FIM Moto2 World Championship Catalunya, Spain June 14, 2013 Free Practice Two Results (all using Honda engines and Dunlop tires): 1. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (KALEX), 1:47.235 2. Scott REDDING, UK (KALEX), 1:47.538 3. Takaaki NAKAGAMI, Japan (KALEX), 1:47.642 4. Jordi TORRES, Spain (SUTER), 1:47.676 5. Thomas LUTHI, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:47.678 6. Johann ZARCO, France (SUTER), 1:47.721 7. Dominique AEGERTER, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:47.729 8. Esteve RABAT, Spain (KALEX), 1:47.769 9. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (SPEED UP), 1:48.113 10. Simone CORSI, Italy (SPEED UP), 1:48.153 11. Sandro CORTESE, Germany (KALEX), 1:48.221 12. Nicolas TEROL, Spain (SUTER), 1:48.236 13. Xavier SIMEON, Belgium (KALEX), 1:48.250 14. Marcel SCHROTTER, Germany (KALEX), 1:48.299 15. Julian SIMON, Spain (KALEX), 1:48.343 16. Mattia PASINI, Italy (SPEED UP), 1:48.358 17. Toni ELIAS, Spain (KALEX), 1:48.368 18. Mika KALLIO, Finland (KALEX), 1:48.574 19. Axel PONS, Spain (KALEX), 1:48.708 20. Mike DI MEGLIO, France (MOTOBI), 1:48.771 21. Danny KENT, UK (TECH 3), 1:48.798 22. Yuki TAKAHASHI, Japan (MORIWAKI), 1:48.799 23. Anthony WEST, Australia (SPEED UP), 1:48.828 24. Louis ROSSI, France (TECH 3), 1:48.871 25. Randy KRUMMENACHER, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:48.978 26. Kyle SMITH, UK (KALEX), 1:49.026 27. Ratthapark WILAIROT, Thailand (SUTER), 1:49.031 28. Ricard CARDUS, Spain (SPEED UP), 1:49.040 29. Alberto MONCAYO, Spain (SPEED UP), 1:49.203 30. Steven ODENDAAL, South Africa (SPEED UP), 1:49.208 31. Hafizh SYAHRIN, Malaysia (KALEX), 1:49.234 32. Dani RIVAS, Spain (KALEX), 1:49.260 33. Doni Tata PRADITA, Indonesia (SUTER), 1:49.480 34. Rafid Topan SUCIPTO, Indonesia (SPEED UP), 1:52.526 More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing Team: Barcelona, Spain – 14 June 2013: Scott Redding remains quietly confident, after ending the day fourth fastest on combined times in Barcelona. Mika Kallio struggled once again to find a good feeling with the bike and, as a result, finished 10th on the timesheet after today’s two free practice sessions. Redding tested a radically different set-up on his Kalex Moto2 machine during this morning’s 45-minute practice, but switched back to a more familiar setting after the expected improvements didn’t materialise. The 20-year-old Briton took his time finding a good rhythm this afternoon, posting his fastest time right at the end of the 45-minute second free practice. Kallio struggled once again with the rear grip issues that have affected him the past three races, with this afternoon’s rise in temperature and subsequent drop in grip levels exacerbating the problem severely. As a result the 30-year-old Finn was unable to improve upon his time from this morning during this afternoon’s second free practice session and ended the day 10th on combined times. Despite grip levels dropping as the track temperature rose ahead of this afternoon’s second Moto3 free practice session, Livio Loi managed to improve his lap time by more than two-tenths, to end the day 16th on combined times. More importantly the 16-year-old Belgian was within 1.68s of the fastest lap of the day, which was posted by factory KTM rider, Luis Salom. Scott Redding #45: 4th – 1’47.538 “This morning we tried a new set-up on the bike, but the feeling wasn’t what we were expecting. We switched back to a setting closer to what we’ve run on the bike before and it was getting better as the session progressed, but then we ran out of time. This afternoon the temperature had gone up and the track felt really greasy, but the feeling with the bike and the feedback from the tyres was pretty good. It got better as the session went on, so it wasn’t too bad in the end.” Mika Kallio #36: 10th – 1’48.148 “Again I’m struggling to get the feeling I want from the bike. We’ve had the same problem for three races now, but here it is worse than ever. This morning was pretty bad, but with the higher track temperature and less grip available this afternoon it was probably the worst it’s ever been. I need to sit down tonight with my Chief Mechanic, Naoya Kaneko, to discuss whether a switch back to the set-up we used at the start of the season is an option. As it is, the bike just doesn’t instil confidence and, without confidence, it’s not possible to push to the limit.” Livio Loi #11: 16th – 1’53.734 “I set my fastest time three laps into this afternoon’s session, when the bike was fitted with the medium option tyre front and rear. We suspect that the medium tyres will struggle to last the race on Sunday, so most of the session we were trying the harder options tyres and I couldn’t improve my lap time any further. We will try again with the medium tyres tomorrow, maybe over a longer run, to see if there’s any chance of them lasting race distance, as the grip level is