2012 Motegi Moto2 And Moto3 Saturday Post-Qualifying Press Releases

Submitted by Press Release on Sat, 2012-10-13 13:16
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Press releases after qualifying for the Moto2 and Moto3 classes at Motegi:

Maverick Viñales just misses out on pole

Repsol rider to start from second after qualifying battle. Fourth, fifth and sixth rows for Oliveira, Rins and Márquez, respectively.

Maverick Viñales was determined to return to the top positions on Saturday and recorded the second fastest time in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix. Eleventh on the timesheet was Miguel Oliveira for his debut at Motegi, a row ahead of Álex Rins (thirteenth). Fellow debutant Álex Márquez will start from the middle of row six, in seventeenth.

The final free practice session saw Álex Rins surprise as the quickest of the Repsol riders, clocking the fourth fastest time. He was just faster than Viñales in fifth, with Oliveira sixteenth and Márquez twentieth. However, Viñales returned the regular order in qualifying with a fight for pole position on tomorrow’s grid. Despite high winds that increased the importance of slipstreaming along the long straight, the Spaniard led the way until, five minutes from the end, Danny Kent finally bested his time.

In the final minute Sandro Cortese also moved ahead with the best lap of the weekend, but Viñales did not desist and knocked a tenth off the time, moving back into pole. That was not to last, as Kent was right behind him and took the position with a time of 1’58.371. That was two tenths quicker than Viñales, who will aim for his sixth win of the season on raceday.

Miguel Oliveira will also attempt to be part of the lead group from eleventh on the grid, as will thirteenth placed Álex Rins (three tenths faster in FP3). Álex Márquez made steady improvement and will take off from seventeenth.

Maverick Viñales

FP3 - 1:59.343, 12 laps, 58 km.

QP - 1:58.574, 17 laps, 82 km.

"I am very satisfied with qualifying, but above all with the pace that we ran. We worked hard on tyres and found a good setting. It is always nice to take pole, but I am happy with our pace. We found out why we had an issue with tyres yesterday and now we just need to improve slightly in the warm up tomorrow. Our aim is to go at 100% in these remaining four races and try and win as many as possible."

Miguel Oliveira

FP3 - 2:00.155, 15 laps, 72 km.

QP - 1:59.494, 16 laps, 77 km.

“Our evaluation is positive. Although we are a little off the frontrunners, we can improve this in tomorrow's warmup —above all a few details with my riding. In the third sector we are losing a lot and there is room for improvement. Tomorrow the aim will be to get a good start and to try to be as far up the order as possible, fighting for the top spots."

Álex Rins

FP3 - 1:59.337, 16 laps, 77 km.

QP - 1:59.653, 16 laps, 77 km.

“We tried some new things with the bike that didn't all go well. Tomorrow we will continue working in the warmup and try some other changes to up my pace. In the race we have to get a good start and regain as many places as possible."

Álex Márquez

FP3 - 2:00.337, 16 laps, 77 km.

QP - 1:59.949, 16 laps, 77 km.

“Day two in Japan has once again been positive for us. Every day we are improving. In qualifying perhaps we lacked a little something at the end, but tomorrow will be a very tight race and we can be up at the front. We will try to get a good start, reach the leaders and keep up with their pace."

RW Racing GP riders couldn’t show their capabilities

During the qualification session at the Motegi Twinring circuit in Japan, the RW Racing GP riders couldn’t show their capabilities. Luis Salom was held up in his last fast lap but still improved his lap time and will start tomorrows race from 6th position. Brad Binder did a good job and was continues in the top 10. Finally Binder will start the race from P18 with only 1,6 seconds difference from the pole position time.

Luis Salom (6th): “I’m not happy with what happened in the last lap. This could bring me on the front row but another rider held me up in the last section. It cost me at least half a second. But okay, tomorrow is the race and the second row is good enough to fight for the podium positions in the race. The bike feels good and still we can make some improvements for tomorrows race.”

