Moto3

Press releases from the Moto2 and Moto3 teams after Sunday's GP de Catalunya at Barcelona:

Summary and results of Moto3 race:

Results:

Cal Crutchlow called it right on Friday. "We know the Hondas take a little bit longer to set up, but when they come out Saturday morning, they normally take a second off." It was more like half a second on Saturday morning, but by the afternoon, Dani Pedrosa took nearly 1.6 seconds off his best time on Friday, smashing the pole record which had stood since 2008. That was a lap set on the supersoft qualifying tires still used at the time, which had Nicky Hayden happily reminiscing about the fun to be had on the sticky one-lap rubber.

It was an extraordinary lap by Pedrosa, though the Honda man himself was not overly impressed. When asked if it was his best lap ever, Pedrosa acknowledged that it was good, perhaps one of his best, but still not as good as his lap at Valencia at the end of last year.

Pedrosa's blistering record lap was not the only excitement during qualifying, which turned into an intriguing session. It started off with Jorge Lorenzo taking off out of the pits in his customary fashion, only to cruise back in again after his first full lap. The clutch on his Yamaha M1 had destroyed itself, and so he had to leap back on to his second bike and try to set a time on that. That machine never felt the same as his number one bike, and so Lorenzo didn't quite have the confidence to push as hard as he hoped to. That left him third on the grid, but at least still on the front row.

Press releases from the Moto2 and Moto3 teams after qualifying at Barcelona:

Summary and results of Moto3 qualifying:

Alex Rins kicked off the action for day two by topping the timesheets by almost half of a second, smashing the fastest ever Moto3 lap time recorded at the Catalunya circuit. Luis Salom, Alex Marquez and Efren Vazquez made it an all Spanish top four, while Jack Miller rounded out the top five.  The Australian recovered brilliantly from a low speed high side early in the session.

Press releases from the Moto2 and Moto3 teams after the first day of practice at Barcelona:

Isaac Vinales topped the time sheets for the second Moto3 free practice session at the circuit de Catalunya. The track temperature had risen by ten degrees since the morning session and Vinales' time of 1:52.339 was some three tenths slower than the fastest time set in the cooler FP1. Alex Marquez finished FP2 in second place ahead of Isaac's more fancied cousin Maverick, Alex Rins, Luis Salom and Efren Vazquez rounded out an all-Spanish top six.

Luis Salom has carried the momentum from his win into Barcelona, dominating the first session of free practice at the circuit and posting a new lap record in the process. Salom was over eight tenths quicker than Maverick Vinales, while third place man Miguel Oliveira was over a second behind the Red Bull KTM rider. Oliveira led a brace of FTR Hondas, Jack Miller taking fourth spot ahead of Isaac Vinales, while the two Alexes, Rins and Marquez, took sixth and seventh respectively.

Results:

Press release previews from the Moto2 and Moto3 teams ahead of this weekend's races at Barcelona:

That the Red Bull Rookies Cup has been a huge success goes without saying. Former rookies now fill the front of the Moto3 grid, and are starting to make an impact in Moto2. The goal of the Red Bull Rookies Cup, of bringing young riders from around the world into Grand Prix racing has clearly been met.

So successful has it been that two years ago, the World Superbike series set up a similar project. After a modest first year, the European Junior Cup is thriving in its second year, and providing some fantastic racing for talented young riders. At Jerez earlier this year, we had the opportunity to talk to Red Bull Rookies Cup supervisor Peter Clifford about the series he is involved in, as well has the European Junior Cup. He gave us his view of the rival series, but also on a range of other subjects.

The interview covered the difference between four strokes and two strokes, the range of nationalities participating in the Rookies Cup, the complementary role of the European Junior Cup, and the approach the Rookies Cup is taking towards female riders in the series. As always, Clifford provides plenty of food for thought.

MotoMatters: There has been a major change to the Red Bull Rookies Cup this year, with the switch from the 125cc KTM two strokes to the four stroke KTM RC250R. How has the series changed this year?

Peter Clifford: The new bikes that's the huge difference. We've had the usual influx of riders, we keep roughly half from the previous year, and add about half new guys. And of course, this year it makes it an even more level playing field for everybody, because they've all got new motorcycles. They've done four days of preseason testing, everybody got the same treatment, obviously, and then went to Austin for the first races on the new bikes. It's been really good.

In many ways, the Moto2 race at Mugello resembled the MotoGP race. One rider seized the initiative, sized up the competition, and when he saw that they were no match for him, pressed home his advantage. While Scott Redding's victory at Mugello was not quite as dominant as Jorge Lorenzo's in MotoGP - after watching it again at leisure, it is clear just how totally Lorenzo controlled every aspect of that race, from his tough pass on Dani Pedrosa in the first corner to the devastating pace increase he forced when he sensed the Repsol Honda man weaken - it is still one of the most commanding Moto2 wins for some time.

Redding did not quite lead from the start, but he disposed of Takaaki Nakagami without too much difficulty. He then pulled a gap, with only Nico Terol and Johann Zarco able to follow his pace. Terol passed Redding just before the halfway mark, exploiting the slipstream provided by the oversized Englishman, but that was all Terol could do. Redding was puzzled when Terol failed to pull a gap after passing. "I couldn't understand how he caught me, because when he passed me, I was expecting to be fighting to hold on to him, but I was really comfortable behind," Redding said afterwards. He got past four laps later, and turned up the pressure, and while Terol and Zarco could hang on along the front straight, once Redding broke the slipstream he was gone. It was the first back-to-back victory by a British rider in 42 years.

Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their women.

Jorge Lorenzo apologized afterwards for this move. We still don't understand why.

Mugello, Moto3. There is no escape