Valencia MotoGP™ debrief with Shinji Aoki
Monday, November 10 2014
Bridgestone slick compounds available:
Front: Extra-soft & Soft (Symmetric) & Soft (Asymmetric). Rear: Soft, Medium & Hard (Asymmetric)
Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Soft (Main), Hard (Alternative)
In the final MotoGP race of the 2014 season at Valencia, Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez triumphed over Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi and Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa who finished in second and third place respectively, to claim a premier-class record of thirteen victories in one season.
The Valencia Grand Prix took place in cool and unsettled conditions, with a peak track temperature of just 21°C recorded and periods of light rain fall during the race. Marquez was able to set a new Valencia Circuit Record Lap (1’31.515) on the eighth lap of the race in the challenging conditions, as the 2014 World Champion ended the season with another dominant performance.
Q&A with Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department
Valencia was another race this year where temperatures on race day were significantly cooler than the previous two days of track action. How did Bridgestone manage this situation with the teams and riders?
“A key part of our strategy when deciding on our tyre allocation for each race is to ensure our compound selection can deal with a wide range of operating temperatures. However, we also need to work with the teams and riders to ensure that as much as possible, they evaluate these different slick tyre combinations so that they are prepared for any variation in weather conditions from day to day. In this regard, particularly for the front tyre, last weekend in Valencia almost every rider tried all three of our front slick options which enabled them to make the best choice possible when presented with the cooler track temperatures on Sunday. In essence, there are two parts to effectively managing these situations. First, we need to provide an allocation of tyres that will work over a wide range of temperatures at every circuit. The second part is having our engineers work with the teams so that they can find the options that will work best in a given set of conditions for each rider.”
The Valencia Grand Prix was the second time that Bridgestone offered an asymmetric front slick option to the riders. How did it work last weekend and will we see this type of tyre at future races?
“The asymmetric soft compound front slick worked very well at Valencia and in the end it was the popular race choice, with fourteen riders selecting this option. This option was also widely used in the morning sessions when riders wanted good stability on the left shoulder, particularly through the fast, long-radius turn thirteen, while having good warm-up performance on the right corners, of which there are only five at Valencia. After having provided this asymmetric front option at two races this year, the riders have reported that it’s a very good option to have, so we will consider providing this kind of front slick at more circuits next year.”
At times during the race there was a fair amount of rain falling but only two riders, Iannone and Lorenzo, decided to make the change to their bikes fitted with wet tyres. What is it about Bridgestone’s slick tyres that allows the riders to lap relatively quickly in damp conditions?
“Our efforts to widen the operating temperature range and improve the warm-up performance of our slick tyres not only provides a benefit in the dry, it also means that on a greasy track surface like we had yesterday at Valencia when it rained, the tyres stay in their optimum temperature range. Many times in the past our slick tyres have shown a good ability to manage damp track conditions by offering good grip, so this was a factor in why most of the riders remained on slicks. In what were highly variable weather conditions during the race, only one rider had a fall which shows that the riders were able to safely manage the conditions using slicks. This is a positive outcome for us and is the result of our ongoing efforts to improve the safety for the riders. ”
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
Alex Marquez – a new World Champion in the family
With his third place in Sunday’s lightweight class race at Valencia, Alex Marquez has confirmed the 2014 Moto3™ World title at the end of his third year in Grand Prix racing.
Before coming into the World Championship Marquez had honed his skills in his native Spain, racing in the Team Competition Monlau 125cc in the FIM CEV Repsol. The year was 2010, Marquez was already riding under the tuition of a certain Emilio Alzamora and his brother Marc Marquez was en route to winning the 125cc World Championship.
At the beginning of that year Alex could not compete in the first race of the Spanish championship as he was still five days away from reaching the minimum age of 14 required to compete. However in the second race of the season, held at the Circuito de Albacete, Marquez debuted with an 11th place and ended the year ranked 11th in the standings with 24 points.
In 2011 his progress was significant and he finished the season as the runner-up, before winning the FIM CEV Repsol Moto3™ title in 2012. Meanwhile he had started to make regular appearances in Grand Prix, debuting with a 12th place finish at Jerez in 2012, finishing sixth in just his third GP at Barcelona-Catalunya and notching up 11 World Championship rides in total that year.
In 2013 Marquez undertook his first full season in the World Championship riding a KTM for the Estrella Galicia 0,0 team under the watchful eye of Alzamora and in the second half of the season the podium results started to come. A second place at Indy, three consecutive third places at Silverstone, Misano and Aragon and his first victory in Motegi (Japan) in the penultimate race of the year made Marquez the Moto3 Rookie of the Year.
Marquez therefore began the 2014 season as a potential title candidate but there were challenges to overcome with the likes of his teammate Alex Rins, Australian rider Jack Miller and Italian hotshot Romani Fenati also in the hunt for victories. Marquez also had a new machine to adapt to as his team made the switch from KTM to Honda.
