MotoGP ; Lorenzo remporte la première course de l’année au Qatar / Dominant victory for Lorenzo under the Qatar floodlights

Le Champion en titre s’est imposé en maître à Losail, devant Andrea Dovizioso et Marc Márquez.

             

Sacré Champion du Monde MotoGP™ pour la troisième fois de sa carrière en 2016, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) a ouvert la saison 2016 avec une superbe victoire au Grand Prix Commercial Bank du Qatar et a confirmé qu’il serait l’homme à battre cette année.

Parti de la pole position, l’Espagnol a d’abord dû concéder la tête de la course à Andrea Iannone (Ducati) et son coéquipier Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), nettement plus rapide sur la ligne droite grâce à la puissance de la Desmosedici GP 2016, tandis qu’il avait derrière lui Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) et Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda). 

Qualifié en première ligne, Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) a été évincé du groupe de tête dès les premiers tours et a laissé filer devant lui les cinq prétendants au podium. 

              

Installé en seconde position depuis le départ, Dovizioso est passé en tête de la course dans le sixième tour, devant Iannone, qui a chuté juste après en tentant de contre-attaquer. 

Lorenzo a ensuite patienté quelques tours derrière Dovizioso pour trouver la meilleure façon de passer devant et l’a fait juste avant la mi-course pour ensuite solidement mener jusqu’à la fin de la course. Le Champion en titre a haussé le ton en fin d’épreuve et a signé le meilleur temps de la course sur le 20e des 22 tours pour finir hors de portée de ses adversaires.

Derrière lui, Márquez, qui était passé devant Rossi dès le troisième tour, a essayé de doubler Dovizioso à plusieurs reprises mais n’a jamais pu concrétiser et finissait donc troisième derrière l’Italien, qui renouvelait sa deuxième place de 2015 à Losail.

S’il est resté sur les talons de Márquez, Rossi n’a quant à lui eu que très peu d’occasions d’inquiéter son rival et a terminé au pied du podium, avec onze secondes d’avance sur Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team), qui avait été décroché du groupe de tête en début d’épreuve. 

               

Viñales a quant à lui pris la sixième position avec plus de trois secondes d’avance sur Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech3), présent dans le parc fermé en tant que premier pilote satellite et vainqueur d’un duel avec son coéquipier Bradley Smith pour 0.023s d’avance.

                            

The 2016 MotoGP™ World Championship got off to a fiery start in Qatar as Lorenzo blitzed the field ahead of Dovizioso and Marquez.

             

With new Michelin tyres and new unified electronics, the Commercial Bank Grand Prix of Qatar was set to not only start a new season of the MotoGP™ World Championship, but also begin a new era. Testing had given fans a preview of who was fast and what bikes were working well, but few had any idea what would happen as the lights went out on the first race of the 2016 season.

                 

Qualifying saw incredibly tight times, all of the top 12 riders within a second and the split row divided by under a tenth of a second. All signs pointed to it being a stunning race, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) lining up in pole position for the 62nd time in his Grand Prix career as he aims for back-to-back premier class titles for the first time.

Just behind Lorenzo on the grid was Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team), the factory Honda rider having to push harder than ever to overcome several of Honda’s issues, adopting an even more wild riding style. Completing the front row was rising star Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar), the young Spaniard aiming to return Suzuki to the podium for the first time since 2008. Meanwhile, Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) started in fifth, he and Lorenzo having exchanged words in the press after an incident in FP4. The scene was set for an explosive start to the season.

As the lights went out it was Lorenzo who roared into the first corner ahead of Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team). It was a poor start for Marquez who dropped back outside the top five. After the opening corners, Lorenzo led with Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) behind, the Desmosedici GP again starting well in Qatar. Meanwhile Rossi looked on in fourth.

The top end speed of the Ducati proved a force to be reckoned with as both Iannone and Dovizioso blasted past Lorenzo on the straight, dropping the World Champion to third as they ended the first lap. At the back of the leading trio, Rossi stayed just ahead of Marquez as all five began to settle into their rhythms.

It was Andrea Iannone who led across the line, both he and Dovizioso able to open up a lead of several tenths over the pursuing Yamaha pair. Meanwhile Pedrosa and Viñales, sixth and seventh, attempted to close the gap. At Turn 6 on lap three Marquez slid up the inside of Rossi to grab fourth, Rossi dropped back slightly after the pass, 0.3s from Marquez.

Fastest lap after fastest lap couldn’t split the top five, the Michelin tyres improving with each lap.  On the sixth lap ‘Desmo Dovi’ tried to take the lead but was quickly pushed back by an aggressive move from his teammate, living up his nickname of ‘The Maniac’ but Dovizioso wasn’t deterred and struck again later in the lap. Pushing harder and harder, Iannone suffered a fast fall at Turn 13 as he attempted to go up the inside of his teammate. Although he was unhurt, not finishing was a bitter pill to swallow. His fall was soon followed by Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) who crashed out of the race at Turn 4.

