FIM Moto2 World Championship
Motorland Aragon, Spain
September 27, 2014
Qualifying Results (all using Honda engines and Dunlop tires):
1. Maverick VIÑALES, Spain (KALEX), 1:54.073
2. Johann ZARCO, France (CATERHAM SUTER), 1:54.124
3. Mika KALLIO, Finland (KALEX), 1:54.130
4. Franco MORBIDELLI, Italy (KALEX), 1:54.183
5. Esteve “Tito” RABAT, Spain (KALEX), 1:54.224
6. Thomas LUTHI, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:54.341
7. Takaaki NAKAGAMI, Japan (KALEX), 1:54.390
8. Dominique AEGERTER, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:54.391
9. Sandro CORTESE, Germany (KALEX), 1:54.475
10. Marcel SCHROTTER, Germany (TECH 3), 1:54.508
11. Julian SIMON, Spain (KALEX), 1:54.650
12. Jonas FOLGER, Germany (KALEX), 1:54.786
13. Jordi TORRES, Spain (SUTER), 1:54.786
14. Xavier SIMEON, Belgium (SUTER), 1:54.798
15. Luis SALOM, Spain (KALEX), 1:54.800
16. Mattia PASINI, Italy (KALEX), 1:54.827
17. Hafizh SYAHRIN, Malaysia (KALEX), 1:54.843
18. Axel PONS, Spain (KALEX), 1:54.866
19. Ricard CARDUS, Spain (TECH 3), 1:54.916
20. Sam LOWES, UK (SPEED UP), 1:54.983
21. Louis ROSSI, France (KALEX), 1:55.057
22. Nicolas TEROL, Spain (SUTER), 1:55.182
23. Anthony WEST, Australia (SPEED UP), 1:55.280
24. Gino REA, UK (SUTER), 1:55.298
25. Lorenzo BALDASSARRI, Italy (SUTER), 1:55.401
26. Florian MARINO, France (KALEX), 1:55.429
27. Ratthapark WILAIROT, Thailand (CATERHAM SUTER), 1:55.438
28. Robin MULHAUSER, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:55.487
29. Roman RAMOS, Spain (SPEED UP), 1:55.814
30. Riccardo RUSSO, Italy (SUTER), 1:55.859
31. Randy KRUMMENACHER, Switzerland (SUTER), 1:55.978
32. Azlan SHAH, Malaysia (KALEX), 1:56.069
33. Thitipong WAROKORN, Thailand (KALEX), 1:56.447
34. Kenny NOYES, USA (TSR), 1:57.046
More, from a press release issued by AGT Rea Rcing:
Gino Rea out to get points in Sunday’s Aragon GP
Gino Rea’s time in morning Free Practice on Saturday would have positioned him 0.2 seconds from 15th position in Moto2 Qualifying at Aragon. Later qualifying in 24th, only 1.2 seconds separated Rea from pole position. Given the closeness in times, Gino is confident he can battle for the points in Sunday’s race. The AGT REA Racing rider who suffered a tyre wall crash yesterday is hopeful that the injury sustained to his knee will not hinder him.
Gino Rea:
“We’ve had pretty good pace all weekend, starting off in the Top 15 on Friday but the crash and loss of track time in FP2 has cost us again. We didn’t quite get the set up right for qualifying and my FP3 time would have put me four or five places higher into the Top 20. I’m still struggling in a few areas with the front so we will try a few things in the morning to see if we can improve for the race. I’ve had quite a bit of pain from my knee from yesterday’s crash so I’m hoping the aches don’t get worse for tomorrow. I’m sure I’ve got the pace to be battling for points so I need to make the most of the start and the first few laps.”
AGT REA Racing will line up for the Aragon GP tomorrow commencing at 12.20 local time. Follow the team on their Facebook www.facebook.com/agtrearacing and Twitter @AGT_REA_Racing for updates.
More, from a press release issued by NGM Mobile Forward Racing:
Sixth row for Mattia Pasini at Aragon
The Aragon GP, 14th round of the 2014 season, will see Mattia Pasini and Florian Marino taking the start from the 16th and 26th position of the grid.
With all the riders very close, Mattia Pasini set a lap time of 1.54.827, just 7 tenths from pole man Maverick Viñales and tomorrow he will try to make a good start to recover position and stay as close as possible to the Top 10.
At his second race weekend with the NGM Forward Racing Team, Florian Marino worked hard today to find the best set up of his Kalex. Despite a crash during the morning session, fortunately without consequences, the French rider could improve his lap time, setting a promising 1.55.429 and finishing in 26th position.
