Tagged: Randy De Puniet
United States Grand Prix, Laguna Seca, Free Practice 4 and Qualifying analysis: Bradl edges out Marquez, Bautista claims 3rd, and who has race pace.
Up until the last five minutes it was obvious that Marc Marquez was going to claim back to back poles. But then his front tyre let go, he slid out, and everything went crazy. Stefan Bradl put in the fastest lap, Alvaro Bautista nabbed third by half a tenth, and the race looks like a close one.
Looking over the analysis chart of the all the laps the riders turned in FP4 it’s clear that Marc Marquez and Stefan Bradl have the most consistent pace. Of course, they’re on the same bike, give or take, so it shouldn’t really be a surprise that Bautista made it on the front row in qualifying too. Still, the charts are pretty clear – Marquez is marginally faster, with Bradl not far behind. The other riders need to find a little more consistency if they’re going to stay with these two.
Full FP4 times are available here.
It may all come down to tyre wear. Valentino Rossi spent much of FP4 on old tyres, as did Jorge Lorenzo. Lorenzo especially could be a dark horse – he took painkillers only in qualifying, so we can expect him to do so again for the race to boost his performance.
Dani Pedrosa’s performance is equally hard to judge. He is fast, of course, and turned only 4 laps to top QP1. Randy De Puniet saw the opportunity straight away and stuck to the orange tail of the Repsol Honda, pulling him up into second place. It was a shame when he crashed without finishing a lap in QP2.
QP1 times:
Pos. | Rider | Team | Time | Lead. gap | Prev. gap |
1 | Dani PEDROSA | Repsol Honda Team | 1’22.017 | ||
2 | Randy DE PUNIET | Power Electronics Aspar | 1’22.694 | 0.677 | 0.677 |
3 | Hector BARBERA | Avintia Blusens | 1’22.808 | 0.791 | 0.114 |
4 | Alex DE ANGELIS | Ignite Pramac Racing | 1’23.253 | 1.236 | 0.445 |
5 | Colin EDWARDS | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | 1’23.272 | 1.255 | 0.019 |
6 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Came IodaRacing Project | 1’23.323 | 1.306 | 0.051 |
7 | Claudio CORTI | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | 1’23.616 | 1.599 | 0.293 |
8 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | Paul Bird Motorsport | 1’23.875 | 1.858 | 0.259 |
9 | Karel ABRAHAM | Cardion AB Motoracing | 1’23.919 | 1.902 | 0.044 |
10 | Michael LAVERTY | Paul Bird Motorsport | 1’23.987 | 1.970 | 0.068 |
11 | Hiroshi AOYAMA | Avintia Blusens | 1’24.235 | 2.218 | 0.248 |
12 | Bryan STARING | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | 1’24.756 | 2.739 | 0.521 |
13 | Lukas PESEK | Came IodaRacing Project | 1’24.809 | 2.792 | 0.053 |
But Pedrosa looked frustrated at times in QP2, and while still pretty quick and just half a second behind Bradl, qualifying 7th is perhaps a little far down. Most importantly, he’s behind Jorge Lorenzo, who took 6th on the grid.
In more interesting news from QP2, Rossi’s ideal lap was actually faster than Bautista’s ideal lap. While he’s still two tenths from the ultimate pace of Bradl and Marquez, it does mean Rossi has the speed for the podium. What it does question, however, is whether his setup will allow him to run consistent fast times.
The quietest dark horse of them all in QP2 was Cal Crutchlow. He’s struggled through the whole weekend. Well, struggled considering his recent form, and QP2 was no different. Missing well over half the session while his team fixed an issue with his bike (a sensor and had to be replaced), he came out all guns blazing. Only a quarter of a second off the pace with just three fast laps is good work.
The race tomorrow could be super close.
QP2 times:
Pos. | Rider | Team | Time | Lead. gap | Prev. gap |
1 | Stefan BRADL | LCR Honda MotoGP | 1’21.176 | ||
2 | Marc MARQUEZ | Repsol Honda Team | 1’21.193 | 0.017 | 0.017 |
3 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | 1’21.373 | 0.197 | 0.180 |
4 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha Factory Racing | 1’21.418 | 0.242 | 0.045 |
5 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 1’21.420 | 0.244 | 0.002 |
6 | Jorge LORENZO | Yamaha Factory Racing | 1’21.453 | 0.277 | 0.033 |
7 | Dani PEDROSA | Repsol Honda Team | 1’21.728 | 0.552 | 0.275 |
8 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati Team | 1’22.026 | 0.850 | 0.298 |
9 | Bradley SMITH | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 1’22.075 | 0.899 | 0.049 |
10 | Nicky HAYDEN | Ducati Team | 1’22.090 | 0.914 | 0.015 |
11 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Power Electronics Aspar | 1’22.099 | 0.923 | 0.009 |
Randy DE PUNIET | Power Electronics Aspar |
Dutch TT Assen Grand Prix Qualifying results and times: Crutchlow charges clear to take pole by 0.357
Cal Crutchlow claimed his first position with a stunning performance. Assen was always said to be a ‘Yamaha track’, and whether you believe tracks are better for certain bikes or not, Crutchlow showed even a satellite bike can be on pole.
