GP Moto2 ; Rabat signe le meilleur temps du vendredi à Brno / Rabat rules opening day in Moto2™

Le Champion en titre a réalisé le meilleur chrono l’après-midi, malgré de hautes températures de piste.

             

Quatrième des essais libres de vendredi matin à Brno, Tito Rabat (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) a réalisé d’importants progrès l’après-midi pour passer en tête du classement avec un chrono de 2’02.714, alors que le temps de référence établi le matin par Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) était de  2’03.082.

Le Français, leader de la catégorie avec 71 points d’avance, a conclu la journée en quatrième position, derrière Tom Lüthi (Derendinger Racing Interwetten) et Simone Corsi (Forward Racing), à 0.260s de Rabat. 

Derrière Zarco, les Allemands Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP) et Jonas Folger (AGR Team) complétaient le Top 6, devant Sam Lowes (Speed Up Racing), qui a fini son après-midi sur une lourde chute dans le virage 11. 

Figuraient également dans le Top 10 Julián Simón (QMMF Racing), Dominique Aegerter (Techomag Racing Interwetten) et Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) tandis que les anciens coéquipiers en Moto3™ Álex Márquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) et Álex Rins (Páginas Amarillas HP 40), vainqueur pour la première fois en Moto2™ une semaine plus tôt à Indianapolis, terminaient respectivement aux onzième et douzième positions.

Louis Rossi (Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2) et Xavier Siméon (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) occupent respectivement les vingtième et vingt-et-unième positions avant la troisième séance d’essais qui aura lieu samedi matin à 10h55.

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Tito Rabat goes quickest in FP2 to end the day on top of the combined timesheets ahead of Thomas Luthi and Simone Corsi.

            

EG 0,0 Marc VDS’s reigning Moto2™ World Champion Tito Rabat ended Friday’s practice on top of the combined timesheets. The Spaniard set the fastest lap of an exciting day in FP2 at the bwin Grand Prix Ceské republiky, with less than a second separating the top ten riders.

It was Rabat who took advantage of glorious conditions at the Automotodrom Brno (With track temperatures reaching 50˚C) to set a 2’02.714, only 0.8s off his own pole record from last year. This was good enough to finish 0.097s ahead of Thomas Luthi on the Derendinger Racing Interwetten Kalex who ended the day second overall.

The returning Forward Racing team saw Simone Corsi (+0.167s) leave it late to set the third fastest time of the day. The Italian, having missed the Indianapolis GP due his team’s financial problems, made up for lost time to finish in third.

Championship leader Johann Zarco (+0.260s) on the Ajo Motorsport Kalex had to settle for finishing the day in fourth after earlier topping FP1. Dynavolt Intact GP’s Sandro Cortese (+0.319s) was in fifth, ahead of Jonas Folger (+0633s) on the AGR Team Kalex in sixth.

Speed Up Racing’s Sam Lowes was in fourth in FP2 with moments to go, but crashed out at turn 11 and had to settle for seventh, ahead of Julian Simon on the QMMF Racing Team Speed Up machine in eighth. Technomag Racing Interwetten’s Dominique Aegerter and Luis Salom (Paginas Amarillas HP40) completed the top ten, with less than a second separating them.

                 

Check out the combined results from Moto2™ FP1 & FP2, FP3 starts at 10:55am local time in Brno on Saturday.

GRAND PRIX ČESKÉ REPUBLIKY ; Lorenzo : « Très dur physiquement »

L’Espagnol a été le plus rapide vendredi à Brno, où les très hautes températures ont été l’un des sujets clés de la journée.

Classé premier puis deuxième de chacune des deux séances d’essais libres qui ouvraient le Grand Prix bwin de République Tchèque vendredi à Brno, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) a conclu sa journée en tête du classement général en vertu d’un meilleur chrono réalisé le matin, avant que les températures ne montent à niveau extrême. 

D’après les données enregistrées par Bridgestone, les températures de piste allaient de 35 à 39°C pour la première séance, le matin, et se situaient ensuite aux alentours de 49-50°C l’après-midi pour une seconde séance qui a été marquée par plusieurs chutes. Le Majorquin n’est de son côté pas tombé mais a admis que les conditions et la chaleur avaient été difficiles à supporter.

