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.

                 

Lorenzo remporte la grande finale de Valence / Lorenzo wins #TheGrandFinale to become champion

Le Majorquin a décroché son troisième titre MotoGP™ en s’imposant devant Marc Márquez, Dani Pedrosa et Valentino Rossi à Valence.

                

Opposé à son coéquipier Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), qui était arrivé avec sept points d’avance mais une pénalité qui le contraignait à partir en dernière position, Jorge Lorenzo a fait la maximum pour remporter son troisième titre de Champion du Monde MotoGP™ au Grand Prix Motul de Valence. 

Le Majorquin avait lancé son offensive dès le samedi après-midi et s’offrant une très précieuse pole position, qui lui a permis d’imprimer son rythme devant Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) et Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), qui partaient aussi de la première ligne, dès le début de la course.

              

Parti du fond de la grille, Rossi a lui aussi fait tout son possible dès l’extinction des feux et a réalisé un excellent départ pour gagner une dizaine de places en l’espace d’un tour et ensuite progressivement remonter jusqu’à Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) et prendre la quatrième place à son compatriote dans le douzième des trente tours de la course, lorsque les trois premiers étaient déjà trop loin devant pour espérer les rattraper.

En tête depuis le début, Lorenzo a bien tenu devant Márquez et n’a pas commis la moindre erreur lorsque la tension est montée en fin de course et que Pedrosa s’est joint au duo de tête. Le Catalan a tenté de dépasser Márquez mais a tout de suite été repris par ce dernier et a dû se contenter d’une troisième place qui marquait cependant son 100e podium en catégorie reine.

Vainqueur pour la septième fois de la saison, Lorenzo remportait son troisième titre MotoGP™ avec cinq points d’avance sur Rossi et un palmarès comprenant 40 victoires, 87 podiums et 35 pole positions depuis son arrivée dans la catégorie en 2008.

              

Derrière Rossi, qui a fini à 19 secondes du podium, Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Teh3) et son coéquipier Bradley Smith ont respectivement pris les cinquième et sixième places, devant Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati), Aleix Espargaró (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) et Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing). 

              

Le titre de la catégorie Open est revenu à Héctor Barberá (Avintia Racing), seizième de la course, alors que son principal rival, et futur coéquipier, Loris Baz (Forward Racing) a terminé dix-neuvième et donc lui aussi hors des points. Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing) n’a de son côté par rallié l’arrivée, à l’instar d’Andrea Iannone (Ducati), tombé en début de course.

Cliquez ici pour accéder aux résultats.

               

Lorenzo wins an incredible race to lift his fifth world title with Marquez and Pedrosa on the podium and Rossi fourth after an amazing ride.

Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo led from flag to flag to become the 2015 MotoGP™ World Champion in one of the most dramatic races of the year at the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana. In the process Lorenzo became only the third rider in the premier class to overturn a points deficit in the last GP to become champion and the first since Giacomo Agostini in 1966 to win the final race to clinch the title.

His teammate and title rival Valentino Rossi, who started from 25th on the grid after Cal Crutchlow was forced to start from the back of the grid, rode one of the races of his life to cross the line in fourth, but despite his best efforts, the ‘Doctor’ could do nothing to stop Lorenzo becoming champion in the end. Lorenzo eventually took the race win by just 0.263s from Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez, with his teammate Dani Pedrosa in third after thrilling finish that could have seen a very different outcome to the title battle.

#TheGrandFinale certainly lived up to the hype as 110,000 fans at a sold out Comunitat Valenciana – Ricardo Tormo circuit bore witness to one of the most tense and thrilling conclusions to a MotoGP™ season ever.

When the lights went out it was pole man Lorenzo who led into the first corner, a lead he would not relinquish for the duration of the race. Immediately he set off at the front, closely followed by the two Hondas of Marquez and Pedrosa plus Andrea Iannone on the Ducati Team GP15. Rossi enjoyed an amazing start, making up 7 places off the line, and the Italian was up to 16th by after the very first corner.