Before QP2 was QP2, which saw Randy De Puniet top the session. This meant he lapped faster than Nicky Hayden, Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso, all of which are on factory Desmosedici machines. When he got through to QP2 he upped his game further, dropping his lap time by 0.400 seconds and getting round Assen well over a quarter of a second faster than Hayden’s Ducati GP13.
The reason for the Ducati’s struggles are clear from the Partial Lap report. Sectors 1 and 4 see both Hayden and Michele Pirro (on the Ignite Pramac Ducati, replacing Ben Spies) posting the slowest sectors. The Desmo has chronic understeer issues, and simply can’t hold the lines to go fast through the Assen track.
QP1 times:
Pos. | Rider | Team | Time | Lead. gap | Prev. gap | |
1 | Randy DE PUNIET | Power Electronics Aspar | 1’36.087 | |||
2 | Nicky HAYDEN | Ducati Team | 1’36.162 | 0.075 | 0.075 | |
3 | Andrea IANNONE | Energy T.I. Pramac Racing | 1’36.432 | 0.345 | 0.27 | |
4 | Hector BARBERA | Avintia Blusens | 1’36.490 | 0.403 | 0.058 | |
5 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati Team | 1’36.524 | 0.437 | 0.034 | |
6 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Came IodaRacing Project | 1’36.695 | 0.608 | 0.171 | |
7 | Karel ABRAHAM | Cardion AB Motoracing | 1’36.791 | 0.704 | 0.096 | |
8 | Colin EDWARDS | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | 1’37.143 | 1.056 | 0.352 | |
9 | Bryan STARING | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | 1’37.315 | 1.228 | 0.172 | |
10 | Claudio CORTI | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | 1’37.625 | 1.538 | 0.310 | |
11 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | Paul Bird Motorsport | 1’37.781 | 1.694 | 0.156 | |
12 | Michael LAVERTY | Paul Bird Motorsport | 1’38.378 | 2.291 | 0.597 | |
13 | Lukas PESEK | Came IodaRacing Project | 1’38.704 | 2.617 | 0.326 | |
14 | Ivan SILVA | Avintia Blusens | 1’39.077 | 2.990 | 0.373 |
Cal Crutchlow’s excellent lap time is thanks to his speed throughout the whole of the lap. Where some riders struggle in sectors (Marquez loses out in sectors 1 and 3 for example), Crutchlow is always near the top. His focus and setup ensured he grabbed pole, not fluke. Could a fit Jorge Lorenzo have beaten him? Perhaps. But we’ll never know. Crutchlow deserves a lot of credit.
Dani Pedrosa’s poor qualifying performance was pretty much down to his crash. He posted fast sectors and his ideal lap would have landed him second position. Whether he can pull it off in the race is another question, but he seems happier with his setup, and clearly has some speed.
QP2 times:
Pos. | Rider | Team | Time | Lead. gap | Prev. gap |
1 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 1’34.398 | ||
2 | Marc MARQUEZ | Repsol Honda Team | 1’34.755 | 0.357 | 0.357 |
3 | Stefan BRADL | LCR Honda MotoGP | 1’34.878 | 0.480 | 0.123 |
4 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha Factory Racing | 1’34.974 | 0.576 | 0.096 |
5 | Dani PEDROSA | Repsol Honda Team | 1’35.006 | 0.608 | 0.032 |
6 | Bradley SMITH | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 1’35.454 | 1.056 | 0.448 |
7 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Power Electronics Aspar | 1’35.500 | 1.102 | 0.046 |
8 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | 1’35.508 | 1.110 | 0.008 |
9 | Randy DE PUNIET | Power Electronics Aspar | 1’35.622 | 1.224 | 0.114 |
10 | Nicky HAYDEN | Ducati Team | 1’35.908 | 1.510 | 0.286 |
11 | Michele PIRRO | Ignite Pramac Racing | 1’36.866 | 2.468 | 0.958 |
12 | Jorge LORENZO | Yamaha Factory Racing |
French Grand Prix Qualifying: Marquez triumphs over Lorenzo, Pedrosa falls and Rossi fails…
Pole position went to Marc Marquez after a great lap, although Jorge Lorenzo was close, ending up just 0.030 behind the rookie.
First though, let’s see what happened in QP1. The class of the CRTs really is Aleix Espargaro and Randy De Puniet. Both riders comfortably held off Andrea Iannone (who’s being held together with stitches and staples after an operation for arm pump and a crash) on the Pramac Ducati. Unusually it was De Puniet who out qualified Espargaro, putting in an impressive 134.715 lap.
