Press releases from the 125cc and Moto2 teams at Catalunya after Friday practice:
Difficult start to the weekend in Catalunya
The weekend of the Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya had a difficult start for the RW GP Racing Team. Luis Salom was in the combined results sheet on a thirteen position and wasn't happy at all.
In the first free practice session at Friday morning wasn't the result the rider and team were hoping for. Salom had difficulties to find his rhythm. Throughout the session, the Spaniard struggled to ride fast lap times. In this dry session Salom rode to a thirteenth position and wasn't satisfied with this position.
The second practice session in the afternoon started under Salom had the 22nd time. Just before the rain came down, the Spaniard wanted to go out but it wasn't possible due the rain. In the last ten minutes the team and Salom decided to go out and make some laps on the rain tires because there will be a big change that the rain will come on the Saturday and Sunday. Salom wasn't able to improve his time due the weather circumstances.
Luis Salom (13th, 1:55.244):
"Today feels like a wasted day. In the morning we were already not satisfied with the results and in the afternoon it was quite dramatic! I don't have a good feeling at this moment and at the moment it's really hard for me to ride competitive lap times. I make too many mistakes and lost my rhythm. In the afternoon when the rain was coming down, it didn't really help me! The bike is fast enough and the setup is not too bad. I think I push too much and put too much pressure on myself. Especially since it's my second home Grand Prix this weekend. Tonight I'll have some rest and trying to reset my mind for tomorrow so I can run fast times again. "
NICO TEROL DOMINATES OPENING DAY OF FREE PRACTICE AT CATALUNYA
Adri?n Mart?n is surprise package: fifth fastest time in morning session and sets pace in wet afternoon
A home Grand Prix for a host of riders on the 125cc grid started off with seven local riders in the top eight at Catalunya. Clouds threatened in the morning and gave way in the afternoon, giving the riders opportunity to test their bike set-up in both wet and dry conditions. Nico Terol was the fastest over the two sessions, holding an advantage of 0.4 seconds over his nearest rival on the overall time sheets.
Second place last time out was a great result but Terol is used to winning this year and he is eager to re-establish his dominance from the outset here. The BANKIA Aspar rider's closest rival today was Sandro Cortese and he is hopeful of maintaining his dominance tomorrow. His young team-mate Adri?n Mart?n was the surprise package today, clocking the fifth fastest time in the morning and then topping the timesheets in the afternoon. The BANKIA Aspar team's third rider H?ctor Faubel had a tough start to the weekend, crashing in turn five after eight laps this morning but recovering to lap seventh fastest.
1st Nico Terol 1.53.001 (20 laps): "The forecast today was for changeable weather and it has proved correct, which meant we could not work properly this afternoon. My feeling was good in both wet and dry though and we got better with every lap, which is positive for tomorrow. I only did four laps in the wet but I felt good, even though I didn't take any risks. My main target is to improve my pace from last year's race - not just for myself but because my rivals are getting ever closer."
5th Adri?n Mart?n 1.54.050 (19 laps): "I am really happy because we have started out with a good pace, like in France. To see myself fifth on the time sheets has given me a big boost. I think we are making progress because I feel more comfortable every time I ride. I only managed two quick laps on the wet track this afternoon but I felt good and set a fast time. The bike is working really well and I am desperate to keep this up all weekend."
7th H?ctor Faubel 1.54.704 (17 laps): "We really improved the throttle response at the Arag?n test and we were able to follow on the same positive line today. After the crash this morning we tried a new chassis solution and it made it much more manageable. It rained this afternoon and I didn't feel comfortable at the start because it was slippery but I improved my feeling as the laps went by. Everything we are trying at the moment is working so I hope Sunday confirms it. The team and I are working so hard and I think we deserve a good result."
FARMINGDALE, NJ ? June 3, 2011 ? Bel-Ray Company, Inc. ? Bel-Ray Races Around the World
The first weekend in June will be very busy for Bel-Ray racers, as our professional racing teams compete around the world.
