Iannone lance son offensive sur le Mugello / Iannone ignites at Ducati’s home to top FP2

L’Italien a bouclé la seconde séance d’essais du Grand Prix TIM d’Italie à une demi-seconde de la concurrence.

Sur une piste sèche et sous le soleil après avoir dû rouler sur piste mouillée vendredi matin au Mugello, Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) a conclu la seconde séance d’essais sur un impressionnant chrono de 1’47.696 qui lui conférait 0.461s d’avance sur Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP). 

Le Champion du Monde en titre et vainqueur de l’édition 2015 du GP TIM d’Italie avait occupé la première position à plusieurs reprises au long de la séance mais a finalement été clairement battu pour l’Italien, seul pilote à être passé sous la barre des 1’48 et auteur de la pole position au Mugello en 2015.

Inscrit en wildcard après avoir déjà disputé trois Grands Prix cette saison, Michele Pirro (Ducati Team) s’est classé troisième, à près d’un dixième de seconde de Lorenzo, qu’il suivait sur son meilleur tour, et confirmait son potentiel sur une piste où il roule régulièrement en tant que pilote d’essais de Ducati.

Aleix Espargaró (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda Team) et Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) figuraient eux aussi dans le Top 10, devant Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Yakhnich), qui a brièvement occupé la tête du classement, et Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda). 

Dixième, Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech3) était le dernier pilote à moins d’une seconde (+0,774s) du temps de référence, en étant à moins de deux dixièmes du Top 5.

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team), Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Yakhnich) et Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) ont respectivement fini aux onzième, douzième et treizième places et tenteront de faire mieux samedi matin afin s’assurer une place dans le Top 10, synonyme de qualification directe en Q2.

Contraint à s’arrêter en bord de piste en début de séance, Loris Baz (Avintia Racing) a perdu un temps précieux et a terminé en dernière position.

Eugene Laverty (Aspar Team MotoGP) a pour sa part subi une grosse chute et terminé dix-neuvième, devant les deux pilotes de l’Aprilia Racing Team Gresini, Álvaro Bautista et Stefan Bradl, et Baz.

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Times improve by over five seconds as Mugello dries, Iannone, Lorenzo and Pirro ending Friday as the three quickest riders.

With only 14 riders having set times in Free Practice 1, the second session of the day was actually the first time on track at Mugello for several riders. The start of the Gran Premio d'Italia TIM had been hit by rain, but there were no such issues in Free Practice 2. Yonny Hernandez (Aspar Team MotoGP) had been the fastest rider in FP1 but his 1’54.199 was quickly demolished.

All the MotoGP™ World Championship riders were able to improve their times considerably in the session. Quickest of them all was Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) who set a 1’47.696 to end 0.461s ahead of second place. He might be off to Team Suzuki Ecstar in 2017, but Ducati and Iannone still have business to finish in 2016. Mugello in 2015 was the scene of Iannone’s first MotoGP™ World Championship pole position and he could easily achieve a second premier class pole if his form continues.

Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) was immediately up to speed after sitting out Free Practice 1. He set a 1’48.157 to edge within half a second of Iannone. Lorenzo once again tried a new version of his helmet with an extended rear section.

Wildcard Michele Pirro (Ducati Team) was again up towards the sharp end, ending as the third fastest rider of the day. A slipstream behind Lorenzo assisted his time, but Pirro often produces his best results in front of the hoards of Italians who fill the hills of Mugello.

Aleix Espargaro (Team Suzuki Ecstar) concluded Friday as the fourth fastest rider, just over a tenth off Jorge Lorenzo. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was the leading Honda in fifth. Starting somewhat down the order is not unusual for Marquez who has often struggled at the circuit, having won just once in the premier class.

The distance from second to sixth was nail bitingly close, never more than a tenth of a second splitting two riders. 0.644s off Iannone’s time, but only two tenths from second, Valentino Rossi () started his home round well and is already up to speed with his rivals.

Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Yakhnich), Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) and Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) were all inside the top ten. Despite Iannone’s considerable lead, they all managed to end within a second of his time.

Having just announced his contract extension with Honda, Dani Pedrosa’s (Repsol Honda Team) weekend got off to a less than ideal start as he finished 11th. The Italian GP is also Pedrosa's 250th Grand Prix start, the Spaniard aiming to celebrate the achievement with a bang. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) also had a rough start to the weekend with the 13th fastest time. Fortunately conditions are looking good for Saturday and Sunday, giving both a chance to improve.

