First pole of 2014 for lightning-quick Lorenzo at Misano
At a track where he has a phenomenal record – with three wins in his last three visits – Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) sped around the Misano layout with a 1’33.238 lap time to grab his first pole since Motegi 2013.
Just 0.051s behind Lorenzo, Iannone (Pramac Racing) matched his best ever MotoGP™ qualifying result, despite a fall on Friday which saw him take a heavy ankle knock.
Completing the front row at his home track, nine time World Champion Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) qualified in third – his best grid result since he was also third in Australia last season.
Meanwhile, for the first time this season World Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) qualified off the front row, lapping 0.122s down on Lorenzo’s pole time in fourth place.
On the other side of the Repsol Honda garage Dani Pedrosa slotted his RC213V into fifth spot on the grid, with a time just 0.058s slower than that of Marquez.
A further 0.021s margin behind Pedrosa, Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) completed the second row.
The third row of the grid for Sunday’s round 13 contest will comprise brothers Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3), Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) and Englishman Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3).
Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP) heads row four in tenth following a crash in the session which he escaped unharmed. The German had made it through from Q1 along with Yonny Hernandez (Energy T.I. Pramac Racing) who qualified 11th, just in front of Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini).
Moto2: Pole for speedy Kallio for round 13 contest
Kallio (Marc VDS Racing Team) produced a 1’38.043 best time around the 4.226km Misano track to secure his third pole position start of the year.
Trailing him by just 0.067s his teammate and the Moto2™ World Championship leader Rabat made it a Marc VDS Racing Team one-two on the grid for Sunday’s round 13 race.
Completing the front row in third place Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2) lapped just four thousandths of a second behind Rabat.
Maverick Viñales (Paginas Amarillas HP 40), Dominique Aegerter (Technomag carXpert) and Johann Zarco (AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing) will line up on row two.
Behind that trio, it is Ricard Cardus (Tech 3), Takaaki Nakagami (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) and Randy Krummenacher (Octo IodaRacing Team) on the third row, with Axel Pons (AGR Team) in tenth.
Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP) and Krummenacher both fell in the final minutes of Qualifying, the two riders were unhurt and start 14th and ninth respectively.
Mika Kallio, Marc VDS Racing Team: 1st, 1m 38.043s – “There was no big plan today. Everybody had to find settings really quickly because of the rain yesterday. I have to say thanks to the team, because my bike was good already from the morning session. Then I knew everything was possible in qualifying, but I struggled at the beginning to find a good feeling. After I put on a new front tyre, the rhythm was good. I pushed very hard, the bike was sliding everywhere, but I managed to stay on and get the lap time. Tomorrow will be tight.”
Tito Rabat, Marc VDS Racing Team: 2nd, 1m 38.110s – “My strategy is always the same – start from the front row and try to push always. Today in qualifying I was not so happy. I had to stay at 100 percent and do my thinking on the bike, and not stop and talk with the team. Anyway, second position is good for the start, and then we go. I need to control myself, not Mika, because I know he is always at the front. We will see what happens.”
Thomas Luthi, Interwetten Paddock Moto2: 3rd, 1m 38.114s – “I’m looking forward to the race. We have a good pace, and an important front row start. Already yesterday in the wet I had a quite good feeling, and this morning in the first session in the dry, the set-up of the bike was at a high level, and we could work at that level. That puts us in a good situation for tomorrow.”
Moto3: Pole secured by championship leader Miller for Sunday showdown
Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) took a seventh pole of the season with a 1’42.974 lap time which put him just 0.004s ahead of his nearest rival Ajo (Avant Tecno Husqvarna Ajo).
Miller aims to strike back in the title fight this weekend having been off the podium at the last two rounds and the pole position start will give him added confidence ahead of Sunday’s round 13 race.
Behind Miller and Ajo on the front row is Silverstone race winner Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0), who was just 0.038s adrift of Miller.
Jorge Navarro (Marc VDS) and Efren Vazquez (SAXOPRINT-RTG) both crashed in the final ten minutes of Qualifying, but were able to rejoin. Alex Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) and Niccolo Antonelli (Junior Team GO&FUN Moto3) also crashed and were unable to improve their times.
Marquez nonetheless ended up fourth, with Miguel Oliveira (Mahindra Racing) and Danny Kent (Red Bull Husqvarna Ajo) also joining him on row two.
