MotoGP: Round 1 - Qatar

[CaptainRaiden]

Amazing that there hasn't been a thread about this yet. FP1 for MotoGP done, and both Moto2 and 125 cc FP1 and FP2 done, and looks very interesting so far:

MotoGP FP1

1 27 Casey STONER AUS Repsol Honda Team Honda 323.5 1'55.752
2 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 320.4 1'56.362 0.610 / 0.610
3 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP Ducati 326.6 1'56.421 0.669 / 0.059
4 58 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 320.2 1'56.441 0.689 / 0.020
5 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Ducati Team Ducati 319.8 1'56.479 0.727 / 0.038
6 11 Ben SPIES USA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 317.9 1'56.493 0.741 / 0.014
7 1 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 316.7 1'56.586 0.834 / 0.093
8 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 321.3 1'56.592 0.840 / 0.006
9 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 316.4 1'56.790 1.038 / 0.198
10 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 321.7 1'56.879 1.127 / 0.089
11 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 321.6 1'56.910 1.158 / 0.031
12 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 320.8 1'56.987 1.235 / 0.077
13 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 317.3 1'57.366 1.614 / 0.379
14 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 317.2 1'57.429 1.677 / 0.063
15 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati 322.5 1'57.821 2.069 / 0.392
16 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 316.7 1'58.528 2.776 / 0.707
17 24 Toni ELIAS SPA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 317.9 1'59.087 3.335 / 0.559

Hector Barbera springing a surprise there, also Rossi the highest he has been on the Ducati. A bit more setup work and maybe he could be right up there. If anybody can, he can.

Moto2 FP2

1 72 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN Gresini Racing Moto2 Moriwaki 271.9 2'01.695
2 45 Scott REDDING GBR Marc VDS Racing Team Suter 263.7 2'01.748 0.053 / 0.053
3 65 Stefan BRADL GER Viessmann Kiefer Racing Kalex 277.0 2'01.800 0.105 / 0.052
4 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Speed Master Suter 268.7 2'01.983 0.288 / 0.183
5 12 Thomas LUTHI SWI Interwetten Paddock Moto2 Suter 270.9 2'02.143 0.448 / 0.160
6 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Team Catalunya Caixa Repsol Suter 270.0 2'02.348 0.653 / 0.205
7 51 Michele PIRRO ITA Gresini Racing Moto2 Moriwaki 270.1 2'02.498 0.803 / 0.150
8 40 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pons HP 40 Pons Kalex 269.1 2'02.577 0.882 / 0.079
9 60 Julian SIMON SPA Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 Suter 267.5 2'02.620 0.925 / 0.043
10 71 Claudio CORTI ITA Italtrans Racing Team Suter 268.7 2'02.673 0.978 / 0.053
11 21 Javier FORES SPA Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 Suter 267.7 2'02.923 1.228 / 0.250
12 34 Esteve RABAT SPA Blusens-STX FTR 271.7 2'02.951 1.256 / 0.028
13 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM JIR Moto2 Motobi 275.2 2'03.021 1.326 / 0.070
14 63 Mike DI MEGLIO FRA Tech 3 Racing Tech 3 271.6 2'03.105 1.410 / 0.084
15 88 Ricard CARDUS SPA QMMF Racing Team Moriwaki 265.7 2'03.185 1.490 / 0.080
16 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Tech 3 Racing Tech 3 270.6 2'03.197 1.502 / 0.012
17 16 Jules CLUZEL FRA Forward Racing Suter 268.2 2'03.231 1.536 / 0.034
18 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Marc VDS Racing Team Suter 270.8 2'03.336 1.641 / 0.105
19 76 Max NEUKIRCHNER GER MZ Racing Team MZ-RE Honda 267.8 2'03.404 1.709 / 0.068
20 4 Randy KRUMMENACHER SWI GP Team Switzerland Kiefer Racing Kalex 272.7 2'03.722 2.027 / 0.318
21 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Blusens-STX FTR 265.9 2'03.741 2.046 / 0.019
22 14 Ratthapark WILAIROT THA Thai Honda Singha SAG FTR 271.7 2'03.837 2.142 / 0.096
23 35 Raffaele DE ROSA ITA G22 Racing Team Moriwaki 270.3 2'03.971 2.276 / 0.134
24 80 Axel PONS SPA Pons HP 40 Pons Kalex 271.4 2'04.055 2.360 / 0.084
25 25 Alex BALDOLINI ITA Forward Racing Suter 265.0 2'04.178 2.483 / 0.123
26 75 Mattia PASINI ITA Ioda Racing Project FTR 271.8 2'04.184 2.489 / 0.006
27 53 Valentin DEBISE FRA Speed Up FTR 272.2 2'04.213 2.518 / 0.029
28 54 Kenan SOFUOGLU TUR Technomag-CIP Suter 269.1 2'04.294 2.599 / 0.081
29 49 Kev COGHLAN GBR Aeroport de Castello FTR 270.3 2'04.654 2.959 / 0.360
30 44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA HP Tuenti Speed Up FTR 270.3 2'04.701 3.006 / 0.047
31 77 Dominique AEGERTER SWI Technomag-CIP Suter 268.5 2'04.923 3.228 / 0.222
32 19 Xavier SIMEON BEL Tech 3 Racing Tech 3 266.6 2'05.223 3.528 / 0.300
33 39 Robertino PIETRI VEN Italtrans Racing Team Suter 270.7 2'05.467 3.772 / 0.244
34 13 Anthony WEST AUS MZ Racing Team MZ-RE Honda 264.6 2'05.646 3.951 / 0.179
35 9 Kenny NOYES USA Avintia-STX FTR 270.9 2'05.845 4.150 / 0.199
36 96 Nasser Hasan AL MALKI QAT QMMF Racing Team Moriwaki 265.9 2'06.337 4.642 / 0.492
37 95 Mashel AL NAIMI QAT QMMF Racing Team Moriwaki 269.1 2'07.235 5.540 / 0.898
38 64 Santiago HERNANDEZ COL SAG Team FTR 264.4 2'08.602 6.907 / 1.367
3 Simone CORSI ITA Ioda Racing Project FTR 264.9 2'10.977 9.282 / 2.375

Usual suspects at the top. Seems like Marquez, Takahashi and Bradl would be very strong

125 cc FP2

1 18 Nicolas TEROL SPA Bankia Aspar Team Aprilia 224.5 2'07.418
2 11 Sandro CORTESE GER Intact-Racing Team Germany Aprilia 222.9 2'08.434 1.016 / 1.016
3 55 Hector FAUBEL SPA Bankia Aspar Team Aprilia 220.5 2'08.576 1.158 / 0.142
4 39 Luis SALOM SPA RW Racing GP Aprilia 224.3 2'08.877 1.459 / 0.301
5 94 Jonas FOLGER GER Red Bull Ajo MotorSport Aprilia 225.6 2'08.892 1.474 / 0.015
6 7 Efren VAZQUEZ SPA Avant-AirAsia-Ajo Derbi 220.3 2'09.243 1.825 / 0.351
7 5 Johann ZARCO FRA Avant-AirAsia-Ajo Derbi 217.7 2'09.351 1.933 / 0.108
8 52 Danny KENT GBR Red Bull Ajo MotorSport Aprilia 219.7 2'09.731 2.313 / 0.380
9 23 Alberto MONCAYO SPA Andalucia Banca Civica Aprilia 222.9 2'09.892 2.474 / 0.161
10 33 Sergio GADEA SPA Pev-Blusens-SMX-Paris Hilton Aprilia 219.4 2'09.927 2.509 / 0.035
11 44 Miguel OLIVEIRA POR Andalucia Banca Civica Aprilia 221.8 2'10.385 2.967 / 0.458
12 26 Adrian MARTIN SPA Bankia Aspar Team Aprilia 218.2 2'10.539 3.121 / 0.154
13 31 Niklas AJO FIN TT Motion Events Racing Aprilia 217.4 2'10.590 3.172 / 0.051
14 25 Maverick VIÑALES SPA Pev-Blusens-SMX-Paris Hilton Aprilia 222.7 2'10.637 3.219 / 0.047
15 76 Hiroki ONO JPN Caretta Technology Forward Team KTM 219.2 2'11.569 4.151 / 0.932
16 99 Danny WEBB GBR Mahindra Racing Mahindra 220.6 2'11.589 4.171 / 0.020
17 96 Louis ROSSI FRA Matteoni Racing Aprilia 215.6 2'11.682 4.264 / 0.093
18 3 Luigi MORCIANO ITA Team Italia FMI Aprilia 212.9 2'11.862 4.444 / 0.180
19 15 Simone GROTZKYJ ITA Phonica Racing Aprilia 214.7 2'12.307 4.889 / 0.445
20 53 Jasper IWEMA NED Ongetta-Abbink Metaal Aprilia 224.5 2'12.514 5.096 / 0.207
21 77 Marcel SCHROTTER GER Mahindra Racing Mahindra 217.0 2'12.721 5.303 / 0.207
22 84 Jakub KORNFEIL CZE Ongetta-Centro Seta Aprilia 214.5 2'13.040 5.622 / 0.319
23 63 Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN MAL Airasia-Sic-Ajo Derbi 217.1 2'13.055 5.637 / 0.015
24 30 Giulian PEDONE SWI Phonica Racing Aprilia 212.1 2'13.396 5.978 / 0.341
25 19 Alessandro TONUCCI ITA Team Italia FMI Aprilia 214.5 2'13.704 6.286 / 0.308
26 21 Harry STAFFORD GBR Ongetta-Centro Seta Aprilia 216.6 2'13.911 6.493 / 0.207
27 17 Taylor MACKENZIE GBR Phonica Racing Aprilia 210.2 2'13.943 6.525 / 0.032
28 36 Joan PERELLO SPA Matteoni Racing Aprilia 215.9 2'14.337 6.919 / 0.394
29 43 Francesco MAURIELLO ITA WTR-Ten10 Racing Aprilia 215.3 2'15.955 8.537 / 1.618
12 Daniel KARTHEININGER GER Caretta Technology Forward Team KTM 218.0 2'16.386 8.968 / 0.431
69 Sarath KUMAR IND WTR-Ten10 Racing Aprilia 211.4 2'22.776 15.358 / 6.390