Eugene Laverty (Aspar Team MotoGP) fell at Turn 1 with a little over 17 minutes of the session remaining. He was unharmed.

Mugello will again be filled with the terrific sound of the 1000cc MotoGP™ bikes at 09:55 Local Time when Free Practice 3 begins.

Times and results from the second session of the day can be seen here.

Márquez remporte la course de l’année à Phillip Island / Marquez's 50th victory sets title race alight

Le Champion en titre a battu Lorenzo dans le dernier tour tandis que Iannone a devancé Rossi pour la troisième place.

           

Disqualifié en 2013 puis tombé alors qu’il était premier en 2014, Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) a remporté pour la première fois l’épreuve MotoGP™ de Phillip Island dimanche au Grand Prix Pramac d’Australie à l’issue d’une course sensationnelle aux avant-postes. 

En pole position, Márquez a été devancé par Andrea Iannone (Ducati), Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) et Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) dès le départ mais a rapidement pris le dessus sur son coéquipier pour revenir sur les deux autres. 

Iannone et Lorenzo se sont fermement disputés la première position dès le premier tour dans un duel qui a tourné en faveur du Majorquin lorsque Iannone a heurté du casque une mouette qui stationnait sur sa trajectoire. L’Italien et Márquez n’ont cependant pas laissé Lorenzo s’échapper et ont tous les deux eu l’occasion de repasser devant sur les premiers tours pendant que Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), septième sur la grille, s’efforçait de revenir sur le trio de tête. 

                   

Lorsque l’Italien est parvenu à recoller au groupe, Lorenzo disposait d’un peu plus d’une seconde d’avance, un écart qu’il n’a pu maintenir que pour une dizaine de tours, jusqu’à être rattrapé par Márquez dans le 16e des 27e tours de l’épreuve. À ce moment-là, Rossi et Iannone avaient une seconde de retard sur Márquez, qui passait en tête pour la première fois de la course mais voyait Lorenzo et les deux Italiens revenir derrière lui à toute vitesse. 

Le dernier tiers de la course a ainsi été l’occasion d’une splendide bataille à quatre, que Lorenzo semblait avoir remportée après avoir doublé Márquez à six tours de l’arrivée. Le Champion du Monde en titre a cependant réalisé un incroyable dernier tour qui lui a valu une opportunité de repasser en tête, qu’il a parfaitement saisie, mais aussi le meilleur tour de la course et une splendide victoire, sa cinquième de l’année et la 50e de sa carrière en Grand Prix.

               

Derrière les deux Espagnols, Iannone, qui avait momentanément réussi à passer Márquez à quelques tours de l’arrivée, s’est brillamment imposé sur Rossi pour prendre la troisième place et s’offrir son troisième podium de la saison. Deuxième en qualifications en ayant suivi de près Lorenzo, l’Italien tenait sa promesse de se racheter et retournait la faveur au Majorquin en privant Rossi du podium, permettant à Lorenzo de marquer sept points de plus que son coéquipier. 

Avant l’épreuve de Sepang qui aura lieu le 25 octobre et celle de Valence qui aura lieu le 8 novembre, Rossi et Lorenzo n'ont plus que onze points d’écart en tête du classement général.

                 

Derrière les quatre protagonistes de ce qui est pour l’instant la plus belle course de l’année tant pour son spectacle et ses dépassements que pour son enjeu, Pedrosa était trop loin derrière pour observer la bataille et a terminé à quatre secondes de Rossi, en cinquième position.

                

Sixième sur la grille, Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) a égalé son meilleur résultat en date, sa sixième place de Barcelone, en confirmant ses excellentes performances et en finissant par battre Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda), qui s’était brièvement battu avec Rossi sur les premiers tours.

                 

Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech3) a pris la huitième place, à neuf secondes de Crutchlow, devant son frère Aleix Espargaró (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3), Scott Redding (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) et Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing). 

                  

Bien loin des excellentes performances de son coéquipier, Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) a conclu en treizième position, à six secondes de Petrucci, devant Álvaro Bautista (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) et Jack Miller (LCR Honda), qui s’offrait le point de la quinzième place mais aussi la première place du groupe Open pour sa course nationale en finissant loin devant Héctor Barberá (Avintia Racing), Yonny Hernández (Octo Pramac Racing) et Loris Baz (Forward Racing), 18e tandis que Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing) finissait son 200e Grand Prix à la vingtième place. 

