Marc Marquez blitzes rivals on way to pole
Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez stamped his authority on proceedings in Q2 to claim pole ahead of Aleix Espargaro and Andrea Iannone.
After the excitement during Qualifying in Austin, there was a sense of anticipation in the air as riders took to the 4.8 km Termas de Rio Hondo circuit. Conditions had improved from Friday, with the sun coming out in force and the track temperature rising to 43 degrees in time for MotoGP Q2.
Earlier it was Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Bradley Smith and Hector Barbera on the Avintia Racing Ducati that made it through from a hotly contested Q1, in a session that saw Smith’s teammate Pol Espargaro and the Satellite Pramac Racing machine of Yonny Hernandez fail to progress.
As we got to the business end of the session riders headed out on fresh rubber to set a flying lap, and it was Marc Marquez who laid down a marker to the rest of the field with just over 5 minutes to go. Marquez improved on this time as the session drew to an end to finish with a 1’37.802 as none of the other riders had a response to the Spaniards pace.
Marc Marquez – P1 – “I am happy today, because we were able to fight for pole and eventually got it. It was a lot of fun, because we used a three-tyre strategy and it worked well. It was important to start from the front tomorrow, because the track is quite dirty and that makes it harder to overtake. We’ll see what happens, we expect a pretty tough race with even higher temperatures than today. My strongest rivals – Jorge and Valentino – are starting from the second row, so I hope to have a good start and a strong race.”
The Team Suzuki Ecstar GSX-RR of Aleix Espargaro (+0.514s) finished in 2nd, continuing an excellent weekend for the returning manufacturer. The fast and flowing Termas de Rio Hondo circuit plays to the strengths of the chassis of the Suzuki, with the absence of a long straight allowing Espargaro to be quick despite the bikes lack of straight-line speed.
Aleix Espargaro – P2 – “It’s great to be on the front row! I did also try to attack pole position but today Marc did a sensational lap. However second place is what we needed to give us the best of chances. This front row is a good result also for all the team, including my technicians, engineers and also the people in Japan. This is an ‘energy refill’ for everybody. I’m aware that the race tomorrow will be very hard, when the rear tyre gets worn – we will have a lot of chattering, but since we don’t have the extra-hard compound we will do the best to finalise a proper set-up and try to be fighting with the top riders until the end. I’m happy for this second place; tomorrow I will try to exploit it in the best possible way and stay as close as possible to the top and gain as many points as possible for the championship.”
Andrea Iannone (+0.665s) completed the front row on the Ducati Team GP15 as he, like Espargaro, took advantage of the softer tyre option available to both teams to set a flying lap.
Andrea Iannone – P3 – “I am pleased because the front row was one of our aims and we managed to achieve it, but together with my team we still have to try and find a solution to get the best out of the soft tyre. In any case we did a good job, and my team helped me a lot this weekend. I managed to improve and get the best set-up for my GP15 in each session, and this is vitally important. For sure tomorrow it will be important to get a good start and I must try not to stress the rear tyre too much, in particular because we do not have the extra-hard compound, and I hope to be there fighting with the leaders throughout the race.”
CWM LCR Hondas Cal Crutchlow (+0.683s) will start from the front of the second row ahead of Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo (+0.683s), who matched the British riders time in 5th, and the second Ducati Team GP15 of Andrea Dovizioso (+0.718s).
Cal Crutchlow – P4 – “I made a mistake one time on my own to miss a lap, but the two other times I came up behind a slower rider. Lorenzo decided in the middle of the lap that he wanted to go fast, but then in the last sector was really slow and I nearly hit him. I lost three-tenths in that sector, which would have put me second. The next lap I pushed, I met Viñales after he slowed following his best lap so I never had enough time to get back to the flag. This is racing though, and we start from fourth. I’m disappointed because we had the pace to be in the 1‘37s, our ideal lap was easily there so we are positive because of this. Tomorrow we have a tyre choice to make, because we could possibly run the softer option, but we need to test the harder one in the morning to find out.”