Brad Binder (18th): “With this position I’m not satisfied. I was constantly in the top 10 but couldn’t put my ideal sections in one lap so I finished 18th. Mostly I was riding alone and I was able to run top 10 times. In the final minutes of the session I missed a good slipstream and dropped back to 18th. It’s only 1,6 seconds of the fastest time and with my race pace I should be able to fight for the points and maybe even better.”

Team manager Johan Stigefelt: “I’m happy with Brad’s performance today. He did a really good session with fast lap times. Unfortunately he couldn’t put all his fast sections in one lap. For sure Brad will fight tomorrow for the points and I expect even better than that. Luis had a very fast lap in the last minute of the session. It’s a shame that he has been held up. The setting is not perfect yet but we know which direction we have to go to make some improvements for the race.”

Marc Márquez to start from second

World Championship leader to take off from middle of the front row for Japanese Grand Prix, after tight qualifying session.

The second day of practice at Motegi brought Pol Espargaró and Marc Márquez tigether once again at the head of the Moto2 grid. The Repsol rider will start from just behind his compatriot and rival, after clocking a fastest lap just 0.137 slower than Espargaró in qualifying.

Both riders had led the way in the third Free Practice session, with the positioning at the end the same as in qualifying. After 19 laps, Márquez had stopped the clock in 1’51.792, but Espargaró’s last lap took him six tenths quicker than the Repsol rider with a 1’51.192.

Márquez made a notable improvement in performance in qualifying, and on his final run he took a lap of 1’51.023. He was just 0.137 off Espargaró’s time and they will set off from first and second, respectively, on tomorrow’s grid.

Marc Márquez

FP3 - 1:51.792, 19 laps, 91 km.

QP - 1:51.023, 19 laps, 91 km.

“We had a good qualifying session. We gave 100% and have a good feeling with the bike. We aren't completely happy, because we can improve our setting still —especially under braking. I am sliding out too much and can't get the bike fully stable. There is still room for improvement and we will work on these missing details in tomorrow's warmup. It looks like the Kalex riders are very strong at Motegi, but tomorrow will be another story. We will see what our rivals do, how we perform and what the situation is."

NICCOLO MAKES GOOD PROGRESS ON DAY TWO

Team San Carlo Honda Gresini Moto 3 rider Niccolò Antonelli made important progress on the second day at Motegi, improving his confidence in the set-up of his machine and raising his hopes ahead of tomorrow's Grand Prix of Japan.

Niccolo’ Antonelli (12th 1’ 59” 652) “I am satisfied because I found more confidence in the bike today and was able to ride it with conviction. We have taken a notable step forward and I think we can take another one before tomorrow. Now I feel like I can concentrate on finding my way around Motegi, which isn't an easy circuit to learn.”

Fausto Gresini “It was a positive day for our Moto3 team. We have made progress but I think we can do even better tomorrow because there is even more potential in this package. We have found a decent setting and Niccolò has been able to rediscover his lost confidence.”

DIFFICULT QUALIFYING SESSION FOR ANDREA IANNONE, ANDREOZZI ENDS WITH THE TWENTY-SIXTH TIME

The circuit of Motegi hosted the second day of the Grand Prix of Japan for the Moto2 class.

In the session of the morning, Andrea Iannone and his crew tried out some solutions on the Speed Up machine in order to achieve a more competitive performance. In the qualifying practice, the rider from Vasto did all he could to make some progress and, at the end of the session, his comeback to grab a good grid placement was stopped because of a crash. Therefore Andrea will have to start from the sixth row tomorrow.

Andreozzi and his crew took advantage of the day to make some steps forward as far as it concerns his pace, with the intention to achieve a more consistent result. The qualifying practice was positive for Alessandro, who reduced the gap with the riders that were in front of him and set the time of 1'53.256.

Andrea Iannone #29 - 18th with 1'52.353

“The result of today wasn’t the one we were aiming at, obviously. We are working hard and we are doing all we can, trying to be more competitive. The problems we have may not depend completely on us. We’ll see how tomorrow goes, but as always we’ll keep fighting.”

Alessandro Andreozzi #22 - 26th with 1'53.256

“I’m happy because during this weekend we improved consistently and also today in the qualifying session we managed to be faster than in the free practices. We set a good time and I’m quite satisfied, there was a chance to do a little bit better, but what really matters is that we worked in a constructive way. Tomorrow in the warm up we’ll try out some minor improvements, but we aren’t planning to change much of the setting.”

THIRD ROW FOR FOLGER IN INTERRUPTED QUALIFYING SESSION

MAPFRE Aspar rider has to stop in garage at start and end of qualifying with mechanical issue, but places seventh on grid

The magnificent conditions at Motegi continued for the Moto3 riders on Saturday, as they battled for positions on the starting grid in qualifying. Pole went to Danny Kent, just two tenths of a second ahead of Maverick Viñales, but the place could easily have gone to any of Viñales, Cortese, Khairruddin or even Folger. Times were down over a second on those of Friday, thanks to the increase in temperatures. It appears as if four or five riders will be in the running for the Moto3 victory on race day.

MAPFRE Aspar rider Jonas Folger had an interrupted day on Saturday. He was strong at the start of qualifying and was soon up into the top places. However, ten minutes in he was stopped by an issue two corners from the end of a lap. His mechanics put him back on track a few minutes later and he put in a fast lap of 1'59.125 to take seventh on the grid. Folger had another issue three minutes from the end, but is still capable of fighting for the podium tomorrow and wants to repeat his rostrum finish from Aragón.

MAPFRE Aspar teammate Luca Amato continued his adaptation to the Kalex/KTM. The rookie is not having the best of times at Motegi, but persists in his search for improvement. He will start from 31st.

7th Jonas Folger 1.59.125 (10 laps): "This morning we changed the gearbox and the bike went back to working perfectly. Our feeling is very positive and we were very optimistic about qualifying, but later we had some setbacks. I don't know why the engine started to work badly, but I had to stop on various occasions to control it. That prevented me from setting a good pace and getting a faster lap on the board. Despite all this we are calm. We will find the issue this afternoon and will be back to our best tomorrow. We know that we are fast, as even with this problem we were still seventh. I think that there will be a small lead group tomorrow, so I will have to be alert at the start in order to join up with it. My aim is to fight for the podium again."

31st Luca Amato 2.01.500 (17 laps): "This bike is very fast and I am sure that it has great potential, but the question is that I need to work a lot more with it, get more laps under my belt and get used to riding it. I had trouble getting a feel for it today, I couldn't turn it in well and I had to brake too much for the corners. Both myself and the team never stopped working throughout the day in our search to find solutions. Tomorrow we will continue working and I hope that we can gradually find the way to go. The most important thing right now is to ride a lot, learn as much as possible about the bike and try to get a setting that opens the way to riding fast."

Eight row for Niklas Ajo at Grand Prix of Japan

Niklas Ajo will start on Sunday for season´s 14th Moto3 GP from eight row on Motegi circuit in Japan.

18 year old Ajo qualified 23rd with a time of 2.00,386. He managed to do only ten laps until he fell. In the morning practice session the Finn improved his lap time by four tenth of a second and was 11th fastest.

“My pace is pretty good despite the crash in qualifying and all the misfortune. The fight goes on”, Ajo convinces.

Based on the free practice session Ajo´s aim in the qualifying was to get a significantly better position than what he eventually got from the qualifying. His plan was destroyed harmfully already after few minutes.

“The front part of my bike slid out from under me when I came from the curve”, Ajo describes, “I survived from the crash without hurting myself. Neither did the bike suffer that much. But they didn´t allow me to continue and that took a while until we got the bike back to the paddock from other way.”

When the last quarter of the 40 minutes long session was left Ajo was back in action with his black bike.

“But then there was a problem with the rear brake and I needed to go once more to the pits.”

Ajo made his best time in his last effort.

“In the end I managed to do only around half a dozen laps. And at that time the track was of course crowded.”