                 

Le paddock MotoGP™ prend maintenant la direction du Circuit International de Sepang, où se déroulera la semaine prochaine l’avant-dernière manche de la saison 2015. 

Cliquez ici pour accéder aux résultats et ici pour le classement général.

                

Marc Marquez wins one of the most dramatic MotoGP™ races of all time as Lorenzo reduces Rossi's lead in the standings to just 11 points.

             

Repsol Honda’s Marquez emerged triumphant from an incredible Pramac Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix to record his 50th career GP victory and fifth of 2015. Marquez secured the race win in the end by just 0.249s from Jorge Lorenzo, with Andrea Iannone completing the podium ahead of championship leader Valentino Rossi who had to settle for fourth.

The 32,000 fans packed into the grandstands bore witness to one of the most exciting races in the history of the World Championship as Marquez was involved in a race-long scrap with Movistar Yamaha teammates and title rivals Lorenzo and Rossi, plus the Ducati GP15 of Iannone. The battle between these four was simply breath-taking, as for once the weather did not throw a spanner in the works with the sun shining and track temperatures reaching 40˚C. It really did have everything: a myriad of overtakes, lots of contact, a championship title on the line, and even a bird strike.

               

At the start it was Iannone who got the drive off the line to lead into turn 1 with Lorenzo and Marquez in hot pursuit. Lorenzo would take the lead into turn 8, and in a sign of things to come there was contact between Marquez and his teammate Dani Pedrosa at turn 10 as the former defended 3rd. Iannone re-took the lead on lap 2, only to be hit by a stray seagull on the entrance to turn 4 to allow Lorenzo to move back to the front.

               

The lead swapped hands a number of times between these three on the opening laps. All the while Rossi, who had started from seventh on the grid, had been biding his time, before starting to move through the pack by lap 3. The ‘Doctor’ overtook the Repsol Honda of Dani Pedrosa and LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow to move up to fourth on lap 4 and join in the fun at the front.

              

Lorenzo began to break away at the front, and by the end of lap 7 he had opened up a 1.4s gap, but just when it looked like he would disappear into the distance the chasing trio started to close. Unbelievably, despite constantly swapping places, the three started to reel in Lorenzo at the front. At the end of lap 13, Lorenzo’s lead was down to a second. At the end of lap 14 it was 0.5s, and fans were in for a treat as Marquez, Iannone and Rossi caught Lorenzo at the front with 10 laps to go.

From here on in it was anyone’s guess who would win, with Iannone using the incredible power of his GP15 to show some blistering pace on the straight. This meant each time once of the others passed the Italian; he was able wait until the Gardner straight to launch his Bologna missile back past.

               

Lorenzo took the lead with 7 laps to go once more, and with just two laps to go had extended this lead to one second as the others fought against each other. The best was still to come though. As the riders entered the final lap less than second separated all four, as Lorenzo led across the line from Iannone with Marquez in third and Rossi fourth.

Marquez passed Iannone in the Southern Loop to move into second and set off after Lorenzo. Rossi also came past his compatriot after contact at turn 4, before Iannone fought back into 3rd through Lukey Heights. Then at turn 10 Marquez blitzed past Lorenzo into the lead, as Rossi tried desperately to pass Iannone for the final time but failed. Marquez then managed to hold on through the final few corners to secure an amazing victory as the crowd went wild. Marquez had saved his best till last, putting in the fastest lap of the race on the final lap as he timed his move to perfection. It seemed a fitting way for the reigning MotoGP™ World Champion to break his MotoGP™ points duck at Phillip Island, as he became the youngest ever rider to reach the milestone of 50 GP wins.

Lorenzo took second, his tenth podium of the year, to close the gap in the standings to Rossi to just 11 points with two races remaining. Iannone completed the podium, his third of the year and first since Mugello, while Rossi’s fourth was only the second time he has missed out on the podium this season. To give you an idea of how close it was, just a second separated the four across the line. It was also Rossi’s 328th grand prix, which moves him level with Loris Capirossi at the top of the list of riders with the most World Championships starts.