Jorge Lorenzo :

« Nous sommes très bien partis ce matin puis cet après-midi les conditions étaient parmi les plus difficiles de toute la saison. Il faisait très chaud et sur la ligne droite on pouvait sentir la chaleur venant du moteur, c’était donc très dur physiquement. Sans vent, les conditions de piste étaient moins bonnes que le matin mais nous avons réussi à tenir un rythme régulier par rapport à nos adversaires. Au final j’ai essayé tous les pneus et quelques réglages qui nous donneront une bonne direction à suivre pour demain. »

Rossi : « Sa moto a perdu de l’huile et j’ai chuté »

La fuite d’huile d’une moto qui était devant à lui à été à l’origine de la première chute de la saison 2015 pour Valentino Rossi.

Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) est tombé pour la première fois de la saison 2015 vendredi après-midi à Brno, où l’Italien a glissé sur une fuite d’huile provenant de la moto de Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), qui n’était pas loin devant lui. 

Grâce à un chrono d’1’57.038, l’Italien occupe la sixième position sur le classement combiné, à une demi-seconde de son coéquipier Jorge Lorenzo.

                   

Valentino Rossi :

« Pedrosa a malheureusement eu un problème avec sa moto, elle a perdu un peu d’huile et je suis tombé. L’après-midi a été difficile pour tout le monde parce que la piste glissait beaucoup, que le niveau d’adhérence était très bas et qu’il y avait en même temps beaucoup de bosses. J’étais donc à la limite à chaque fois que j’entrais en virage. C’est allé un peu mieux en fin d’après-midi et j’ai pu prendre la quatrième position mais je dois réduire l’écart, notamment avec Jorge, qui semble avoir le meilleur rythme. »

Márquez : « Lorenzo a un rythme très rapide »

              

Marc Márquez était deuxième sur le classement combiné de vendredi à Brno malgré ses deux chutes.

Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) avait terminé la première séance d’essais en seconde position, à 0.151s de Jorge Lorenzo, et s’est ensuite rapproché du temps de référence en tournant en 1’56.513 dans la seconde séance, pour revenir à 0.014s du chrono de référence. 

Le Champion en titre est cependant tombé le matin comme l’après-midi et espère pouvoir trouver un rythme de course au moins aussi rapide que celui de Lorenzo afin de viser une troisième victoire consécutive après celles du Sachsenring et d’Indianapolis.

Marc Márquez :

« La journée a été très productive, nous avons obtenu beaucoup de données et nous avons constaté que ça n’allait pas être un circuit facile. Je suis rapide sur un tour mais j’ai plus de mal à garder un rythme régulier. Nous avons fini premiers de la seconde séance mais le plus important était de progresser sur notre cadence parce que Lorenzo a un rythme très rapide. Cet après-midi nous étions proches de lui et nous verrons demain si nous pouvons continuer à progresser afin d’être le plus près possible du sommet. »

        

Scorching track temperatures saw a multitude of crashes during MotoGP™ FP2 at the bwin Grand Prix České republiky as Lorenzo forged ahead.

A heat wave has hit the Czech Republic and it produced a session filled with crashes during FP2. A total of seven MotoGP™ World Championship riders fell during FP2, one of the highest rates of attrition for a session so far in 2015, the majority caught out by the greasy surface of Brno is the blazing conditions. While his close rivals fell, Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) stayed upright to end the day on top.

Track temperature during the second MotoGP™ session of the day was upwards of 47°C, reaching 50°C at certain points on track. These are temperatures more akin to Sepang in October, unusual for an August day in Brno. This saw the grip levels drastically reduced in the afternoon session, a major contributing factory to the high number of falls. Qualifying and FP4 on Saturday have similar conditions forecast, the added pressure of producing a single flying lap may see yet more crashes.

                     

Turn 5 saw both Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) fall in the sweltering heat. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) had his second crash of the day in FP2, falling at Turn 7. Both corners were highlighted as the biggest problem areas by multiple riders at the end of the day due to the bumps on entry.  Jack Miller (CWM LCR Honda) highlighted the issue: “I saw a lot of riders going down and it was a little bit scary at the start there. It’s really bumpy here, entering the corner on the brakes it just doesn’t want to co-operate.”

                      

However, it was not due to the weather or track conditions that both Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) and Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) found themselves in the gravel trap. “I had a problem with the front fork which I didn't realise until some oil hit the rear wheel as I was leaning over to the right into turn fourteen. The bike threw me off quite violently and I took a big knock to my left foot,” said Pedrosa after the session. Unfortunately for Rossi there was a small amount of oil on track, causing him to crash for the first time since Sepang last year.

Perhaps the biggest ramification of the crash is Pedrosa’s doubts over continuing the weekend due to pain in his foot. Pedrosa’s left foot, which he has broken before and has extensive metal work in, received the blow: “I went to Clinica Mobile for a check-up and they performed an x-ray on my left ankle. Thankfully they confirmed there was no break or fracture, just a heavy contusion so I will have some treatment tonight and see how the situation is in the morning."