With Iannone gone, Lorenzo took up the challenge and pushed Dovizioso hard for the lead. Dovizioso was regularly at least 5km/h faster down the straight than Lorenzo, but on lap nine the Majorcan struck and went into the lead. A small gap emerged, allowing Lorenzo to maintain his lead even down the straight.

A string of fastest laps of the race followed at the Qatar GP entered the middle laps, bot Lorenzo and Dovizioso exchanging fastest laps of the race. By mid race Lorenzo had an advantage of over 0.3s, working hard to stay ahead. Neither Marquez nor Rossi were able to make a serious impression on the leading pair, Rossi appeared to be fading away but then produced a 1’55.281 on the 14th lap of the race. The Michelin tyres went the distance as riders throughout the field were setting personal bests and fastest race laps till the end.

As the race entered its final five laps, Marquez closed in on Dovizioso for second as Lorenzo maintained a extended a half second lead to a second. With four laps to go Marquez effortlessly slid up the inside of Dovizioso to move into second. Marquez tried to close in on Lorenzo but soon found himself in the company of Dovizioso and Rossi again. As the riders charged down the straight to begin the final lap Dovizioso passed Marquez into Turn 1.

Lorenzo would eventually cross the line a dominant 2.019s ahead of the second, Dovizioso repeating his second place finish of 2015 after Marquez tried to pass in the last corner. The Spaniard settled for third with Valentino Rossi 0.1s behind in fourth.

Dani Pedrosa completed the top five but was over 13 seconds back on the race winner.

Viñales, Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Hector Barbera (Avintia Racing) and Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Yakhnich) completed the top ten.

The fastest lap of the race went to Lorenzo who set a 1’54.927 on the 20th lap.

There were further crashes for Loris Baz (Avintia Racing) and Stefan Bradl (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini). Both were unhurt.

Lorenzo leaves the opening race leading the championship with 25 points. The MotoGP™ World Championship are back on track on the first of April for Free Practice 1 of the Gran Premio Motul de la República Argentina.

                 

Iannone place Ducati en pole position au Mugello / Iannone delights Italian fans as Marquez provides the drama

L’Italien sera en tête de la grille MotoGP™ pour la première fois de sa carrière dimanche au Grand Prix TIM d’Italie.

Suite à une première journée dominée par son coéquipier Andrea Dovizioso au Mugello, Andrea Iannone a été le héros du samedi au Grand Prix TIM d’Italie, dont il a décroché la pole position, sa première en catégorie reine, la première de Ducati au Mugello depuis celle de Casey Stoner en 2007 et la première d'un Italien sur une moto italienne à domicile en catégorie reine depuis Giacomo Agostini en 500cc à Imola en 1972.

Affaibli par une blessure au bras gauche, l’Italien, qui avait occupé la pole position à huit reprises en Moto2™, s’est surpassé pour tirer le meilleur de la GP15 ainsi que de son pneu tendre et a signé un nouveau record du Mugello en 1’46.489 ainsi qu’un nouveau record pour la vitesse maximale en MotoGP avec une pointe à 350.8 km en FP4.

Après avoir survolé les essais libres du samedi matin, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) a dû se contenter de la seconde position en qualifications mais était pleinement satisfait de son chrono (1’46.584) et demeure le favori à la victoire en raison de la régularité de ses performances en configuration course mais aussi de son palmarès au Mugello, où le Majorquin a obtenu trois victoires et trois secondes places sur les six dernières années.

Dovizioso partira lui aussi de la première ligne après s’être qualifié à 0.121s de son coéquipier et renforçait la présence de Ducati en tête de la grille de l’épreuve italienne. Désormais surnommé Desmo Dovi, l'Italien est déjà monté sur le podium du Mugello en MotoGP™ avec Honda (2010, 2011) ainsi qu'avec Yamaha (2012) et n'a manqué le Top 3 qu'une seule fois cette année, à Jerez.

Inscrit en wildcard sur une Ducati GP15, Michele Pirro a lui aussi réussi sa qualification en prenant la sixième position, derrière Cal Crutchlow (CWM LCR Honda), quatrième à 0.168s de la pole, et Aleix Espargaró (Team Suzuki Ecstar), qui réalisait une excellente opération après avoir participé à la Q1 et en avoir signé le deuxième temps.

La troisième ligne accueillera Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) et Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar), qui s’est, à l’instar de son coéquipier, distingué avec d’excellents temps intermédiaires sur le deuxième secteur sinueux de la piste toscane grâce à l’excellente maniabilité de la GSX-RR.

Arrivé en Italie avec quinze points d’avance sur Lorenzo en tête du classement général, Rossi partira en huitième position pour la troisième fois de la saison, comme au Qatar et en Argentine, où il avait remporté ses deux victoires de 2015. Le nonuple Champion du Monde a en fait remporté ses trois dernières victoires depuis la 8e position, dont il était aussi parti avant de s'imposer en Australie l'an dernier.

Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech3), Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) et Yonny Hernández (Octo Pramac Racing) seront quant à eux en quatrième ligne. Le Colombien avait réalisé le meilleur temps au dernier moment en Q1, reléguant Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) à la troisième position et le privant donc d’une participation en Q2. 

En difficulté et tombé à la mi-journée dans le virage n°1 lors de la séance FP4, le Champion du Monde en titre n’avait eu à passer par la Q1 qu’une seule fois auparavant, sur le même circuit, en 2013, et manquait la Q2 pour la toute première fois de sa carrière. Il s’élancera de la treizième position et s'était jusqu'ici toujours qualfié sur l'une des deux premières lignes depuis ses débuts en MotoGP™.

Héctor Barberá (Avintia Racing) a de son côté été le plus rapide en catégorie Open et partira quinzième, derrière Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing), tandis que les Français Loris Baz (Athinà Forward Racing) et Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing) seront respectivement 18e et 22e sur la grille de départ.

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Andrea Iannone claimed Ducati’s first pole at Mugello since 2007, while Marc Marquez experienced his worst ever MotoGP™ Qualifying.

It was a day of contrasts at the Gran Premio D’Italia as Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone sent the Italian fans at the Autodromo del Mugello into rapture as he claimed his first career MotoGP™ pole position in near perfect conditions.

Countering that was the dramatic action involving the reigning MotoGP™ World Champion Marc Marquez, as he failed to make it through to Q2 for the first time in his career and will start Sunday’s race from the head of the fifth row in thirteenth.

Iannone, riding with a fractured humerus sustained during a testing crash at the Tuscany Circuit, took advantage of the softer option tyre available to Ducati to set a 1’46.489 which was almost seven-tenths quicker than Dani Pedrosa’s pole record from 2013: “I am very pleased with how things went today! For sure in my condition this result was in no way expected, but in the end me and my team did a great job and we managed to improve. The only problem I have at the moment is my shoulder condition, because it needs more time to get back to 100%: tomorrow will be a tough race but I will not give in”

Marquez struggled throughout the day, getting caught out in FP3 and finishing down in eleventh on the combined timesheets. It was only the second time the Spaniard has failed to automatically qualify for Q2, the first being at Mugello in 2013.

A crash in FP4 only compounded matters and as Marquez attempted to make it through from Q1 he set a time good enough for second on the timesheets with 2 minutes to go in the session. Thinking that the job was done, it was then that disaster struck for him and his team. Yonny Hernandez on the Octo Pramac Racing Ducati displaced him in the final seconds, securing the Columbians progress through to Q2 at Marquez’ expense. This means that Marquez will have to start Sunday’s race from the front of the fourth row in 13th, his worst ever MotoGP™ Qualifying performance: “We can't be happy about today, because this was the worst qualifying result that we have had in MotoGP. Starting in the morning, we didn't use the new tyre and that took us into Q1 – in which we had a problem that prevented us from progressing to Q2. Nevertheless, I think we have a good pace for tomorrow, although it is clear that starting from so far back we will suffer a lot.”

Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo will be a force to be reckoned with come Sunday’s race, as he demonstrated in incredibly persistent race pace throughout Free Practice. The double MotoGP™ World Champion was only 0.095s behind Dovizioso in Q2 and will start from second on the grid, a feat made all the more impressive as Lorenzo does not have the softer option tyre available to him: “We must be proud of our performance, because we improved the bike, which has been our goal for today. We had to improve our pace by half a second and maybe we didn‘t do that but we did shave off three-tenths. Today has been a great day. We couldn‘t get the pole position, but second place is great.”

Andrea Dovizioso followed up Iannone’s incredible pole lap by securing third on the grid, making it two Ducati GP15’s on the front row, and the team will be pushing hard for their first win since Stoner’s victory in Australia in 2010: “It was a great qualifying session for our team, because there are two Ducati GP15 bikes on the front row. I had a good feeling with the bike when I did my lap, and this is very important in view of the race because it means that we have the speed to be able to fight for the leading positions.”

CWM LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow won the battle of the Satellite riders, as he once again impressed during Q2 to finish fourth fastest as the fastest Honda on the grid: “Overall I was happy, because I tried a hard front tyre and I was happy with that, so much so I even qualified with it. I just missed out on the front row again, but I made a small mistake which was my own fault.”

Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Aleix Espargaro was another rider who had to grit his teeth as he was suffering from the injury to his right thumb sustained during his Free Practice crash at Le Mans. The Spaniard sought medical advice before the day’s action, and it clearly paid off, as he will start the race from the middle of the front row.

To top off an almost perfect day for Ducati, their test rider Michele Pirro managed to set a time good enough for sixth in Q2, and will complete the second row for Sunday’s race, the best qualifying performance from a wild card rider since Ben Spies in 2008 at Indianapolis.

Dani Pedrosa on the second Factory Repsol Honda RC213V showed he is recovering from his arm pump surgery by setting the seventh fastest time. The Spaniard will start from the head of the third row, ahead of nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi.