Marquez’s teammate Pedrosa came out on top in the battle for fifth as he crossed the line 5 seconds behind Rossi. The winner at Motegi had enjoyed an excellent race long fight with Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow, who finished in sixth and seventh respectively. Sixth equalled Viñales best MotoGP™ result from the Catalan GP as he once more impressed in what is only the Spaniard's rookie season.

              

Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) won the battle of the brothers as he beat Aleix (Team Suzuki Ecstar) to 8th. Yamaha Tech 3’s Bradley Smith completed the top ten, finishing less than a second ahead of his compatriot Scott Redding on the EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda in eleventh.

LCR Honda’s Jack Miller took the Open class victory at his home grand prix by finishing in fifteenth, while Irishman Eugene Laverty (Aspar MotoGP Team) crossed the line in 19th after announcing he will be staying with his team for 2016. Laverty’s teammate Nicky Hayden was forced to retire with a technical issue and Damien Cudlin (E-Motion IodaRacing Team), who was substituting for the injured Alex De Angelis, also had to return to the pits with an issue.

                

Check out the full MotoGP™ race results and the latest championship standings.

Márquez signe sa huitième pole de l’année en Australie / Sensational Marquez takes 8th pole position of 2015

Le Champion en titre partira devant Andrea Iannone et Jorge Lorenzo dimanche à Phillip Island pour le Grand Prix Pramac d’Australie.

          

Pilote le plus rapide sur l’ensemble des essais libres, Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) a confirmé sa supériorité en qualifications samedi après-midi à Phillip Island et s’est offert sa huitième pole position de la saison avec un chrono de 1’28.364, soit une demi-seconde de plus que le record du circuit, qu’avait enregistré Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) en 2013.

             

Ce dernier, qui a dix-huit points de retard à rattraper sur son coéquipier Valentino Rossi pour espérer être Champion du Monde cette année, sera troisième sur la grille de départ après avoir été suivi par Andrea Iannone (Ducati) sur ses tours lancés. L’Italien avait réussi à être plus rapide que l’Espagnol de quelques dixièmes au début et a ensuite réalisé le même chrono que le Majorquin sur son dernier run, remportant cependant la seconde position pour avoir un second meilleur tour plus rapide que celui du pilote Yamaha. Les deux pilotes étaient au final à 0.316s de Márquez. 

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) a de son côté tardé à s’assurer un départ en tête de la seconde ligne et n’était vraiment pas loin de la première (+0.032s). Il retrouvera en seconde ligne Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda), cinquième à plus d’une demi-seconde de la pole, et Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar), qui poursuit son excellent week-end après avoir fini le vendredi dans le Top 3. 

                

Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) n’a de son côté pas réussi son dernier tour lancé et a échoué en septième position, à plus de trois dixièmes de seconde de son coéquipier et rival, Lorenzo. Le leader du Championnat du Monde MotoGP™ partagera la troisième ligne avec Aleix et Pol Espargaró, qui avaient respectivement signé les deux meilleurs temps de la Q1 avec le Team Suzuki Ecstar et Monster Yamaha Tech3. 

                 

Lourdement tombé en FP4, Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) partira au bout de la quatrième ligne, derrière Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) et Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing).

                 

Quatorzième, Héctor Barberá (Avintia Racing) sera le premier pilote Open sur la grille, devant le rookie australien Jack Miller (LCR Honda), tandis que les Français Loris Baz (Forward Racing) et Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing), qui se prépare pour son 200e Grand Prix, partiront respectivement 19e et 22e.

Cliquez ici pour accéder aux résultats.

             

Marc Marquez claims his 30th MotoGP™ pole position by over three-tenths from Iannone and Lorenzo, with Rossi starting from seventh.

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez took pole position at the Pramac Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix with an incredible display of riding. In near perfect conditions (Track temp. 42˚C) at Phillip Island the Spaniard set a 1’28.364 to clearly show his rivals he is back to full fitness after breaking a bone in his left hand before the Japanese GP.

               

No one had an answer to the reigning MotoGP™ World Champion's one-lap pace, despite it being almost half a second slower than Jorge Lorenzo’s 2013 Pole Record (1’27.899). Marquez, after finishing second in FP1 on Friday, has topped every session since and his race pace looks ominous at the only track on the MotoGP™ calendar where he has not scored a point in the premier class. He led the way from the very first lap in Q2 and was never knocked off the top, improving his time on his third run as he made use of a two-stop strategy.

