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Qatar 2010 - MotoGP. The REAL RACERS get underway this weekend.
Qatar 2010 - MotoGP - FP1
The first day of action at the opening round of the 2010 season concluded on Friday evening with Casey Stoner the quickest MotoGP rider under the floodlights of the Losail International Circuit. The Australian is seeking his fourth successive win at the track this weekend, as he bids to get his title challenge off to a winning start by carrying over his form from the final pre-season Test.
Stoner’s time of 1’55.500 on board his new Desmosedici GP10, resplendent with its new big bang engine, placed him just over half a second ahead of the rest of the 17-strong field, as he displayed his strength at the desert track and ensured he was the only man to get under 1’56” barrier. Stoner set his time on the ninth of 17 laps, the fewest completed of all the riders.
Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha), who admitted prior to the weekend that he may not be at full fitness as he continues to recover from a hand injury, showed no signs of hesitance as he set the second best time of the hour-long session. The Spaniard’s best lap of 1’56.026 came right at the end of the practice, and just before he had a fall which did not appear to cause him any problems.
His team-mate, reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi, was third on the timesheet on board his factory M1 prototype. The Italian, who will aim to get his title defence off to a winning start, timed in at just two-thousandths of a second off his colleague Lorenzo.
Andrea Dovizioso of the Repsol Honda team took his factory RC212V round in the fourth best time. The Italian, who finished last year’s race in fourth place, was just over a second off Stoner’s pace with a time of 1’56.698, and it was Stoner’s team-mate Nicky Hayden who made the fifth spot at just under a tenth of a second behind.
The highest-placed rookie was Ben Spies (Monster Yamaha Tech3) as he showed further signs of taking to the premier class well in sixth spot, with fellow newcomer Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) on the GSV-R the final rider under 1’57”.
Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda), Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing) and Héctor Barberá (Páginas Amarillas Aspar) were all inside the top ten, with Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) 11th. The 2009 third-placed Championship rider continues to struggle on his factory bike, and was over a second-and-a-half off Stoner’s pace as he lapped at 1’57.133.
Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech3) followed, and Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) was 13th. The veteran Italian had a crash with 20 minutes of the session to go, but returned to the track to set his best time, ahead of Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team), Aleix Espargaró (Pramac Racing), Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) and Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP).
Qatar 2010 - Moto2 - FP1
The debut practice session of the new intermediate category in Qatar ended with Alex de Angelis placing his name at the top of the times on Friday evening, ahead of Scott Redding and Julián Simón.
The much-anticipated first practice session of the Moto2 class took place on Friday evening, and it was RSM Team Scot rider Alex de Angelis who laid down the opening challenge to the rest of the 41-strong field (including wild card Anthony Delhalle) as the 2010 World Championship began in earnest at the Losail International Circuit.
The former MotoGP rider’s lap of 2’03.239 was over half a second faster than that of nearest rival Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team), as De Angelis posted the impressive time on his 20th of 22 laps in the 60-minute session on board his Force GP210 chassis, having been consistently fast in pre-season Testing.
British rider Redding, who improved steadily throughout the lead-up to the start of the 2010 season on his Suter prototype, had led the times towards the end of the session and his best time of 2’03.834 from 19 laps placed him ahead of 125cc World Champion Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar). The Spanish rider was the third and final man under the 2’04” mark with a lap of 2’03.868, as he shot up the timesheet on the last turn on his RSV machine.
A surprise name inside the top five was that of Dominique Aegerter (Technomag-CIP). The Swiss – who timed a 2’04.067 – was followed by another rider using the Suter prototype in Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing), with the German just four-hundredths of a second behind.
The top ten also included Roberto Rolfo (Italtrans STR), Alex Debón (Aeroport de Castelló-Ajo), Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing), Gabor Talmacsi (Fimmco Speed Up) and Alex Baldolini (Caretta Technology Race Dept), as all got their weekends off to promising starts.