Rossi once again could not perform as he wanted during qualifying, although he wont be too disappointed to start the race from eighth on the grid, as his last two victories have both been achieved when he started from that position: “I improved a lot and my lap time was not so bad, but it wasn‘t enough. All the top riders were able to improve their pace a lot, so apart from my starting position on the third row, which is not fantastic, I‘m quite happy about today.”

Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Maverick Viñales will start the race from ninth on the grid, with Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Pol Espargaro & Bradley Smith in tenth and eleventh respectively.

Avintia Racing’s Hector Barbera was the leading Open class rider in fifteenth, with the Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Honda of Scott Redding down in 17th.

Check out the full MotoGP™ Qualifying results, the 23-lap race starts at 14:00 local time in Mugello on Sunday.

Dovizioso et Ducati dominent la première journée au Mugello / Dovizioso and Ducati dominate opening day at #ItalianGP

Andrea Dovizioso a été l’auteur du meilleur temps à chacune des deux premières séances d’essais du Grand Prix TIM d’Italie.

À domicile ce week-end et sur un circuit où il était venu plus tôt dans le mois pour un test privé avec Ducati, Andrea Dovizioso a démarré très fort au Grand Prix TIM d’Italie et s’annonce déjà comme l’homme à battre pour les qualifications. 

Avec un nouveau casque mais aussi un nouveau carénage pour sa GP15, l’Italien a d’abord devancé d’un rien Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) et son coéquipier Andrea Iannone (Ducati) le matin avant de se confirmer en tête du classement l’après-midi, avec 0.164s d’avance sur Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda), vainqueur au Mugello en 2014, et 0.373s sur Lorenzo. 

Alors que les pilotes Factory de Honda et de Yamaha disposent de pneus arrière en gomme medium et dure ce week-end, ceux de Ducati ont le choix entre la gomme tendre et la gomme medium, que Dovizioso a privilégiée pour cette première journée afin de concentrer ses efforts sur la préparation de la course. L’Italien attendra samedi pour tirer profit de la gomme tendre et viser sa seconde pole position de la saison après celle du Qatar. 

Avec 33 points de retard sur Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), Márquez doit à tout prix revenir sur le podium ce week-end en Italie après l’avoir manqué au Mans et est bien parti puisqu’il avait commencé la journée en quatrième position, à un peu plus d’un dixième de Dovizioso, et l’a finie à la seconde place. Le Champion en titre avait l’an dernier remporté l’épreuve du Mugello juste devant Lorenzo, qui complétait le Top 3 de la journée.

Après avoir découvert qu’il souffrait d’une fracture à la tête de l’humérus (bras) gauche quelques jours avant de prendre la route du Mugello, Andrea Iannone (Ducati) n’a pas eu trop de soucis pour se montrer compétitif et a terminé en quatrième position, en étant toutefois le seul pilote du Top 10 à avoir réalisé son meilleur temps le matin plutôt que l’après-midi.

Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) est le premier pilote satellite dans le classement combiné, à plus d’une demi-seconde de Dovizioso, en cinquième position et juste devant son compatriote Cal Crutchlow (CWM LCR Honda).

Récemment opéré du pouce droit, Aleix Espargaró (Team Suzuki Ecstar) a souffert sur les freinages et notamment celui de San Donato, au bout de l’une des plus longues lignes droites du calendrier, mais était tout de même septième, devant Scott Redding (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) et Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP). 

Sixième à quatre dixièmes de seconde du leader le matin, Rossi s’est ensuite fait distancer l’après-midi et a terminé neuvième sur le classement combiné, à sept dixièmes de seconde de Dovizioso et après une courte sortie de piste causée par un freinage manqué dans le premier virage.

Inscrit en wildcard sur GP15, Michele Pirro participe à son premier Grand Prix de l’année et s’est classé douzième, derrière Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech3) et Yonny Hernández (Octo Pramac Racing).

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) a quant à lui conclu en quatorzième position, à près d’une seconde de la première place, tandis que Héctor Barberá (Avintia Racing) était le premier pilote Open, à la seizième place. 

Les Français Loris Baz (Athinà Forward Racing) et Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing) occupent respectivement les 21e et 22e positions, juste devant Álvaro Bautista, qui étrenne la nouvelle transmission seamless de la RS-GP ce week-end avec l’Aprilia Racing Team Gresini. 

Les essais libres de la catégorie MotoGP™ reprennent samedi matin à 9h55 au Grand Prix TIM d’Italie.

Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso dominated the opening day at Mugello, topping both Free Practice sessions.

Ducati were always going to be a force to be reckoned with at Mugello, especially as the Factory team completed a private test at the Tuscany circuit recently, and they sent the partisan crowd home happy after topping the combined timesheets after day one of the Gran Premio d’Italia TIM.

Dovizioso improved his time from the morning session by over four-tenths of a second to set a 1.’47.479.  The Italian hitting the ground running straight away in FP1, clearly taking advantage of the data gathered during that test to find a good set-up straight away: “I am very happy with how this weekend has started for us and above all with the time I set at the end of the session. We are quick and this is fundamental in the search for the best set-up. We are still carrying out some tests in order to improve certain aspects of the Desmosedici GP15 that will allow us to be competitive right until the end of the race.

