GP Aragon ; Lorenzo plus rapide

Auteur du meilleur temps vendredi au MotorLand, Lorenzo s’attend à des qualifications disputées samedi après-midi.

              

Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) a été le grand protagoniste de la première journée du Grand Prix Movistar d’Aragón et a été le plus rapide lors de chacune des deux premières séances d’essais du week-end. Sur un circuit où il était venu réaliser un test privé durant l’été et que Yamaha avait choisi comme terrain d’entraînement afin de travailler sur les points faibles de la M1, le Majorquin s’est aisément installé au sommet de la hiérarchie et comptait plus d’une demi-seconde d’avance sur ses concurrents.

Jorge Lorenzo :

« Il y a une très grosse différence entre ce que nous ressentions ici auparavant et ce que nous ressentons maintenant. Ces progrès sont le fruit du travail des ingénieurs, qui ont amélioré le comportement de la moto, ce qui nous permet d’être compétitifs même sur une piste difficile comme celle d’Aragón. Nos adversaires ne dorment pas et la pole de demain va être rapide. Nous devrons encore améliorer nos réglages afin de trouver un meilleur rythme. »

                

L’Italien a constaté les bénéfices de son dernier test privé réalisé avec Yamaha au MotorLand Aragón.

Deuxième du classement combiné avec 0.683s de retard sur son coéquipier Jorge Lorenzo vendredi au MotorLand Aragón, Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) s’est dit satisfait d’avoir pu être performant dès la première séance du week-end, sur une piste qui lui avait posé de nombreux problèmes par le passé. 

Satisfait des progrès réalisés par Yamaha, qui occupait les trois premières positions en fin de journée, Rossi a quand même rappelé que les deux pilotes du team Repsol Honda, Marc Márquez et Dani Pedrosa, n’avaient pas utilisé de pneus tendres à la fin de la seconde séance et qu’ils devraient donc être bien plus rapides que leurs chronos ne le suggèrent.

Valentino Rossi :

« Nous avions fait un test en Aragón il y a un mois parce que c’est notre circuit de test. Nous avions choisi ce circuit parce que nous avions par le passé eu du mal ici avec la Yamaha. Ce début de week-end n’a pas été mauvais parce que nous avons pu partir avec une bonne base pour les réglages et que Jorge et moi avons été très forts dès ce matin. Jorge a cependant été un peu plus rapide et nous devrons donc continuer à travailler pour progresser encore un peu dans certains secteurs. Après, le choix des pneus va être très important pour la course. Il est encore trop tôt pour dire s’il vaut mieux courir sur le dur ou le medium. Nous avons essayé le medium à la fin de la séance mais nos principaux adversaires ne l’utilisaient pas. Autrement, ils auraient été à notre niveau mais tout ira bien tant que nous pourrons nous battre avec eux parce qu’ils sont généralement un peu plus forts ici. Nous devrons travailler sur le freinage pour aller plus loin dans le virage mais en gardant suffisamment d’agilité. »

                

Cinquième vendredi à 0.884s de Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Márquez n’a certainement pas joué toutes ses cartes.

Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) était deuxième à 0.490s de Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) vendredi matin à l’issue de la première séance d’essais du Grand Prix Movistar d’Aragón et est ensuite descendu à la cinquième place après la seconde séance, se retrouvant cette fois-ci à 0.884s de Lorenzo et un rien derrière son coéquipier Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda). 

Le Champion du Monde en titre et son coéquipier n’ont, contrairement aux trois pilotes qui les précédaient, cependant pas cherché le chrono sur gomme tendre en fin de séance et leur retard sur les pilotes Yamaha dans le classement combiné demeure donc tout relatif.

Marc Márquez :

« Aujourd’hui nous avons essayé beaucoup de choses. Nous avons testé les pneus durs et medium à l’avant et à l’arrière pour mieux comprendre leurs performances pour dimanche. Nous avons aussi travaillé sur le set-up de la moto, un domaine où nous avons encore une marge de progression. Nous devons aussi prendre en compte que Jorge pilote à un très haut niveau. Il a fait deux excellentes séances aujourd’hui et il a un pas d’avance sur nous. Dani a lui aussi un très bon rythme. Nous verrons demain si nous pouvons continuer à progresser et atteindre le niveau de Jorge. »

                 

A dominant first day at the Gran Premio Movistar de Aragon sees Jorge Lorenzo within half a second of the pole record.

The MotorLand Aragon circuit is Movistar Yamaha’s designated test track, the squad choosing it due to their past difficulties at the Spanish track. Everyone from the rider to the team to the engineers has worked hard to make the Yamaha M1 as competitive as possible in 2015 and results are starting to show at every round. Jorge Lorenzo ended Friday practice on top with a crushing 1’47.517, leading the rest of the MotoGP™ field by over half a second and helping to complete a Yamaha top three lockout.

Misano was a disaster for Lorenzo who crashed and was unable to score points for the first time this season. He has a 23-point gap to close down on championship leader Valentino Rossi, the Mallorcan clearly stating his intention as the Aragon GP weekend got underway. It may be more than just Rossi he has to contend with, both Repsol Honda riders showed flashes of speed during practice and have strong records at Aragon and Lorenzo is by no means ruling them out.

Jorge Lorenzo: “There‘s a big difference between how we have always felt here before and how we feel here now. The improvement is thanks to the work of the engineers, who improved the way the bikes work, so even at a difficult track such as Aragon we can be competitive. Our rivals don‘t sleep so they will be strong and tomorrow‘s pole will be fast. We need to further improve the setting to be able to make an even better pace.”