QP1 times:
Pos. | Rider | Team | Time | Lead. Gap | Prev. gap |
1 | Randy DE PUNIET | Power Electronics Aspar | 1’34.715 | ||
2 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Power Electronics Aspar | 1’34.893 | 0.178 | 0.178 |
3 | Andrea IANNONE | Energy T.I. Pramac Racing | 1’35.062 | 0.347 | 0.169 |
4 | Michele PIRRO | Ignite Pramac Racing | 1’35.228 | 0.513 | 0.166 |
5 | Hector BARBERA | Avintia Blusens | 1’35.714 | 0.999 | 0.486 |
6 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Came IodaRacing Project | 1’35.770 | 1.055 | 0.056 |
7 | Colin EDWARDS | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | 1’36.221 | 1.506 | 0.451 |
8 | Karel ABRAHAM | Cardion AB Motoracing | 1’36.271 | 1.556 | 0.050 |
9 | Claudio CORTI | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | 1’36.330 | 1.615 | 0.059 |
10 | Michael LAVERTY | Paul Bird Motorsport | 1’36.596 | 1.881 | 0.266 |
11 | Bryan STARING | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | 1’36.714 | 1.999 | 0.118 |
12 | Lukas PESEK | Came IodaRacing Project | 1’36.768 | 2.053 | 0.054 |
13 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | Paul Bird Motorsport | 1’36.961 | 2.246 | 0.193 |
14 | Hiroshi AOYAMA | Avintia Blusens | 1’37.523 | 2.808 | 0.562 |
When QP2 started, rain was expected, but luckily it never came. Still, it couldn’t prevent Dani Pedrosa low siding when trail braking into Turn 3. He rushed back to get his number 2, but only managed 6th fastest, 0.452 behind his Repsol teammate. Lorenzo was looking ultra smooth as ever, and very nearly topped Marquez’s times. One of the real surprises was the final lap of Andrea Dovizioso. His time of 1.33.603 could enough for 3rd on the grid, and left him 0.416 behind Marquez.
The other big surprise was the lowly 8th position of Valentino Rossi, the Italian struggling again this weekend. He’s eight tenths behind the leaders, and the Warm Up session is his last chance to get the setup right. If it rains he could be more competitive, but at the moment he really does look out of it.
Looking at the best partial times can give us a more accurate representation of who has the best ultimate pace. Putting together all of Lorenzo’s fastest laps actually puts him 0.150 ahead of Marquez, while Pedrosa, even with his crash, has fast enough sectors to put him 3rd overall. He’ll still be over 0.4 behind Lorenzo, but it shows that his fall really messed up his qualifying. Dovizioso would drop to 5th, but Rossi still struggles. The pace just isn’t there this weekend.
QP2 times:
Pos. | Rider | Team | Time | Lead. Gap | Prev. gap |
1 | Marc MARQUEZ | Repsol Honda Team | 1’33.187 | ||
2 | Jorge LORENZO | Yamaha Factory Racing | 1’33.217 | 0.030 | 0.030 |
3 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati Team | 1’33.603 | 0.416 | 0.386 |
4 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 1’33.609 | 0.422 | 0.006 |
5 | Stefan BRADL | LCR Honda MotoGP | 1’33.634 | 0.447 | 0.025 |
6 | Dani PEDROSA | Repsol Honda Team | 1’33.639 | 0.452 | 0.005 |
7 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | 1’33.984 | 0.797 | 0.345 |
8 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha Factory Racing | 1’34.009 | 0.822 | 0.025 |
9 | Bradley SMITH | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 1’34.222 | 1.035 | 0.213 |
10 | Nicky HAYDEN | Ducati Team | 1’34.242 | 1.055 | 0.020 |
11 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Power Electronics Aspar | 1’34.754 | 1.567 | 0.512 |
12 | Randy DE PUNIET | Power Electronics Aspar | 1’35.086 | 1.899 | 0.332 |
Austin Grand Prix Qualifying Practice 1 results and times: Espargaro claims QP1 top spot
Qualifying Practice 1 ended with the favourites safely getting through to QP2; Aleix Espargaro, Bradley Smith and Andrea Iannone. Need a Qualifying rules refresher? Head over to my new MotoGP Qualifying Rules page.
Anyway, Espargaro really seems confident with the ART Aprilia and despite giving away some 18km/h to the prototype Yamaha and Ducati, still lapped almost half a second faster than second placed man Smith. Even more impressive, Randy De Puniet, on the same machine, only managed a lap a second slower than the Spaniard. One of the reasons Esparagrao is so competitive compared to Smith and Iannone is the new, softer rear tyre that is allowed only for CRTs and Circuit of The Americas, but he appears to be the only CRT who’s able to get the most out of it.
QP1 times:
Pos. | Rider | Team | Time | Lead. Gap | Prev. gap |
1 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Power Electronics Aspar | 2’06.112 | ||
2 | Bradley SMITH | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 2’06.591 | 0.479 | 0.479 |
3 | Andrea IANNONE | Energy T.I. Pramac Racing | 2’06.872 | 0.760 | 0.281 |
4 | Randy DE PUNIET | Power Electronics Aspar | 2’07.129 | 1.017 | 0.257 |
5 | Hector BARBERA | Avintia Blusens | 2’07.717 | 1.605 | 0.588 |
6 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | Paul Bird Motorsport | 2’07.738 | 1.626 | 0.021 |
7 | Michael LAVERTY | Paul Bird Motorsport | 2’08.259 | 2.147 | 0.521 |
8 | Colin EDWARDS | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | 2’08.475 | 2.363 | 0.216 |
9 | Claudio CORTI | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | 2’08.792 | 2.680 | 0.317 |
10 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Came IodaRacing Project | 2’08.825 | 2.713 | 0.033 |
11 | Hiroshi AOYAMA | Avintia Blusens | 2’09.062 | 2.950 | 0.237 |
12 | Bryan STARING | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | 2’10.098 | 3.986 | 1.036 |
13 | Lukas PESEK | Came IodaRacing Project | 2’10.507 | 4.395 | 0.409 |
14 | Blake YOUNG | Attack Performance Racing | 2’10.606 | 4.494 | 0.099 |
15 | Karel ABRAHAM | Cardion AB Motoracing | 2’23.317 | 17.205 | 12.711 |
Qatar Grand Prix Qualifying Practice 1, times and results: Espargaro leads, with Iannone second
The first in the new type of qualifying has ended with Aleix Espargaro pulling out a pretty special lap to make it through to QP2. Ben Spies made a valiant effort, but was clearly sore from his crash in FP4, and lacking confidence in the front end of his Ducati. On the other side of the Pramac garage though Andrea Iannone was beaming and lapped 0.052 behind Espargaro to get a chance to prove his mettle in QP2.