Mattia Pasini
“I’m not completely satisfied of today’s result. We are not too far from the Top 10 in terms of lap time, although I will take the start from the 6th row. We are all very close and I have the pace to catch the guys in front of me. I have a good feeling with the bike and I’m confident for the race. I hope to make a good start and recover positions as soon as possible”.
Florian Marino:
“The feeling with the bike is good. This is my second weekend on board of the Kalex and I could push more. This morning I crashed, loosing some time. It’s a pity. Anyway I’m only +1.3 seconds from the pole and we are all very close, so tomorrow it will be a good race”
More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing Team:
Front row for Kallio at Aragón
Aragón, Spain – 27 September 2014: Mika Kallio will start the Moto2 Grand Prix of Aragón from the front row of the grid, after finishing third today in a qualifying session that saw the top three riders separated by just 0.057s.
Tito Rabat will start from fifth position on the second row of the grid, after losing time to a crash during qualifying.
Kallio was happy to have qualified on the front row as the potential for an incident at turn one, a tight left-hander very close to the start line, increases the further down the grid you start. The 31-year-old Finn is confident that he has both the pace and the consistency to battle at the front once again in tomorrow’s 21-lap Moto2 race.
Having led the way early in qualifying, Rabat had a minor crash with 15 minutes to go and lost time as the mechanics made quick repairs to the bike. The 25-year-old Spaniard then fell foul of the normal Moto2 qualifying traffic as he tried to put in his flying laps, eventually finishing fifth. It’s only the third race this season that Rabat won’t start from the front row, the last being Silverstone where he went on to win.
Jorge Navarro will start the Moto3 Grand Prix of Aragón from the fourth row of the grid, after qualifying in 11th position this afternoon. The 18-year-old Spaniard counts Aragón as one of his favourite circuits and is confident that he can put in a strong performance in tomorrow’s 20-lap race.
Mika Kallio // 3rd // 1’54.130
“Of course, I’d have preferred to be starting from pole tomorrow, but I’m happy enough to be on the front row. The weekend didn’t start so well, but we’ve worked hard on improving the set up and we made a big step with the front end this morning and I was able to push a little bit more. The conditions this afternoon meant that times didn’t come easy and you had to push hard, but that was the same for everyone. I was pretty consistent with my lap times throughout qualifying, with most of them close to my fastest lap, which is a good position to be in for the race tomorrow.”
Tito Rabat // 5th // 1’54.224
“The conditions changed quite a lot for qualifying, with a slightly lower track temperature and a bit more wind, but no excuses, it was the same for everyone. Also, my normal focus wasn’t quite there today and I didn’t push when I should have done. But the bike feels good, so tomorrow I need to make a good start from the second row and then just do my best in the race.”
Jorge Navarro // 11th // 1’58.969
“I’m happy with qualifying today, as all the riders are very close on times and I’m only 0.6s off the front, which is positive. The weekend so far has been a bit difficult, because the feeling with the bike has been good, but the lap times weren’t coming. But then in qualifying the team did a good job of timing my exits onto the track and, finally, I managed to put in a good lap. Aragón is one of my favourite circuits, so I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow.”
More, from a press release issued by AirAsia Caterham Moto2 Team:
Front Row Start for Zarco at MotorLand Aragon
Circuit: MotorLand Aragon
Circuit Length: 3.155 miles
Bike # 5 – Johann Zarco
FP3: P2; 1’53.840 – 21 laps
Qualifying: P2; 1’54.124 – 18 laps
Bike # 14 – Ratthapark Wilairot
FP3: P11; 1’54.561 – 19 laps
Qualifying: P27; 1’55.438 – 14 laps
Weather
FP3: (Conditions) Dry; (air temp) 21°, (track temp) 25°
Qualifying: (Conditions) Dry; (air temp) 25°, (track temp) 37°
AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing rider Johann Zarco put in a nail biting performance to qualify the #5 Caterham Suter on the front row for tomorrow’s Spanish Grand Prix.
Pushing hard to better his time throughout the afternoon’s session, the Frenchman topped the timesheets with fifteen minutes remaining, just missing out on Pole Position as the chequered flag came out.
Following a successful morning in free practice three Ratthapark Wilairot was in strong form, but a small mistake saw the Thai rider crash out at Turn eleven. Escaping unhurt Wilairot returned to the box where his crew worked hard to repair the damage to the #14 Caterham Suter.
#5 Johann Zarco: “Free practice this morning was good because everybody could be fast and the track conditions were pretty good. This afternoon we had a plan with the tyres to still get feeling and improve the lap time, but the track condition changed a lot and it disturbed us a little because we were far down in the classification. I kept calm and in the end we changed tyre and finally the pace came back. I was second and then first, almost at the end but then Vinales took the pole position, but this is not a problem. The most important is to be on the front row for Sunday and get quickly the pace in the race. I hope I will stay with the leaders, enjoy the race, stay focussed and fight for another podium, which would be very nice for the team and for me.”