The fastest man in the qualifying was Finnish team Ajo Motorsport´s British rider Danny Kent, who took his first pole position with a time of 1.58,371, from which Ajo was two seconds behind. Ajo´s difference to the front became almost double comparing to the free practice session.

Kent will be joined to the front row by Spanish Maverick Vinales and his German teammate Sandro Cortese, who leads the championship by 51 points. Kent was 0,203 seconds faster than Vinales and Cortese was 95 thousandth of seconds from Vinales.

Smith ready to launch podium challenge

Tech 3 Racing Team rider Bradley Smith will start the Grand Prix of Japan with high hopes of scoring a first Moto2 podium finish of 2012 after impressive performances in practice and qualifying at the Twin Ring Motegi track.

Smith superbly built on the confidence gained from his podium challenge in an epic Motorland Aragon race last month to finish practice in an outstanding third position. A best lap of 1.51.792 left him only 0.191s behind World Championship leader Marc Marquez in second. And the 21-year-old started this afternoon's qualifying session in sunny conditions optimistic he could mount a challenge for a first front row start of the season.

With the Tech 3 Racing Mistral 610 machine coping well with the extreme braking sections at the stop and go Twin Ring Motegi, Smith was able to improve his pace to a 1.51.736 and he only missed the top six by just 0.096s.

The Grand Prix of Japan has proven a difficult affair for Belgian rider Xavier Simeon, who was looking to improve on his 21st position in practice when qualifying got underway this afternoon.

Simeon did manage to marginally improve his lap time but he faces a tough challenge in the 24-lap race to fight his way through the field from 23rd on the grid.

He ended with a best lap time of 1.52.921 bu t his target for tomorrow's race remains a top 15 finish for the first time since he was a brilliant eighth in the German round at the Sachsenring.

Bradley Smith 7th 1.51.736:

“It's a little bit strange to say that I'm disappointed with a seventh position on the grid but after the weekend we have had so far where I was fast and competitive in every practice, I felt I could have done better. Unfortunately I had to qualify on a different tyre than what I would like to because of a small technical problem. So to do the lap time I did with this tyre was really quite impressive and I'm really happy. Marquez and Espargaro will for sure be the guys to stay with at the start of the race, so I've got to be aggressive from the start like always to put myself in contention right from the off. I know that the race pace is always a bit slower than the qualifying and I am normally strong during the second part, so I will try my best to battle for the podium.”

Xavier Simeon 23rd 1.52.921:

“I can't say that I'm satisfied with my grid position but we were struggling from the beginning of the weekend. I'm lacking rear grip and I have a problem with the overheating of the front brake discs. We have a lot of work to do tonight but I'm confident that the Tech 3 Racing Team will solve the problem for tomorrow's race. I definitely have to make a good start to try and gain some places quickly and show a strong race. I hope to collect some points but my number one goal is to finish the race after the unfortunate results of the last few races.”

CARETTA TECHNOLOGY - Motegi GP - Qualifying Practice

Jack Miller: " I dropped a couple of places from this morning; we’d made some changes but have gone the wrong way. I couldn’t hold my line and kept going wide. I just improved my time by a tenth, but it should have better. We’ll sort it for warm up. Then, if I get a good start and run a smart race I should be able to make up places and do OK".

John McPhee: " The bike felt good and I should have been able to go quicker this session. I started well and was on the pace. But after I came in for tyres I was on my own and just couldn’t hook up with anyone for tow; when the times are so close that makes all the difference. I know my bike has the pace, so I’m looking forward to improving my position in my first Japanese GP".

MotoGP Moto3 - Team Italia on second and fourth row in Motegi

Tonucci is fifth, Fenati tenth.

Alessandro Tonucci (Team Italia FMI FTR Honda#19) proved once again that Motegi is one of his favorite tracks, seizing second row. The fastest Italian on track, Tonucci worked on race pace during FP3 and improved constantly during QP, lapping consistently under the two-minute mark. He closed with a 1'59"072, seven tenths behind poleman Danny Kent (1'58"371).