Private testing in Aragon boost Valentino Rossi on the opening day of practice for the Gran Premio Movistar de Aragon.

A strong opening day saw Valentino Rossi end in second and as the only rider within three quarters of a second of Movistar Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo. Multiple private tests at the Spanish track allowed Rossi and his Movistar Yamaha team to come with a predefined base setting, resulting in more work on the finer details of his M1. Unfortunately, Rossi was unable to match the blistering pace of Lorenzo who stamped his authority on proceedings.

Tyres will play a critical role throughout the weekend, especially for Sunday’s race and Rossi is still debating using the medium or the hard tyre and he feels he needs more information with both. Saturday will focus on choosing a tyre, the Repsol Honda riders yet to fit the softer option as Yamaha did in FP2. Rossi believes this to be the main reason that neither Marc Marquez nor Dani Pedrosa were inside the top three.

Valentino Rossi: “We did a test last month at Aragón, because it‘s our test track. We decided on this circuit because in the past we suffered a lot here on the Yamaha. The start of the weekend was not so bad because we could start with a good basis setting and in this practice both me and Jorge were very strong, but Jorge was a little bit faster, so we need to continue to work and try to improve in some sectors just a little bit. After that the tyre choice for the race will be very important. You can go with the medium or the hard, right now it‘s still too early to say. Tomorrow we need to improve the setting and make the right choice for the tyres. We tried the softer tyre at the end of the session but our main rival didn‘t. If they had done so, they would have been at our level, but as long as we are able to fight with them on Sunday it‘s OK, because they are usually a bit stronger here. We have to work on braking, to be able to go deep into the corner yet have a good agility.”

                

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez admits there is room for improvement after ending Friday’s practice in fifth overall, 0.884s behind Lorenzo.

Marquez arrived in Aragon trailing Valentino Rossi by 63 points in the championship standings. The reigning MotoGP™ World Champion knows that while his chances of retaining the title are extremely slim, he could still play a key role in where it ends up.

With that in mind Marquez impressed in FP1 to finish in second, just 0.490s off the pace of Jorge Lorenzo. In FP2 the fact that Aragon is an official test track for the Movistar Yamaha team seemed to pay off, as Lorenzo and Rossi topped the timesheets and Marquez found himself in fifth overall. Marquez will not be too disappointed though as he spent the whole of FP2 on the hard rear tyre compound in comparison to the Yamaha’s who set their fastest times on the medium. Marquez ended Friday 0.884s off the pace of Lorenzo but only four-tenths behind his teammate Dani Pedrosa (4th).

Marc Marquez: “Today was a day in which we tried a lot of things out; with both the front and the rear, we ran hard and medium tyres in order to have a better understanding of their performance for Sunday. We also worked on the setup of the bike, which is an area where we still have room for improvement. We must also take into account that Jorge is riding at a high level; he rode two great sessions today and is a small step ahead of us. Dani is also riding with a very strong pace. Let's see if tomorrow we can continue to improve and get up to the same level as Jorge."

Moto GP : Jorge Lorenzo disappointed with Brno result, Rossi 'we won't give up'

It was a highly disappointed Jorge Lorenzo who finished third at Brno. For the second consecutive race the Yamaha rider had a lightning start trying to break away, only to be hunted down by both Repsol Honda riders, Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa.

Lorenzo is still third in the standings but with a bigger disadvantage then before, as he is now 44 points from the phenomenal Marc Marquez, who is clearly looking to take this year’s championship, however Lorenzo hasn’t lost hope, even if the numbers are more truthful, but he did say that, “The championship is not lost yet, but it’s very difficult now.”

If we are to believe the Yamaha riders, the M1s are no longer the perfectly balanced machine that they once were when they forsake top speed for impressive corner speed, braking and handling, as Honda has not only caught up, but they have surpassed them, and the introduction of the seamless transmission at Misano may not be enough to wrestle back some important points.

Asked if he regrets not going to Honda, Yamaha rider said no and he added, “Yamaha is an unbelievable factory that is trying to reduce the gap to Honda. They are working 24 hours a day and I believe in them. I have all my confidence in the engineers.”

Yamaha will be staying in Brno for another test tomorrow.

I am really disappointed because now I feel I am in the best shape of my career,” said Lorenzo. “I got a good start and the first lap I was very fast, but I cannot do much to defend against the Hondas. Anyway we had fun today, with the fight with Marc. I tried to stay with them to the end and most importantly I’m proud because I’m doing the best job I can do.”

During this morning’s warm-up practice it seemed that Valentino Rossi could actually contest for a podium, but the three front runners are always faster off the grid - especially in the first lap - than he is and getting bogged down with continuously bad qualifying positions isn’t helping the Italian, who still has problems braking.

Asked if anyone can stop Marquez, Rossi laughingly replied only if Marquez decides to change sport, and maybe go to Formula 1.

“Today was better than Indy, especially because my disadvantage to the top is half. I wanted to do better; we have to try to do better,” said Rossi. “The first three guys are impressive, very strong; I want to stay closer to them. Unfortunately I was ten seconds back, another fourth place but I want to be closer so we have to work. We tried to improve this type of setting in the last two races but it looks like it’s not fantastic. Also today I suffered a bit too much at the beginning of the race. We won’t give up and we will try next week to make a better job.”

via TWOWHEELSBLOG