After an intense preseason, the new Honda machine lined up on the grid for Qatar ready for battle and Marquez registered his first podium of the season there – in second place. Nine more podiums would follow and Marquez would win three races as he charged to the title, with a particularly strong second half of the season.
The title was confirmed with third place in Valencia and the Marquez family had a new World Champion to celebrate. As Alex Marquez moves up to Moto2™ in 2015 he hopes to continue his progress and one day challenge his brother Marc in MotoGP™.
Alex Marquez title winning facts:
– Marquez is the 11th Spanish rider to win the 125cc/Moto3 World title, joining: Angel Nieto (1971/72/79/81/82/83/84), Jorge Martinez (1988), Alex Criville (1989), Emilio Alzamora (1999), Dani Pedrosa (2003), Alvaro Bautista (2006), Julian Simon (2009), Marc Marquez (2010), Nico Terol (2011) and Maverick Viñales (2013).
– He is the first rider to win the lightweight-class World title on a Honda since Thomas Luthi won the 125cc championship in 2005.
– Marquez has won the title after being sixth in the championship standings and 44 points behind the then championship leader, Jack Miller, after the sixth race of the year at Mugello.
– Alex and Marc Marquez are the first pair of brothers to win World titles in the 66 year history of the world championship series.
Biography
Date of birth: 23rd April 1996
Place of birth: Cervera, Spain
First Grand Prix: Jerez 2012, Moto3
First Pole Position: Barcelona-Catalunya 2014, Moto3
First Podium: Indianapolis 2013, Moto3
First Win: Motegi 2013, Moto3
Race starts: 45
Wins: 4
Podiums: 15
Pole Positions: 3
Fast laps: 7
World titles: Moto3™ (2014)
World Championship career:
2012: Moto3 – 20th, Suter Honda, 11 race starts, 27 points
2013: Moto3 – 4th, KTM, 17 race starts, 213 points
2014: Moto3 – World Champion, Honda, 18 race starts, 278 points.
More, from a press release issued by Paul Bird Motorsport:
The Penrith-based Paul Bird Motorsport team brought down the curtain on their three-year MotoGP participation with another fitting double finish in today’s GP Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana.
The 18th and final round of the 2014 MotoGP Wold Championship in Spain saw Ulsterman Michael Laverty claim 19th place with Australian team-mate Broc Parkes following home inside the top 20 for the only British team in MotoGP.
Former British Supersport Champion Laverty, on the Rapid Solicitors and Silkolene-backed Aprilia ART-powered PBM, and twice runner-up in the World Supersport Championship Parkes, aboard the Rapid Solicitors and Silkolene-backed PBM, showed good pace in free practice and qualifying and lined up on row eight of the grid.
With one of the strongest fields of the year assembled, both riders made good starts but in the early laps, rain started to fall meaning conditions were difficult. The rain eventually came to nothing but as has been so often the case this year, the attrition rate was so low as Laverty and Parkes battled up the order.
Laverty made it into the top 20 on lap 22 and climbed to 19th a couple of laps later on whereby he was followed by Parkes and although Parkes was put a lap in arrears on the very last lap and crossed the line in 20th, Laverty held on to claim 19th on the same lap as eventual winner and 2014 World Champion Marc Marquez.
Although disappointed on missing out on points following their recent good run, the PBM team can be justifiably pleased with their performances which have seen the Cumbrian team make it 31 finishes out of the 36 races this season for the British-made machine.
Highlights of 2014 include the team’s best ever MotoGP result when Laverty finished 12th and Parkes in 14th in Sepang which was the second time this season that the riders had brought both the British-built PBM machines home in the points, which also happened in Indianapolis, and added to the team’s points scoring rides in Losail, Assen and Phillip Island.
Both riders finished level on points in the MotoGP World Championship standings in equal 23rd place and also, both Parkes and Laverty ended up joint tenth in the Open class standings. Parkes claimed third in Rookie of the Year whilst importantly for the PBM team, they claimed sixth place in the Constructor’s table and 12th in the team’s standings.
Winners of over 150 races in British Superbike Championship, World Superbike Championship, MotoGP CRT, 125cc, 250cc, Supersport and Superstock British Championships, Isle of Man TT, North West 200, Daytona, Macau GP, and British domestic races. Points scorers in 125cc, 250cc and 500cc and MotoGP, as well as in World Supersport, podium finishers in WSB, Superpole winners in World Superbike, PBM is one of the most successful motorcycle racing teams in history. For 2015, they will be increasing their profile as defending champions in the MCE British Superbike Championship as well as a major campaign at the International Road Races including the North West 200, Isle of Man TT, Ulster Grand Prix and Macau Grand Prix.
