MotoGP Valencia: 'Smooth and careful' attitude puts Bautista on top
Rizla Suzuki's Alvaro Bautista took a smooth and careful attitude to riding in tricky conditions this afternoon in the second MotoGP free practice session at Valencia put the Spaniard in to spot while the morning's fastest man Casey Stoner languished down in eighth.
Bautista bagged the fastest time with a few minutes remaining in the session with a lap that just kept a charging Nicky Hayden at bay while the usual suspects, including all the Repsol Hondas were out of the top five.
“Today has been a good day for us because we have had a full wet session to get some practice in those conditions. In this morning’s session I had a good feeling at the start, but as the track became drier it wasn’t as good and I couldn’t ride at the limit," said Bautista.
"The bike moved a lot and was spinning-up all over the track, so it was very difficult. In the second session, after the heavy rain, the track was much wetter and the conditions were a lot worse than this morning for all the riders, so it was essential that you rode smoothly and carefully. We changed some settings in the bike to help me get a confident feeling in the GSV-R and at the end of the session I was able to find a good rhythm.
"We finished first today and although it’s only the second free practice, you cannot improve as much in the wet as you can in the dry, so this is very good for us. I hope that tomorrow we can make some improvements in drying conditions like we had earlier today, but if it is totally dry we still have plenty of work to do to get ready. I am happy with the first day and looking forward to the rest of the weekend.”
MotoGP Valencia: 'I could have been in the top three' - Crutchlow
Monster Yamaha's Cal Crutchlow made a 'couple of small mistakes' in the wet second MotoGP free practice session at Valencia and reckons that had it nor been for them, he could have challenged for a top-three spot on the timesheets.
As it was, the former World Supersport Champion had to make do with fifth place but was only a second off the pace of fastest man Alvaro Bautista who is continuing to make a serios case for Suzuki remaining in racing's premier class next season.
“Today was a positive start to the weekend and I think I could have gone a fair bit quicker at the end of this afternoon's session and been challenging for the top three but I made a couple of small mistakes on my last lap. But I was still fifth fastest though and I felt pretty comfortable in the full wet conditions," said Crutchlow.
"I am happy enough even though the track hasn't got much grip at all. It was very slippery and you've got to be careful because it is easy to make a mistake. But the bike definitely felt better in the full wet rather than when it was a bit sketchy this morning.
"I just hope we get a dry session tomorrow to get some time on the bike in the dry. Nobody wants to be starting the race with no dry track time, so we'll have to see what happens with the weather. If it is wet tomorrow I'm sure we can make some improvements and go a bit faster.”
Josh Hayes enjoys 'scary' MotoGP debut at wet Valencia
American Superbike champion Josh Hayes admitted that making his MotoGP debut in wet conditions in Valencia practice was a "scary" experience.
The 36-year-old is standing in for the injured Colin Edwards at Tech 3 Yamaha this weekend, and impressed by taking 10th place in the afternoon session. He had no experience of either a MotoGP bike or the Valencia track before today.
"My first day in MotoGP has been very difficult and quite scary at times to be honest," said Hayes.
"Before I went out this morning I don't think I have ever been so nervous in my life.
"I was happy with my lap times this morning in tricky conditions but then in the full wet this afternoon it meant it was quite a scary introduction to MotoGP.
"Although I've not experienced the full potential of a MotoGP bike because of the wet conditions, it is obvious that the Tech 3 Yamaha is a very good motorcycle and the team has done an excellent job to try and make me comfortable."
Hayes stayed on track without pitting throughout the afternoon session and notched up 24 laps.
"All I had to do was ride the machine and try to improve," he said. "Right now it is not so much about the set-up of the bike, it is just me learning the bike and I will continue that process tomorrow."
Although his performance in the wet has been very strong, Hayes said he was concerned about not getting enough dry running as the weekend progressed.
"I just hope that at some point I will get to have a dry practice so I can get to grips with the carbon brakes," he said.
"I don't want to be going into the race on Sunday having to learn to ride in the dry and also adjust to the carbon brakes after two wet days. That would be the worse scenario for me but I enjoyed today a lot."
Ben Spies frustrated - but uninjured - after practice crash at Valencia
Ben Spies said his crash in afternoon practice at Valencia was frustrating, but did not make too much difference to his physical condition.
The American is still sore from his accident in Australian Grand Prix qualifying three weeks ago, and fell again when he touched the white marker line on the entry to Turn 1 in today's second session.
But he said the discomfort he felt afterwards was standard for a violent crash, rather than it having exacerbated the head and rib injuries from Phillip Island.
"I'm a little beat up but that's normal after a crash," said Spies.
"I got a little wide over the white line and hit a puddle and hydroplaned the front, lost it and went down. The bike was starting to feel pretty good and we were getting up to speed.
"It's not the best way to come back, I'm not really happy about it but we'll look forward to tomorrow and make it better.
"We made a change at the beginning of the second session which was bad, then went back to the settings from the morning and were making progress so we'll continue with that set-up in final practice."
But team director Massimo Meregalli was concerned that the crash could potentially have implications for the rest of the weekend.
"Unfortunately Ben crashed today and hit his shoulder on the ground," said Meregalli.
"For sure this isn't going to help his physical condition over the weekend as he's pretty sore. Hopefully he can manage the pain and keep pushing to deliver as strong results as possible."
Suzuki says Alvaro Bautista's fastest time in Valencia practice underlines its progress
Suzuki said Alvaro Bautista's timesheet-topping performance at Valencia showed that the team was making genuine progress, even though it was a wet session.
Bautista led the way in the rain this afternoon, and despite the rain having shaken up the order, team boss Paul Denning pointed out that for much of the year wet and cold conditions had actually been Suzuki's weak spot.
"Cold and low grip conditions were always the situation that caused us the most problems and as we saw at Phillip Island a few weeks back - and again today - the steps that Suzuki has taken with the GSV-R have again proven to be very effective," said Denning.
He felt Bautista deserved a lot of credit for today's performance as well.
"Improvements to the motorcycle aren't enough because you also need a confident and capable rider and Alvaro looked very assured and smooth in the full wet conditions this afternoon - it was nice to see his name at the top of the sheets," Denning said.
"I think Alvaro - and everyone else – would prefer some dry, sunny running over the next couple of days, but whatever the weather brings our intention is to push to the maximum and achieve the best result we can."
Bautista said he had been less comfortable as the track dried towards the end of the morning session.
"In this morning's session I had a good feeling at the start, but as the track became drier it wasn't as good and I couldn't ride at the limit," he said. "The bike moved a lot and was spinning-up all over the track, so it was very difficult.
"In the second session, after the heavy rain, the track was much wetter and the conditions were a lot worse than this morning for all the riders, so it was essential that you rode smoothly and carefully.
"We changed some settings in the bike to help me get a confident feeling in the GSV-R and at the end of the session I was able to find a good rhythm.
"We finished first today and although it's only the second free practice, you cannot improve as much in the wet as you can in the dry, so this is very good for us."
0 comments: