FIM MotoGP World Championship Brno, Czech Republic August 27, 2012 Test Session One Results (all on Bridgestone tires): 1. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (YAMAHA), 1:56.461 2. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (YAMAHA), 1:56.578 3. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 1:56.699 4. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 1:56.703 5. Stefan BRADL, Germany (HONDA), 1:57.156 6. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (HONDA), 1:57.161 7. Ben SPIES, USA (YAMAHA), 1:57.474 8. Jonathan REA, UK (HONDA), 1:59.595 9. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (Kawasaki-BQR/FTR), 1:59.743 10. Ivan SILVA, Spain (Kawasaki-BQR/FTR), 2:00.667 11. Michele PIRRO, Italy (Honda-FTR), 2:00.863 12. Loris CAPIROSSI, Italy (various motorcycles), 2:02.049 13. Colin EDWARDS, USA (Aprilia-Speed Master/ART), 2:03.143 More, from a press release issued by Dorna Communications: It was Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow who topped the timesheets in an eventful day of testing at the Brno circuit ahead of Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo, as potential MotoGP™ newcomers made their mark. Crutchlow, who recorded his first-ever MotoGP podium yesterday, was tasked with testing some small parts on his Yamaha, yet also focussed heavily on race consistency. Apart from running out of fuel in the afternoon session, the Brit was happy with his day’s work. His teammate Andrea Dovizioso, fastest in the morning, did not contest the afternoon session, as he was content with his work on front suspension and engine settings to enhance his mid-corner speed. Yamaha Factory Racing’s Lorenzo was first out on track in the morning with his current 2012 YZR-M1, before switching to a black-liveried 2013 prototype rolling-chassis, fitted with the current engine, shortly before the lunch break. He did not go under his times from the previous weekend, and stated that he did not feel it had any improvements over his current package. Team Manager Wilco Zeelenberg did however state there will be more upgrades to test next week when the team heads to Aragón. Lorenzo’s fastest lap was set on his current machine, while teammate Ben Spies, who was working on set-up issues with his bike, finished the day in seventh. Repsol Honda Team’s Dani Pedrosa, testing new parts in his RC213V, was fourth quickest, yet will also have further upgrades to test at a test in Aragón next week. Jonathan Rea, the Ten Kate Honda WSBK rider, who is set to substitute for the injured Casey Stoner at the forthcoming races, was on a steep learning curve all day as he adjusted to the Australian’s bike and the Bridgestone tyres, stating that the latter were the hardest part to adapt to. Having ended the morning session over five seconds off the front, he did extremely well to end the day in eighth, just over three seconds off the front. His time improved by over two seconds across the day, and he set his fastest time on the penultimate lap of the day. LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl, who finished the day in fifth, was seeking better rear grip and was testing a new front suspension and rear shocks. Behind him, San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Álvaro Bautista was working on his Showa suspension, the only prototype Honda to be fitted with them, along with three Showa technicians, to analyse data, and resolve some of the handling issues he has been having. Moto2™ rider Julián Simón had his first outing on a MotoGP™ bike on the second Avintia Blusens BQR-FTR of Yonny Hernandez, and did well to walk away unscathed from a heavy crash before the lunch break. Fellow intermediate-class rider Mike Di Meglio, riding Iván Silva’s machine, also got his first taste of the premier-class, sighting that the carbon brakes were the most difficult thing to get used to. Hernandez himself put in some work testing a new Öhlins front fork, finishing the day in ninth, while Silva went out briefly in the morning to reduce his bike’s chatter issues, ending the test in 10th. San Carlo’s Michele Pirro put in numerous laps to improve the team’s FTR-Honda effort, while NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Colin Edwards was getting familiar with the ART machine of the Speed Master team. Edwards confirmed that he will be talking to his team boss Giovanni Cuzari about potentially switching to the ART for the next race in Misano. MotoGP™ Safety Officer and ex-MotoGP rider Loris Capirossi, who had announced he would be testing numerous bikes, was initially out on track with Bautista’s RC213V, after which he tried Pirro’s machine, Edwards’ current Suter-BMW