Antonelli was seventh, ahead of Isaac Viñales (Calvo Team) and Vazquez on the third row, whilst Brad Binder (Ambrogio Racing) completed the top ten.
Things did not go to plan for the likes of Romano Fenati (SKY Racing Team VR46) and Enea Bastianini (Junior Team Go&FUN Moto3), who will start their home race 11th and 17th respectively.
Yamaha Report
The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team sprinkled a little Misano magic on qualifying this afternoon as Jorge Lorenzo set a scorching pace to score the first Factory Yamaha pole position start of the season.
Lorenzo wasn’t the only Yamaha rider on fire either as teammate Valentino Rossi put in a stunning ride to secure third on the front row to the delight of his home crowd, just 0.064 seconds behind Lorenzo.
Putting yesterday’s rain and troubles behind him, Lorenzo was quick on to the circuit for the start of the 15 minute qualifying heat and straight to work. His first flying lap delivered a 1’33.604. He kept pushing for the second lap and shaved a little off to go second with a 1’33.502 before returning to the pits for fresh rubber.
He was back on track in confident mood with a little under six minutes remaining as an intense battle got underway for the front row. A flurry of fastest sections followed by numerous protagonists but it was Lorenzo who emerged the victor, taking provisional pole with two minutes left on the clock after a scorching 1’33.238 second lap time. The lap proved unbeatable, putting the Movistar Yamaha rider on pole for the first time this year.
Rossi took his time to leave the pit lane as qualifying got underway, allowing the pack to depart before heading out into clear space. Sharing his teammate’s confident form he put in an initial 1’33.756 to slot into fourth place. His second flying lap shaved a little off, delivering a 1’33.605 to hold provisional fourth on the second row.
The Doctor then returned to the pits for fresh rubber before hitting the track and putting the pressure on. The nine-time world champion left the best for last, starting with a 1’33.513 for fifth place he then delivered a perfect lap, a stunning 1’33.302 to move up to third on the front row, just 0.064 from Lorenzo on pole.
Jorge Lorenzo – 1st / 1’33.238 / 8 laps – “Finally after a long, long time, we make a pole position so I’m very proud. From the beginning we’ve been competitive, not like in Silverstone where we had some issues. It seems like the Yamaha is working very well as Valentino is also very fast. I pushed hard in the beginning but maybe didn’t know the perfect lines for the perfect lap. Then in the second tyre I made a very good lap time but just in the first section I lost one or two tenths because I made some mistakes and went wide. From section two I made an unbelievable lap so I’m very proud. The important thing is tomorrow, it’s the day we get the points so we have to make a good start and try to lead the race and win. Being on pole gives a small advantage at the start so I will try to make profit of it and push away in the first laps. It won’t be easy to go away as Vale has a good pace and the others will be there but I’m going to try.”
Valentino Rossi – 3rd / 1’33.302 / 8 laps – “This morning was not so bad but this afternoon we made a huge step with the setting of the bike and with a used tyre I could be very fast, which is the most important thing for tomorrow. I’m so satisfied because it’s the first, first row of the season. I always struggle in qualifying. In the last races I was able to improve my level to stay always on the second row but the front row is so important for tomorrow, it’s much easier to start at the front. I’m also happy because my lap time is close to the pole position, I feel good with the bike, I had a good practice and I have a good setting. It looks like the Yamaha is very competitive here so we have to fix some small things and be ready for tomorrow.”
Massimo Meregalli – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team Director  – “We are very pleased with both Jorge and Vale after today’s performance. Jorge rode a perfect lap to take the team’s first pole position of the year. As we said yesterday we were confident we could work hard overnight and deliver a competitive set up for the guys today. Vale was equally impressive, I think for him also this is the best qualifying of the year, perfectly under control and so close in terms of time. Our set up and package is very competitive and balanced, we are consistently very fast and the tyres are working really well. We will work to make some further small steps overnight. With the same weather conditions forecast for tomorrow I’m confident we can have both riders very much in contention to share the podium in the race.”