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez improved throughout the day as he tried a number of different set-up combinations in an effort to deal with the front end issues and engine problems the RC213V has been suffering from this season. The reigning MotoGP™ World Champion seemed to find something that worked, as he ended the day just 0.164s behind Dovizioso in second place overall: “Overall, today went quite well. It was a Friday in which we tried several things, especially in terms of electronics to try and improve the engine character, and I'm happy because we have taken a step forward. I’m not yet completely comfortable, but I felt pretty good and it seems that the direction we have taken is the right one.”

Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo came to Mugello full of confidence following his comprehensive victories at Jerez and Le Mans, and straight away, he looked fast and smooth around the 5.2km circuit. The Spaniard, who has not finished outside the top two in the last 6 races at Mugello, set the third fastest time of the day, just 0.373s off the top, although he feels there is room for improvement: “I‘m not completely satisfied with the way the bike is working. Concerning the setting of my YZR-M1, I think we have a big margin for improvement. Little by little we are going to make progress in most of the corners, but to begin the weekend with second and third place and a good pace is a nice start.”

Andrea Iannone ended the day in fourth overall, but admitted he had struggled to ride with his fractured arm that he injured in the Ducati Team’s private test at the circuit: “It’s not so much a question of pain, it’s more that I need too much strength, which in this moment I simply don’t have. I am not able to move my left shoulder the way I want to and so I’m losing a lot in the changes in direction, and there are a lot of them here at Mugello.”

It was a good day for British riders as Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Bradley Smith ended the day in fifth as the leading Satellite rider, managing to finish just ahead of his compatriot Cal Crutchlow on the CWM LCR Honda, with less than a tenth of a second separating the two. Smith was content with his pace, but knows he will have to step it up a gear tomorrow: “Overall, we’re less than two tenths back from the factory Yamaha of Lorenzo, so we are in a good place, but tomorrow we need to make another step forward to get into the 1’47 lap times.”

Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS’s Scott Redding showed signs of improvement as he finished in eighth overall, just behind the injured Aleix Espargaro on the Team Suzuki Ecstar GSX-RR in seventh. Espargaro underwent surgery on his right thumb to repair a damaged ligament after Le Mans and he was finding it hard to get enough brake pressure through his injured hand, with his team saying they will assess his injury session by session.

It was another hard first day of Free Practice for the current MotoGP™ World Championship leader Valentino Rossi, who found himself down in ninth place on the combined timesheets. Once again, the Italian struggled during the Friday of a Grand Prix weekend, emphasising his woes by running off track late on in FP2 as he pushed too hard: “I had some problems under braking. We tried to modify the setting so I could brake harder, but we didn‘t find a good solution and at the end I came back out on my normal bike and decided to try the harder tyre on the front and rear. The front wasn‘t so bad, but the rear was a bit too hard and I didn‘t have enough grip on the left side for me to push to the maximum.”

Pol Espargaro completed the top ten on the second Monster Yamaha Tech 3 M1, with Avintia Racing’s Hector Barbera finishing as the top Open class rider in 16th.

Check out the combined MotoGP™ Free Practice times from Friday at Mugello; FP3 is scheduled to start at 9:55am local time on Saturday.

MotoGP ; Deuxième victoire consécutive pour Lorenzo / Lorenzo vanquishes all MotoGP™

Comme à Jerez deux semaines plus tôt, Jorge Lorenzo a été intouchable en course au Mans et a fini loin devant Rossi et Dovizioso.

De retour au sommet de sa forme à Jerez, où il avait remporté sa première victoire de l’année après un début de saison décevant, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) enchaîne avec un nouveau succès au Monster Energy Grand Prix de France. 

Troisième sur la grille, le Majorquin a fait de son mieux pour s’emparer de la première position dès le premier tour, comme à son habitude, et a réussi à faire le break. 

Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) est remonté de la septième position sur la grille jusqu’à la deuxième place et a terminé avec une confortable avance sur Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati), de retour sur le podium après un week-end compliqué en Espagne. 

Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) a rencontré quelques difficultés en début de course et a remporté un magnifique duel avec Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) pour la quatrième place tandis que Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) complétait le Top 6, juste derrière l’Italien.

Loris Baz (Athinà Forward Racing) a obtenu une très encourageante douzième place à domicile, derrière le premier pilote Open, l’Américain Nicky Hayden (Aspar MotoGP Team).

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) est tombé dès le deuxième tour mais a pu repartir pour rallier l’arrivée, en seizième position. 

Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing) a été forcé d’abandonner après une chute.

The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider carved out a substantial gap to claim a decisive victory.

After starting from 3rd position on the grid, the Mallorcan quickly dropped the pack and enjoyed a solitary race to the finish line.