It’s not only Spies who’ll be disappointed either; Randy De Puniet only managed to get within 0.400 of his teammate Espargaro’s time. So fast was Espargaro that only two more riders got within a second of his. These were rookie Lukas Pesek, who looked impressive on the Ioda-Suter CRT, and Yonny Hernandez, a fan favourite who always gives 100%.
Next up is QP2 to decide the front four grid rows.
QP1 results:
Pos. | Rider | Team | Time | Lead. Gap | Prev. gap |
1 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Power Electronics Aspar | 1’57.151 | ||
2 | Andrea IANNONE | Energy T.I. Pramac Racing | 1’57.203 | 0.052 | 0.052 |
3 | Ben SPIES | Ignite Pramac Racing | 1’57.440 | 0.289 | 0.237 |
4 | Randy DE PUNIET | Power Electronics Aspar | 1’57.551 | 0.400 | 0.111 |
5 | Lukas PESEK | Came IodaRacing Project | 1’57.926 | 0.775 | 0.375 |
6 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | Paul Bird Motorsport | 1’58.058 | 0.907 | 0.132 |
7 | Hiroshi AOYAMA | Avintia Blusens | 1’58.263 | 1.112 | 0.205 |
8 | Karel ABRAHAM | Cardion AB Motoracing | 1’58.271 | 1.120 | 0.008 |
9 | Colin EDWARDS | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | 1’58.361 | 1.210 | 0.090 |
10 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Came IodaRacing Project | 1’58.486 | 1.335 | 0.125 |
11 | Claudio CORTI | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | 1’58.755 | 1.604 | 0.269 |
12 | Hector BARBERA | Avintia Blusens | 1’58.806 | 1.655 | 0.051 |
13 | Bryan STARING | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | 1’58.912 | 1.761 | 0.106 |
14 | Michael LAVERTY | Paul Bird Motorsport | 1’59.572 | 2.421 | 0.660 |
MotoGP Jerez test times, 23-25 March: Day 3
Pretty much as soon as the track opened Spanish rain fell from the sky, but eventually the track dried and the riders got on track. When all was said and done, it was Cal Crutchlow who stood on top of the pile, lapping the Jerez circuit faster than anyone else during the entire three day test. Considering he has the exact same bike he had last year, it’s an impressive feat, and he managed to improve his time from 12 months ago too.
The factory Yamaha of Valentino Rossi followed, two tenths down, although his job for the day was testing new chassis. Stefan Bradl was the fastest Honda, sitting in 3rd, with Jorge Lorenzo 4th. The Yamaha man ran a 22 lap race simulation, nailing mid 1:40s and setting his fastest time during this stint. At only 0.6 behind Crutchlow’s effort, Lorenzo’s race pace is solid as ever.
What of the other Hondas? Dani Pedrosa sat out day 3 for two reasons. He reckoned he had no more work to do, and felt a muscle spasm in his neck. He felt the same thing during testing in Austin, so it looks likely the main reason was this. Whether it’s a temporary niggle or something more serious we’ll hopefully find out soon, but we should hope for the former; a fast Dani is a healthy Dani. Marc Marquez snuck into the top five, just six tenths away from Crutchlow’s fastest time, and he managed to slash his best lap by 0.6 seconds too.
A Ducati train followed Marquez with Andrea Iannone being the fastest. He lapped 0.8 seconds behind Crutchlow, and it has to be said looks good aboard the Ducati. 0.039 seconds behind was Nicky Hayden, with Andrea Dovizioso another tenth back. With all the Ducatis including Michele Pirro within 1.4 seconds of the fastest times, the Ducati seems to be easier for more people to get to grips with, although still a bit off the pace. Ben Spies decided to skip day 3 testing as his shoulder, recently operated on, was causing him problems, and the morning’s wet weather didn’t look like it would ease off.
In CRT news Randy De Puniet nudged his ART Aprilia into the top ten, just 1.4 seconds behind the leader. For a little bit of comparison, at last year’s test Casey Stoner’s fastest time was just under two seconds faster than the best CRT. De Puniet’s best lap of 1:40.9 would have qualified him 6th fastest at the Jerez 2012 race too.
