Rossi in charge on scorching first day in Catalunya

2013-06-14 15:14
Nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi posted a late lap time to go quickest on the first day of free practice at the Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya ahead of Yamaha Factory Racing teammate Jorge Lorenzo and championship leader Dani Pedrosa for the Repsol Honda Team.

Set in the afternoon session, which saw track temperatures of 53 degrees Celsius, Rossi completed 17 laps and achieved a best effort of 1’42.297, leading Lorenzo by just 49 thousandths of a second, with Pedrosa one and a half tenths off the pace with a time set in the cooler morning conditions. Alvaro Bautista recovered from a morning accident to go fifth for GO&FUN Honda Gresini, rounding out the top five behind Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow, who was only the second other rider in the top ten to set his quickest lap in the morning.

Repsol’s Marc Marquez ended Day 1 of his first premier-class home Grand Prix event in sixth position, having already pinpointed the Circuit de Catalunya weekend as one of the most difficult of the season. In seventh place, Ducati Team’s Nicky Hayden beat Alex Barros’ 2004 record for the highest top speed at the track, posting a 339.4km/h (210.8mph).

The first ten was completed by Hayden’s teammate Andrea Dovizioso, LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl and Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro, who is one of six Spanish rides in the field this weekend. Despite finishing ninth, Bradl suffered another fall as the German lost control of his Honda at La Caixa curve after loosing the front under braking. The sixth Spaniard, Avintia Blusens’ Hector Barbera, ended the day in 15th position as Tech 3’s Bradley Smith was taken to the Medical Centre for a check-up following an accident at the sweeping Turn 3.

Much of the focus of the day was on tyre choice for the race, with the majority of riders already stating that the harder option front is a certain choice, whilst many will be using Saturday to decide between the softer or harder option rear.




P.Espargaro

Pol Espargaro put his name atop the classification on the first day of Moto2™ practice in Montmelo for the Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya on Friday. A favourite with the locals, the Tuenti HP 40 rider led Interwetten Paddock Moto2 Racing’s Tom Luthi and NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Alex de Angelis as increasing heat left onlookers looking for shade.

Friday brought a sweltering start to the sixth race weekend of the season, with the top three riders unable to improve their lap times in the afternoon. Although Espargaro topped both sessions, it was his morning lap time of 1’46.985 that was the benchmark that saw off Luthi by one and three quarter tenths of a second. Behind De Angelis, Marc VDS Racing Team’s championship leader Scott Redding was fourth quickest.

Takaaki Nakagami completed the top five for Italtrans Racing Team, with Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2’s Jordi Torres sixth ahead of Came IodaRacing Project’s Johann Zarco and Technomag carXpert’s Dominique Aegerter in eighth. Tuenti HP 40’s Esteve Rabat posted the ninth fastest time of the day, with Redding’s teammate Mika Kallio completing the top ten with a time set in the morning session.

QMMF Racing’s Ant West suffered a small crash at Turn 5 in the morning, whilst a further two crashes came in the afternoon as his teammate Rafid Topan Sucipto and Blusens Avintia’s Kyle Smith suffered incidents. Some of the riders spoke afterwards about high tyre wear in the hot temperatures, although this may not affect the race, which is run much closer to mid-day than the preceding FP and QP sessions.




L.Salom

Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Luis Salom ended the first day of free practice at the Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya in Montmelo top, holding off Ongetta-Centro Seta’s Isaac Viñales and Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Alex Marquez.

Salom set his best lap in the cooler morning practice, whilst it was Isaac Viñales who was quickest as Moto3™ practice continued in Barcelona on Friday afternoon. The Ongetta-Centro Seta rider led Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Alex Marquez and championship-leading younger cousin Maverick Viñales of Team Calvo, who ended the day in fourth.

The remaining top seven all posted their best times in the afternoon, with Marquez’s teammate Alex Rins in fifth ahead of a resurgent Efren Vazquez on his Mahindra Racing machine, and GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Niccolo Antonelli. The top ten was rounded out by Mahindra’s Miguel Oliveira, Ambrogio Racing’s Brad Binder and Caretta Technology-RTG’s Jack Miller, with Binder being the only one of the trio to set his fast lap in the afternoon.

There were falls for San Carlo Team Italia’s Francesco Bagnaia and Gresini’s Lorenzo Baldassarri, but worse news for Mugello pole-sitter Jonas Folger; having injured his right wrist in a motocross accident on Wednesday of last week, the German Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3 rider – who finished 33rd in first practice this morning - is sitting out the remainder of the weekend.

Following a crash in which he bruised both of his feet, Avant Tecno’s Niklas Ajo was taken to the Medical Centre but declared fit to continue on Saturday.

Source: MotoGP

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