The Spaniard shares the podium with Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) in 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda Team) started in pole but dropped back as the race got underway. The Spaniard normally runs a carbon cover on his brake discs to retain temperature, but he didn't  use this part in Le Mans. Whatever the issue, Marquez typically overcame it and went on to fight an epic battle with Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) to claim 4th place, relegating the Italian to fifth.

Marquez’s team mate Dani Pedrosa crashed in the early stages of the race, but remounted. Even though the Spanish rider had no chance of claiming points, it was vital for hit to rejoin the race and test how his injured arm holds up over race distance.

Brit Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) finished in 6th, having better fortune than his compatriots. Cal Crutchlow (CWM-LCR Honda) crashed out of the race on turn 6, losing the front on the difficult downhill curve. Scott Redding (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) also crashed out of the race after completing just 3 laps of the Le Mans circuit.

Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Yonny Hernández (Pramac Racing), Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar MotoGP) and Danilo Petrucci (Pramac Racing) complete the top ten.

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Márquez en pole au Mans pour la quatrième année d’affilée / Marquez takes pole, Lorenzo bides his time…

Le Champion du Monde en titre a brillé en qualifications pour remporter sa troisième pole position de la saison 2015.

Sixième des essais libres de samedi matin au Monster Energy Grand Prix de France, Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) a quelque peu surpris par l’excellence de sa performance en qualifications et a décroché sa quatrième pole position consécutive sur le circuit du Mans en tournant une demi-seconde plus vite que ses adversaires.

Le Champion du Monde en titre a signé la pole 2015 en 1’32.246 et n’était vraiment pas loin du record (1’32.042) dont il avait lui-même été l’auteur l’an dernier. 

Constamment aux avant-postes depuis son arrivée au circuit Bugatti, Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) s’est confirmé comme l’un des favoris au podium au fil des séances mais n’a par contre pas pu lutter contre Márquez en qualifications et a fini en seconde position, à 0.503s de l’Espagnol.

Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) a de son côté pris une troisième place qu’il estimait décevante après un dernier tour raté. Le Majorquin est selon les feuilles de temps le pilote qui dispose du meilleur rythme de course pour la cinquième manche de la saison, ce que Márquez a lui-même reconnu en conférence de presse. 

Derrière le trio de tête, Cal Crutchlow (CWM LCR Honda), Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) et Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3), auteur du meilleur temps la veille, se sont assurés un départ en deuxième ligne. 

Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) demeure de son côté toujours aussi fâché avec les qualifications et a fini en septième position. Le leader du classement général n’a jamais été en première ligne cette année et a remporté ses deux victoires au Qatar et en Argentine en partant de la huitième position.

Il partagera la troisième ligne avec Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), qui semble se sentir de mieux en mieux physiquement, et Danilo Petrucci (Pramac Racing). L’Italien avait dû passer par la séance Q1, dont il avait été le plus rapide, et a ensuite devancé Aleix Espargaró (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Yonny Hernández (Pramac Racing) et Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech3) en Q2 pour prendre la neuvième position.

Seizième, Stefan Bradl (Athinà Forward Racing) sera la première pilote Open sur la grille de départ et partira juste devant Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing) tandis que Loris Baz (Athinà Forward Racing) s’élancera de la 22e position.

The final qualifying session leaves the Honda rider first, but Lorenzo demonstrated a consistent pace that could prove useful on race day...

The final qualifying session of the Monster Energy Grand Prix sees Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) back in pole position for the third time this season. He was over half a second quicker than Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), with Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) left to take third place on the front row in Sunday's race.

The pole position changed hands several times during the final round, but Marquez dropped his time to 1'32.246 to take his third pole position of the season. The World Champion clearly sees Lorenzo as a threat though: "In qualifying we used the best setup that we had found. We were lucky that the track was in good condition which allowed me to ride normally. I am happy with pole position and tomorrow a tough race awaits us, because Jorge especially has a very good pace. We will try to be as close to him as we can!"

Lorenzo seems to agree, believing he can do better: "The conditions were difficult on the track, you have to be careful with slicks and stay confident. We were lucky on the last lap to have 99% of the track dry and I pushed quite a bit. It was a pity that I didn‘t ride any good laps and was slower than I was in FP3. I made a mistake in sector three and lost probably half a second, but I was lucky not to go outside of the track and ride a very good sector four, which put me on the first row.”

Dovizioso was satisfied with a front row start, but also believes he has more pace to extract: “The front row is fine and it is also very important because in MotoGP it’s always essential to start as far up the grid as possible. I could probably have been a bit closer to Marquez and try and go for pole, but in any case I set a good lap time”.

The second row will be headed by Cal Crutchlow (CWM-LCR Honda). The Brit has remained among the fastest in the weekend's practice sessions. His position also places him as the best satellite rider, ahead of countryman Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), who was sixth after leading FP2 on Friday.

Between Crutchlow and Smith, Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) managed a creditable fifth. As we have seen in Free Practice, the rider is recovering after dislocating his shoulder during testing in Mugello.

Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) will start seventh in the attempt to defend his lead in the championship standings. His main rivals, Marquez and Lorenzo, will start the race way ahead on the front row, so his chances will lie in choosing the right tyre and an aggressive initial push to avoid losing the front runners.

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) continues his comeback after undergoing surgery to solve the problems in his right forearm. Tomorrow he starts from a respectable 8th on the grid and he appears happy with his pace: "This first qualifying session back has not gone badly. We could have gone a little faster but in the end I didn't quite manage it. The positive news is that today I am feeling a little better physically than yesterday and that's a good thing!”

The MotoGP action continues on May 17 at 09:40 local time with the warm up session. The race will commence at 14:00.

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Moto GP ; Rossi triomphe à Termas de Río Hondo / Rossi wins in Argentina after clashing with Marquez

L’Italien a offert au public argentin une épique remontée pour revenir sur Marc Márquez et s’est imposé suite à la chute de l’Espagnol.

Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) est parvenu à rattraper plus de quatre secondes de retard sur Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda), qui avait pris le risque de partir sur pneu dur au lieu d’utiliser la gomme extra-dure, et semblait être définitivement passé devant l’Espagnol lorsque ce dernier est tombé en touchant la roue arrière de l’Italien à deux tours de l’arrivée.

Rossi confortait ainsi son statut de leader du classement MotoGP™ et finissait devant Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati), deuxième pour la troisième course d'affilée, et Cal Crutchlow, qui signait son premier podium avec CWM LCR Honda après avoir ravi la troisième place à Andrea Iannone (Ducati) dans la dernière ligne droite. Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) complétait le Top 5.

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Valentino Rossi takes a sensational victory after a masterful ride at the Gran Premio Red Bull de la República Argentina.

The sun had come out and track temperatures had risen to 37 degrees for the start of the MotoGP™ race at the Termas de Rio Hondo. The reigning MotoGP™ World Champion Marquez, along with CWM LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow, decided to switch to the hard rear tyre on the grid, unlike Rossi and Lorenzo who both decided to use the extra hard compound rear.

Aleix Espargaro led into the first corner, but Marquez passed the Team Suzuki Ecstar GSX-RR almost immediately and used his hard tyre to create a four-second gap at the front. At about mid-race distance Marquez’s tyres appeared to start to lose performance meaning that the chasing pack, led at this point by Valentino Rossi, started to close in on the leader. “The Doctor” had worked his way through the pack from 8th on the grid and could sense victory, as he was lapping almost a second quicker than Marquez.

The nine-time World Champion eventually caught Marquez with just 2 laps to go with the two riders touching, before Marquez clipped the back of Rossi’s bike and crashed out of the race. Rossi went on to take the race win by over 5 seconds ahead of Andrea Dovizioso in 2nd, with Cal Crutchlow stealing the final podium spot from Andrea Iannone on the very last corner.

Rossi’s teammate Jorge Lorenzo finished in 5th ahead of Bradley Smith on the Satellite Monster Yamaha Tech 3 bike. Aleix Espargaro ended the race in 7th, ahead of his brother Pol, with Scott Redding and Maverick Viñales completing the top ten.

CWN LCR Honda’s Jack Miller took the Open class victory as he finished in 12th, just 0.075s ahead of Hector Barbera on the Avintia Ducati.

Rossi now has a six-point lead over Dovizioso in the MotoGP™ World Championship standings, and is 30 points ahead of Marquez.

Check out the full MotoGP™ race results.

Márquez décroche sa première victoire de l’année à Austin/ Marquez cruises to impressive victory in Austin

Le Champion du Monde en titre s’est imposé depuis la pole position pour la troisième année consécutive au Circuit des Amériques.

Après son incroyable qualification en pole position, Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) a une fois de plus été sans rival à sa hauteur sur la piste du Circuit des Amériques, où il demeure invaincu depuis la première venue du MotoGP™ au Texas en 2013. 

L’Espagnol a été devancé par Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) au départ de la course mais n’a pas laissé durer le suspense et a distancé ses adversaires avec une aisance déconcertante. L’Italien a quant à lui pris le dessus sur son compatriote Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) pour s’assurer la deuxième place, prenant ainsi sa revanche après leur duel de Losail, tandis que Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) finissait au pied du podium, comme au Qatar, avec une petite seconde d’avance sur Andrea Iannone (Ducati).

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Marc Marquez stamps his authority on the MotoGP™ World Championship by winning in Austin by more than 2.3 seconds.

The reigning MotoGP™ World Champion Marquez sent a message out to the rest of the paddock that he was back after his mishap in Qatar, as he dominated the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas, at one point leading by over 5 seconds.

Marquez took the lead on lap 5, and didn't look back as he went on to leave the rest of the field behind to maintain his 100% record at CoTA, before relaxing towards the end of the race.

Andrea Dovizioso made it another podium for the resurgent Ducati Team, as he won the fight for 2nd ahead of the Movistar Yamaha of Valentino Rossi, who leads the Championship standings.  