Day 3:
Pos | Rider | Team | Fastest lap | Lead. Gap | Prev. Gap | Laps | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | CRUTCHLOW, Cal | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 1:39.511 | 22 / 30 | |||
2 | ROSSI, Valentino | Yamaha Factory Racing Team | 1:39.735 | 0.224 | 0.224 | 24 / 32 | |
3 | BRADL, Stefan | LCR Honda MotoGP | 1:39.975 | 0.464 | 0.240 | 20 / 26 | |
4 | LORENZO, Jorge | Yamaha Factory Racing Team | 1:40.105 | 0.594 | 0.130 | 22 / 42 | |
5 | MARQUEZ, Marc | Repsol Honda Team | 1:40.130 | 0.619 | 0.025 | 23 / 34 | |
6 | IANNONE, Andrea | Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team | 1:40.331 | 0.820 | 0.201 | 24 / 25 | |
7 | HAYDEN, Nicky | Ducati Team | 1:40.370 | 0.859 | 0.039 | 41 / 42 | |
8 | DOVIZIOSO, Andrea | Ducati Team | 1:40.516 | 1.005 | 0.146 | 29 / 30 | |
9 | PIRRO, Michele | Ducati Test Team | 1:40.881 | 1.370 | 0.365 | 40 / 44 | |
10 | DE PUNIET, Randy | Power Electronics Aspar | 1:40.971 | 1.460 | 0.090 | 21 / 24 | |
11 | SMITH, Bradley | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 1:41.134 | 1.623 | 0.163 | 56 / 56 | |
12 | ESPARGARO, Aleix | Power Electronics Aspar | 1:41.218 | 1.707 | 0.084 | 38 / 39 | |
13 | CORTI, Claudio | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | 1:41.443 | 1.932 | 0.225 | 42 / 44 | |
14 | AOYAMA, Hiroshi | Avintia Blusens | 1:41.772 | 2.261 | 0.329 | 40 / 41 | |
15 | PESEK, Lukas | Came IodaRacing Project | 1:41.791 | 2.280 | 0.019 | 49 / 49 | |
16 | ABRAHAM, Karel | Cardion AB Motoracing | 1:41.864 | 2.353 | 0.073 | 29 / 36 | |
17 | HERNANDEZ, Yonny | Paul Bird Motorsport | 1:42.363 | 2.852 | 0.499 | 20 / 25 | |
18 | PETRUCCI, Danilo | Came IodaRacing Project | 1:42.428 | 2.917 | 0.065 | 17 / 18 | |
19 | LAVERTY, Michael | Paul Bird Motorsport | 1:42.470 | 2.959 | 0.042 | 28 / 36 | |
20 | STARING, Bryan | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | 1:43.525 | 4.014 | 1.055 | 31 / 41 | |
21 | EDWARDS, Colin | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | 1:56.281 | 16.770 | 12.756 | 14 / 14 | |
22 | BARBERA, Hector | Avintia Blusens | 1:56.897 | 17.386 | 0.616 | 2 / 5 |
MotoGP Sepang test 2, 26-28 February: The roundup…Jorge strikes back
So, after the impressive pace of Dani Pedrosa at the first Sepang test it’s Jorge Lorenzo who ends the second round of testing in Malaysia as the fastest rider. His 2:00.282 was over a quarter of a second faster than Pedrosa’s, and given Jorge’s relentless race simulation pace on day 3, he looks in good shape for the season ahead.
Third fastest is Marc Marquez, the young Spaniard getting to grips with the RC213V like we only dreamed he would, and ends less than a tenth slower than his teammate. If he gets much better, Repsol Honda may have to rethink who their lead rider is.
Over at Tech 3 Yamaha, Cal Crutchlow is the man. While he’s still 0.6 behind Lorenzo, he did beat Valentino Rossi to fourth fastest overall, something that surely bothers the Italian. After all, Cal’s bike is merely something Tech 3 lease from the factory. Crutchlow would love parts to test, and if he keeps going like this, someone at Yamaha will have to sit up and take notice.
Someone who does have parts to test is Alvaro Bautista. As part of the deal that gives him his factory support, he uses Showa suspension and feeds back to HRC. It seems to be going well for him, chalking up a handy 6th place in the standings. Just under a quarter behind him is fellow factory-supported Honda rider Stefan Bradl.
Andrea Dovizioso ended up a tenth quicker than Ducati veteran Nicky Hayden, and although the bike is undoubtedly better than the first test, they’re circulating well over two seconds slower than Lorenzo and his M1. Still, the testing process at Ducati seems to be working, at least in consistency. Andrea Iannone and Michele Pirro are only a third of a second behind the factory riders, surely giving Ducati solid data to work on improvements. Ben Spies, suffering from a sore shoulder, is still half a second back from Iannone.
In the world of CRTs it’s the ART Aprilia that is showing its class. Developed from the World Superbike-winning Aprilia RSV4, it has racing pedigree, and it was Randy De Puniet that stamped his authority on the timesheets. Just nabbing 13th place from Aleix Espargaro by 0.042 seconds, he was top CRT. After this pairing there’s a bit of a gap to Hiroshi Aoyama on the FTR Kawasaki. But Aoyama is closely matched by Karel Abraham and Colin Edwards for out and out pace, with the rest of the CRTs over four seconds off the ultimate pace.
