Rossi Takes Charge in Catalunya

2013-06-14 15:09
Yamaha Factory Racing’s Valentino Rossi wrapped up the first day of practice for the Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya at the top of the time sheets as the fastest rider in sweltering conditions and a track temperature that topped 50 degrees.

Having named the track as one of his top three favourites, the nine-time champion was clearly enjoying being back at the Circuit de Catalunya on his YZR-M1. Rossi wrapped up the morning first practice in fifth position, just under half a second from the front. He upped the pace in the afternoon, diving under the circuit record in the last three minutes with a 1’42.297 lap on a fresh soft tyre to go top.

Reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo was on typical form in front of his home crowd today and was quick to find his trademark blistering pace. Lorenzo wrapped up the morning session in first, 0.023 seconds ahead of fellow Spanish rider Dani Pedrosa. The afternoon saw a repeat performance as he led for the majority of the session, only passed by his teammate in the final minutes to leave him in second place, 0.049 seconds from Rossi in first.







Valentino Rossi
1st / 1'42.297 / 26 laps


“I love this track; it is one of the best. The M1 is always great here in Catalunya. It is just Friday but I am very happy to be in front, although we have still a lot of work to do. We have to decide which tyre to use and we have some corners and sections where we have to improve for tomorrow. Anyway, it is great to be back on top.”



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Jorge Lorenzo
2nd / 1'42.346 / 12 laps

“We started very well but we tried two settings that didn’t work so well. We stayed with the same tyres for the whole practice to understand why they are dropping in this weather so we could solve this problem that I think all the riders are having. We have to try and improve the bike in order to let me have more confidence, then I can stay in the middle of the 42 second mark which is my target. We don’t focus so much on the classification because not all the riders kept on the same tyres during the practice, a new tyre can give you half a second or more. We have to trust the pace and the pace is good, one of the best of the grid."

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Wilco Zeelenberg
Team Manager

“A very good first day in very hot conditions. It was important to see how the bike behaved this afternoon. Jorge was not really pleased with the performance but I was actually pleased as we have a clear direction for tomorrow, this is what counts. It’s the first day, we are still second and Vale was fast with the soft tyre at the end. We found our direction to work in for tomorrow which is good.”






Massimo Meregalli
Team Director

“A really good starting point; having both bikes in the top two is a good result. We still have a lot of work to do. We have to perfect the set up and decide which tyre to use in the race. So far we’ve done a good job so let’s see what we can do to make it even better tomorrow.”





Combined Free Practice Times

1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha Factory Racing 1'42.297
2. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Yamaha Factory Racing 1'42.346
3. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1'42.445
4. Cal Crutchlow (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech3 1'42.492
5. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Go&Fun Honda Gresini 1'42.752
6. Marc Marquez (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1'42.857
7. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Team 1'42.890
8. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Ducati Team 1'42.988
9. Stefan Bradl (GER) LCR Honda MotoGP 1'43.005
10. Aleix Espargaro (SPA) Power Electronics Aspar 1'43.204
11. Andrea Iannone (ITA) Pramac Racing Team 1'43.272
12. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Power Electronics Aspar 1'43.644
13. Michele Pirro (ITA) Ducati Test Team 1'43.648
14. Bradley Smith (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech3 1'44.247
15. Hector Barbera (SPA) Avintia Blusens 1'44.461
16. Colin Edwards (USA) NGM Mobile Forward Racing 1'44.586
17. Karel Abraham (CZE) Cardion AB Motoracing 1'44.599
18. Danilo Petrucci (ITA) Came Iodaracing Project 1'44.609
19. Michael Laverty (GBR) Paul Bird Motorsport 1'45.337
20. Claudio Corti (ITA) NGM Mobile Forward Racing 1'45.513
21. Yonny Hernandez (COL) Paul Bird Motorsport 1'45.824
22. Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN) Avintia Blusens 1'45.834
23. Bryan Staring (AUS) Go&Fun Honda Gresini 1'46.577
24. Lukas Pesek (CZE) Came IodaRacing Project 1'47.239


Full 2013 MotoGP Results






Circuit informations

Technical Informations
Circuit Montmeló
Location Montmeló, Catalunya
Length (m) 4727
Width (m) 12
Turns 13
Turns righ 8
Turns left 5
Pole position left




Record Lap
Time 1'42.358
Rider D.Pedrosa
Bike Honda
Year 2008
Best Lap
Time 1'41.186
Rider C.Stoner
Bike Ducati
Year 2008
2012 Results
1st J.Lorenzo (Yamaha): 43'07.681
2nd D.Pedrosa (Honda): +5.003
3rd A.Dovizioso (Yamaha): +9.361

Source: Yamaha MotoGP

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