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."
Valencia MotoGP Practice Results 2011
Overall it was a strong session for factory Ducati riders Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden as the duo placed third and fourth respectively in the timesheets. Hayden was followed by Pramac Racing’s Loris Capirossi, who displayed Simoncelli’s No. 58 on his bike while grabbing fifth in the charts more than half a second adrift of Stoner.
Yamaha’s Ben Spies secured the sixth-fastest time of the day, with Frenchman Randy de Puniet running just a little more than a tenth behind the American. LCR Honda’s Toni Elias, who briefly spent time leading the field throughout the morning, finished eighth in the timesheets. Meanwhile Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso was the final rider within a second of Stoner after finishing 0.889 seconds adrift of the Aussie. Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow rounded out the top-10.
Rizla Suzuki’s Alvaro Bautista and Mapfre Aspar’s Hector Barbera secured 11th and 12th respectively, followed by Cardion AB Motoracing’s Karel Abraham, who went on to crash heavily during his final lap in the afternoon. San Carlo Honda’s Hiroshi Aoyama rode an unbranded bike with a special message to his fallen teammate as the Japanese rider seized 14th in the timesheets. It was a strong debut for ’11 AMA SuperBike champ Josh Hayes in MotoGP as the American finished ahead of Jorge Lorenzo’s replacement rider, Katsuyuki Nakasuga.
1. Casey Stoner (Honda) 1'45.513
2. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1'45.736
3. Valentino Rossi (Ducati) 1'45.828
4. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) 1'46.073
5. Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 1'46.108
6. Ben Spies (Yamaha) 1'46.259
7. Randy de Puniet (Ducati) 1'46.371
8. Toni Elias (Honda) 1'46.393
9. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) 1'46.402
10. Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) 1'46.581
11. Alvaro Bautista (Suzuki) 1'46.922
12. Hector Barbera (Ducati) 1'46.967
13. Karel Abraham (Ducati) 1'47.079
14. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda) 1'47.581
15. Josh Hayes (Yamaha) 1'48.037
16. Katsuyuki Nakasuga (Yamaha) 1'48.382
Moto2 Championship leader Stefan Bradl conquered the timesheets at Valencia on Friday. The German rider was more than three-tenths faster than Team Switzerland Kiefer Racing’s Randy Krummenacher, who secured second in the charts with a lap of 1'42.106. Meanwhile Jir Moto2’s Alex de Angelis and Ioda Racing Project’s Mattia Pasini rounded out the top-four riders of the day. There was a notable absence from Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol during practice as Marc Marquez dropped out of the final round due to his poor physical condition. The 18-year-old’s practice crash at Sepang forced him out of the previous round also as his hopes of winning the 2011 crown have been dashed by injury.
Stefan Bradl is on pace to secure the 2011 Moto2 title after posting the fastest lap in practice on Friday.
1. Steven Bradl (Kalex) 1'41.777
2. Randy Krummenacher (Kalex) 1'42.106
3. Alex de Angelis (Motobi) 1'42.688
4. Mattia Pasini (FTR) 1'42.941
5. Dominique Aegerter (Suter) 1'43.038
6. Kenny Noyes (FTR) 1'43.814
7. Kenan Sofuoglu (Suter) 1'43.933
8. Anthony West (MZ-RE Honda) 1'44.307
9. Michele Pirro (Moriwaki) 1'44.672
10. Mika Kallio (Suter) 1'44.924
11. Mashel al Naimi (Moriwaki) 1'45.073
12. Scott Redding (Suter) 1'45.210
13. Alex Baldolini (Moriwaki) 1'45.996
14. Xavier Simeon (Tech 3) 1'46.189
15. Raffaele de Rosa (Suter) 1'46.686
0 comments: