Saturday at Jerez was a crash fest, in just about every class. Why? The heat - well, perhaps heat is an exaggeration, but certainly the weather was better than anyone expected a few weeks ago. Once the heat hits the Andalusian track, the grip drops off a cliff, and the riders are left struggling to cope. In Moto3, MotoGP and Moto2, a lot of riders hit the deck on Saturday afternoon.

Alex Rins was one of the first to fall, crashing out during qualifying for the Moto3 class. It did not slow him down, the Spaniard grabbing pole for the second race in succession. MotoGP was much worse: during the final session of free practice, Cal Crutchlow threw his Monster Tech 3 Yamaha away at the start of the back straight. Later in that session, Crutchlow watched from behind as Marc Marquez fought a losing battle with gravity at the other end of the straight, the front folding and the rear whipping round on him despite valiant efforts to save it. "I was willing him to save it," Crutchlow joked afterwards, "but in the end gravity won."

Ask Jorge Lorenzo if there is one thing which the Yamaha needs to allow him to compete with the Hondas, and he will tell you it is a seamless gearbox. The system used by Honda on the RC213V allows the riders to shift gear while the bike is still leaned over, without upsetting the machine. It is an important factor in the Honda's better drive out of corners, as Dani Pedrosa, Marc Marquez, Stefan Bradl and Alvaro Bautista can shift gear earlier and make optimum use of the rev range to accelerate harder.

That Yamaha is working on a seamless gearbox is no secret, with Yamaha's test riders currently racking up the kilometers around tracks in Japan, testing the reliability of the maintenance-intensive system to the limit before using it in a race. Recently, however, Spanish magazine SoloMoto published an article suggesting that Yamaha has already been using its new seamless gearbox since the beginning of the season. In evidence, the magazine pointed to an apparent difference in fuel consumption between the factory Yamahas and the satellite bike of Cal Crutchlow. While both Cal Crutchlow and Valentino Rossi made mistakes at Qatar, only Rossi was able to recover, and then battle with Marc Marquez for the podium. The theory put forward by SoloMoto was that the smoother transition between gears gave both better drive and lower fuel consumption, as the ignition is cut for a much shorter period, wasting less of the limited gasoline the MotoGP bikes are allowed.

Results and summary of qualifying for Moto3:

Results and summary of qualifying for MotoGP:

As temperatures climbed and tire performance became more unpredictable, the ever-consistent Jorge Lorenzo pulled nearly three-tenths on second-place Dani Pedrosa who, in turn, just nipped Cal Crutchlow. The surprise of the session was Andrea Iannone who was the top Ducati for the final free practice.

Result:

Results and summary of qualifying for Moto3:

Esteve Rabat led an all-Spanish top three in Moto2 FP3 at Jerez with a time of 1'42.967. Pol Espargaro, just two-tenths down, placed second and Nicolas Terol was third. Scott Redding, fastest in the previous test, placed fourth with final qualifying just ahead.

Results:

Cal Crutchlow made good on the promise of fast pre season tests at Jerez by setting the quickest time of FP3. Spaniards Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo placed second and third respectively with Rossi in fourth -- a position he's held through most of practice. Stefan Bradl and Bradley Smith both failed to make Q2 initially and must first attempt to set a top-two time in Q1 to earn the right for the final qualifying round.

Results:

Alex Rins, for the second race in succession set the dominant time in the practice before qualifying with a 1'46.938; He was the only Moto3 rider to dip into the 1'46s. Jonas Folger clocked second fastest with Jack Miller in third at four-tenths back. Rins, within the first 10 minutes of FP3, dropped six-tenths of a second from Luis Salom's lead time from FP2. Then late in the session, Rins and Folger began slugging it out, trading the top spot a handful of times before Rins had the emphatic last word. Last year's winner, Romano Fenati, sat 21st on the timesheet.

Results:

For the past couple of years, it has seemed as if there is some kind of unwritten law which states that any MotoGP weekend must be accompanied by rain. The weekends without the threat of rain or some other form of ill weather have been few and far between, so it is both a relief and a joy to come to Jerez and have the prospect of a full weekend of stable and dry weather. That's not to say that no rain has fallen: this morning, as we walked to the car, we felt three or four large drops, but that was all. From the forecast, this looks like the entire quota of rain for the weekend, and the paddock is duly grateful for small mercies.

A consistently dry track still posed problems for the riders, however. The last time MotoGP was here, back in March, conditions were far from ideal. It rained, every day, with plenty of sunshine in between, leaving the track treacherous and difficult, with low grip levels and a patchy surface. Though the teams collected plenty of data at that test, very little of it is usable this weekend, with much higher temperatures and better grip. Until the afternoon, that is, when the warmer temperatures meant that grip levels started to drop again, a perennial problem at Jerez. The bumps, too, are an issue, with many riders running wide after hitting them as they braked for the hairpins at the circuit.

Despite the fact that the conditions are better, times so far have not been faster than at the test. Quickest man on the first day of practice was Jorge Lorenzo, the reigning champion picking up where he left off at Qatar before the rude interruption of Austin. His advantage is small - just over a tenth over Dani Pedrosa, a fraction more over Cal Crutchlow - but his race pace is impressive so far. Lorenzo put a lot of laps on a single set of tires, testing tire wear, and getting ready for the race.

Press releases from the MotoGP teams and Bridgestone after the first day of practice at Jerez:

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

Briton Scott Redding grabbed the top spot in Moto2 qualifying Friday but his grip on number one is anything but firm. Esteve Rabat finished just .037 seconds behind and more importantly, still holds the fastest time from FP1 of 1'43.227. Takaaki Nakagami took third to round out an all-Kalex top three. COTA winner Nicolas Terol finished FP2 in sixth place, half a second adrift.

Results:

World Champion Jorge Lorenzo dominated FP2 in hot conditions at Jerez Friday, setting the fast time early and holding the top spot for most of the session. But it wasn't for lack of trying by the others as the top five riders finished separated only by three-tenths of a second. Cal Crutchlow, nearly mirroring his performance at tests here earlier in the year, set the second-fastest time with Dani Pedrosa in third as the top Honda. Valentino Rossi (fourth) and Marc Marquez (fifth) finished only three-tenths back. Stephan Bradl crashed out with more than five minutes remaining. Both Hector Barbera (FTR) and Aleix Espargaro (ART) put CRT bikes in front of the factory Ducatis of Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso.

Result:

Yamaha today issued a press release containing an interview with Wilco Zeelenberg, the team manager for Jorge Lorenzo. Zeelenberg plays a pivotal role in Lorenzo's success, advising Lorenzo and crew chief Ramon Forcada on where the 2012 World Champion is gaining or losing time at a circuit. He acts as both a rider advisor, as well as providing key set up input for Forcada. He is always worth listening to, and the press release interview, shown below, is no exception:

Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager Wilco Zeleenberg Q&A

Yamaha Racing caught up with Yamaha Factory Racing's Team Manager Wilco Zeelenberg recently at Assen to ask a few questions about the current season in MotoGP and his continuing role alongside reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo...

Has your season started as you expected?

“Well, I would say better! After the first two races we’re leading on points tied with Marquez which is a bit of a surprise as we expected Dani to be there, closer anyway than Marc. For the Championship it’s great to have another guy instead of Casey up there which is what was needed.”

Jorge is a very accomplished rider, is there another step forward in his learning this season?