Thursday, March 20, 2014

Movistar Yamaha Factory Racing Report on 2014 MotoGP Opening Day Activities in Qatar

























 
Movistar Yamaha MotoGPGo to Yamahamotogp.comYFR Facebook pageYFR Twitter pageYFR Youtube channelYFR Instagram page
Doha, Qatar
Grand Prix of Qatar
Movistar Yamaha Riders Fight for Grip in Qatar as MotoGP Begins
Time
18:00 Local time GMT+3
Night Clear Night Clear TemperatureAir 23°C
Track 23°C
TemperatureHumidity 74%
Free Practice
Pictures for editorial use only - Copyrights 2014 Yamaha Motor Racing Srl
Full photo gallery  
 Losail Circuit (Qatar), 20th March 2014

The 2014 MotoGP World Championship finally got underway this evening under the floodlights of the Losail circuit in Qatar. Having launched their new livery just yesterday, the newly named Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders were out feeling their way on the night track for the first time this year.

With little rubber down on the circuit and some sand blowing across from the desert, grip issues became the number one problem to solve for both Valentino Rossi and teammate Jorge Lorenzo. Just 15 minutes in the session was red flagged to allow a clean up of some of the debris on track left by rider Jonny Hernandez’s earlier crash.

Rossi returned to the track in thirteenth position after the clean up and began to work on his set up, gradually moving up the timesheets, running as high as fifth before dropping two places to seventh behind highest placed factory rider Dani Pedrosa in sixth at the end.

In true Lorenzo style, the Mallorcan was one of the first out of the pit lane as the session began, eager to get to work on his set up ahead of this weekend’s opening round of the championship. Unlike the satellite and open class riders who had the fortune to test in Qatar two weeks ago, Lorenzo had no data to go on and struggled to find a way round the lack of grip he encountered on the track. He ended the first practice of the weekend in ninth position, just under 1.5 seconds from the front.
 
46Valentino Rossi
7th / 1'56.542 / 18 laps

“The track is in quite a bad condition but I think it’s quite normal for a first practice. There is a lot of sand and not a lot of rubber down. Also a lot of riders except the factory riders have been here for three days and have done a lot more km and a lot more laps so it’s normal they are stronger than us. Now the work for the weekend will be hard to reduce the gap. I have a lack of grip front and rear, on corner entry and also on acceleration the bike moves very much. I think the condition of the track is getting better and it will get easier.”
ProfileProfile  
Valentino Rossi
Jorge Lorenzo
99Jorge Lorenzo
9th / 1'56.668 / 15 laps

“I’m a little disappointed because hearing the comments of the riders that were here two weeks ago it seemed the tyres were working really well. Having arrived here it seems the track is a little worse, the feeling of the rear tyre is more or less the same as in Sepang, with little grip and traction. We didn’t have three days to test here like the top five so our problems are bigger. We must hope that the tyre gets better and we can improve the grip on the rear.”
ProfileProfile  
Team DirectorMassimo MeregalliMassimo Meregalli
Team Director

“Since the beginning we were expecting that some of our competitors could be in front of us because they tested here ten days ago. For sure the condition of the circuit didn't help us either as we couldn’t work properly on the bike because of the lack of grip and the dirt on the track. We have a lot of work to do but I’m optimistic that as the conditions improve we can get our speed back. We know what we have to do as both riders complained about the same issues. Both need more grip front and rear so we will work on this and let’s see what happens next practice.”
Team ManagerWilco ZeelenbergWilco Zeelenberg
Team Manager

“The first practice is done so 2014 has officially started! It’s very obvious that many guys have already been around the track because you can see how fast they are. For us there’s some work to do before the race on Sunday. We are struggling for grip so we need to improve but it looks like we are not the only ones. We have some work to do!”
FREE PRACTICE NR. 1 - RESULTResults
1.Aleix Espargaro (SPA)NGM Mobile Forward Racing1'55.201
2.Alvaro Bautista (SPA)Go&Fun Honda Gresini1'55.667
3.Bradley Smith (GBR)Monster Yamaha Tech31'55.816
4.Andrea Iannone (ITA)Pramac Racing1'55.996
5.Pol Espargarò (SPA)Monster Yamaha Tech31'56.020
6.Dani Pedrosa (SPA)Repsol Honda Team1'56.332
7.Valentino Rossi (ITA)Yamaha Factory Racing1'56.542
8.Colin Edwards (USA)NGM Mobile Forward Racing1'56.626
9.Jorge Lorenzo (SPA)Yamaha Factory Racing1'56.668
10.Nicky Hayden (USA)Drive M7 Aspar1'56.670
11.Marc Marquez (SPA)Repsol Honda Team1'56.682
12.Stefan Bradl (GER)LCR Honda MotoGP1'56.726
13.Cal Crutchlow (GBR)Ducati Team1'57.046
14.Andrea Dovizioso (ITA)Ducati Team1'57.100
15.Yonny Hernandez (COL)Energy T.I. Pramac Racing1'57.623
16.Karel Abraham (CZE)Cardion AB Motoracing1'57.779
17.Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN)Drive M7 Aspar1'58.182
18.Hector Barbera (SPA)Avintia Racing1'58.394
19.Scott Redding (GBR)Go&Fun Honda Gresini1'58.495
20.Mike Di Meglio (FRA)Avintia Racing1'58.732
21.Danilo Petrucci (ITA)Came Iodaracing Project1'59.321
22.Brok Parkes (AUS)Paul Bird Motorsport1'59.328
Full standingsFull 2014 MotoGP Results  
CIRCUIT INFORMATION
Technical Informations
CircuitLosail
LocationDoha, Qatar
Length (m)5380
Width (m)12
Turns16
Turns righ10
Turns left6
Pole positionleft
Grand Prix of Qatar
Record Lap
Time 1'55.153
RiderC.Stoner
BikeDucati
Year2008
Best Lap
Time 1'53.927
RiderJ.Lorenzo
BikeYamaha
Year2008
2012 Results
1st J.Lorenzo (Yamaha): 42'39.802
2ndV.Rossi ( Yamaha): +5.990
3rdM.Marquez (Honda): +6.201
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP
c/o Yamaha Motor Racing srl | Via Tinelli 67/69, 20855 Gerno di Lesmo (MB) Italy | yamahamotogp.com
 

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