                

Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone (+0.316s) also made use of a two-stop strategy and the extra soft option tyre available to him to record only his third front row start of the season. The Italian set an identical time to Movistar Yamaha’s Lorenzo, but will start from second due to count back.

Lorenzo (+0.316s) completes the front row in third, making it 13 front row starts this year. It is actually his worst qualifying performance since his 8th in Assen as Lorenzo also made use of a two-stop strategy. However the two-time MotoGP™ champion will take heart from the fact the man who is leading him in the title standings by 18 points, Valentino Rossi, will be forced to start from seventh.

Marquez’s teammate Dani Pedrosa (+0.348s) looked like he would be on the front row as the clock ticked down in Q2, but will instead have to start from the front of the second row in fourth. LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow (+0.548s) followed up his excellent third place overall in practice with fifth, his best Qualifying result since he started the Indianapolis GP from fourth and it sees him as the leading Satellite rider.

Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Maverick Viñales (+0.568s) continued his excellent weekend and will start from sixth, just 0.02s behind Crutchlow. It was his best Qualifying performance since his 2nd at the Catalan GP as the Spaniard made use of the sweet handling of his GSX-RR around the fast and flowing Phillip Island circuit.

                 

Championship leader Valentino Rossi’s recent good run in qualifying came to an end as he put on his worst performance since he claimed 8th at Indianapolis. The ‘Doctor’ improved his time from Practice by over seven-tenths, but it was only good enough for seventh and sees the Doctor start the race from the head of the third row.

               

Viñales’ teammate Aleix Espargaro will start the race from eighth after making it through from Q1 alongside his brother Pol, who qualified in ninth.

               

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) was tenth fastest, with Brits Scott Redding (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) and Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) completing the fourth row, despite the latter becoming the only rider to crash so far throughout the weekend in FP4.

              

Hector Barbera (Avintia Racing) will start from 14th as the leading Open class rider ahead of local hero Jack Miller in 15th (LCR Honda) and Eugene Laverty (Aspar MotoGP Team) in 16th. Nicky Hayden (Aspar MotoGP Team) celebrated the announcement he will be inducted into the MotoGP Hall of Fame at Valencia by qualifying in 20th.

Check out the full MotoGP™ Qualifying results; the 27-lap race starts at 16:00 local time on Sunday.

              

Lorenzo double la mise au Motegi / Lorenzo overcomes injury to dominate Friday’s practice

Nettement au-dessus de ses adversaires le matin, le Majorquin a de nouveau dominé les essais libres vendredi après-midi au Japon.

             

Avec quatorze points de retard sur son coéquipier Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) dans leur duel pour le titre mondial, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) se doit de prendre l’initiative et l’a fait sans hésitation vendredi au Twin Ring Motegi, où commençait le Grand Prix Motul du Japon, première des quatre dernières manches de la saison 2015.

Le Majorquin, vainqueur de l’épreuve japonaise ces deux dernières années, a attaqué dès le matin pour boucler la première séance d’essais du week-end avec près de quatre dixièmes de seconde d’avance sur Andrea Iannone (Ducati) et a poursuivi ses efforts l’après-midi, lors d’une seconde séance marquée par une nette progression de l’ensemble des pilotes. 

                 

Bien que ses adversaires se soient rapprochés de lui, Lorenzo conservait en fin de journée la première position sur le classement combiné, avec 0.128s d’avance sur Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), en pleine forme après s’être brillamment battu pour prendre la seconde place lors de la course précédente, en Aragón.

Toujours affaibli par son épaule gauche, dont il ne se fera pas opérer avant la fin de la saison, Iannone avait annoncé que le Motegi était une piste faite pour lui et a confirmé sa performance matinale en se maintenant dans le Top 3 au terme de la seconde séance d’essais, en étant 0.312s de Lorenzo.

                   

Son coéquipier Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) a trouvé un rythme similaire (+0.016s sur Iannone) pour se hisser à la quatrième position, devant Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) et Aleix Espargaró (Team Suzuki Ecstar), qui, comme les pilotes Ducati, bénéficie d’un pneu arrière plus tendre.

Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda), récemment opéré de la main gauche, et Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) se sont respectivement classés septième et huitième, en étant respectivement à plus de sept et huit dixièmes de seconde de Lorenzo.

                   

Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech3) a fini neuvième, devant Héctor Barberá (Avintia Racing), dixième et premier pilote Open.

Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing) s’est quant à lui classé 21e, trois places devant Loris Baz (Forward Racing), qui a chuté. 

Les pilotes MotoGP™ seront de retour en piste samedi matin à 9h55 au Japon, soit 2h55 en France métropolitaine.

Cliquez ici pour accéder aux résultats.

                  

Jorge Lorenzo dominated Friday’s practice to top the combined timesheets ahead of Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Iannone with Rossi in eighth.

Movistar Yamaha’s Lorenzo took advantage of ideal conditions (Track temp. 40˚C) at the Twin Ring Motegi to set a 1’44.731 in FP2 to top Friday’s practice. Lorenzo showed no ill effects from the shoulder injury he picked up earlier in the week as he completely dominated proceedings on Friday at the Motul Grand Prix of Japan.

Lorenzo’s time was less than three-tenths off Andrea Dovizioso’s Pole Record from last year (1’44.502) as the Spaniard looks to close the 14-point gap to his teammate Valentino Rossi in the standings.

Repsol Honda’s Pedrosa (+0.128s) seemed buoyed by his podium finish at Aragon and ended the day in second overall after improving by over a second from FP1 to FP2. Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone was third fastest on a day that saw 0.312s separate the provisional front row. The Italian finished ahead of his teammate Andrea Dovizioso in fourth as just 0.016s separated the two, despite Iannone also carrying a shoulder injury. The Ducati Team GP15’s made use of special cooling ducts to keep the front brakes cool, as did both the Movistar Yamaha team and Team Suzuki Ecstar.

               

Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Bradley Smith (+0.519s) impressed as the leading Satellite rider in fifth overall, after he had finished fourth fastest in FP1. Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Aleix Espargaro (+0.617s) was sixth fastest with Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez in seventh. The reigning MotoGP™ champion was using a modified handlebar to accommodate the broken fifth metacarpal on his left hand and at one point pulled off a remarkable save at turn 8 to stop him from doing any further damage.

                 

Championship leader Rossi found himself down in 8th overall at the end of the day, after ending FP1 in third. Rossi was 0.823s off the pace of Lorenzo and will have work to do on Saturday to try and maintain his 14-point lead.

Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) was ninth ahead of the leading Open Class rider, Hector Barbera on the Avintia Racing Ducati, who completed the top ten.

             

British riders Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) and Scott Redding (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) were in 11th and 12th respectively. Australian Jack Miller (LCR Honda) was 15th fastest overall while Irishman Eugene Laverty (Aspar MotoGP Team) was in 19th, ahead of his teammate Nicky Hayden (20th). The 2006 MotoGP™ World Champion Hayden announced on Friday he will be leaving MotoGP™for WorldSBK in 2016.

Wildcards Takumi Takahashi (Team HRC With Nissin) and Katsuyuki Nagasuka (Yamaha Factor Racing Team) ended the day in 18th and 23rd respectively despite the latter crashing late on in FP2, while Kousuke Akiyoshi, the replacement for the injured Karel Abraham in the AB Motoracing Team, was in 27th.

Check out the combined MotoGP™ FP1 and FP2 results; FP3 kicks off at 9:55am local time in Motegi on Sunday.

               

MotoGP Márquez impose son rythme au Sachsenring / Marquez returns to form at the Sachsenring

Le Champion en titre est resté au sommet de la feuille de temps tout au long de la première journée au Grand Prix GoPro d’Allemagne.

              

Invaincu au Sachsenring depuis 2010, Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) a très clairement dominé la première journée du Grand Prix GoPro d’Allemagne et a constamment amélioré son meilleur temps personnel pour finir avec un chrono de 1’21.621 réalisé sur son tout dernier tour. 

Beaucoup plus confiant au guidon de sa RC213V depuis qu’il a repris la version 2014 du châssis Honda, le Champion du Monde en titre avait pu se battre pour la victoire jusqu’au bout à Assen lors de l’épreuve précédente, jusqu’à son contact avec Valentino Rossi, et tentera à nouveau de renouer avec la victoire ce week-end pour rattraper une partie de ses 74 points de retard sur le leader du classement général.

                   

Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) a grimpé jusqu’en seconde position en suivant Andrea Iannone (Ducati) en fin de séance. Le Britannique était au final à 0.119s de Márquez et comptait moins d’un dixième de seconde d’avance sur l’Italien. 

Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) et Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) complétaient le Top 5 en étant à un peu plus de deux dixièmes de seconde de Márquez, départagés de trois petits millièmes de seconde. 

Arborant une livrée spéciale pour fêter les 30 ans de la GSX-R, Aleix Espargaró (Team Suzuki Ecstar) a terminé la journée en sixième position, devant Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) et Scott Redding (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS), seuls pilotes du Top 10 à avoir été moins rapides l’après-midi que le matin.

                 

Après avoir décroché sa troisième victoire de l’année à Assen et un douzième podium consécutif en comptant ceux de la fin sa saison 2014, Rossi était plutôt bien parti le matin puisqu’il occupait la seconde position, à trois dixièmes de Márquez, mais a eu un peu plus de mal l’après-midi et a fini à une demi-seconde de l’Espagnol. 

Yonny Hernández (Octo Pramac Racing) et Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) figuraient eux aussi dans le Top 10 tandis que Héctor Barberá (Avintia Racing) s’est distingué en tant que premier pilote Open mais en devançant surtout quatre pilotes sur prototype Factory : Cal Crutchlow (CWM LCR Honda), Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech3), qui a chuté, Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) ainsi que Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing). 

Les Français Mike di Meglio (Avintia Blusens) et Loris Baz (Athinà Forward Racing) se sont respectivement classés dix-septième et dix-neuvième. 

Claudio Corti, qui remplace l’Allemand Stefan Bradl (Athinà Forward Racing), a fini dernière, derrière Michael Laverty, qui a pris la place de Marco Melandri au sein de l’Aprilia Racing Team Gresini et finissait juste derrière son frère Eugene (Aspar MotoGP Team).

De retour sur la grille MotoGP™ pour la deuxième fois de l’année en tant que remplaçant de Karel Hanika (AB Motoracing) après avoir couru chez Repsol Honda durant la convalescence de Pedrosa, Hiroshi Aoyama a chuté et terminé en 22e position mais reprendra la piste samedi matin à 9h55 pour la troisième séance d’essais du week-end.

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The Spaniard was fastest in FP1, then went on to improve upon his time in FP2 to finish the day quickest overall.

Repsol Honda rider Marc Marquez set a fastest lap time of 1'21.621 to finish on top today, despite not yet equalling the 1'20.937 lap he set to claim pole at the German GP last year.

Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) finished in 2nd place on the combined sheets, 0.119 sec off Marquez’s pace. He recently told motogp.com that he feels much more comfortable with the 2015 M1 than he has with previous iterations, feeling faster and more consistent pretty much instantly. This certainly shows today.

Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) came in third, only 0.084 sec slower than Smith, leaving Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha) in 4th.

 

5th place went to Marquez’s team mate Dani Pedrosa who put in a lap time 0.268 sec off the pace set by his Repsol Honda colleague. Honda has a good record in Germany - since the introduction of the 4-stroke MotoGP class in 2002, the Japanese manufacturer has been the most successful at the Sachsenring with 9 wins in total.

Aleix Espargaró - who is racing in a striking retro livery today celebrating 30 years of the GSX-R - came in sixth place for Team Suzuki Ecstar. He finishes just 0.007 sec quicker than Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha).

                    

Scott Redding (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS), Yonny Hernández (Octo Pramac Racing) and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) complete the top ten.

Meanwhile it’s all change further down the MotoGP timesheets this weekend, with three new riders lining up to do battle at the Sachsenring:

Claudio Corti replaces Stefan Bradl for Athiná Forward Racing due to his broken scaphoid. Bradl was obviously disappointed to miss the German round: “It's really a shame to be forced to miss my home Grand Prix, but doctors have advised me not to rush the recovery in order not to jeopardize the rest of the season.”

AB Motoracing’s injured Karel Abraham has been substituted for Hiroshi Aoyama. The Japanese rider said: “It’s a strange feeling to be back again, I’m very sorry for Karel, but I’m very excited to jump on his bike.”

                

Michael Laverty also makes his return to MotoGP, permanently taking Marco Melandri’s ride in the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini. It’s a tough challenge replacing a rider mid season, but Laverty is no stranger to the Aprilia: “I have been riding with the Aprilia test team so I am comfortable with the Aprilia RS-GP machine and the Bridgestone tyres.”

               

The MotoGP FP3 session is due to to start at 9:55 local time on July 11.

Click here for the combined results from MotoGP FP1 & FP2.