Not only did Lorenzo lead the way but also with Pedrosa potentially out of the running, or at least racing at below being fully fit and confident, Lorenzo’s chances of a race win grow. A crash can lose a championship as easily as a podium can win one, riders will have to take extra care if the conditions continue as even a small mistake can have dramatic consequences in conditions such as these.

Rossi: “His bike lost some oil and I crashed”

Oil from another bike results in Rossi’s first crash in 2015, work to do at the bwin Grand Prix České republiky.

For the first time in the 2015 season Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) and his Yamaha M1 parted company involuntarily. During Free Practice 2 Rossi was behind Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) when the Honda rider encountered a problem with his front fork, resulting in a crash for the pair due to liquid on the track. Fortunately Rossi escaped injury and returned to track on his second bike soon after.

A 1’57.038 in FP1 secured the experienced Italian sixth overall on combined times, half a second from his teammate at the top of the timing sheets. Rossi feels that he is at a disadvantage, especially compared to Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) who had the best pace at the end of Friday. Qualifying on Saturday will be crucial; Rossi has frequently had to battle through the pack on race day, damaging his chances of winning races.

Valentino Rossi: “Unfortunately Pedrosa had a problem with his bike and it lost some oil and I crashed. This afternoon was difficult for everybody because the track is very slippery and the amount of grip is very low and at the same time there are a lot of bumps, so every time I entered the corner I was pretty much at the limit. At the end of the afternoon it went a bit better and I went into fourth position, but I have to recover a disadvantage, especially the one to Jorge, who seems to have the best pace.”

Marquez: “Lorenzo has a very fast rhythm”

Marc Marquez ends Friday practice second overall and admits his target is to try and close the gap to Jorge Lorenzo.

                 

Marquez ended FP1 in second place, just 0.151s behind the pace of Lorenzo. In FP2 Marc managed to improve and finished the session on top with a 1’56.513. He was one of the few top riders to improve on time from the morning, despite crashing late on in the session at turn seven, fortunately walking away from the incident. His time placed him second for the day in the combined times. Marquez had also crashed earlier in FP1 too. The Spaniard is aiming to make it three wins in a row after taking victory at the Sachsenring and Indianapolis.

Marc Marquez: “Today was a very productive day, we have obtained a lot of data and we have seen that this will not be an easy circuit. I am fast over a single lap, but I am finding it harder to set a constant pace. In FP2 we finished first, but more importantly we have made a step forward with our pace, because it seems that Lorenzo has a very fast rhythm. This afternoon we got close to him and we will see if tomorrow we can continue to improve, in order to be as close as possible to the top.”

                             

The Complete Start of the 2015 Gumball 3000 Supercar Rally

Complete coverage direct from the start grid of the 2015 Gumball 3000 supercar rally from Stockholm, Sweden to Las Vegas, Nevada!



100 supercars depart the Swedish capital to an amazing crowd and an awesome atmosphere, with plenty of revving and activity to keep the crowd buzzing!



Join me for my epic adventure on the 2015 Gumball 3000 supercar rally from Stockholm to Las Vegas via Oslo, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, a flight to the USA, Reno, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Taking part as Team Shmee with two cars on the grid, in Europe the McLaren 650S Spider Shmeemobile and Bentley Supersports support/media car, and in the USA linking up with itswhitenoise in the Porsche 918 Spyder and Camaro support car. Without a shadow of a doubt, we were in for an incredible journey.

Spirit of the Gumball

'Spirit of the Gumball' follows the emotional journey of Charles Morgan and his wife Kiera, as they endure the gruelling 3000 mile drive from New York to Los Angeles on the 2012 Gumball 3000 rally.

Grandson of HFS Morgan, Morgan Motor Company founder, Charles embodies everything the luxury automobile marque represents; he's British, eccentric and has a passion for adventure second to none. A Gumball regular, in 2012 Charles decided participate in the Morgan 3-Wheeler, the manufacturers latest release into the market, to prove to the world that this little car has the ability to hold its own against the industries big guns.

The endurance proves to be a test of endurance and emotions for both man and machine, as Mr and Mrs Morgan experience America at a gruelling pace. Pushed past breaking point, Kiera suffers from sun stroke and exhaustion, but Charles' British stiff upper lip keeps them going, as they stay calm and drive on....

Against all odds, they cross the finish line in Los Angeles hoping to win the coveted 'Spirit of the Gumball' accolade.

Spirit of the Gumball Trailer from ali walker on Vimeo.