Bridgestone Motorsports Press Release:
NGM Forward Racing’s Aleix Espargaro claimed his first ever pole position after a rain shower at the start of Qualifying Practice 2 turned the session into an exciting one-lap dash as riders tried to set a quick lap on slick tires before conditions deteriorated.
Espargaro judged the conditions perfectly, running apart from the main pack of riders to set a lap time of 1’38.789 to end the session 1.405 seconds ahead of the next-best qualifier, Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez. On the other Repsol Honda RC213V, Dani Pedrosa was third quickest in qualifying as he set a time of 1’40.732 before the rain intensified after which all the riders were unable to improve their times further.
Today’s weather was generally fine, although the occasional rain shower created variable track conditions at times. Light rain fell at the start of the morning Free Practice 3 session, with many riders taking the opportunity to scrub a set of wet tires for later use, before conditions improved allowing riders to use slick tires for the rest of the session. The afternoon FP4 session was dry, allowing riders to perform longer runs on their preferred slick tire combination, and the fine conditions allowed Marquez to set a new Circuit Best Lap record time of 1’33.462. Ambient and track temperatures were slightly cooler than yesterday, with today’s peak track temperature of 30° being thirteen degrees cooler than yesterday.
The cooler conditions today resulted in the riders preferring softer rear slick options, while the soft compound front tire was the most popular. However, some riders opted to use the extra-soft front slick, preferring the extra edge grip this option provides rather than the better braking stability of the soft option. If tomorrow’s race is run in dry conditions, it is expected that the majority of the riders will use the softest rear slick option available to them, paired with the soft compound front slick.
Weather forecasts indicate similar conditions to today, with a fair chance of rain. The next MotoGP session is tomorrow’s Warm Up session at 0940 local time (GMT+1) before the twenty-six lap race commences at 1400.
Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tire Development Department:
“Today’s conditions were cooler with rainy periods, so the riders perhaps to use the same tyre combinations that they evaluated yesterday. In FP3 and FP4, the riders continued to use the softer rear slick options and due to the cooler weather, no Factory riders decided to try the hard rear slick option. If conditions are dry tomorrow I think most of the riders are clear on their race tire choice, and I expect the majority of riders to use the soft compound front slick. For the rear, it appears that the Factory Honda and Yamaha riders will use the medium compound rear, while most of the Ducati and Open-class entrants will use the soft compound rear. In the case of a wet race, each rider will be able to choose from the soft and hard wet tire compounds, so even if there is rain tomorrow tire strategy could still play an important part in the race.”
Bridgestone slick compounds available:
- Front: Extra-soft, Soft & Medium
- Rear: Soft, Medium & Hard (Asymmetric)
Bridgestone wet tire compounds available:
- Soft (Main)
- Hard (Alternative)
Weather:
- FP3 – Dry/Wet. Ambient 18-18°C; Track 22-23°C (Bridgestone measurement)
- FP4-QP – Dry/Wet. Ambient 20-21°C; Track 27-30°C (Bridgestone measurement)
Dutch TT: QP 2Times:
1 Aleix ESPARGARO NGM Forward Racing
2 Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team
3 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team
4 Andrea IANNONE Pramac Racing
5 Cal CRUTCHLOW Ducati Team
6 Bradley SMITH Monster Yamaha Tech 3
7 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati Team
8 Stefan BRADL LCR Honda MotoGP
9 Jorge LORENZO Movistar Yamaha MotoGP
10 Alvaro BAUTISTA GO&FUN Honda Gresini
11 Pol ESPARGARO Monster Yamaha Tech 3
12 Valentino ROSSI Movistar Yamaha MotoGP
For more information: www.bridgestonemotorsport.com
No comments:
Post a Comment