                

Rossi was a man on a mission and while the four riders at the front started to open up a gap, he carved his way through the field. The ‘Doctor’ was into 15th by the by the end of the first lap and 12th after lap 2. He then passed Stefan Bradl (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) for 11th on the third lap, before swiftly disposing of wildcard Michele Pirro (Ducati Team) to move into 10th. 

Still on lap three, Iannone lost the front at turn 12 and crashed out of the race, meaning Rossi was now into ninth and the crowd was going wild as they could not believe what they were seeing. At the front, Lorenzo was riding brilliantly, managing the gap to Marquez at around the 0.4s mark. Pedrosa had started to fall back from his teammate, but the front three had now opened up a 3.5s gap to the fourth placed Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team).

Rossi continued his charge, and by lap five he was embroiled in a battle for sixth with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 duo of Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro along with Danilo Petrucci on the Octo Pramac Racing Ducati. On lap six he overtook Smith for 8th, a lap later Petrucci ran wide and Rossi was up into seventh, but by this point Pol Espargaro had escaped 1.2s further up the road. Rossi set off in hot pursuit.

             

By lap nine he had closed down Pol Espargaro, and there was contact as he passed the Spaniard on lap 10 for sixth, but nothing was going to slow Rossi’s progress. On lap 12 Rossi made his move on Aleix Espargaro on the Team Suzuki Ecstar GSX-RR in to turn 1, but Espargaro fought back, with Rossi having to wait until turn 5 to make it stick. Unbelievably he was now into fifth and a few corners later he took Dovizioso for fourth, but by this point he was 11 seconds behind Pedrosa in third.

               

It would turn out to be as good as it got for Rossi, as he didn’t have the pace to run with the front three as by this point he was lapping 0.3s slower than the men in front of him. Rossi, in fourth, needed Lorenzo to finish third if he was to become champion and only Marquez or Pedrosa could stop Lorenzo winning his fifth World Championship now.

At this point Lorenzo was still managing the gap at the front beautifully, and every time Marquez appeared to close him down, he opened up a 0.4s lead once more and the duo were starting to pull away from Pedrosa. It was not over yet though, not by a long way.

                 

With 8 laps to go Pedrosa, in third, started to close down his teammate, reducing the gap to the second placed Marquez to under 2 seconds. Suddenly Pedrosa was the fastest rider on track by far. While Marquez put Lorenzo under constant pressure at the front, it was Pedrosa who had the momentum and amazingly with three laps to go, only half a second separated the front three.

Rossi was now 18 seconds behind the trio and hoping for a miracle. With two laps to go, Pedrosa made a move on Marquez into second, but Marquez fought back immediately. This swapping of places allowed Lorenzo to open up the tiniest of gaps at the front and as he crossed the line to start the last lap, he had a 0.347s lead over Marquez.

The tensions was unbearable, but Lorenzo kept his cool to ride smoothly through the last set of corners and despite Marquez throwing everything at him on the last lap, Lorenzo held on to take the race win by less than three-tenths of a second from Marquez. It was the 28-year-old Mallorcan’s seventh win of the season, 40th in MotoGP™ and 61st of his illustrious career.

               

It was in incredible finish to one of the most epic seasons in the history of the World Championship and it meant that Lorenzo (330pts) had overturned Rossi’s (325pts) seven-point lead to lift the title by a slender five-point margin, in the process lifting his fifth World Championship title (250cc – 2006, 250cc – 2007, MotoGP™ - 2010, MotoGP™ - 2012, MotoGP™-2015).

With Marquez and Pedrosa completing the podium, Rossi crossed the line 19 seconds behind Lorenzo in fourth, and despite a simply astounding ride, Rossi will have to wait to lift that elusive tenth title.

                   

Pol Espargaro was fifth as the leading Satellite rider, 2.8s ahead of his teammate Bradley Smith in sixth, with the British rider securing sixth in the championship standings in the process and the honour of top Satellite rider in 2015.