The factory Yamaha and Honda teams will next test at Austin, Texas, in mid March, and then the whole paddock will get together for the final test in Jerez at the end of the month.
Overall fastest times at Sepang test 2:
Pos | Rider | Team | Fastest lap | Lead. gap | Prev.gap | Day | |
1 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha Factory Racing Team | 2:00.282 | Day 2 | |||
2 | Dani Pedrosa | Repsol Honda Team | 2:00.562 | 0.280 | 0.280 | Day 3 | |
3 | Marc Marquez | Repsol Honda Team | 2:00.643 | 0.361 | 0.081 | Day 3 | |
4 | Cal Crutchlow | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 2:00.907 | 0.625 | 0.264 | Day 2 | |
5 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha Factory Racing Team | 2:01.062 | 0.780 | 0.155 | Day 3 | |
6 | Alvaro Bautista | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | 2:01.078 | 0.796 | 0.016 | Day 3 | |
7 | Stefan Bradl | LCR Honda MotoGP | 2:01.309 | 1.027 | 0.231 | Day 3 | |
8 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati Team | 2:01.650 | 1.368 | 0.341 | Day 3 | |
9 | Nicky Hayden | Ducati Team | 2:01.778 | 1.496 | 0.128 | Day 2 | |
10 | Bradley Smith | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 2:02.023 | 1.741 | 0.245 | Day 2 | |
11 | Andrea Iannone | Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team | 2:02.566 | 2.284 | 0.543 | Day 3 | |
12 | Michele Pirro | Ducati Test Team | 2:02.773 | 2.491 | 0.207 | Day 3 | |
13 | Randy de Puniet | Power Electronics Aspar | 2:02.863 | 2.581 | 0.090 | Day 3 | |
14 | Aleix Espargaro | Power Electronics Aspar | 2:02.905 | 2.623 | 0.042 | Day 2 | |
15 | Katsayuki Nakasuga | Yamaha Factory Racing Test Team | 2:02.946 | 2.664 | 0.041 | Day 2 | |
16 | Ben Spies | Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team | 2:03.055 | 2.773 | 0.109 | Day 3 | |
17 | Hector Barbera | Avintia Blusens | 2:03.155 | 2.873 | 0.100 | Day 3 | |
18 | Wataru Yoshikawa | Yamaha Factory Racing Test Team | 2:03.257 | 2.975 | 0.102 | Day 3 | |
19 | Hiroshi Aoyama | Avintia Blusens | 2:03.990 | 3.708 | 0.733 | Day 2 | |
20 | Karel Abraham | Cardion AB Motoracing | 2:04.066 | 3.784 | 0.076 | Day 3 | |
21 | Colin Edwards | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | 2:04.102 | 3.820 | 0.036 | Day 3 | |
22 | Danilo Petrucci | Came IodaRacing Project | 2:04.279 | 3.997 | 0.177 | Day 2 | |
23 | Takumi Takahashi | HRC Test Team | 2:04.512 | 4.230 | 0.233 | Day 2 | |
24 | Michael Laverty | Paul Bird Motorsport | 2:04.546 | 4.264 | 0.034 | Day 3 | |
25 | Yonny Hernandez | Paul Bird Motorsport | 2:04.671 | 4.389 | 0.125 | Day 2 | |
26 | Lukas Pesek | Came IodaRacing Project | 2:04.674 | 4.392 | 0.003 | Day 3 | |
27 | Claudio Corti | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | 2:04.709 | 4.427 | 0.035 | Day 2 | |
28 | Bryan Staring | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | 2:05.313 | 5.031 | 0.604 | Day 3 |
MotoGP Sepang test 2 times, 26-28 February: Day 3
The Hondas are back on top, although that’s not the full story. Day 3 gave us Dani Pedrosa clocking a time 0.081 ahead of teammate Marc Marquez, with Jorge Lorenzo, Valentino Rossi and Alvaro Bautista rounding out the top five.
The Thursday session started wet, so only a few riders went out on track. The times were generally slower with much of the rubber washed away by the rain. This meant that although Pedrosa topped today, Lorenzo’s time from Wednesday stands as the quickest time of the test.
Cal Crutchlow, Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl take places five, six and seven in the overall timesheet, and are easily the next fastest group of riders, followed by the factory Ducatis. Unfortunately for Ben Spies, not only did his teammate Andrea Iannone outshine him on day 3, so too did Michele Pirro, Ducati’s test rider. Spies’s shoulder, operated on not long ago, is clearly nowhere near 100%.
In CRT news, Randy De Puniet has reason (other than his girlfriend) to be cheerful. He managed to finally outdo his teammate Aleix Espargaro and clock the fastest CRT time, 2.3 seconds from Pedrosa’s day 3 best, and just over 2.5 seconds from Lorenzo’s faster time from day 2. The Aprilia CRTs, at Sepang at least, are looking pretty respectable.