The Tech 3 Moto2 team leads the way into Cataluyna for Round 5 of the 17-Round 2011 Moto2 Championship Series. The Gran Premi de Cataluyna is held at the Circuit de Cataluyna and both team riders are prepared to improve on their round 4 results. Bradley Smith was 9th in Le Mans for the French round and currently sits in 8th in the series' standings. After suffering a DNF at Round 4, Mike DiMeglio is ready to show his true speed and compete for a top finish. DiMeglio is currently 20th in the series' standings.
Great start f?r Thomas L?thi:?Second place at Barcelona
Interwetten Paddock Moto2-Pilot Thomas L?thi had a great start to the Catalunya Grand Prix at Barcelona. The 24-year-old from Switzerland rode to the fastest time in first free practice on Friday morning and defended his top position for most of the afternoon session. Only in the last moment, 17 seconds before the chequered flag came down, Italian Simone Coris went fractionally faster and secured best time of the day. But this didn't dampen the mood within the Interwetten Paddock Team: L?thi had used the same set of tyres in both practice sessions and still clocked competitive lap times when his tyres had completed a full race distance. "That's a very good sign ? we are confident for the race", was the general opinion of all team members.
Thomas L?thi ? 2nd in 1:47.494 min.:
"Corsi's best time doesn't bother me ? what counts is our overall performance, and we are definitely on the right track. We started well this morning and found a good setting early on, then we fully concentrated on getting the bike ready for race distance. Unlike the other categories, we were quite lucky with the weather. Only at the very end, a slight drizzle started to come down, but we were able to complete our run on full slick tyres. Whereas we put all our efforts towards race distance, Corsi most likely grabbed a new tyre in the end and thus managed to get to the top of the list. But that's only a minor flaw ? for our race preperation, first or second place didn't make any difference today!"
Alfred Willecke ? Crew Chief
"Tom was fastest this morning and, apart from the very last seconds, once again this afternoon, so we are happy and confident. Tom's performance as a rider has been strong all year long, and we keep trying to build on that and to further improve the bike step by step. The most important thing here at Barcelona will be to judge the weather correctly and to find the best possible set-up for the conditions on Sunday!"
Terrell Thien, Team Manager:
"We rode both sessions with just one set of tyres and Tom completed more than a race distance. Now we have a pretty good idea which tyre choice to make on Sunday. We also made some modifications on the bike to make sure that a rear brake failure like at the last Grand Prix in France won't ever happen again. It was a material defect that caused the failure at Le Mans, and we doubled up on securing the part in question!"
Positive progression for Marc M?rquez at the Catalunya Grand Prix
A crash at the beginning of the first free practice prevented him from returning to the track until the second session, where he worked hard to finish just four tenths behind the first
Marc M?rquez overcame with effort and work the adverse situation he had in the first practice of the Catalunya Grand Prix. The intermittent rain affected track conditions and Marc M?rquez crashed just a few minutes into the first free practice session. Due to the damages to his bike, he was not able to get back on track until the second session, where he steadily fine-tuned the set-up of his bike until finishing eleventh, just four tenths behind the fastest time set by Simone Corsi.
A brief shower at the end of the MotoGP practiced forced the riders to be cautious in their first contact with the Catalunya Circuit, even M?rquez did the first lap with wet tyres. However, with the track apparently dry, the Repsol rider got out on track again with slick tyres and, in his second lap, was thrown out of the bike at the end of the Resol corner. When he went back to the garage, the team was not able to repair the damages to his bike and the Repsol rider had to wait until the afternoon to continue with his work.
In the second free practice session, M?rquez and his team were determined to recover the time lost. After several runs to make changes in the set-up and in the tyre choice, the Repsol rider was able to progress steadily. In the end, M?rquez completed 18 laps with a fastest time of 1 minute, 47 seconds and 857 thousandths.