Indeed, the statistics regarding their three seasons as the only all-British team in MotoGP certainly stack up favourably with a finishing rate of over 77% of races entered during that time, two of which were with their own chassis built at the team’s base in the Lake District.
Michael Laverty: “The weather made it quite a strange race today as right from the very first lap we had big drops of rain on our visors. I had good pace when the track was fully dry, but found it tough when the track got greasy as my rear tyre had began to cold tear. All in all it’s been a good weekend, I was really happy with the lap time I pulled out in qualifying and we had a good setting going into the race today. It’s a bit emotional today as it’s the final MotoGP for the PBM team, but I’m finishing with a smile on my face, it’s been a great life experience and I feel I’m a stronger rider for it. I’d like to thank all the guys in the team for a great two years and a special thank you to Paul Bird and Phil Borley for making it happen.”
Broc Parkes: “Although it was disappointing not to score points in the team’s final MotoGP race, I’m pleased we got another finish as conditions were very difficult in the early stages. My first season in MotoGP has been memorable and I’m proud of the fact that I scored PBM their best result of the season with 11th at Assen. I’d like to thank the team, Paul Bird and Phil Borley for this opportunity and wish them well in the future.”
Phil Borley, Technical Director: “We did not quite achieve the results we were capable of in our last MotoGP race, mainly because both Michael and Broc were more cautious when it started to rain. It was a pity the rain disrupted their rhythm as they both had a good pace and would have finished with a smaller gap to the front if the rain had stayed away. Racing in MotoGP has been a great challenge for PBM and I believe we have achieved some respectable results considering the support and resource we have had. I would like to say a big thank you to the guys in the team for their work this year, as well as all the people who have helped us in the last three years.”
For more information, please visit the team’s website www.pbmuk.net and www.pbmuk.net
More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office:
SUZUKI TAKES NEW MOTOGP RACE-STEPS AT VALENCIA
Intermittent cloudy skies delivered bouts of light rain and made the 2014 Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana at the Ricardo Tormo circuit a delicate balancing-act of risk and skill for the fastest motorcycle racers in the world at what was the 18th and final round of the MotoGP Championship today.
Team Suzuki MotoGP lined-up on the grid in a wild-card appearance; and for the first time since 2011. Randy De Puniet was circulating inside the top-20 on the GSX-RR and determined to aim for the group fighting for points, but had to terminate his race after just 12 laps due to a technical glitch.
The team had been working from the moment it arrived in Valencia and ploughed a way through the settings, ideas and doubts as a result of a comprehensive testing programme in 2014.
In the hands of 33-year-old De Puniet, the Suzuki crew had a willing and determined athlete keen to enjoy perhaps his last foray in MotoGP before changing Suzuki machinery for a World Superbike attempt in 2015. The Frenchman knows the new MotoGP project intimately and even though predictable teething problems surfaced during the weekend, he still managed to lower his lap-times and put the GSX-RR firmly into the competitive environment that Suzuki needed to progress with its racing goal.
Suzuki will now welcome 2014 Open category winner Aleix Espargaro and former Moto3 World Champion Maverick Viñales into the pit box tomorrow for the very first briefings and test-laps looking towards 2015.
Randy De Puniet:
“We knew it would not be an easy weekend but I did not expect to run into these problems. Everyone in the team tried their best but it was not sufficient to finish as I struggled with a gearbox-shifting problem. It is a shame because in these race conditions I might have been able to push for a good position. Now it is time for me to switch to Superbike. I think I did a good job for Suzuki during the year and I’m interested to see and hear the feedback of the new riders now.”
Davide Brivio – Team Manager:
“We faced some technical issues this weekend, some of which we have not encountered during the testing campaign. From this point of view it was a good decision to race here and learn more for our job over the winter. In terms of performance – and with everything considered – things are not so bad. We know we have to improve the engine and electronics and we are already working [on this]. Now we can add the information from this weekend. Despite everything, it was good to race at Valencia and make these discoveries now. We will test this week. We won’t find big solutions in the space of one day so we will have to try and manage. The new riders want to test as soon as possible and get a feeling for the bike so we will do what we can to give them the best conditions and then see how the test will progress.”
Satoru Terada – Team Suzuki MotoGP Director:
“It was quite a tough weekend for the team. We’d been having some technical problems recently and we couldn’t find a sufficient solution, so it was a difficult from the start of the meeting. We feel sorry for Randy as he made such a big effort in the last two years with the development process and we really appreciate him giving his best in this final race of the season. Today was actually our first race after three years and we learned a lot; especially about what we are missing. We’ll have two new young riders to try our bikes tomorrow and we are excited to know their impressions. We understand that we have to solve our current problems first, listen to their requirements; and then look towards the first official IRTA test next February in Sepang.”