Day 3:
Pos | Rider | Team | Fastest lap | Lead. Gap | Prev. Gap | Laps | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | PEDROSA, Dani | Repsol Honda Team | 2:00.562 | 41 / 57 | |||
2 | MARQUEZ, Marc | Repsol Honda Team | 2:00.643 | 0.081 | 0.081 | 54 / 54 | |
3 | LORENZO, Jorge | Yamaha Factory Racing Team | 2:00.992 | 0.430 | 0.349 | 23 / 56 | |
4 | ROSSI, Valentino | Yamaha Factory Racing Team | 2:01.062 | 0.500 | 0.070 | 60 / 61 | |
5 | BAUTISTA, Alvaro | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | 2:01.078 | 0.516 | 0.016 | 13 / 43 | |
6 | CRUTCHLOW, Cal | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 2:01.094 | 0.532 | 0.016 | 57 / 59 | |
7 | BRADL, Stefan | LCR Honda MotoGP | 2:01.309 | 0.747 | 0.215 | 7 / 46 | |
8 | DOVIZIOSO, Andrea | Ducati Team | 2:01.650 | 1.088 | 0.341 | 35 / 44 | |
9 | HAYDEN, Nicky | Ducati Team | 2:02.070 | 1.508 | 0.420 | 23 / 53 | |
10 | SMITH, Bradley | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 2:02.314 | 1.752 | 0.244 | 46 / 64 | |
11 | IANNONE, Andrea | Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team | 2:02.566 | 2.004 | 0.252 | 46 / 52 | |
12 | PIRRO, Michele | Ducati Test Team | 2:02.773 | 2.211 | 0.207 | 36 / 38 | |
13 | DE PUNIET, Randy | Power Electronics Aspar | 2:02.863 | 2.301 | 0.090 | 44 / 45 | |
14 | SPIES, Ben | Ignite Pramac Racing Team | 2:03.055 | 2.493 | 0.192 | 31 / 33 | |
15 | NAKASUGA, Katsuyuki | Yamaha Factory Racing Test Team | 2:03.154 | 2.592 | 0.099 | 24 / 32 | |
16 | BARBERA, Hector | Avintia Blusens | 2:03.155 | 2.593 | 0.001 | 37 / 42 | |
17 | YOSHIKAWA, Wataru | Yamaha Factory Racing Test Team | 2:03.257 | 2.695 | 0.102 | 22 / 26 | |
18 | ESPARGARO, Aleix | Power Electronics Aspar | 2:03.423 | 2.861 | 0.166 | 18 / 45 | |
19 | ABRAHAM, Karel | Cardion AB Motoracing | 2:04.066 | 3.504 | 0.643 | 33 / 57 | |
20 | EDWARDS, Colin | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | 2:04.102 | 3.540 | 0.036 | 21 / 42 | |
21 | AOYAMA, Hiroshi | Avintia Blusens | 2:04.512 | 3.950 | 0.410 | 15 / 51 | |
22 | LAVERTY, Michael | Paul Bird Motorsport | 2:04.546 | 3.984 | 0.034 | 21 / 24 | |
23 | PESEK, Lukas | Came IodaRacing Project | 2:04.674 | 4.112 | 0.128 | 32 / 33 | |
24 | PETRUCCI, Danilo | Came IodaRacing Project | 2:04.686 | 4.124 | 0.012 | 18 / 36 | |
25 | CORTI, Claudio | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | 2:04.718 | 4.156 | 0.032 | 48 / 51 | |
26 | HERNANDEZ, Yonny | Paul Bird Motorsport | 2:04.722 | 4.160 | 0.004 | 46 / 47 | |
27 | TAKAHASHI, Takumi | HRC Test Team | 2:04.749 | 4.187 | 0.027 | 63 / 65 | |
28 | STARING, Bryan | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | 2:05.313 | 4.751 | 0.564 | 15 / 40 |
MotoGP Sepang test 2 times, 26-28 February: Day 1
Dani Pedrosa started the second test much as he ended the first, as the fastest rider in the MotoGP paddock. He sat 0.2 seconds clear of Jorge Lorenzo, and must be happy with his day’s work. Even more happy must be Marc Marquez, who clocked a 2:01.9 to be 0.36 off his teammate’s time.
After Marquez, the timings offer a bit of a surprise. Stefan Bradl was mighty impressive and was the last rider in the 2:01s to snatch 4th from Valentino Rossi. Cal Crutchlow is probably annoyed; he was looking to be the fifth fastest rider, but has to settle for 6th, ahead of Alvaro Bautista.
The Ducati riders finally seem to have made some progress, the wet private testing in Jerez clearly giving them some direction for development. Andrea Dovizioso beat teammate Nicky Hayden, but more importantly was only 1.2 seconds from Pedrosa’s benchmark time. The Pramac Ducatis of Ben Spies and Andrea Iannone don’t have as much to be grateful for – they both sit 2.4 seconds off the lead, and behind Aleix Espargaro, who continues to impress with his ART Aprilia.
Espargaro’s time is not just worrying for the Ducatis, but for his teammate, Randy De Puniet. With a best lap 1.3 seconds slower, he’s not only got to find time to match Espargaro, but improve just to be second CRT – Hiroshi Aoyama sits a whole half second ahead of him.
