I tried to go fast immediately, but this is racing and we will try again tomorrow. We have a long testing plan lined up and I hope that the track is dry from first thing in the morning, but I doubt it will be fit until the afternoon.”
Drive M7 Aspar Report
After perfect conditions on the opening day of MotoGP testing at Valencia yesterday, the last thing anybody expected to see today was a downpour but unfortunately that’s what happened and day two of three took place in the wet. With today’s session planned from 10am to 5pm there was plenty of track time available but constant and heavy rain from the start meant that nobody bothered to venture out until past midday. Once they did they were few in number, with just ten riders completing laps today as the showers continued to come and go throughout the afternoon.
Two of the riders on track were in DRIVE M7 Aspar Team colours, although neither ventured out of the garage until 1pm. Nicky Hayden began the day on his 2014 bike and he waited until the final hour of the session before trying out the new Honda RC213V-RS, the Japanese factory’s new pneumatic-valved Open entry. The experienced American was surprised with the power of the new machine and he is hoping for improved weather tomorrow so that he can feel the full force of its potential in dry conditions. His new DRIVE M7 Aspar team-mate Eugene Laverty took the opportunity to get used to his new bike in the wet, the Irishman again expressing his surprise at the performance of the rear tyre but warning that there is a lot of work to be done on the electronics.
Nicky Hayden 1’43.598 (44 laps): “With the wet conditions today we weren’t able to test everything we wanted. We have some new members within the technical staff so we took the chance to get to know each other today. We didn’t ride in wet conditions all season so we did the first part of the session on the old bike. We made some adjustments that worked well and then at the end we had the chance to ride the new bike. Riding a new bike in the wet is not the best thing in the world but at least we were able to get a feel for it over a few laps. It has a lot of power so I hope we get chance tomorrow to try it out in normal conditions. It seems a bit stiffer, a little heavier, but the biggest difference compared to the old bike is definitely the power. If the weather is on our side tomorrow we can concentrate on setting the new bike up and getting a real feel for it. The chassis, the engine… there are a lot of new things to adapt my riding style to so hopefully we get chance tomorrow.”
Eugene Laverty 1’46.871 (26 laps): “The track was quite slippery and at the start I found it difficult to get a feeling because I couldn’t keep the heat in the tyres and the bike was moving around a lot. Luckily after the first few laps I got to grips with the bike. The tyres allow for a lot more lean angle than I am used to in Superbikes. We still have a lot of work to do with the electronics to understand the bike more but at the moment my feeling on the rear in corner entry is really good. We also have to work on the power delivery and engine braking. A lot of riders talk about the front tyre but I haven’t noticed anything in particular, for me the most surprising thing is the rear. Even though the bike is sliding you can keep pushing and making up ground, the tyre really lets you get the bike turned. Compared with bikes I have ridden in the past this is smaller, lower and handles better. To an extent the size of the fuel tank determines the size of the bike and with the Honda being so small you can really move around on it.”
Marc VDS Report
Scott Redding enjoyed a positive second day of testing aboard the Team Estrella Galicia Marc VDS Honda RC213V today, despite wet and miserable weather at Valencia.
The 21-year-old Briton has previous experience in the rain aboard the Honda RCV1000R, but he was immediately impressed with how much of an advantage the factory electronics and the seamless gearbox on the RC213V offered over the Open Class bike in the wet.
Although the intermittent, but often torrential, rain throughout the day meant that conditions weren’t ideal for testing, Redding was happy with his progress, having made a significant step forward in adapting his riding style to suit the characteristics of the Honda RC213V.
The weather forecast promises much improved conditions for tomorrow’s third and final day of testing at Valencia.
Scott Redding // 3rd // 1’43.813 – “Both me and my Chief Mechanic have learnt a bit more about the bike, making some steps forward together, which was good despite the wet conditions today. This afternoon the track temperature dropped quite a lot and it was harder to keep the heat in the tyres, but we stuck at it, focussing firstly on braking and turning. I also tried a few things with the electronics to understand better how they work, especially when the rear starts spinning up like in the long turn 13. At the moment, to be sideways in the wet doesn’t feel right to me, so I have to understand it to get a better feel of it. We also managed to improve my position on the bike, so it’s been a pretty productive day, even if the weather wasn’t ideal. If conditions improve for tomorrow then I think it will be even better.”