                   

Dovizioso finished in seventh as the leading Ducati, ahead of Aleix Espargaro in eight. LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow was forced to start from the back of the grid after experiencing issues with his bike before the race started. The British rider pulled off a great race to ride form 26th through to 9th, with Petrucci completing the top ten.

EG 0,0 Marc VDS Scott Redding took the last points scoring spot in 15th, with Avintia Racing’s Hector Barbera in 16th as the leading Open Class rider, with the Spaniard securing the Open title in the process as his rival Loris Baz (Forward Racing) could only finish in 19th.

                    

Nicky Hayden (Aspar MotoGP Team) bowed out of the MotoGP™ class by finishing as the leading Open Honda in 17th with Australian Jack Miller (LCR Honda) crossing the line in 21st. There were DNF’s for Broc Parkes, Mike De Meglio and Eugene Laverty.

The riders and team return to the Valencia track on Tuesday & Wednesday to kick off the 2016 season with the first official test.

Check out the full MotoGP™ race results and the final 2015 MotoGP™ World Championship standings.

Lorenzo s’assure une pole record pour la finale ! / Advantage Lorenzo as he obliterates record on way to pole

Jorge Lorenzo a décroché la pole position pour le Grand Prix Motul de Valence en pulvérisant le record du Circuit Ricardo Tormo.

 

En quête d’un troisième titre mondial et opposé à son coéquipier Valentino Rossi, qui dispose de sept points d’avance mais partira dernier au Grand Prix Motul de Valence, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) a réalisé la performance dont il avait besoin pour maximiser ses chances de remporter son duel face à l’Italien et a battu le record du circuit pour s’offrir l’une des pole positions les plus importantes de sa carrière, sa 35e en MotoGP™ et sa cinquième cette année.

Auteur d’un tour parfait, le Majorquin s’est non seulement assuré la pole mais a aussi relégué le spécialiste de l’exercice, le Champion en titre Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda), à près d’une demi-seconde de la première place (+0.488s). Ce dernier avait été le premier à établir une référence en début de séance mais a ensuite fait une petite erreur sur son deuxième run et n’a finalement pas été suffisamment rapide sur le troisième pour contester la pole à Lorenzo. 

                

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) complètera la première ligne en ayant fini à 0.505s de la pole tandis que Rossi, sachant qu’il partirait de toute façon dernier après avoir été pénalisé au GP de Malaisie, avait choisi de se servir des quinze minutes de qualifications pour continuer à préparer sa course. Classé douzième en Q2, l’Italien a malheureusement terminé sa journée sur une chute dans le virage 8, un incident dont il s’est rapidement relevé et qu’il devra vite oublier avant une course dans laquelle il n’aura pas le droit à l’erreur.

                 

Pilote le plus rapide en Q1, Aleix Espargaró (Team Suzuki Ecstar) a réalisé une excellente performance en Q2 pour se hisser en tête de la deuxième ligne, devant Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) et Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3). 

                  

Andrea Iannone (Ducati), Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech3) et Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) se retrouveront pour leur part en troisième ligne tandis que Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing) et Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) seront respectivement dixième et onzième sur la grille.

                

Loris Baz (Forward Racing) s’élancera de la quinzième position, juste derrière Héctor Barberá (Avintia Racing), son rival pour le titre Open, dont le coéquipier Mike Di Meglio s’est qualifié 21e.

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Jorge Lorenzo smashed the lap record on his way to pole ahead of Marquez and Pedrosa, as Rossi crashes and finishes Q2 in 12th.

Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo took the upper hand in the epic 2015 MotoGP™ World Championship battle against his teammate and title rival Valentino Rossi after claiming his fifth pole position of the season. The Mallorcan set the fastest ever MotoGP™ lap around the Comunitat Valenciana – Ricardo Tormo in near perfect conditions (Track temp. 30˚C), a 1’31.011. In the process he smashed Marc Marquez’s Pole Record (1’30.237) from 2013 by over two-tenths of a second. Lorenzo said afterwards it was the most important lap of his life as he aims to overturn the seven-point advantage Rossi holds in the championship standings in #TheGrandFinale on Sunday. It was his 61st career GP pole position, and his 35th in MotoGP™.