Jorge Lorenzo – P5 – “The pace was good at the beginning but it drops on the rear tyre as it wears. In qualifying my first lap was very good but the second one I made too many mistakes and I couldn’t improve the time. It’s a pity because without any mistakes I could be in second place. That’s racing; sometimes you don‘t get the perfect lap. We will probably go for the harder rear tyre but we still have to decide on the front for tomorrow‘s race.”
Andrea Dovizioso – P6 – “I am satisfied with the work that we have done, because we arrived in FP4 both competitive and fast and we even managed to improve a little. We also did a comparison run of the two front tyres available and in this heat the hard one goes a bit better. In qualifying I was unable to put together a good complete lap, and it’s a pity that I missed out on the front row by so little, but it’s not a big problem. In my opinion it will be a very difficult race because everyone will have to manage their rear tyres, but we are fast and so it will be very important to get a good start. Only in the race will we really see what the pace is, but above all who will manage to be consistent for the whole 25 laps.”
Pramac Racing’s Danilo Petrucci will start from 7th on the grid, with Valentino Rossi over a second off the pace of Marquez in 8th. Maverick Viñales completes the third row in 9th.
Valentino Rossi – P8 – “I am very upset for the qualifying because I feel I could do better. Our strategy was not perfect, we arrived in traffic and unfortunately it was not possible to improve. On the other side, with the hard tyres the bike works well and I have a good pace, that is most important for the race. We have to work in some places as we still have some issues to solve, we will try to improve and do the best we can in the race. The normal tyre is too soft so I will probably use the extra hard rear for the race.”
Maverick Viñales – P9 -“The third row is a good result for me; it shows that I’m improving day-by-day and race-after-race. I still miss the proper feeling with the soft tyre so I couldn’t make the best of the best lap for qualifying, but this also means that we have room for improvements. We are working step-by-step, still learning how to better interpret the lines and I hope we will continue to improve just like we have so far. The race will be hard, we still lack some details to finalise the perfect set-up and tyre choice so we will work again tonight with the data and tomorrow in the warm-up, but my overall feeling is good, so I am confident.”
Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Bradley Smith rounds out the top ten.
Bradley Smith – P10 – ”Obviously, it was not ideal to go through QP1 again today, but I managed to post a really good lap time that allowed me to get into qualifying 2. Unfortunately, there was only one compound of my favoured front tyre left which I decided to keep for the race tomorrow and so I had to run with a used one in qualifying 2. As a result, I couldn’t push as hard as before but nevertheless, we did an ok job considering that the tyre had already covered a full race distance in the end. Perhaps we could have been a position or two higher, but 10th is acceptable and especially as it has been quite a tricky weekend so far. Now, we will focus even more on the race pace as this is vital in terms of success tomorrow. Having a competitive bike for 25 laps is highly significant as there is a big tyre drop here and therefore, there is potentially a lot of time to gain. So this is what we will focus on tomorrow in the warm up. The team did a great job and I must say thanks to them as they turned my bike around and adjusted it to make me feel more comfortable on this track. We need to continue working a little bit more, but we are starting to find the right direction to head towards. This may be a bit late in the race weekend, but Sunday is where everything matters.”
22-year-old Scott Redding set a best lap of 1.39.380 to finish 11th on the grid and will run the new extra hard rear compound tyre to capitalize on the better durability it offers for tomorrow’s 25-lap race.
Scott Redding – P11 –“I am pretty frustrated with how it went today. The track was cleaner than yesterday but the much higher track temperatures meant it was still hard to find grip. My biggest issue is rear edge grip and it is the same on the hard and extra hard rear tyre. I can’t recover the spin when the rear starts sliding, so we’ll have a look at the data tonight and figure out a plan to improve for the race. I am going to race the extra hard tyre because it will have better endurance for what looks like being a long and hot race.”
Hector Barbera leads the Open class in 12th.
Eugene Laverty has been rewarded today for his good work on the first day. The Irishman anticipated that this circuit could require time to adapt to, but despite his inexperience The Aspar Honda rider was 14th in qualifying. He also has a great race pace for tomorrow in Argentina. In contrast his teammate Nicky Hayden is finding it tougher at Termas de Río Hondo and concluded the day in 20th place. Nevertheless, the American is convinced he can turn things around tomorrow and get a good result like last weekend in Austin.