machine and the BQR-FTR. He stated that he was extremely happy with his first-ever ride of a Honda four-stroke, and commented that he was impressed with the high level of the CRTs and the developments Bridgestone have made since last year. More, from a press release issued by Yamaha MotoGP Team: Yamaha Complete Successful Brno Test Following an eventful Brno race weekend Yamaha Factory Racing have today successfully completed a one-day test at the Czech circuit. Jorge Lorenzo spent the test sessions giving the first shakedown of the 2013 YZR-M1 prototype. The team also worked to find an improvement in the suspension on the front end of the bike to allow him to brake later on the 2012 machine. Team mate Ben Spies had less to test, The Texan spent the morning session working through different settings for the base set up of his 2012 M1 to improve general performance over the remainder of the season. The team will now enjoy a one-week break before moving to Aragon to test again on the 4th and 5th September. Jorge Lorenzo Position : 3 Time: 1’56.699 Laps: 54 “We tried the 2013 bike today, for the moment it’s a prototype so not the final one. The engineers will now take the data away to prepare for our next test. We also worked on braking which was where I struggled with Dani during yesterday’s race. We found something a bit better which should help us gain some tenths of a second.” Ben Spies Position : 7 Time: 1’57.474 Laps: 15 “There was not so much for us to do today, we spent some time this morning working on the base set up of the bike which completed our test schedule. We’ll go to Aragon next week to continue and see if it helps us for the next race in Misano.” BRNO TEST TIMES 1. Cal Crutchlow GBR Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 1m 56.461s (Lap 43/47) 2. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 1m 56.578s (30/31) 3. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha Factory (YZR-M1) 1m 56.699s (46/54) 4. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda (RC213V) 1m 56.703s (17/45) 5. Stefan Bradl GER LCR Honda (RC213V) 1m 57.156s (52/69) 6. Alvaro Bautista ESP Honda Gresini (RC213V) 1m 57.161s (32/62) 7. Ben Spies USA Yamaha Factory (YZR-M1) 1m 57.474s (6/15) 8. Jonathan Rea GBR Repsol Honda (RC213V) 1m 59.595s (60/61) 9. Yonny Hernandez COL Avintia (FTR-Kawasaki CRT) 1m 59.743s (37/40) 10. Ivan Silva ESP Avintia (FTR-Kawasaki CRT) 2m 0.667s (18/83) 11. Michele Pirro ITA Honda Gresini (FTR-Honda CRT) 2m 0.863s (9/33) 12. Loris Capirossi ITA Forward Racing (Suter-BMW CRT) 2m 2.049s (3/5) 13. Colin Edwards USA Speed Master (ART CRT) 2m 3.143s (19/29) More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda: Positive test for Pedrosa and learning day for Rea The Repsol Honda Team were back on track in Brno today after Dani Pedrosa’s fantastic win in yesterday’s Grand Prix of the Czech Republic. Dani spent the day completing a busy testing programme covering many areas, including chatter issues and also a new rear shock. Also on track for Repsol Honda was Jonathan Rea, replacing the injured Casey Stoner. Jonathan used this first test to familiarise himself with the 1000cc machine and adapt to the Bridgestone tyres. The team will resume their test schedule in Aragón on the 4th and 5th of September. DANI PEDROSA 4th 1’56.703 “Today, we’ve done a general test looking to improve the feelings we had in yesterday’s race. We tried some ideas to reduce the chatter, but this is something very difficult to fix, so we’ve been basically working on the electronics and the suspension trying to find more edge grip and in the exit of the corner. I tried a new Öhlins shock which gave me some positive feelings and now we have some new ideas to try in Aragón next week. The track was a little bit slower than yesterday and in the afternoon it was quite windy, but this test was important as it’s a good track to test at and I had all the references still fresh from yesterday’s race”. JONATHAN REA 8th 1’59.595 “It’s an opportunity of a lifetime for me and I’m thankful to Honda for asking me to be here, although I’m gutted for the guys in the team and obviously for Casey as he is the guy that should be here and I wish him a fast recovery. My first impressions are that the bike isn’t that difficult, it’s the tyres and the way they work that I’m finding hard. I’m struggling to finish off the corner which is definitely a confidence issue as I just need to load the front and find that confidence but it’s my first day and I don’t want to find that limit, or risk overstepping it just yet. It’s great to be able to see Dani’s data and learn where to go fast, that’s a big help. I don’t underestimate