               

Lorenzo set his fastest time on the second of his three runs as he made use of a two-stop strategy. The Spaniard is brilliant at managing races from the front and by starting on pole he has made the task of winning the Championship that much easier, as he aims to make it four wins out of four in Spain for 2015 after winning in Jerez, Barcelona and Aragon. Although don’t write Rossi off yet.

                         

The ‘Doctor’ (+1.460s), who has to start from the back of the grid after the CAS denied his stay of execution on his penalty from Sepang, ended the session in 12th after crashing out on his last flying lap at turn 8 but walked away unhurt. It was only Rossi’s second crash of the season, and served notice to anyone that thought the Italian would not be pushing hard in Q2.

                   

The only man who looked like he might displace Lorenzo at the top was Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez (+0.488s). The Spaniard rode his RC213V to the absolute limit, having a number of huge moments, but even he could not deny Lorenzo in the end. Marquez was the only rider to get within half a second of Lorenzo, as he was another to utilise a two-stop strategy, recording his 16th front row start of the season in the process.

                   

Dani Pedrosa made it two Repsol Honda’s on the front row as he qualified in third, but he was +0.505s off the pace of Lorenzo. Pedrosa holds a two-point advantage over Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) in the battle for fourth in the standings, after winning two of the last three races. The Spaniard also has an excellent record at Valencia having won six races across all classes and should be a threat during Sunday’s race.

                   

Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Aleix Espargaro (+0.906s) will start from the head of the front row in fourth in his best qualifying performance since Assen. The Spaniard’s feat was made even more impressive by the fact he was forced to progress through Q1 after ending practice in 11th on the combined timesheets.

                  

LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow (+0.937s) qualified in fifth for the third race in a row as he was one of only five riders the break the 1’31 barrier in Q2. The Brit had been struggling with grip on Friday but improved to put in his best lap time on his final flying run to start as the leading Satellite rider.

                  

Just 0.064s behind Crutchlow was his compatriot Bradley Smith (+1.001s) on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 M1 in sixth. The British rider secured his first second row start since Misano as he aims to secure sixth in the standings from Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso.

                 

Iannone (+1.045) heads up the third row after he failed to improve on his best time from Practice that had seen him top the combined timesheets after FP3. Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) will start from eighth, with Dovizioso in ninth and Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing) completing the top ten.

                  

Maverick Viñales will start from 11th after he also made it through from Q1 alongside his teammate despite a nasty looking highside during that session, with Ducati Team wildcard Michele Pirro starting from 12th due to Rossi's penalty.

Avintia Racing’s Hector Barbera will start as the leading Satellite rider in 14th, ahead of the man he leads in the standings by five points, Forward Racing’s Loris Baz, in 15th. American Nicky Hayden qualified in 16th as the leading Open class Honda in his last MotoGP™ race before he moves to WorldSBK in 2016, after he was inducted into the MotoGP™ Hall of Fame on Friday in Valencia.

                  

EG 0,0 Marc VDS’s Scott Redding continued his struggles from practice and could only qualify in 19th, ahead of Australian Jack Miller (LCR Honda) in 20th and Eugene Laverty (Aspar MotoGP Team) in 23rd. Anthony West (AB Motoracing) filling in for the injured Karel Abraham was in 22nd, while Alex De Angelis’ replacement Broc Parkes (E-Motion IodaRacing Team) will start from 25th with Rossi lining up in 26th.

                 

Check out the full MotoGP™ qualifying results; the 30-lap race kicks off at 14:00 local time on Sunday. Click here for our interactive guide to see where Rossi & Lorenzo would have to finish to lift the title, plus all the info you need on the #TheGrandFinale.