This year's championship is Terol's to lose. I don't see anyway he won't win, unless Marquez or Espargaro comes back to 125s.

[NinjaMaster]

Amazing that there hasn't been a thread about this yet.

Good work X, we've been slack! Better late than never, eh?

Hector Barbera springing a surprise there, also Rossi the highest he has been on the Ducati. A bit more setup work and maybe he could be right up there. If anybody can, he can.

Even though he got a tow on his fast lap, I don't think anyone thought Barbera capable of placing that high during a practice session. Then he slipped back into character and baulked Hayedn on the next lap.
It's the highest Rossi has been on the Duc though I will reserve judgement on any progress til after the next couple of sessions as he's looked to have improved a couple of times during the pre-season then slid down the order. I'm also still skeptical of the Ducati front end in the heat of battle. Still, it's the most positive we've heard from Ducati, at least on the yellow side.
Stoner has been monsterously impressive but I'm not sure he'll have it all his own way. Pedrosa and Spies are both very fast but Lorenzo is the main one I've got my eye on as he seems to be cutting very fast 'racing' laps and that Yamaha is still a very impressive motorcycle, regardless of Honda's testing dominance.

Usual suspects at the top. Seems like Marquez, Takahashi and Bradl would be very strong

This series is going to be just as ridiculously exciting as last year. Heading into turn one on Sunday with only a sighting lap and a warmup lap could be positively frightening though!

This year's championship is Terol's to lose. I don't see anyway he won't win, unless Marquez or Espargaro comes back to 125s.

100% agree. He looks far and away better than the rest of the field unless a Cortese or someone can improve two or three levels at once!

[CaptainRaiden]

Good work X, we've been slack! Better late than never, eh?

Yep. I think MotoGP needs more politics, scandals and controversial rules like F1 to wake people up.

Even though he got a tow on his fast lap, I don't think anyone thought Barbera capable of placing that high during a practice session. Then he slipped back into character and baulked Hayedn on the next lap.
It's the highest Rossi has been on the Duc though I will reserve judgement on any progress til after the next couple of sessions as he's looked to have improved a couple of times during the pre-season then slid down the order. I'm also still skeptical of the Ducati front end in the heat of battle. Still, it's the most positive we've heard from Ducati, at least on the yellow side.
Stoner has been monsterously impressive but I'm not sure he'll have it all his own way. Pedrosa and Spies are both very fast but Lorenzo is the main one I've got my eye on as he seems to be cutting very fast 'racing' laps and that Yamaha is still a very impressive motorcycle, regardless of Honda's testing dominance.

Very interesting. I wish I could see the practice sessions or even qualifying for that matter, but for the amazing broadcasting monopoly in the country that I am in currently. Won't be able to watch the race either, because the rival cable provider got the exclusive rights to MotoGP for this year. Looks like I'll be forced to look for other options on the internet *cough* streaming and torrents *cough*. At least while I was in India, I had the surety to watch the race on not one, but two channels.

Anyway as Toby and Julian always said, and it's like you said above Ninja, Lorenzo always seems to be banging in the most consistently fast times throughout testing, practice and qualifying. This race is going to be interesting. Would love to see a five horse race with Stoner, Pedrosa, Spies, Lorenzo and Rossi fighting for the win, but this so far looks like Stoner should win comfortably, unless he sees that Rossi is behind him and closing the gap and loses the front on the next corner.

[Allyc85]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/90018

Oh dear Suzuki, what are they going to do now?!

On another matter, wasnt Moto Gp going to be shown in HD this year?

[themo]

The only Suzuki rider on the MotoGP grid, Alvaro Bautista, has been ruled out of this weekend's opening round in Qatar after breaking his femur in Friday night's final free practice session.