Eugene Laverty – P14 -“Today has certainly been my best day since I’m in MotoGP. This morning we did a great job, getting really close to the top ten. In Qatar we improved, in Austin too and here we have done it again. Our feeling with the Honda is getting better, we were able to conclude today in 14th position, so I consider it a positive result. The good thing is we’ve got a fast lap, but also in the final practice session we had a strong pace on hard tyres. Today we made some changes to the chassis which allowed me to brake harder. We still need a little more maneuverability in the front end, so during the warm-up session will make a couple of small tests. In general the bike set up is good. I am satisfied, tomorrow I hope to end the weekend successfully, I would definitely like to get some points and have a good battle.”
Nicky Hayden – P20 – “This morning I was able to lap in 1’39.9 with hard tyres in the first outing and I thought we were on the right track. But the temperature has changed considerably as the day went on and with it the conditions changed. We worked hard but we ended the day in 20th position. Clearly I am not satisfied with my performance or my qualifying result. I think the bike has more potential and we need to understand how to get it out. The asphalt was quite hot today and this has affected the balance of the bike. This afternoon we have to analyze all the data for tomorrow to give our best in the race. It will be a tough race because we will start at the back but we will try to do our best.”
Hiroshi Aoyama, standing in for the injured Dani Pedrosa, finished the qualifying session in 15th.
Hiroshi Aoyama – P15 – “Yesterday I struggled to find a good feeling with the bike and also this morning, I still wasn’t comfortable. Then this afternoon we changed something with the setup and I found some confidence on the bike which allowed me to push. In qualifying we made another step with the setup and improved the lap time but of course it’s not the position we had hoped for. We still have some areas to improve and I hope we can find a step in time for the race.
Stefan Bradl was satisfied with the improvements made to the bike during the day, even if he is still struggling to find the right feeling with the tyres. The German has posted a personal best of 1’39.734, which earned him third place among the Open just a few tenths from his rivals.
Stefan Bradl – P16 – “Compared to yesterday the bike is much better, we made a significant step forward. I’m losing confidence with the tires after the first few laps and that held me back in qualifying. We’re ready for tomorrow, we are all very close and I can fight for the head of the Open class, it will be important to stay close to those in front. Everything is possible. We keep to analyzing the data for the race.”
Pol Espargaro endured a tricky qualifying campaign to post a lap time of 1’39.808, leaving him in 18th position on the grid for tomorrow’s 25 lap dash. The young Spaniard began the day by finishing the FP3 session in 11th place but just 0.014 of a second behind the final Q2 position which meant he had to partake in qualifying 1. Here, the 2014 rookie of the year executed a fully determined effort on the challenging circuit, yet still wasn’t able to lower his lap time enough to participate in qualifying session 2. Now, the 23 year old Spaniard looks ahead to tomorrow where he will aim to undertake a strong start and then climb through the field to a top ten position
Pol Espargaro – P18 – “It goes without saying that I am far from satisfied with how things went today. We concentrated a lot on our race rhythm and tried both compounds of tyre in the initial two free practice sessions plus we completed many laps with the extra hard one and I’m convinced that my pace is pretty good. It was a pity that we couldn’t go straight through to QP2 and that we missed it by just 0.014 of a second. Also, we were close to the factory bikes who were just three tenths away. Nevertheless, I was still confident as we have known since the beginning of the season that this type of situation could happen during the year as the level is really similar and the manufacturers who are allowed to use the softer tyres have improved their bikes a lot. However, unfortunately the session was a disaster. We need to analyse what exactly happened as when I went out for my second run, which was the one where I planned to do a time attack, I realised that it was impossible to ride fast with the bike like this. To be honest, I do not know what was wrong, but I couldn’t even come close to setting my fastest time of the weekend. To kick off the race from 18th is not good news at all and I will need a lot of patience plus a well thought out plan to make up the positions. It will be difficult for sure but until we started this session, my feelings here were positive. Now I need to be confident that we can turn the weekend around tomorrow.”