Lorenzo : « Je me sens fort » / Rossi : « Je suis plus détendu une fois sur la moto » / Lorenzo: “I feel strong” /Rossi: “When I‘m riding I‘m more relaxed”

Le Majorquin s’est montré confiant après avoir dominé les essais libres de vendredi à Valence.

               

Face à la possibilité de remporter un troisième titre mondial lors de la dernière manche de la saison 2015, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) a commencé son week-end à Valence de la meilleure des manières puisqu’il a réalisé le meilleur temps du vendredi, en 1’31.111, et a en fait bouclé plusieurs tours en 1’31.1.

Avec sept points de moins que son coéquipier Valentino Rossi, qui partira dernier, le Majorquin devra viser le sommet du podium pour maximiser ses chances de remporter le titre et ne pouvait guère mieux commencer son week-end qu’en s’installant en tête de la feuille de temps.

Jorge Lorenzo :

« La journée avait bien commencé et nous avons ensuite bien amélioré la moto l’après-midi. Cette moto fonctionne vraiment bien et je me sens fort, bien concentré. Je pilote bien mais la moto fonctionne surtout très bien, elle me permet de garder un rythme élevé, même sur pneu usé, et je suis donc assez content du début de ce week-end. »

                               

Valentino Rossi a eu l’occasion de rapidement mettre les évènements de Sepang derrière vendredi à Valence.

                 

Pénalisé et contraint de prendre le départ de la dernière manche de la saison MotoGP™ du fond de la grille, Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) doit uniquement se concentrer sur la course de dimanche ce week-end au Grand Prix Motul de Valence et a profité du vendredi pour évaluer ses options de pneus et déjà faire un choix. 

Bien qu’il ait terminé la journée en cinquième position, à 0.364s de son coéquipier et rival, Jorge Lorenzo, l’Italien était plutôt satisfait de ses performances et était aussi ravi d’être de retour en piste et de se concentrer sur son pilotage après avoir été au centre des polémiques depuis le GP de Malaisie.

Valentino Rossi :

« Quand je roule je suis plus relâché et je suis assez content de ces deux premières séances parce que mon rythme n’était déjà pas mauvais ce matin et que j’ai aussi été compétitif sur pneu usé, ce qui est très important pour la course. Je suis aussi content que nous ayons essayé des choses différentes qui m’ont fait gagner en rythme cet après-midi et améliorer mes chronos. J’ai utilisé des pneus durs, ça ne s’est pas mal passé puis je suis passé sur le pneu tendre pour comparer et faire le bon choix pour dimanche. Il est vrai que nous devons décider de notre stratégie maintenant parce que je pense qu’il sera difficile d’utiliser les quinze minutes de qualifications comme une séance d’essais et je pense que je pourrai peut-être suivre la procédure normale. »

Jorge Lorenzo ends the first day of #TheGrandFinale feeling confident having topped practice.

             

The Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana will likely be one of the toughest and most important races of Jorge Lorenzo’s life. He has the chance to take his fifth world title and has started the weekend in the best possible way: leading Friday practice. A time of 1’31.111 saw the Movistar Yamaha rider lead the day by 0.139s from Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda). It’s not just one lap pace that Lorenzo is confident with, his Yamaha M1 handling well and allowing him to push hard over many laps. Hot conditions limited the lap times somewhat, but the Majorcan was unconcerned.

Lorenzo’s goal for the weekend and the race is victory, focusing on his own race as opposed to worrying about what title rival and teammate Valentino Rossi is doing. The pair head into Sunday’s race with Rossi seven points ahead, even with the Italian starting from the rear Lorenzo will have to race hard. Both the Repsol Honda bikes look set to be a stiff challenge for Lorenzo and Yamaha.

Jorge Lorenzo: “The day started positively and we improved the bike a lot in the afternoon. The bike is working really well and I feel strong, with good concentration. I‘m riding well, but the bike, to be honest, is working very well for me to keep a high pace, even with old tyres, so I‘m very happy about t e beginning of the weekend.”

                     

It was straight back to work for Valentino Rossi in Valencia having put the events of Sepang behind him.

