Action Begins in Le Mans for the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France

2014-05-18 06:15
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi were back on track today at the historic Le Mans circuit in France, working through their first free practice sessions ahead of Sunday’s Monster Energy Grand Prix de France.

Lorenzo was able to make a half second improvement from the morning to the afternoon session as he focused on his set up. He led the second practice for most of the session, only dropping in the last ten minutes as his rivals switched to new rubber. He finished the day in seventh in the combined times, 0.6 seconds from first.

Teammate Rossi had a less fortunate day, the nine time world champion struggling in several set up areas on the notoriously unpredictable French track. Rossi ended the day in 10th place in the combined times, just over a second from the front.





Jorge Lorenzo

99 Jorge Lorenzo
7th / 1'34.054 / 21 laps


“I’m satisfied with the pace which is constant and with my riding. We are not in a position that reflects our performance in the time sheets; we were the only one with the same tyre the whole session instead of putting a new tyre on at the end or running an open tyre. I think with a new tyre we could have improved half a second at the end.”


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46 Valentino Rossi
10th / 1'34.498 / 21 laps


“I’m not happy about today, especially this afternoon. I wasn’t able to be strong and near the top. I have a lot of problems with the bike especially in acceleration, I have a big problem to open the throttle because the bike is very nervous. We tried to modify something during the practice but we didn’t fix the problem. I’m too far from the front so for tomorrow we have to check the data and improve to be more competitive; it is important to start in the top five here. The difference between Jerez and here for the settings is unbelievable so we have to change a lot of things. Le Mans is always like this!”



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Valentino Rossi



Massimo Meregalli

Massimo Meregalli


“We started today’s first practice with a base set up from our Jerez test last week. The first impressions from the morning were quite good. We then didn't make big changes between the sessions because we were expecting track conditions to improve in the afternoon to suit the setting of the bike better. Unfortunately the track did not improve for us that much. We made a change from the soft front to the medium for the afternoon and adjusted the electronics but we still need to make some steps forward for tomorrow. Jorge was very consistent; his place in the timings doesn’t necessarily reflect his performance. Vale is having more issues with his set up than Jorge so we have some work to do with his set up to be ready to step up for the third practice in the morning.”






NOTES


The extended imagery from today's Free Practice sessions (1 & 2) at the Le Mans Circuit (France) is available on www.yamahamotogp.com.



FREE PRACTICE 1/2 - COMBINED RESULTS Results




1. Marc Marquez (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1'33.452
2. Andrea Iannone (ITA) Pramac Racing 1'33.459
3. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Go&Fun Honda Gresini 1'33.668
4. Bradley Smith (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech3 1'33.920
5. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1'33.942
6. Stefan Bradl (GER) LCR Honda MotoGP 1'34.040
7. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1'34.054
8. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Ducati Team 1'34.117
9. Aleix Espargaro (SPA) NGM Mobile Forward Racing 1'34.134
10. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1'34.498
11. Pol Espargarò (SPA) Monster Yamaha Tech3 1'34.506
12. Yonny Hernandez (COL) Energy T.I. Pramac Racing 1'34.877
13. Cal Crutchlow (GBR) Ducati Team 1'34.907
14. Nicky Hayden (USA) Drive M7 Aspar 1'34.961
15. Colin Edwards (USA) NGM Mobile Forward Racing 1'35.089
16. Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN) Drive M7 Aspar 1'35.229
17. Scott Redding (GBR) Go&Fun Honda Gresini 1'35.424
18. Karel Abraham (CZE) Cardion AB Motoracing 1'35.818
19. Hector Barbera (SPA) Avintia Racing 1'36.418
20. Mike Di Meglio (FRA) Avintia Racing 1'36.612
21. Michael Laverty (GBR) Paul Bird Motorsport 1'36.742
22. Brok Parkes (AUS) Paul Bird Motorsport 1'37.136


CIRCUIT INFORMATION




Technical Informations
Circuit Le Mans
Location Le Mans, France
Length (m) 4180
Width (m) 13
Turns 13
Turns righ 9
Turns left 4
Pole position left
Grand Prix of France



Record Lap
Time 1'33.617
Rider D.Pedrosa
Bike Honda
Year 2011
Best Lap
Time 1'32.647
Rider D.Pedrosa
Bike Honda
Year 2008
2013 Results
1st D.Pedrosa (Honda): 49'17.707
2nd C.Crutchlow (Yamaha): +4.863
3rd M.Marquez (Honda): +6.949

Source: Yamaha MotoGP

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