Marc M?rquez
FP1 - 1:51.305, 3 laps, 14 km.
FP2 - 1:47.857, 18 laps, 77 km.
"The weekend did not start very well for us; I crashed in the morning, maybe due to my being overconfident, but luckily I was not injured. I have to apologize to the team because it was my mistake.
In the afternoon the weather was good and we were able to improve. At the beginning we were very cautious and then we pushed a bit more. We were able to get a good set-up, although we can still improve in many areas, but we found the way and the pace after the break.
I think we have to follow our usual working line, focus in getting a good set-up for the race and see how it goes tomorrow, how is the weather, although it seems that it will be changeable. What is clear is that we will do our best".
MAPFRE ASPAR RIDERS MAKE STRONG START AT MONTMEL?
Sim?n on pace and For?s inside a second of fastest lap, both confident of more progress tomorrow
The Moto2 riders were the lucky ones at the Circuit de Catalunya today as they were the only ones to get two full dry sessions on track, or at least two full sessions on slick tyres. Intermittent rain throughout the day held off for both intermediate class sessions and although the track dried quickly it was not in ideal shape. The top twenty riders are separated by just a second, with Simone Corsi the man on top. Aleix Espargar?, Julian Sim?n and Marc M?rquez lead the significant Spanish challenge.
From the evidence so far it seems the private test carried out by the MAPFRE Aspar team at Aragon Motorland last week was a success, with Juli?n Sim?n and Xavi For?s setting a strong pace throughout the first day. Sim?n was third fastest this morning and eleventh in the afternoon, making very few changes to his set-up and maintaining a solid pace in the high 1'47s before finishing four tenths off the best lap time. Xavi For?s continues his impressive adaptation to the class and was just a second off the best time today.
11th Juli?n Sim?n 1.47.847 (34 laps): "Today was really positive. Luckily the rain held off and we were able to work well. We were able to confirm the progress we made at Arag?n and even had chance to test a couple more things, such as a longer gear setting. I had to adapt my riding to get the most out of it so we decided to take a step back. The fact we used the same tyres all day had an effect on our lap time at the end but our pace is good so I am happy. Tomorrow we just need to pull one fast lap out to get the best possible grid position. It will be a fight to get onto the front two rows."
20th Xavi For?s 1.48.382 (22 laps): "I had a good feeling with the bike this morning. We decided to spend the whole session on one tyre, with the race in mind, and then switched to a harder one for the afternoon and I felt more comfortable so I think we'll use that on Sunday. We were quite close to the top all afternoon. We made a couple of little changes to the geometry that helped under braking and I was able to do a lot of laps on my own in the 1'48s. I wanted to know what my true pace was and I am happy with it. We are getting closer and closer to the top."
THE CHANGEABLE WEATHER PLAYS THE MAIN ROLE DURING THE FIRST PRACTICE DAY FOR THE CATALUNYA GP
The Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya kicked off today, the fifth round of 2011 season for Moto2.
The continuous weather changes made the sessions more complicated for the riders competing in the World Championship, as they had to practice on the Catalan track while it was in mixed conditions throughout the day. Andrea Iannone, on the Suter MMXI machine of Speed Master team, chose to use the time at disposal to work on the setting of his bike. Considering the track conditions, the rider from Vasto preferred not to take excessive risks, finishing only 1.283 seconds off today's best lap time. It wasn't easy to define the data from these free practices and the weather during the weekend will probably be changeable, which will complicate the team's work when preparing the set-up for Sunday.
Andrea Iannone, #29 ? free practice n. 2: 24th with 1'48.656
"This was a difficult day and the track conditions didn't really help us: it was hard to arrange a continuous and precise work on the setting. In any case, all the lap times are very close and tomorrow we'll do our best to improve our position in the classification. Now we are going to analyze the possibilities we have for the sessions of tomorrow and we'll see how the weather is going to be when we get out on the track for the third free practice session and for the qualifying session."
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