Romano Fenati (Team Italia FMI FTR Honda#5) experienced some issues after crashing at the beginning of FP3, which made him skip the whole session and delayed his work on race pace. He hit his stride with a few minutes to go during QP, closing with a 1'59"359, which puts in fourth row in tenth position.

Alessandro Tonucci (Team Italia FMI FTR Honda#19) 17 laps, 1'59"072

"We wrapped up the work started yesterday with the team to get a better feeling in the rear. We made the right adjustments and were able to seize second row. It's my best qualifying result. We'll try to improve the pace tomorrow during warm-up so that we can race at the front."

Romano Fenati (Team Italia FMI FTR Honda#5) 14 laps, 1'59"359

"I made things more difficult after crashing during FP3. I lost my rhythm and it took a while to find new solutions. We barely made it, and were able to qualify in the Top 10. Warm-up will be crucial to find a better setup with the rear link. I'll do my best during the race."

Roberto Locatelli (FMI Technical Coordinator)

"Tonucci was able to work on race pace but also find the right choice with tires and links. He can be a protagonist tomorrow. Fenati complicated the work on setup with a crash, but made it in fourth row. We'll finalize the settings during warm-up, and hopefully both our riders will race at the front."

SMALL BUT SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS FOR FEEM

Despite pain in his right forearm suffered in the morning session, ‘Feem’ made small but significant progress in qualifying and could even have snuck up a few places at the last second. All that remains is to confirm the feeling with the bike and have the confidence to push for a positive result on race day.

Rattaphark Wilairot (25th 1’ 53” 206) “I am fairly satisfied. This morning I had a strong pain in my arm but was able to make progress in the afternoon. I have more confidence in myself and in the bike and think that, if tomorrow we can make another small step forward, I can have a good race. On the last lap I could have even improved my time further, but I didn’t see the flag... that was unlucky.”

Fausto Gresini “It isn’t a great result, but ‘Feem’ showed that he wanted to push to make significant progress before the end of the season. The pain in his right forearm affected him a little in the morning, but he was more confident in the afternoon.”

28° ON THE GRID FOR REA AT MOTEGI

Saturday qualifying was one to forget for Gino Rea. Unfortunately his feeling with the bike was not to his liking and he was unable to place higher than row ten.

Gino Rea (28th 1’ 53” 413) “As soon as I tried to push, the front end locked up and I ran the risk of crashing. I am unhappy, because I don’t think that this position reflects our potential.”

Fausto Gresini “What can I say?! Unfortunately the expectations for today went up in smoke. It looked as if we had found the right feel and that we could move up the order, but that wasn’t the case.”

NICO TEROL CONTINUES IN THE TOP HALF OF THE TIMESHEET

MAPFRE Aspar rider qualifies ninth with a strong pace for tomorrow's race. Jordi Torres places sixteenth

A look at the qualifying timesheet from last season and this season in Moto2 shows just how fast the riders are developing in the intermediate class. Today times were almost 1.5 seconds quicker than the 2011 record, and three Spaniards were those taking the class to new heights. Espargaró, Márquez and Rabat occupy the positions on the front row, with plenty of rivals behind them putting in a strong, consistent pace. The duel between Espargaró and Márquez for the title promises much, but there are a great deal of riders who could have their say before the end of the Japanese GP.

Everything is set up well and now the final blow needs to be delivered. The MAPFRE Aspar riders have undertaken four positive practice sessions at Motegi and are in fine form. Nico Terol and Jordi Torres spent much time finding a strong pace today. Terol performed a magnificent lap for ninth on the grid, with Torres sixteenth and ready to break into the top ten -as he did last time out at Aragón.

9th Nico Terol 1.51.977 (19 laps): "So far we are having a good weekend, concluding each session in the top ten. I'm happy with ninth place, but I still have a slightly bittersweet taste in my mouth because at the end of the qualifying session I lacked a bit of oomph to take a tenth off my time. I think we have a good pace for the race tomorrow. In the race we should be alright; we will fight to finish this magnificent job that we have been doing over the past few weeks with a good race. When I can get ahead and stay at the front in a race from start to finish, I know it will change my attitude for the rest of the season. We are improving a lot, but our steps forward are small. The important thing is not to stop this progression. Keep in mind that in this category everyone is going faster with every day, the level of demand is very high."

16th Jordi Torres 1.52.239 (20 laps): "This morning we did a great job, and the few changes we made worked well; we finished in the top ten. This afternoon I continued with the same inertia and so I kept a good pace, but I lacked putting it all together for one fast lap. I would have liked to have put in one more fast lap to sneak into the top ten. Tomorrow we will start strong and complete the first two laps all-out. I must confess that today I stalled a bit and I struggled to choose the best tyres for bettering my times. I am thinking positive, we have a good pace and that is what should prevail in the race tomorrow. I will have to be alert, as I'm sure the start will be chaotic, but I hope nobody will knock me off like they did last year."

Fourth row for Khairuddin at Grand Prix of Japan

AirAsia-SIC-Ajo Team´s Zulfahmi Khairuddin starts from second row for season´s 14th Moto3 GP held on Sunday on Motegi circuit in Japan.

Khairuddin´s best time with his KTM factory bike in qualifying session was 1.58,951, which allowed him to fourth place. Khairuddin found a good pace in Japan already on Friday. His lap time was third fastest in the free practice session.

“I like this track and I am pleased how everything has gone so far. My team has done once again a great job with my bike.”

Khairuddin, who is eight in championship standing, doesn´t take a pressure of taking his first podium position. Even if it has been so close already for the few times.

“The most important thing is to get to the finish and to have a best possible position. My race pace is in a good level so I can be confident. I just have to make a bit more aggressive performance than I have done so far. The fight and succeeding in the leading group require that. This will be an important race which affects to the whole end of the season”, Khairuddin highlights.

The pole position in the season´s fourth latest GP was taken by Briton Danny Kent with a time of 1.58,371, from which Khairuddin was 0,580 seconds behind. The pole position was Kent´s first of his career. Kent bet Spanish Maverick Vinales, who qualified second, by 0,203 seconds. The championship leader Sandro Cortese was third 95 thousandth of a second from Vinales.

Second row for on form Redding at Motegi

Motegi, Japan - 13 October 2012: Scott Redding will start tomorrow's Japanese Moto2 Grand Prix from the head of the second row of the grid, after qualifying fourth fastest at Motegi this afternoon. Mika Kallio will start from the fifth row of the grid after a disastrous day in which he was taken out by Marc Marquez this morning and then sidelined with a broken clutch this afternoon.

In this morning's 45-minute free practice session Redding continued where he left off yesterday, improving his lap time to finish fourth fastest. The 19-year-old Briton improved further during the early part of this afternoon's all-important qualifying session, moving up to fourth on the timesheet.

Redding looked set to jump onto the front row of the grid with his final flying lap, but lost time after a near crash on the exit of the hairpin. The front tucked as he clipped the apex, forcing him onto the gas to pick the bike up, only for the rear to come round on him and almost throw him over the highside. It was a violent near-crash, with Redding damaging the fairing, the fuel tank and bending both handlebars as he was flung off and then landed back on the bike.

After finishing yesterday's free practice sessions tenth fastest, Kallio endured a disastrous second day at Motegi. During this morning's free practice session the 29-year-old Finn made a clean move on Marc Marquez, only for the Spaniard to try a suicidal move up the inside at the next turn. Going for a gap that simply didn't exist, but refusing to shut off, Marquez ran into the back of Kallio's bike and the Finn went down hard. Kallio walked away with minor abrasions but the bike, which had somersaulted into the gravel trap, was almost completely destroyed.

The Marc VDS mechanics managed to completely rebuild the bike ahead of qualifying, only for Kallio to miss a large part of the 45-minute timed session after experiencing two clutch failures. As a result the Marc VDS rider, who has won three times here at Motegi in the past, will start tomorrow's race from 15th position on the grid.

The clutch problems may well be related to the earlier crash, as it's the first time the team have had one failure, never mind two in quick succession. This will be investigated further by the team's mechanics this evening.

Scott Redding #45: 4th - 1'51.273

"The second row is good enough, but I really thought I was going to end up on the front row with my last flying lap. Unfortunately, it turned out to be more of a flying lap than I was hoping for. The front tucked on me exiting the hairpin, so I got on the gas to pick the bike up only for the rear to come round on me. It flicked me pretty high and I landed back on the bike so hard I thought I'd swallowed my own nuts! We've been on the pace all weekend so far and the lap times have been both fast and consistent, so I'm confident going into tomorrow's race. Hopefully we'll have another battle like we had in Aragon and I can be up there hunting another podium finish."

Mika Kallio #36: 15th - 1'52.223

"The only thing I can say about today is that it's not possible for tomorrow to be any worse! Someone should have maybe told Marc Marquez that the race is tomorrow, because his move in free practice this morning was completely out of order. He ran wide into the turn and I went under him cleanly, only for him to torpedo me from behind at the next turn. He hit me so hard he bent the swinging arm; I don't think he even thought about shutting off. This afternoon we had problems with the clutch, which may well be a result of the crash, but it means I'll start tomorrow from the fifth row of the grid. It will make for a tough race but, like I said, it can't be any worse than today."

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal

"Scott has done a good job this weekend and his confidence is plain to see. He's been consistently top five on the timesheet throughout free practice and could well have been on the front row today if he'd not had a near crash on his last flying lap. He was lucky to get away with it; he landed so hard on the bike he destroyed a set of bodywork and even bent the handlebars. I'm confident he'll be up there battling for a podium finish once again in the race tomorrow. Mika has endured a disastrous day through no fault of his own. Marc Marquez's move on Mika in free practice this morning was beyond reckless and it's lucky that it's just the bike we had to replace and not the rider as well. He wasn't sanctioned for the crash because it was a 'racing incident' apparently, which makes about as much sense as Marquez's reasons for trying such a suicidal move in the first place. Anyway, Mika has put today behind him and is determined to battle his way through the field to a top ten finish and I have no doubt in his ability to do this."

Fifth row for Takahashi at his home GP

Yuki Takahashi find at his home race in Motegi his best qualifying result of this season thanks to the work done on the setting of his FTR bike, with which the Japanese rider is progressing by the race. 14th position for tomorrow’s starting grid, at only one tenth of the 10th position. Tomorrow he will try to be within the points.

Alex De Angelis was expecting a little bit more but the lack of grip on the rear tire has prevailed over the hard work done on the front of the bike. The rider from San Marino will be starting tomorrow from the 17th position on the grid at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Yuki Takahashi – 14th (1´52.098)

“The weather conditions this weekend have been really good and have made it possible for us to test many things for the setting and gather information for our FTR on this conditions. I wanted to get a good position during qualifying, not only because it’s my home race but also because my mechanics have been working really hard. Tomorrow morning we will be trying a slightly different setting to improve the problems I have been having with the front of the bike while entering the corners.”

Alex De Angelis – 17º (1´52.309)

“After this morning’s FP3 I thought I could be within the top 10. We were not able to make the last big step after the improvements we had made during all the free practice sessions. This weekend the team has worked really hard and the braking of the bike is now almost perfect. Unfortunately we have not found a solution yet in terms of the grip and that makes us lose a lot of time while exiting the corners. Tomorrow morning we will be concentrating on the rear of the bike and try to be as competitive as possible.”

Pietro Caprara – Moto2 Technical Director

“Yuki has done a great job with the setting of his the suspension and had done a good qualifying session. We have great expectations for him at this home race. With Alex we were expecting to have a better session but nonetheless we have gathered important data on a configuration on the FTR that we had never used before and that has allowed us to make considerable improvements, specially in braking.”

Round Number: 
15
Year: 
2012

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