There were minor issues for Shoya Tomizawa (Technomag-CIP), Raffaele de Rosa (Tech3 Racing) and Arne Tode (Racing Team Germany), who all had uneventful run-offs that did not result in any lasting problems.
Qatar 2010 - Moto 125 - FP1
Saturday, 10 April 2010
The Bancaja Aspar rider was fastest in practice as the second session of the eighth-litre class got Saturday’s action in Qatar off to a start.
Nico Terol (Bancaja Aspar) took up the challenge laid down by Pol Espargaró as he topped the times in the second practice session in the 125cc class on Saturday, leading a top five that comprised the same riders as on Friday.
Met by cloudy skies and a temperature of around 31ºC Terol, who was fourth quickest in FP1, set a time of 2’07.651in the 40-minute session on Saturday to lead the riders ahead of rival Espargaró. Terol’s time was some 0.4s slower than that of Espargaró’s from the previous day.
The Tuenti Racing rider was second in the second session, with a time of 2’07.979 making him the final rider under the 2’08” mark. He was followed by team-mate Efrén Vázquez, who timed in at 2’08.034 on the 14th and final lap of his session.
German rider Sandro Cortese (Avant Mitsubishi Ajo) was fourth fastest on the timesheet, at a further 0.359s behind Vázquez, with Marc Márquez (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport) completing the top five at fractionally over a hundredth of a second behind.
At over 1.3s off Terol’s pace was his team-mate Bradley Smith (Bancaja Aspar) in sixth, as he continued to struggle to find a comfortable level on his Aprilia, with Johann Zarco (WTR San Marino Team), Randy Krummenacher (Stipa-Molenaar Racing) , Esteve Rabat (Blusens-STX) and Tomoyoshi Koyama (Racing Team Germany) completing the top ten.
There were crashes for Luis Rossi (CBC Corse), who slid inside the opening two minutes of the session, and Quentin Jacquet (Stipa-Molenaar Racing), both without consequence.
Qatar 2010 - MotoGP - FP1
The first day of action at the opening round of the 2010 season concluded on Friday evening with Casey Stoner the quickest MotoGP rider under the floodlights of the Losail International Circuit. The Australian is seeking his fourth successive win at the track this weekend, as he bids to get his title challenge off to a winning start by carrying over his form from the final pre-season Test.
Stoner’s time of 1’55.500 on board his new Desmosedici GP10, resplendent with its new big bang engine, placed him just over half a second ahead of the rest of the 17-strong field, as he displayed his strength at the desert track and ensured he was the only man to get under 1’56” barrier. Stoner set his time on the ninth of 17 laps, the fewest completed of all the riders.
Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha), who admitted prior to the weekend that he may not be at full fitness as he continues to recover from a hand injury, showed no signs of hesitance as he set the second best time of the hour-long session. The Spaniard’s best lap of 1’56.026 came right at the end of the practice, and just before he had a fall which did not appear to cause him any problems.
His team-mate, reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi, was third on the timesheet on board his factory M1 prototype. The Italian, who will aim to get his title defence off to a winning start, timed in at just two-thousandths of a second off his colleague Lorenzo.
Andrea Dovizioso of the Repsol Honda team took his factory RC212V round in the fourth best time. The Italian, who finished last year’s race in fourth place, was just over a second off Stoner’s pace with a time of 1’56.698, and it was Stoner’s team-mate Nicky Hayden who made the fifth spot at just under a tenth of a second behind.
The highest-placed rookie was Ben Spies (Monster Yamaha Tech3) as he showed further signs of taking to the premier class well in sixth spot, with fellow newcomer Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) on the GSV-R the final rider under 1’57”.
Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda), Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing) and Héctor Barberá (Páginas Amarillas Aspar) were all inside the top ten, with Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) 11th. The 2009 third-placed Championship rider continues to struggle on his factory bike, and was over a second-and-a-half off Stoner’s pace as he lapped at 1’57.133.
Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech3) followed, and Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) was 13th. The veteran Italian had a crash with 20 minutes of the session to go, but returned to the track to set his best time, ahead of Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team), Aleix Espargaró (Pramac Racing), Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) and Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP).
Qatar 2010 - Moto2 - FP1
The debut practice session of the new intermediate category in Qatar ended with Alex de Angelis placing his name at the top of the times on Friday evening, ahead of Scott Redding and Julián Simón.
The much-anticipated first practice session of the Moto2 class took place on Friday evening, and it was RSM Team Scot rider Alex de Angelis who laid down the opening challenge to the rest of the 41-strong field (including wild card Anthony Delhalle) as the 2010 World Championship began in earnest at the Losail International Circuit.
The former MotoGP rider’s lap of 2’03.239 was over half a second faster than that of nearest rival Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team), as De Angelis posted the impressive time on his 20th of 22 laps in the 60-minute session on board his Force GP210 chassis, having been consistently fast in pre-season Testing.
British rider Redding, who improved steadily throughout the lead-up to the start of the 2010 season on his Suter prototype, had led the times towards the end of the session and his best time of 2’03.834 from 19 laps placed him ahead of 125cc World Champion Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar). The Spanish rider was the third and final man under the 2’04” mark with a lap of 2’03.868, as he shot up the timesheet on the last turn on his RSV machine.
A surprise name inside the top five was that of Dominique Aegerter (Technomag-CIP). The Swiss – who timed a 2’04.067 – was followed by another rider using the Suter prototype in Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing), with the German just four-hundredths of a second behind.
The top ten also included Roberto Rolfo (Italtrans STR), Alex Debón (Aeroport de Castelló-Ajo), Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing), Gabor Talmacsi (Fimmco Speed Up) and Alex Baldolini (Caretta Technology Race Dept), as all got their weekends off to promising starts.
There were minor issues for Shoya Tomizawa (Technomag-CIP), Raffaele de Rosa (Tech3 Racing) and Arne Tode (Racing Team Germany), who all had uneventful run-offs that did not result in any lasting problems.
Qatar 2010 - Moto 125 - FP1
Saturday, 10 April 2010
The Bancaja Aspar rider was fastest in practice as the second session of the eighth-litre class got Saturday’s action in Qatar off to a start.
Nico Terol (Bancaja Aspar) took up the challenge laid down by Pol Espargaró as he topped the times in the second practice session in the 125cc class on Saturday, leading a top five that comprised the same riders as on Friday.
Met by cloudy skies and a temperature of around 31ºC Terol, who was fourth quickest in FP1, set a time of 2’07.651in the 40-minute session on Saturday to lead the riders ahead of rival Espargaró. Terol’s time was some 0.4s slower than that of Espargaró’s from the previous day.
The Tuenti Racing rider was second in the second session, with a time of 2’07.979 making him the final rider under the 2’08” mark. He was followed by team-mate Efrén Vázquez, who timed in at 2’08.034 on the 14th and final lap of his session.
German rider Sandro Cortese (Avant Mitsubishi Ajo) was fourth fastest on the timesheet, at a further 0.359s behind Vázquez, with Marc Márquez (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport) completing the top five at fractionally over a hundredth of a second behind.
At over 1.3s off Terol’s pace was his team-mate Bradley Smith (Bancaja Aspar) in sixth, as he continued to struggle to find a comfortable level on his Aprilia, with Johann Zarco (WTR San Marino Team), Randy Krummenacher (Stipa-Molenaar Racing) , Esteve Rabat (Blusens-STX) and Tomoyoshi Koyama (Racing Team Germany) completing the top ten.
There were crashes for Luis Rossi (CBC Corse), who slid inside the opening two minutes of the session, and Quentin Jacquet (Stipa-Molenaar Racing), both without consequence.