much better. Overall it’s been a pretty good first day, but we need to improve again tomorrow.” More, from a press release issued by QMMF Racing Team: West slowed by engine problems – Sucipto learns and likes Montmeló QMMF Racing Team rider Anthony West had a good start into the Grand Prix of Catalunya when he climbed up to twelfth position in the first free practice session on Friday morning. Convinced of his chances for an even better result in the afternoon, the 31-year-old Australian ran into unexpected engine problems and dropped back to 23rd in the second session, which put him into 15th place in the combined standings. His suspicion of a lack of speed was confirmed in the topspeed list, where West was down in 17th place with 275.7 kph in the morning and in 22nd place with 276.2 kph in the afternoon, which was about 6 kph slower than the fastest riders on the track. Young teammate Rafid Topan Sucipto on the other hand had a difficult start with a crash in the morning, an incident from which the Indonesian teenager bounced back to go more than a second faster in the afternoon. Even though he likes the layout of the 4.7-kilometre Montmeló circuit, he still needs to build up confidence for the tyre grip in the heat that soared to 29 degrees and a track temperature of 51 degrees in the afternoon. Anthony West – 15th in 1.48,263 “We didn’t have a bad start this morning, I was twelfth with a gap of just 1.2 seconds to the leader and I was convinced that we had a base to start and to improve from. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as we hoped in the afternoon. There was quite a number of riders that struggled with the higher track and air temperatures and I was one of them. But it was not only the conditions that slowed me. I’m convinced that there is a problem with the engine, something we seem to get all the time when there is an engine change. This engine now seems to vibrate everywhere on the track. Even on the straight it doesn’t feel as if it runs very well. The bike was slow this afternoon and so far, we don’t know why. We are trying to analyse the problem and to come up with a solution for tomorrow!” Rafid Topan Sucipto – 34th in 1.52,526 “It’s another new track for me and I like the layout, fast and flowing. What I don’t like is the heat because I lose grip and feeling for the bike as it gets hotter, which hurts my confidence. I had a crash this morning because of that, a lowsider without serious consequences. I managed to go quicker in the afternoon, but not quick enough. For tomorrow, we have a few ideas about how to improve the bike and my riding. I hope to have a better day and to get a decent qualifying position!” More, from a press release issued by Gresini Racing: PRADITA STRUGGLING FOR CONFIDENCE IN BARCELONA Doni Tata Pradita struggled for pace around the Circuit de Catalunya today, the Indonesian rider citing the final two corners of the track as his achilles heel. After analysing the data together with his engineers thi s evening, Doni is hoping to take a big step forward in tomorrow’s final free practice and qualifying sessions. Doni Tata Pradita (33rd 1’ 49” 480) “I struggled today because I kept messing up the last couple of corners. It’s a shame because I wasn’t doing too badly around the rest of the circuit. We’ll look at the data together with the technicians and try to understand where we are going wrong so that we can make up ground tomorrow.” Fausto Gresini “Unfortunately today Pradita wasn’t able to get his head around the final sector of the track but he works hard and he is always so determined to learn that I am sure he will make progress tomorrow. ” More, from another press release issued by Gresini Racing: WILAIROT FOLLOWS POINTS TRAIL TO SPAIN After narrowly missing out on his first Moto2 World Championship points of the season at Mugello two weeks ago Ratthapark Wilairot is even more determined than ever to finish in the top fifteen as the series heads to Barcelon a. The Thai rider completed a positive test following the race in Italy and he is now aiming to demonstrate his improved confidence with the bike at a similar layout in Montmelò. Ratthapark Wilairot “After the race weekend and the post-race test at Mugello I am more certain than ever that we are in good shape to start picking up some top results and I want to start demonstrating my true potential in Barcelona this weekend. I like the track, it’s good fun and I know I can be strong there. I am finding the feeling I need with the bike now and our main objective of scoring points is within our reach.” Fausto Gresini “Feem has the potential to be a consistent top fifteen finisher in this class. He proved it in the race at Mugello and especially in the test, when he was able to improve his pace again. He needs to concentrate hard now because he has the ability to do well at this level and I am still convinced that eventually he will do it.”