#14 Ratthapark Wilairot: “All weekend through free practice we did a good job and I am happy with the bike. We made a good step and we showed that can be in the top fifteen all the time.
In qualifying I crashed and I think it was because with more wind I used more brake. We can see from the data the weak point was in my braking, so I need to adapt more. It was quite fast when I crashed so I am lucky not to be hurt and also that the bike wasn’t too badly damaged. I must say sorry to my team and also thank them for fixing the bike very quickly and allowing me to get back out. Unfortunately when I re-joined the session my feeling was not the same, but the bike is perfect for tomorrow.
“We will see how it is in the morning because I think the weather forecast is for rain. This isn’t good for starting at the back of the grid but either way I will push for a good result.”
Johan Stigefelt – Team Manager: “Today has been a very good qualifying for Johann, he’s been impressive from the start. He has worked well all weekend and has been in the top two every session. This morning was very good, he was consistently doing fast laps and we were thinking it was possible to go for Pole Position today, but we still achieved our target to have a front row start.
“Qualifying actually started out quite badly because we had some issues with grip and it didn’t work out at all for Johann. In the end we had to go back to using another tyre and then we saw immediately that he was picking up the pace. Within just three or four laps he was P2 and then Pole, but anyway the most important is the race tomorrow and to be consistent. I think we can do that, no matter what the weather condition will be, I think we will be strong, so let’s see what happens.
“For Wilairot it was an unfortunate qualifying because he had a very fast crash. He is lucky to be OK and also the bike, but of course it’s disappointing because he had such a good practice session this morning. We were all very excited after FP3 because he did a very good lap time and was P11 and not far off. We were sure we could continue this progress, or at least match the time, but when you have a crash like that this it’s very difficult to get back out and go faster. The most important for him is that he is not injured and the bike is fine. For tomorrows race he will have to build from this position and try to be in the top twenty or top fifteen. We saw this morning that he has the pace and that is what counts. I hope that tomorrow he can show what he is really capable of and what a good job the team are doing on that side of the garage.”
More, from a press release issued by QMMF Racing Team:
West happy with chassis set-up but concerned with the engine – Ramos misses out on previous best time
For the crucial day of qualifying at the Grand Prix of Aragón, QMMF Racing Team rider Anthony West returned to the chassis settings that had made him fast during a private testing session back in June. The 33-year-old Australian was happy with the handling of his Speed Up bike after the change, but still wasn’t able to battle for a good grid position: A noticeable drop in engine performance that was later confirmed with the computer data made it impossible for West to narrow the gap to pole-setter Maverick Viñales, who was 1.2 seconds faster than West around the 5.086 kilometre track. For the race, West and his team will change the gearing to help the engine, but concerns remain if the engine will last race distance.
Team-mate Roman Ramos had high ambitions for qualifying and was determined to improve on his Friday time, but when he tried to ride around the last remaining set-up problems and push harder, he started to make small mistakes and missed out on the grid position he had hoped for. Nevertheless, the local hero is determined to turn things around in the race and to put up a good show for his Spanish fans.
Anthony West – 23rd in 1.55,280
“We made the planned changes to the set-up today, but this morning I still didn’t feel good on the bike. I had a lot of chatter and no grip at all. Getting on the throttle was better, like it was during our test back in June, but the rest of the set-up wasn’t really correct. We then changed some more things for the afternoon and now I am quite happy with the way the bike handles. But I’m afraid that we have another bad engine. It feels like it’s getting slower lap by lap and it doesn’t sound healthy, either. I expected it to blow up during the session and I will be surprised if it lasts the race. My mechanics confirmed on the computer that there is something wrong. It is quite disappointing. Yesterday, I was using sixth at the end of the straight with full rpm. Now I am just getting sixth gear in, revving a little bit, then braking. Just from that you can tell the bike is not accelerating and getting the speed. It is going to be a problem in the race. We are going make the gearing shorter, because this is the only chance we have to make the bike accelerate a bit better and rev out faster. It’s not the best way but the only option we have!”
Roman Ramos – 29th in 1.55,814
“It was a difficult day for us. Yesterday, everything went well and we were very happy with our achievements, so we were highly motivated to do even better today and end up higher in the classification, but things didn’t go our way. We didn’t get the set-up 100 per cent right and I tried to make up for it riding harder, which turned out to be the wrong approach. Instead of going faster, I ended up making small mistakes and couldn’t string the perfect lap together that I was hoping for. Now I am way back on the starting grid, but we won’t give up. I want to improve in the warm-up, I want to have a calm approach like I did yesterday, without making any mistakes. I felt good on the bike yesterday and I still think we can have a good race here at my home Grand Prix in front of all the Spanish fans that will push me along!”