Espargaro shines in Italy to seize seventh on the grid
Pol Espargaro surged to seventh position in today’s qualifying challenge which will see him begin tomorrow’s Misano Grand Prix from the head of the third row. The young Spaniard began the day positively in perfect weather conditions as the sun shone down in Italy and he went straight through to Q2 after clinching ninth in FP3. The rookie then embarked on the Q2 session with speed from the word go and powered to a best time of 1’33.557 on his sixth lap. His time was stunningly only three tenths of a second from the pole position. Furthermore, the fact that the reigning Moto2 World Champion clocked the quickest sector time in T4 impressively underlines how rapidly he was able to adapt, having ridden less than 90 minutes of dry track time aboard the Yamaha YZR-M1 on this circuit. Espargaro now looks forward to tomorrow’s race where he will aim to challenge as the leading satellite MotoGP bike once again to strengthen his seventh place in the World Championship standings in his rookie season.
Meanwhile Bradley Smith will begin tomorrow’s 28 lap sprint around the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli from ninth place on the grid. The British rider began the day by completing the morning practice in eighth and setting the fastest T3 sector time. Later in FP4, Smith closed the session with a best time of 1’34.953 which saw him fully prepared for the 15 minute shootout Q2 session at the 4226 meter circuit. The 23-year-old rider sought to make an impact straight away, however, his attempts were prevented by a lack of traction from his rear tyre. Despite this, the British star battled onwards to produce a best time of 1’33.761, less than half a second from the final front row position of Valentino Rossi as well as being the fastest Yamaha through the speed trap with 285.5 km/h. From this grid placement at the rear of the third row, he will intend to undertake a rocket start and then ascend up the field to seize a top point scoring position.
Pol Espargaro – 7th / 1’33.557 / 8 laps – “Considering that we just had one day of dry track time, I’m really satisfied with our qualifying performance. We have been truly fast plus a gap of just three tenths to the pole position is something we should be quite proud of. However, we could have been even higher up the grid but I made some mistakes in sector 1 and 2 on my fast lap which definitely cost me a lot of time. We have to be confident for tomorrow as the start will be crucial due to it being difficult to overtake at this circuit. I’m still a bit unsure about our race pace as due to the conditions we could not try a lot of laps with the same tyres, so tomorrow morning’s warm up will be another important occasion for me to try a few more adjustments in order to be as prepared as possible for the 28 lap sprint.”
Bradley Smith – 9th / 1’33.761 / 9 laps – “Finishing ninth for sure means things did not go according to plan and once again the start will be crucial for our performance tomorrow. I hoped to be a bit further up the grid but my feeling with the second tyre was not the same. I always use the first tyre in Q2 to get up to speed and then do my quick lap on the second but this time after we changed the tyres, the bike didn’t handle comfortably and I had high sides on each corner entry. With the nature of this circuit I wanted to be in the top six so that I could be in the best position for tomorrow. However, despite this it goes without saying that I am ready to get stuck and give it my all. As for the race pace, I’m still a little unsure but I rode FP4 on old tyres where I managed to do 1’34 lap times and of course when we start with fresh rubber it’s always easier. There’s a few things to try in warm up, but I am very pleased with how the bike handles during braking which is very important at Misano and I will need to be doing a lot of overtaking tomorrow to get to where I want to be.”
The NGM Forward Racing first Open bike at Misano
Only four tenths of a second is the gap between Aleix Espargaro and the pole man Jorge Lorenzo. The Spaniard from the NGM Forward Racing Team gave his best during the qualifying session setting a best lap of 1’33.713. First Open bike, Aleix Espargaro finished in eighth place and tomorrow will take the start of the Marino and the Riviera of Rimini Grand Prix from the third row.
It was a difficult session for team mate Alex De Angelis, who is still suffering from pain in his wrist due to the crash at Silverstone. Alex worked on the set up of the machine to improve the feeling under braking. He finished 19th with a lap time of 1’35.679.
The whole NGM Forward Racing Team is close to Simone Corsi, who is not going to race at Misano following the crash he had in Silverstone during the race. To wish him a good recovery, Aleix dedicated to his moto2 teammate a special helmet bearing the number 3.
Aleix Espargaro – 8th / 1’33.713 / 7 laps – “We are only four tenths from the pole and we are all very close so tomorrow it will be a good race. I like Misano a lot and I expected a better result on this track. Yesterday we struggled, crashing twice. Anyway I’m optimist for tomorrow. Regarding the tyre for the race, I think we will go for the hard option.”