Rossi’s teammate Jorge Lorenzo left it late, overtaking the Ducati GP15 of Andrea Iannone with only 3 laps to go to snatch 4th place from the Italian, with Monster Tech 3 Yamaha’s Bradley Smith rounding out the top 6.

Click here for the MotoGP™ race results, full report to follow…

Márquez s’assure la pole après un moment de doute à Austin / Marquez takes pole at CoTA after dramatic Q2

Le Champion du Monde en titre est en pole pour la première fois de l’année suite à une performance exceptionnelle.

Marc Márquez semblait parfaitement dominer son sujet en qualifications mais a soudainement décidé d'arrêter sa RC213V sur la longue ligne droite du Circuit des Amériques à la vue de drapeaux jaunes et a dû l'abandonner contre le pit-wall, sauter par dessus ce dernier et réaliser un sprint en combinaison pour rejoindre le box Repsol Honda et tenter de repartir sur sa seconde moto. 

Relégué à la septième position suite à cet épisode invraisemblable, le Champion du Monde en titre n’a eu le temps de faire qu’un seul tour lancé sur sa seconde moto en fin de séance mais a une fois de plus brillé pour s’emparer de la pole avec un nouveau record du circuit et trois dixièmes de seconde d’avance sur Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) et Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP).

Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), Cal Crutchlow (CWM LCR Honda) seront en deuxième ligne, en compagnie d’un excellent Scott Redding (EG 0,0 Marc VDS).

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Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez claimed his 23rd MotoGP™ pole position in Austin, after stopping on track with just 3 minutes to go on Austin.

The reigning MotoGP™ World Champion had to run down pit lane to retrieve his second bike with only seconds to spare as the clock ticked down on Q2.  Not even this could stop the Spaniard as he went on to set the fastest ever time on two-wheels around CoTA, a 2’02.135, over sixth-tenths quicker than his previous lap record set in Qualifying last year.

Marquez finished ahead of Andrea Dovizioso (+0.339s ) on the Ducati Team GP15, and Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo (+0.405s) who completed the front row.

Lorenzo teammate Valentino Rossi (+0.428s) will start from the front of the second row, with the Brits Cal Crutchlow (+0.478s) and Scott Redding (+0.539s) on their Factory spec Honda’s in 5th and 6th respectively.

The second factory Ducati of Andrea Iannone will start from 7th, with the Team Suzuki Ecstar of Aleix Espargaro (8th) finishing ahead of his brother Pol (Monster Tech 3 Yamaha) in 9th.

Bradley Smith, Danilo Petrucci and Maverick Viñales will form the 4th row of the grid for Sundays race.

Earlier on, it was the Factory Ducati GP15 of Andrea Iannone and Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Maverick Viñales who made it through from Q1.

Click here for the full results from Q2, Sunday’s MotoGP™ race is due to start at 14:00 local time in Austin.

Dovizioso prend les devants sous la pluie au Texas / Dovizioso snatches FP1 from Marquez at #AmericasGP

Le pilote du team Ducati a tourné près d’une demi-seconde plus vite que Márquez lors des premiers essais libres au Circuit des Amériques.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) a pu démontrer la compétitivité de la Desmosedici GP15 sur piste mouillée vendredi matin au Circuit des Amériques, où les pilotes MotoGP™ roulaient sous la pluie pour la première fois depuis l’inauguration du tracé texan en 2013. 

L’Italien a battu Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda), invaincu en cinq courses MotoGP™ aux Etats-Unis, de près d’une demi-seconde tandis que Scott Redding (EG 0,0 Marc VDS), Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) et Danilo Petrucci (Pramac Racing) complétaient le Top 5 de la séance. 

La seconde séance d’essais du Grand Prix Red Bull des Amériques a lieu à 14h05, heure locale, soit 21h05 GMT+1.

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Andrea Dovizioso finished on top after the first MotoGP™ Free Practice session at the Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas.

The first MotoGP™ practice session of the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas was declared wet, and with more rain forecast over the entire weekend, it looks like it might have been a good indication of the conditions riders will face in the race come Sunday.

The session was red-flagged with 33 minutes to go due to a stray dog. The dog actually managed to make its way on to the track before being caught, luckily without any incident, and the session was able to resume after a 20 minute delay.

It didn't take long for Marc Marquez, who has never lost in a MotoGP™ race at CoTA, to stamp his authority on proceedings in Austin as he led for most of the session, before being pipped right at the end by Dovizioso who set a 2’19.402.

Marquez (+0.462s) finished in 2nd, ahead of the leading Satellite Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Racing Honda of Scott Redding (+1.085s) and Valentino Rossi (+1.191s) on the Factory Movistar Yamaha. Danilo Petrucci's (+1.263) Pramac Racing Ducati was in 5th, with the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha of Bradley Smith (+1.549s) rounding out the top 6.

Maverick Viñales crashed out at turn 2 but was unhurt, with Alvaro Bautista (+2.616s) giving the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini a reason to smile by finishing as the top Open class rider in 11th.

Click here for the full MotoGP™ FP1 results, FP2 is scheduled to begin at 14:15 local time in Austin.