Day 1:
Pos | Rider | Team | Fastest lap | Lead. Gap | Prev. Gap | Laps | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | PEDROSA, Dani | Repsol Honda Team | 2:01.580 | 17 / 43 | |||
2 | LORENZO, Jorge | Yamaha Factory Racing Team | 2:01.815 | 0.235 | 0.235 | 14 / 25 | |
3 | MARQUEZ, Marc | Repsol Honda Team | 2:01.942 | 0.362 | 0.127 | 17 / 23 | |
4 | BRADL, Stefan | LCR Honda MotoGP | 2:01.959 | 0.379 | 0.017 | 24 / 38 | |
5 | ROSSI, Valentino | Yamaha Factory Racing Team | 2:02.028 | 0.448 | 0.069 | 19 / 25 | |
6 | CRUTCHLOW, Cal | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 2:02.272 | 0.692 | 0.244 | 5 / 28 | |
7 | BAUTISTA, Alvaro | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | 2:02.362 | 0.782 | 0.090 | 27 / 32 | |
8 | DOVIZIOSO, Andrea | Ducati Team | 2:02.801 | 1.221 | 0.439 | 16 / 22 | |
9 | HAYDEN, Nicky | Ducati Team | 2:03.143 | 1.563 | 0.342 | 37 / 46 | |
10 | SMITH, Bradley | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 2:03.632 | 2.052 | 0.489 | 24 / 24 | |
11 | NAKASUGA, Katsuyuki | Yamaha Factory Racing Test Team | 2:03.734 | 2.154 | 0.102 | 23 / 24 | |
12 | ESPARGARO, Aleix | Power Electronics Aspar | 2:03.941 | 2.361 | 0.207 | 27 / 28 | |
13 | SPIES, Ben | Ignite Pramac Racing Team | 2:04.047 | 2.467 | 0.106 | 24 / 25 | |
14 | IANNONE, Andrea | Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team | 2:04.050 | 2.470 | 0.003 | 29 / 32 | |
15 | YOSHIKAWA, Wataru | Yamaha Factory Racing Test Team | 2:04.590 | 3.010 | 0.540 | 11 / 23 | |
16 | PIRRO, Michele | Ducati Test Team | 2:04.626 | 3.046 | 0.036 | 24 / 38 | |
17 | AOYAMA, Hiroshi | Avintia Blusens | 2:04.743 | 3.163 | 0.117 | 29 / 30 | |
18 | DE PUNIET, Randy | Power Electronics Aspar | 2:05.288 | 3.708 | 0.545 | 9 / 22 | |
19 | TAKAHASHI, Takumi | HRC Test Team | 2:05.510 | 3.930 | 0.222 | 21 / 34 | |
20 | EDWARDS, Colin | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | 2:05.518 | 3.938 | 0.008 | 17 / 21 | |
21 | PETRUCCI, Danilo | Came IodaRacing Project | 2:05.827 | 4.247 | 0.309 | 19 / 35 | |
22 | ABRAHAM, Karel | Cardion AB Motoracing | 2:05.838 | 4.258 | 0.011 | 15 / 26 | |
23 | HERNANDEZ, Yonny | Paul Bird Motorsport | 2:05.908 | 4.328 | 0.070 | 18 / 29 | |
24 | BARBERA, Hector | Avintia Blusens | 2:06.062 | 4.482 | 0.154 | 27 / 30 | |
25 | CORTI, Claudio | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | 2:06.306 | 4.726 | 0.244 | 21 / 26 | |
26 | STARING, Bryan | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | 2:06.730 | 5.150 | 0.424 | 24 / 34 | |
27 | PESEK, Lukas | Came IodaRacing Project | 2:07.991 | 6.411 | 1.261 | 20 / 25 |
MotoGP Sepang test 1, 5-7 February: The roundup…Pedrosa hits three in a row
As has been the case with MotoGP of late, the riders seem to compete in a few distinct groups. At the top is Dan Pedrosa, followed closely by Jorge Lorenzo, Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez. These were the fastest and most consistent riders, with Pedrosa completing all three days at the top.
A quick note about Marquez. He seems to be every bit the rider we wanted him to be, and the rider the series might need to attract more fans and grow. An aggressive style, super fast and even strong media skills, he has been instantly fast, faster than he has any right to be, and was consistently at the sharp end of things. It’s a long shot for him to go for the title, but on this form podiums are definitely in sight come race time.
Interestingly, it looks like Cal Crutchlow is the man that’s come out of winter training best. He ended just a tenth off of Marquez’s time and had clear daylight behind him to Stefan Bradl. If there’s a space for a fifth rider to mix it with the above riders, he’s your man.
Ducati. The marque still struggles, and the two second gap to Pedrosa is large. Very large. We all want Ducati to be up their challenging, but at this rate, Nicky Hayden and co will not be having a fun year.
The CRTs are looking good. Aleix Espargaro especially seemed to drag lap time out of his ART Aprilia and ending just 2.5 seconds off of the leaders, on a track with such long straights, is encouraging stuff. Michael Laverty too impressed, and although he’ll be using a different Aprilia powered machine during the season, his times and skill will shut up many who said he shouldn’t be here.
The rest of the CRTs were performing much as we’d expect, 4 second plus off the pace. Randy De Puniet was 1.4 seconds behind his teammate Espargaro, which must be worrying him, and he has Hector Barbera breathing down his neck. The CRT competition looks pretty tight, all in all, and should give us some decent racing.