Alex De Angelis – 19th / 1’35.679 / 8 laps – “My wrist is very painful and this prevents me to ride as I would like. Regarding the bike, we are struggling under braking, so we will continue to work on the set up of the bike trying to improve my feeling. As it happened at Silverstone, I couldn’t take the maximum out of the soft tyre during the qualifying, while the feeling with the hard compound is good and this is positive thinking about the race.”
Ducati Preview
Andrea Dovizioso was able to qualify well this afternoon at the Misano World Circuit. The Ducati Team man set sixth-fastest time, two-tenths of a second away from pole-sitter Lorenzo, and he will start from the second row of the grid for tomorrow’s race. Team-mate Cal Crutchlow was not so fortunate; due to a technical problem he was unable to improve his Q1 time and finished in thirteenth place. As a result the British rider will start round 13 of the MotoGP World Championship, the TIM San Marino and Rimini Riviera GP, from row 5.
In this morning’s free practice session Dovizioso had finished second-quickest behind his fellow Ducati rider Iannone, thus guaranteeing him an automatic place in Q2, while Crutchlow, thirteenth after the three combined free sessions, had to tackle Q1. After going top of the leaderboard in the first part of the session, the Coventry man went out on track again to try and improve his time, but a technical problem forced him back into the pits, and right at the very end of the session, Cal was passed by Hernandez and Bradl who edged him out of Q2.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 6th (1’33.439) – “This afternoon we had a few problems and were unable to complete all the scheduled work load. Unlike the last few races, we didn’t manage to get into qualifying with the best possible set-up and as a result this didn’t allow me to get the best out of my technical package. We could have done a better qualifying session, but at this point it’s vital to get a good start from the second row, and then figure out the pace to maintain during the race”.
Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team #35) – 13th (1’34.495) – “I’m obviously disappointed not to go into the last qualifying due to a technical problem with the bike but this is racing and we have to continue to work hard for tomorrow’s race. I was confident in Q1: we made a good start, we had some things that we wanted to try and I believe that we could have made a big improvement on the lap time with the second tyre, but we had the problem with the bike. Despite everything, I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s race: I think we are faster than our position on the grid for sure and hopefully we can have a good battle in the race.
HRC Preview
Repsol Honda RC213V riders Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa will start tomorrow’s San Marini & Rimini Riviera GP side by side from the second row of the grid, after qualifying fourth and fifth at the tortuous 4.226-km circuit close to the Adriatic beaches.
Marquez failed to preserve his perfect front-row record by a margin of only 0.058 of a second. The defending champion has been on pole for ten of the 12 races so far, and has won all but one of them. Tomorrow’s pole spot was won by Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha).
Times on the relatively slow circuit, with a best lap of just 163.7 km/h (set last year by Marquez) were close, with ten riders within a second of pole. But bad weather on the first day of practice left everybody short of set-up time, with the track streaming wet. Only on Saturday morning did the skies clear for the expected balmy weather. This effectively rendered Friday’s two free practice sessions null and void.
Marquez’s worst qualifying position of the season flags up a battle royal for tomorrow’s race. His title lead of 89 points, with six races remaining, gives him a comfortable cushion … he can afford three non-finishes without losing the lead. But the 21-year-old Spanish former 125cc and Moto2 World Champion will be doing everything to increase the advantage over his second-overall team-mate Pedrosa.
Marquez became the youngest-ever premier-class World Champion at the first attempt last year, and has a strong chance of displacing the next-youngest – Honda’s Freddie Spencer – to third place if he can secure a second title before the end of the season.
Marquez has been all but unbeatable this year, the only blip being a single fourth place at the Czech Republic GP. Although the overall goal of title victory is more important, he will nonetheless be striving to return to the winner’s circle tomorrow.
Pedrosa was barely half-a-tenth of a second slower, as he continues to underline his return to full fighting form. The 28-year-old Spaniard has taken one race win, has been three times second and four times third; but his campaign was interrupted when he required remedial surgery for arm-pump problems after the start of the European season.
The former 125cc and double 250cc World Champion, a previous Misano MotoGP winner, is fighting his own championship battle, after regaining second overall from Valentino Rossi (Yamaha). Pedrosa won at Brno where Marquez faltered briefly.