With the last round of the 2015 MotoGP™ World Championship underway, Valentino Rossi has become focused entirely on Sunday’s race. The Movistar Yamaha rider got straight to work in FP1, beginning the day with a run of 15 laps. The Doctor set a series of competitive times in the mid to low 1’32s before dropping into the 1’31s in the final laps. Rossi ended the first session in fifth position and was confident with how he was riding. Knowing he would start from the back of the grid has removed a lot of pressure from Rossi’s shoulders and the experienced Italian is riding more relaxed.

The afternoon session was also spent with the majority of time on track; Rossi took an early lead but was shuffled back as other riders fitted a soft tyre. Several tweaks to setting followed and Rossi was able to improve his time to a 1’31.475 as his best time of Friday. This placed the Italian in fifth overall. Tyre choice is still unknown, Rossi comparing both the hard and soft options during FP2 to give himself and the team more data. Rossi will be able to participate in both Q1 and Q2 as normal on Saturday but will then be moved to the back of the grid for Sunday due to having a total of four penalty points.

Valentino Rossi: “When I‘m riding I‘m more relaxed and I‘m quite happy about these two first practices, because already this morning my pace was not so bad and I was also quite competitive with the used tyre, which is very important for the race. I‘m also happy that in the afternoon we tried something different that made me increase my rhythm and improve my lap times. I used the hard tyres and it wasn‘t so bad and after I tried the soft to make a comparison and make the right choice for Sunday. It‘s true that we have to decide our strategy now, because I think it will be difficult to use the 15 minutes of qualifying like a free practice, so I think maybe I can do the normal procedure anyway.”

Rossi : « Un week-end intense »

L’Italien arrive à Valence en tête du classement MotoGP™ 2015 et avec l’objectif de décrocher son dixième titre mondial.

             

En attendant une décision de Tribunal Arbitral du Sport, auquel il s’était adressé pour demander une réduction de la sanction imposée par la Direction de Course et confirmée par la FIM en Malaisie, Valentino Rossi se prépare pour le week-end le plus important de la saison. L’Italien n’a pas d’affinité particulière pour le tracé de Valence mais s’y était imposé en catégorie reine en 2003 et 2004, avant d’y obtenir d’autres podiums en 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010 et 2014.

Valentino Rossi :

« Ça va être un week-end intense et très important. Je veux seulement penser à ce qui va se passer en piste. Mon objectif est de travailler du mieux que possible avec mon équipe et de profiter de chaque séance pour arriver à la course de dimanche avec les moyens d’exprimer tout notre potentiel. J’attends la décision du TAS mais j’espère faire un Grand Prix normal pour me battre contre Jorge avec autant de chances que lui. Il y aura beaucoup de fans à Valence et j’en suis content. Je vais essayer de donner le meilleur de moi-même en piste. »

Lorenzo signe le meilleur temps du vendredi à Sepang / Lorenzo strikes first in Sepang

Le Majorquin est parvenu à passer devant les pilotes Repsol Honda lors d’une chaude après-midi en Malaisie.

                

Suite à ce que Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) ait dominé la première séance d’essais du Grand Prix Shell de Malaisie vendredi matin à Sepang, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) a été le pilote le plus rapide l’après-midi et a surtout réussi à battre le chrono de son compatriote de près de deux dixièmes de seconde pour finir la journée en tête. 

                    

Pedrosa était cependant lui aussi en progrès et finissait à seulement à 0.047s du Majorquin tandis que Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) se maintenait dans le Top 3, à 0.226s du leader. 

Andrea Iannone (Ducati) a profité de l’après-midi pour se rapprocher des premières places et finir quatrième, à un rien de Márquez et malgré une chute dans le virage 8. Son compatriote Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) a de son côté été l’un des quelques pilotes qui n’ont pas amélioré leurs meilleurs temps personnels l’après-midi et a terminé la journée à plus de six dixièmes de son coéquipier, qu’il devance de onze points au classement général avant l’avant-dernière manche de la saison.