Jack Miller will start Sunday’s Grand Prix of Argentina from 21st position on the grid after he struggled to find grip with his rear tyre during the qualifying session. The CWM LCR Honda rider has looked in decent shape with his Open spec RC213V-RS in race trim, but with temperatures soaring at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit on Saturday afternoon, when he put in his softer option tyre he just couldn’t find the traction needed to give himself a better grid position. The Aussie will start the race from the seventh row, and after having made excellent starts in his two previous outings in MotoGP, will hope to do so again tomorrow.
Jack Miller – P21 – “We put in the softer tyre for both of our exits from the pits in qualifying, but on the second one we had a few problems and just couldn’t get any grip. Bridgestone are looking at it now, so we’ll see if we find anything. We are happy with the pace on used tyres, it’s really good so it’s disappointing to be in that qualifying position but for the race we just hope to get a start and I think that with the hard tyre we can stay with the guys in front.”
Alvaro Bautista rode the Aprilia RS-GP to the 19th best time in qualifying. This is his best result in this early phase of the season which has the V4 from Noale making its début and it earns him the best spot on the seventh row. Marco Melandri, who closed the gap behind the pack throughout the weekend, finished with the 24th best time, placing himself on the eighth row.
Alvaro Bautista – P19 – “We worked hard and well. In the morning we tried a chassis setup which was quite different than yesterday to improve performance in turns and we were able to gain a bit. In FP4 we tested with the hard front tyre to see if it might be an option for the race, but I didn’t feel very confident with it so we’ll be using the medium tomorrow. In the qualifiers I just tried to be as precise as possible. It’s a shame that in the two good laps I lost a few tenths, but it is still a good day. Looking after the tyres will be essential tomorrow, especially in the first laps.”
Marco Melandri – P24 – “I thought I would have improved more compared to yesterday, especially in the qualifiers. We need to find more grip at the rear and to improve stability in order to close out the turns better. This is a fundamental condition for me to be able to really push.”
Like his Athina Forward Yamaha teammate, Loris Baz had also some lack of confidence with the tyres; he set his personal best of 1’39.972. The Frenchman is getting closer to the top of the Open class and will start tomorrow aiming the first points of the season.
Loris Baz – P22 – “I can not tell, I am satisfied for the position I’m in but we made a really big step forward compared to yesterday. We tried new solutions for the setting and the feeling improved. Unfortunately the temperature rose just before the session and the conditions have changed making my learning process harder. Overall I posted a good time, a few tenths separate me from the first, but we are all very close and I can do well in the race. Sunday will be a tough for the tires but we have to fight to stay close to the group of those in front.”
Masao Azuma – Chief Engineer, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department – “There was a big increase in ambient and track temperatures today and with more rubber on the track, we didn’t see any of the graining that was experienced yesterday. The higher track temperatures today meant that many riders evaluated our hard compound front slick for the first time this weekend and it seemed to offer more stability in braking and cornering. At this point it looks like both the medium and hard front slicks will be selected for the race. All three rear slick compounds were used today, although there was a preference for the hard and extra-hard options, and these two are the most likely race options. The hard compound rear offers better initial performance, while the extra-hard rear is more consistent over race distance. On a very hot and demanding day, it was good to see that our tyres could maintain such consistent lap times for all the riders, as every session was extremely close.”
