Rossi Takes Charge in Catalunya2013-06-14 15:09Yamaha 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.” Profile 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." Profile 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 Click here to visit our forums to discuss this story |
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