Two more riders campaign the class-leading V4 Honda RC213V, with German former Moto2 champion Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda RC213V) again the better of the pair. Bradl qualified tenth-fastest, and will start tomorrow’s race from the fourth row of the grid. Bradl’s best race this year was in Texas, where he was fourth. He has scored two more fifth places, but a top-three podium finish has remained out of reach.
The second of the awesomely fast factory Hondas is ridden by Spanish former 125cc World Champion Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Gresini Honda RC213V). Bautista was third at the French GP, but his overall score has been dented by several race crashes. Bautista and his team-mate Scott Redding have a special role, exclusively race-testing Showa suspension and Nissin brakes, made by Japanese companies with strong links with Honda.
Redding (GO&FUN Gresini Honda RCV1000R) qualified 14th, at the head of a close quartet of the new production-racer Hondas, a close replica of the factory RC213V V4, missing a chance to win through to the “senior” Q2 session for a third time this season by just over half a second, after a crash early in Q1.
Hiroshi Aoyama (Drive M7 Aspar Honda RCV1000R) was less than half-a-tenth slower, in 15th place, with temporary team-mate Leon Camier (Drive M7 Aspar Honda RCV1000R) next, heading the sixth row. It is the British rider’s fourth GP in the premier class, substituting for recuperating team regular Nicky Hayden.
Czech Republic rider Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing RCV1000R) was alongside, 17th-fastest.
Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda: 4th, 1m 33.360s – “This is the first time this season that I’ve been off the front row, maybe because we haven’t yet found the best setup for this circuit. However, we still have the warm-up tomorrow in which to try things out and improve. Yesterday’s practice sessions were both wet, so that is why today we found it a little difficult to find the optimal set-up. In qualifying I concentrated on refining the bike more than grid position. Nevertheless, I am happy because I felt fairly comfortable on the bike, which is important for the race, but we will have to fight hard to finish on the podium.”
Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 5th, 1m 33.418s – “I had a very good feeling today at Misano, although this isn’t reflected by my position on the grid for tomorrow. The times today have been very close between everyone, but tomorrow in the end we start from the second row. I’ll have to get a very good start and push on the opening laps. It will also be important to make the right choice with the front tyre, because that will be the key to the race. We will have to fight to the maximum, because this is a very long race.”
Stefan Bradl, LCR Honda MotoGP: 10th, 1m 33.995s – “A busy day for us today. In the morning free session I could not find my pace and we probably made too many changes on the bike since yesterday, so I was not able to find my personal best. That meant we had to go through Q1, which was also a bit tricky, but finally we managed to go to Q2. Unfortunately I suffered a small crash in a slow corner in my flying lap but I think it does not make any difference. We could have been a bit faster for sure and qualify in fifth or sixth position, but I am not worried about tenth on the grid. I am pretty satisfied about our race pace as we saw in FP4, and this is very important for tomorrow’s 28 laps.”
Alvaro Bautista, GO&FUN Honda Gresini: 12th – “Today was not good, for sure: this morning we already had a lot of problems and I’m not able to feel the contact of the tyres on the ground, so we are struggling a lot. During FP4 we tried some set-up solutions which didn’t work, so in Q1 I went back to the same setting as before. We need to try something which can help me, otherwise I cannot push hard: every time I try to push, I go straight on corner entry, because it’s very difficult to stop the bike in these conditions. Maybe keeping a good rhythm in the race will be easier than making one fast lap, so for tomorrow I hope to make a good start and then fight like I did at Silverstone.”
Scott Redding, GO&FUN Honda Gresini: 14th, 1m 34.919s – “Today was strange for me, I had two crashes and I struggled to get the right feeling on the front: there was no front grip and both crashes were caused by that. When I start to turn the bike I don’t have confidence, but we will work hard tonight to find a good solution and to try to be stronger in the race. Maybe we took the wrong direction, but now I just need to clear my head a little bit after the crashes, because I was really frustrated about them.”
Hiroshi Aoyama, Drive M7 Aspar Honda: 15th, 1m34.966s – “I guess every driver will be happy today. The weather conditions have changed a lot from the first day and we were able to work smoothly. This morning we worked in a particular direction to try to find the best set-up, but conditions changed in the afternoon because the temperature was higher, so we had to adapt. We are happy with our work, but we have to see if the tyres will last well. We want to get a bit more grip so the bike turns better. We’ll polish that during the morning warm-up session so we can try to be a little faster.”