how tough a job it is, I just need some time and I don’ t feel pressure to perform, it’s a learning process with the team and people around me. It’s been a great day, one of the best days of my life. I’ve been a Honda rider all my career and now to ride the best Honda machine in the World has been a dream come true”. More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3: Crutchlow and Dovizioso finish 1-2 in Brno MotoGP test Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team riders Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso finished first and second at the end of a successful one-day MotoGP test session at the Brno circuit today. Less than 24 hours after claiming a stunning debut MotoGP podium in the bwin Grand Prix Ceske Republiky, Crutchlow was back in the groove im mediately today and he managed to assess a range of different YZR-M1 settings in 47 laps completed. The British rider carried out the majority of his laps on worn Bridgestone tyres and he was still able to set a fast and consistent pace throughout, his best time of 1.56.461 putting him at the top of the timesheets by 0.117s ahead of Dovizioso. Fourth in yesterday’s 22-lap race, Dovizioso too tried different set-up options and his prime focus was on improving mid-corner speed with his YZR-M1 machine. The Italian set a best time of 1.56.578 and with his test schedule complete ahead of the 1pm lunch break, Dovizioso didn’t return to the track for the afternoon session. He is now looking forward to a short break before returning to action for his all-important home race at the Misano track on September 16. Cal Crutchlow 1st 1.56.461 47 laps: “It was a good test and I was really pleased with my times. We did the whole morning and the first run of the afternoon on the same r ear tyre and it was an old one from qualifying on Saturday. I did a 56.9 on it, which is basically as fast as my race pace and it had 44 laps on it. We tried some different settings but the only problem I have with this bike now is we make some big changes but the lap time is the same, so you never know which direction to go in. In practice for the race on Friday I struggled with the hard tyre but today I tested it again and I was lot faster and consistent as well, so that was a big positive. We can leave Brno really happy because it has been a great weekend. I signed a new contract with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team, got my best grid position, scored my first ever MotoGP podium and then set the fastest time at the test today. We can go to Misano in a positive frame of mind and I’m confident we will be challenging close to the front again.” Andrea Dovizioso 1.56.578 31 laps: “It was a positive test today because we tried to understand if a different set-up could help give me more corner speed compared to the race, particularly in the middle of the corner. We found some positive and negative points with the changes we made so it was good to experiment with the set-up and we have found a direction to help me be faster in the middle of the corner. We tried something on the front but this didn’t make such a big difference, so it is clearer now that the im provements have to come from the rear to give me more speed in the middle of the corner. The grip was quite good but the wind was very strong and it was really difficult to do the lap time, so I am happy we made a small improvement and I’m looking forward to seeing how some of the changes we tried work at the next race in Misano.” More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda: BRADL IN GOOD FORM AT BRNO POST GP TEST SESSION Brno, 27th August: Following on from the action of yesterday’s Brno GP, some of the premier class riders and teams joined Brno circuit for one day of testing including the LCR racer Stefan Bradl who set the 5th lap time (1’57.156). The Czech race track opened this morning at 9:00 am with the 22-year-old German completing a total of 69 laps throughout a very busy day. Bradl displayed his good form aboard the Honda machinery event today after the exciting 5th place he obtained in yesterday’s race and will be back on track at Misano World Circuit on the 14th September. Stefan: “It was a very long and hard-working day for me and the guys. We tried many things starting with the new Nissin brake system which is working pretty good and then suspensions settings both in the front and in the rear. We found some small improvements in the acceleration area and braking stability which will help me in the future races. We also lapped on some 2013 spec tyres finding a good pace in the afternoon. At the end it was a productive day because we sorted out several things”.