                     

Tombé le matin, Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) a démontré une certaine compétitivité l’après-midi et a pris la sixième place sur le classement combiné, devant Aleix Espargaró (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati), Scott Redding (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) et Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing).

                      

Héctor Barberá (Avintia Racing) a impressionné et a fini onzième, devant Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) ainsi que les pilotes du team Monster Yamaha Tech3, Pol Espargaró et Bradley Smith. L’Espagnol était de loin le premier pilote Open tandis que son coéquipier Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing) et Loris Baz (Forward Racing) ont pris les 21e et 22 positions, respectivement, sur le classement combiné.

Cliquez ici pour accéder au classement.

Jorge Lorenzo ends Friday on top of the combined timesheets to lay down a marker to his title rival Rossi who finished in fifth.

               

In the hot and humid conditions (Track temp. 47˚C) at the Sepang International Circuit it was Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo who ended the day on top to send out a message to his title rival Valentino Rossi. All of the talk before the riders took to the track was about Rossi’s comments revolving around Marc Marquez from the Press Conference, but it was Rossi’s Movistar Yamaha teammate Lorenzo that stole the show amongst the haze at the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix.

Lorenzo had played second fiddle to Dani Pedrosa in the morning’s FP1 session, but after spending most of FP2 working on race pace, the Spaniard stuck in some fresh rubber to set a 2’00.246. This time was less than half a second off Marc Marquez’s 2014 Pole Record (1’59.791) as the riders hit the ground running at Sepang due to the fact all of the teams get to test at the circuit during preseason. Lorenzo’s time was 0.669s faster than his title rival Rossi as he struck an important psychological blow in the epic 2015 MotoGP™ World Championship title fight.

Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa had been quickest out of the blocks in FP1 but found himself 0.047s off the pace of Lorenzo at the end of the day in second overall. The Spaniard will be keen to be involved in the fight for the race win after having missed out on all the fun of the podium battle at Phillip Island.

                  

His teammate Marc Marquez (+0.226s) responded to Rossi’s criticism on Friday by ending the day third fastest overall. The reigning MotoGP™ champion took his 50th GP victory Phillip Island last time out and won last year’s race at Sepang from pole.

                  

Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone (+0.240s) followed up his podium at Phillip Island by ending the day fourth fastest despite crashing at turn 8 in FP2. Following his crash the Italian immediately went out and set his quickest time of the day, just 0.014s further back from Marquez at the circuit where his GP15 made its debut during the preseason test.

Rossi found himself down in fifth overall after an issue with his first choice bike at the end of FP2 prevented him from setting a flying lap on fresh rubber. Rossi, who has won six times in the premier class at Sepang, failed to improve on his time from the morning session but has shown before that he can recover from a poor Friday to be competitive come the race. The ‘Doctor’ currently leads Lorenzo by 11 points in the standings and has his first chance to lift that elusive tenth title if results go his way on Sunday.

                  

LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow (+0.793s) carried on his run of good form that has seen him record three top ten finishes in a row to end the day in sixth as the leading Satellite rider. Suzuki Ecstar’s Aleix Espargaro had expected his GSX-RR to struggle at Sepang due to the two long straights and its lack of acceleration, but he finished the day in seventh overall.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) recovered from his worst finish of the season at the Australian GP to finish in 8th, with Scott Redding (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) and Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing) completing the top ten.

                   

Avintia Racing’s Hector Barbera was the leading Open class rider in 11th, while the man who finished in sixth at the Australian GP, Maverick Viñales, was over 1.5s off the pace in 12th. British rider Bradley Smith on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 M1 struggled on the opening day and finished down in 14th.

Irishman Eugene Laverty was 16th, 0.001s ahead of his American teammate Nicky Hayden in 17th, while Australian Jack Miller (LCR Honda) ended the session in 20th.

Check out the combined results from MotoGP™ FP1 & FP2; FP3 starts at 9:55am local time on Saturday.