Leon Camier, Drive M7 Aspar Honda: 16th, 1m 35.275s – I had so much fun riding in the final practice session. I am generally happy with today: the team’s work on the bike allowed me to drive without taking too many risks. Since yesterday morning we have improved a lot, even in the wet. Today in a short time we felt very comfortable, we have improved in each outing. I was three tenths quicker in the afternoon, and I hoped for even more in the last section of the track, but I started to feel I was going to lose the front end, so I was a bit more careful. We’ve done a good job and we’re ready for tomorrow’s race. We have narrowed the gap to riders such as Redding, but even so we still have one more step to try to match their level.”
Karel Abraham, Cardion AB Motoracing Honda: 17th, 1m 35.292s – “I had another crash in FP4, practically the same as on Friday. I lost the front again, as did many other riders. We must find something to eliminate this. The bad luck continues in QP. My first fast lap was cancelled due to exceeding the track limits at turn 10. The fastest lap I did in the last few seconds was not perfect, but on the other hand we stay close to our rivals and we can race with them.”
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 18-20°C; Track 24-24°C (Bridgestone measurement)
FP4/QP – Dry. Ambient 22-23°C; Track 33-34°C (Bridgestone measurement)
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo emphatically displayed his intent to win a fourth consecutive San Marino and Rimini Grand Prix by securing his first pole position of the season at Misano today, and consequently his first ever premier-class pole position at the Italian circuit.
After showing impressive pace in the Free Practice 4 session, Lorenzo extracted even more performance from his Yamaha YZR-M1 machine in Qualifying Practice 2 to post a 1’33.238 on his final lap to finish 0.051 seconds ahead of Pramac Racing’s Andrea Iannone who was the second best qualifier. On the other Movistar Yamaha MotoGP machine, Valentino Rossi rounded out the podium in third place with a best lap time of 1’33.302 to finish just 0.013 seconds behind Iannone. Today’s QP2 session was fiercely competitive with the riders on the first two rows of the grid ultimately being separated by less than two-tenths of a second. All riders on the front row used the medium compound front slick to set their best lap time during the time attack in QP2, but whereas Lorenzo and Rossi used the medium compound rear slick, Iannone took advantage of the soft compound rear slick available to the Ducati and Open-class riders at Misano to clock his quickest time.
Yesterday’s cool and wet weather gave way to dry and warm conditions today, with a peak track temperature of 34°C recorded at the end of QP2. With this morning’s FP1 session presenting the first dry track time, the majority of riders initially used the soft compound front slick paired with their softer rear slick option; medium compound for the Factory Honda and Yamaha riders, and soft compound for the Ducati and Open-class riders, to get a feel for the Misano tarmac. Although the Ducati and Open-class riders experimented with their two rear slick compound options during the two Free Practice sessions, the Factory and Yamaha riders stuck to using just their softer option, medium compound rear slick for the entire day, with the hard compound rear slick remaining untested. For the front tyres, the majority of riders preferred the medium compound front slick in today’s sessions, although all three front slick options; the soft, medium and hard compound front slick were utilised and all of these options could feature in tomorrow’s race.
Even warmer conditions are forecast for tomorrow’s twenty-eight lap San Marino and Rimini Grand Prix which starts at 1400 local time (GMT +2). The twenty-minute morning Warm Up session starts at 0940 and will be an important session as riders look to use every second of dry track time before deciding on their race tyre choice.
Shinichi Yamashita – General Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department – “After the poor weather conditions yesterday, today was a very busy day for the teams, riders and our engineers as there were just two sessions available to work on bike setup and slick tyre choice before the qualifying sessions. Despite this the riders got to evaluate a few different tyre options, and particularly for the front slick a lot of testing was done to see what worked best on this circuit which demands a lot of cornering and braking stability. I am pleased with the performance of our tyres today, the lap times were very quick and the first two rows of the grid for tomorrow’s race were separated by just two-tenths of a second and our tyre allocation for this weekend is working well for all the manufacturers. Conditions will be even warmer tomorrow, so the morning Warm Up session will also be important for the riders to help them decide what tyre combination to use for the race.”