MotoGP Qualifying Argentina 2015 Results
- MARQUEZ Marc 93 SPA Repsol Honda Team 1’37.802
- ESPARGARO Aleix 41 SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar 1’38.316
- IANNONE Andrea 29 ITA Ducati Team 1’38.467
- CRUTCHLOW Cal 35 GBR CWM LCR Honda 1’38.485
- LORENZO Jorge 99 SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1’38.485
- DOVIZIOSO Andrea 4 ITA Ducati Team 1’38.520
- PETRUCCI Danilo 9 ITA Pramac Racing 1’38.786
- ROSSI Valentino 46 ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1’38.890
- VINALES Maverick 25 SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar 1’39.187
- SMITH Bradley 38 GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’39.197
- REDDING Scott 45 GBR Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS 1’39.380
- BARBERA Hector 8 SPA Avintia Racing 1’40.526
- HERNANDEZ Yonny 68 COL Pramac Racing 1’39.405
- LAVERTY Eugene 50 IRE Aspar MotoGP Team 1’39.434
- AOYAMA Hiroshi 7 JPN Repsol Honda Team 1’39.715
- BRADL Stefan 6 GER Athina Forward Racing 1’39.734
- ABRAHAM Karel 17 CZE AB Motoracing 1’39.758
- ESPARGARO Pol 44 SPA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’39.808
- BAUTISTA Alvaro 19 SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1’39.828
- HAYDEN Nicky 69 USA Aspar MotoGP Team 1’39.876
- MILLER Jack 43 AUS CWM LCR Honda 1’39.888
- BAZ Loris 76 FRA Athina Forward Racing 1’39.972
- DI MEGLIO Mike 63 FRA Avintia Racing 1’40.133
- MELANDRI Marco 33 ITA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1’40.403
- DE ANGELIS Alex 15 RSM Athina Forward Racing 1’40.485
Zarco claims pole with fastest ever Moto2 lap in Argentina
Moto2 Qualifying was the last session of the day at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit in Argentina on Saturday, and the riders were greeted by blue skies and sunshine as they took to the track to decide where they will start the race from on Sunday.
It took until the final minute of the session for riders to improve on the record breaking pace of FP3, with Frenchman Johann Zarco setting a new lap record on his very last lap to secure his first pole of the season with a 1’42.809 on the Ajo Motorsport Kalex.
Reigning Moto2 World Champion Tito Rabat (+0.293s) will start from 2nd after a last gasp lap promoted him to the front row, ahead of Derendinger Racing Interwetten’s Thomas Luthi who surprised a number of people to end the session in third.
Speed Up Racing’s Sam Lowes missed out on the front row for the first time this season, and will start from 4th ahead of the current Championship leader Alex Rins on the Paginas Amarillas HP40 bike and AGR Team’s Jonas Folger.
Simone Corsi, Sandro Cortese and Xavier Simeon will form the 3rd row of the grid, with last years Moto2 runner-up Mika Kallio completing the top ten on his Italtrans Racing Team machine.
Oliveira snatches last gasp Moto3 pole from Kent
Miguel Oliveira beat Danny Kent’s lap record from FP3 to grab a last-gasp pole at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit in Argentina.
As the Moto3 paddock took to the circuit for Qualifying Practice, the sun was out and the track temperature was touching 40 degrees at the Termas de Rio Hondo.
Leopard Racing’s Danny Kent had dominated practice over the last two days, and once more led the way throughout most of the session, before being pipped to pole in the dying seconds by KTM Red Bull Ajo’s Miguel Oliveira.
The Portuguese rider, who has failed to finish a Grand Prix this season, delivered on the potential he had shown in the last two races to take only his second career pole and first since 2013.
Kent was just five-hundredths of a second back in 2nd place, ahead of the Italian Niccolo Antonelli (+0.204s) on the Ongetta-Rivacold Honda in 3rd.
Starting from the second row will be Kent’s teammate Efren Vazquez (+0.268s) in 4th, the Husqvarna Factory Laglisse of Isaac Viñales (+0.422s) and the pole-sitter’s teammate Karel Hanika in 6th.
Jorge Navarro, Romano Fenati and Hiroki Ono will form the 3rd row, with Enea Bastianini completing the top ten.
Unfortunately RBA Racing’s local rider Gabriel Rodrigo crashed for the 3rd time this weekend, and was taken to the medical centre for an x-ray.
Remy Gardner finished the qualifying practice just 1.6 seconds behind the pole position after being 2.1-seconds down in the first Free Practice.
Remy Gardner – P27 – “I’m happy with my lap times and also with the final gap to de pole position but I’m sure that could be a little better. I improved a lot during the FP3 and in QP too, but traffic has prevented me to be two or three tenths faster. I’m just half a second behind the Top 15. A good start will be very important tomorrow”.