More, from a press release issued by Tech 3 Racing:
Schrotter bolts to 10th in qualifying at Aragon
Marcel Schrotter completed a strong and resolute qualifying campaign to superbly clinch 10th place ahead of what will be a typically intense 21 lap Moto2 race at Aragon tomorrow. Having lost a lot of track time yesterday after crashing heavily, he kicked off proceedings today by finishing in 18th place as he began establishing the setup of his Mistral 610 with his Tech3 Racing Team ahead of the afternoon session. As the qualifying started Schrotter was able to attack at full speed and pulled off a determined effort to seal a best time of 1’54.508 on his 12th lap which scored him a place at the head of the 4th row. His time was impressively only four tenths short of pole position at the 5078 meter MotorLand Aragon circuit. The result leaves Schrotter geared up and ready for tomorrow where he will once again aim to clinch a top points scoring finish as he intends to boost his championship standings in 12th position.
Meanwhile Ricky Cardus completed today’s qualifying session in 19th place which will see him begin the 21 lap sprint around the Aragon track from the seventh row. After a solid performance yesterday Cardus continued to work relentlessly with his Tech3 Racing Team in order to undertake a successful campaign today. During the session the Spanish rider produced a best lap time of 1’54.916 which was only four tenths of a second from his team mate in 10th in the fiercely competitive intermediate class. Cardus now hopes to undertake a typically rocket start to pick through the field with his ambition being to seize a point scoring finish in front of his home crowd before the MotoGP paddock heads outside of Europe for the flyaway races.
Marcel Schrotter – Position : 10th – Time : 1’54.508 – Laps : 17
“First of all, P10 is quite an achievement after all of the difficulties which we have had to overcome this weekend. Yesterday I had a big crash in the morning and damaged the bike heavily, but the Tech3 mechanics worked really hard and made an amazing effort to rebuild the bike for me in time for FP2. However, we then had some electric issues so additionally to the morning practice we also lost vital track time during the afternoon session as well where I only did four flying laps. Therefore, we effectively began the weekend today and to get 10th is great even if I think my hot lap could have been quicker as we had a really strong test here a few months ago. It was very close today and to be only 4 tenths from the pole position is truly positive so I am pleased and confident for tomorrow. Now I will focus on the race where I will intend to make a good start and battle to a great result to thank the team for their fantastic effort this weekend.“
Ricky Cardus – Position : 19th – Time : 1’54.916 – Laps : 20
“Today wasn’t the best qualifying result as I will start from 19th position on the grid which is a lot further back than where I want to be. However the gap to the leader was only 8 tenths of a second which shows how competitive it is in this class, but I am disappointed to not be higher up. Having said that, I am still ready to give it my all as I really want to collect some world championship points in front of my home fans and it would also be a big confidence boost before we head to Japan for the start of the three fly away races. I look forward to the challenge and am ready to have a good start which will be crucial before having a really strong battle through the field.”
More, from a press release issued by Team JiR:
Noyes makes more progress at Aragon
American rider Kenny Noyes shaved further time from his best around Motorland Aragon on the Team JiR Moto2 machine today.
The 35-year-old shaved half a second off his time this morning in free practice but was frustrated when he was unable to match the improvement in the afternoon’s warmer qualifying session. Either way, the experienced rider has gained vital saddle time on the Moto2 prototype machine which is so very different from the normal production-based Kawasaki he races in the Spanish championship.
Series leader Esteve Rabat has to start tomorrow’s race from fifth on the grid, with his team-mate and title rival Mika Kallio in third. Pole position was taken by Maverick Vinales, with former JiR rider Johann Zarco in second and Franco Morbidelli in fourth. It was another tight qualifying session with the top 21 riders covered by just one second.
Kenny Noyes, Teluru team JiR Webike’s rider
“Well, we were holding together today! We approached the sessions in the same way as I would on my 1000cc production bike, but you soon realise you have to do the opposite to go fast on the Moto2 bike. We have made a big jump forward on corner entry, and mid-corner but we have some issues on the exit of the corner. These issues weren’t so bad in the cooler morning session but they make things worse when the conditions get hotter. There’s no real one spot on the track where we are struggling but it’s simply the exit of the corner where we don’t have the pace. So, tomorrow, the first thing I’m going to do is a rain dance, so I hope any American fans will join me! In all seriousness, lower temperatures help us, so that’s what I’m hoping for. In the meantime the team is also going to try giving me a bit more rear-end suspension travel so we can load it up a little more and see if that helps in warm-up and if it does we will adopt the set-up in the race itself.”