Former Suzuki MotoGP star John Hopkins, who tested the GSV-R at Qatar last weekend, has previously been named as a reserve should such a scenario occur - but it looks unlikely that the American, due to race for Crescent Suzuki in BSB this year, can arrive for qualifying.

[muscrae]

It will obviously be a tough start for Kenan Sofuoğlu this weekend. He's just lost his father due to cancer, and he lacked the testing. Kenan was able to improve his lap time, the feeling of the bike is getting better, still some area where it's possible to improve with the set up and Kenan also can improve his riding style required by the moto2 standard closer to 250cc and 125cc machine behaviour something quite different to supersport. He's so eager for a blistering start to the season, remember this is the debut season for him. He was leading his debut race at Moto2 last year, but clutch problems forced him to a dramatic end to finish 5th. Whatsover, double WSS Champion's utmost aim for the season is high, but for the launch race of the season, Qatar, he plans to be in top 5, if possible a podium maybe..!

[patnicholls]

Firstly, it's good to be back - although obviously with Alvaro hurt already it's a bittersweet opening to the season.

Welcome aboard muscrae - good to have you aboard. I'm definitely a big fan of Kenan these days - he's so different in personality to most of the rest of the paddock that he takes some getting used to, but that's ultimately a good thing and as a rider he's awesome. Technomag do look to be struggling since he he went home to be with his father, hopefully things'll come together now we're off and running and it's understandable after the events of last year. Dominique Aegerter was better last year than he's shown in the last couple of tests too, and we know how well Shoya and Kenan did so I'm confident matters improve because Kenan should be a title contender, even in such a deep field.

[NinjaMaster]

The first three free practices have been run and Stoner has been fastest in all of 'em. Here's the results of the third one:

Pos No. Rider Bike Time Diff Diff Previous
1 27 Casey STONER HONDA 1'55.035
2 26 Dani PEDROSA HONDA 1'55.193 0.158 0.158
3 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO HONDA 1'55.740 0.705 0.547
4 1 Jorge LORENZO YAMAHA 1'55.814 0.779 0.074
5 11 Ben SPIES YAMAHA 1'56.003 0.968 0.189
6 8 Hector BARBERA DUCATI 1'56.266 1.231 0.263
7 5 Colin EDWARDS YAMAHA 1'56.302 1.267 0.036
8 46 Valentino ROSSI DUCATI 1'56.306 1.271 0.004
9 14 Randy DE PUNIET DUCATI 1'56.362 1.327 0.056
10 65 Loris CAPIROSSI DUCATI 1'56.434 1.399 0.072
11 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW YAMAHA 1'56.437 1.402 0.003
12 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA HONDA 1'56.517 1.482 0.080
13 58 Marco SIMONCELLI HONDA 1'56.540 1.505 0.023
14 69 Nicky HAYDEN DUCATI 1'56.586 1.551 0.046
15 17 Karel ABRAHAM DUCATI 1'57.275 2.240 0.689
16 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SUZUKI 1'57.601 2.566 0.326
17 24 Toni ELIAS HONDA 1'58.123 3.088 0.522


- Terrible news for Alvaro Bautista. I think he's unfairly criticised in some quarters and to be significantly injured so early in the season does not bode well for he or Suzuki.
- Rossi started positively in 5th place in first free practice but really hasn't improved his times and has dropped down the order.
- Lorenzo has been bested by Ben Spies for much of the pre-season and first practices but he has very strong consistent pace.
- Honda has continued it's pre-season dominance with Stoner and Pedrosa heading all sessions so far.
- After the top two, the mid-pack is extremely tight with eight tenths covering 3rd to 14th. It should be one helluva fight!

[muscrae]

Firstly, it's good to be back - although obviously with Alvaro hurt already it's a bittersweet opening to the season.

Welcome aboard muscrae - good to have you aboard. I'm definitely a big fan of Kenan these days - he's so different in personality to most of the rest of the paddock that he takes some getting used to, but that's ultimately a good thing and as a rider he's awesome. Technomag do look to be struggling since he he went home to be with his father, hopefully things'll come together now we're off and running and it's understandable after the events of last year. Dominique Aegerter was better last year than he's shown in the last couple of tests too, and we know how well Shoya and Kenan did so I'm confident matters improve because Kenan should be a title contender, even in such a deep field.

Thank you patnicholls, I'm really happy to hear such encouraging comments for Kenan, let's hope the best form him and the team to solve some inconveniences before tomorrow evening...

By the way, if anyone have, please share some photos or links for Qatar GP, especially for Kenan...

[Allyc85]

Crutchlow infront of Rossi, one hell of an effort for a rookie with half a finger missing and a dodgy shoulder