Strong Start in Motegi for Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

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Strong Start in Motegi for Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

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Strong Start in #Motegi for #Movistar @Yamaha @MotoGP


Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi kicked off the first of the three overseas triple-header weekend’s with a flying start in the first practices for this Sunday’s Grand Prix of Japan.

Lorenzo remained calm and collected while he focused on staying ahead of his rivals. The Aragón race winner took his time at the start of the morning Free Practice session to warm up the bigger carbon brake disks, which are obligatory this year because of the Twin Ring Motegi circuit’s heavy braking character. Throughout the session the Spaniard was able to gradually improve his times and topped the standings with a 1’45.838 lap in the final minute.

The second 45 minutes session also saw him directly on the pace, posting multiple 1’45 laps to comfortably claim second place. His fastest lap of 1’45.580 was just four-tenths from the leader and leaves him second in the overall times.

Teammate Rossi showed that the heavy crash at Aragón has not slowed him down. Though heavy braking is challenging with his finger injury, the nine-time World Champion decided to ride without anesthetic injections and still managed to be at the top of the time sheets as the morning session began. The Doctor led the standings twice before finishing fifth with a lap of 1’46.184, just 0.346 behind his teammate.

Rossi had a similar session in the afternoon and was able to improve his time to a 1’45.890, less than 0.75 of a second from the top. The result leaves him in fifth place in the combined times ahead of tomorrow’s sessions.



Jorge Lorenzo

2nd / 1'45.580 / 16 laps

“After the race win in Aragon we knew that here maybe we had a chance to go faster and be more competitive with this normal tyre on the rear. Also we knew that last year we were competitive and had good grip. From the beginning we’ve been on the pace and better than we expected. The bike is working very well, we can improve some small details in the settings, chassis and electronics but in general the pace of the bike is very good so I’m happy.”






Valentino Rossi

5th / 1'45.890 / 19 laps

“I feel good on the bike and don't have any particular problems. I have some small pain with the finger, especially when I brake there is a little bit of pain but I am optimistic, I can brake in a good way and I’m comfortable, I’m just in a little bit of pain. In general the first day was not so bad, it was good practice and I’m quite satisfied. We still have to work a lot, because we still haven’t found the right balance but fifth position is not so bad. I have a good pace and it looks like the Yamaha works well here in Motegi.”




Massimo Meregalli - Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team Director
“We are very satisfied with our start today. Both Jorge and Vale have no major issues with set up and have started with good pace and speed. Of course we have some small details as always to work through so I am confident we can make more steps over the weekend to be even more competitive on Sunday. All in all a good start to our proper ‘home’ Grand Prix! It looks like the typhoon won’t arrive until Monday so we might be lucky with the weather also.”


Motegi mission starts positively for Espargaro and Smith
Pol Espargaro returned to the scene of his Moto2 World Title accomplishment today to produce a strong start to round 15 of the 2014 World Championship at the Motul Grand Prix of Japan. The premier class rookie opened the day with a firm ride to seventh in the morning session having run at the front of the field straight from the beginning of the practice around the 4801 meter circuit. His best lap of 1’46.365 was barely over four tenths of a second from the leading time on his Monster Yamaha YZR-M1, after the announcement that Monster Energy will remain as the title sponsor for the Tech3 team for a further two seasons. In the later session, the young Spaniard continued his forward momentum at the stop and go Japanese circuit to storm to a best time of 1’46.041, putting him in seventh position at the close of the day. His performance today leaves the 23 year old rider fully primed for tomorrow where he will aim to qualify on the front two rows for Sunday’s 24 lap race.

On the other side of the Monster Yamaha Tech3 garage, Bradley Smith kick started his triple flyaway challenge in positive form to guide his Yamaha YZR-M1 to eighth position overall at the end of the day in Motegi. The young English rider began this morning by experimenting with setup options together with his Tech3 team in order to establish a strong base to work from for the rest of the weekend. He closed the first free practice by riding to 14th position as he remained full of optimism for the afternoon. When the latter session started, Smith progressed and produced a well calculated ride to confidently lay the foundations for Sunday's action by snatching eighth place and producing a time of 1’46.105. His time was fractionally behind fifth by only 0.2 of a second as he remains poised for a successful qualifying tomorrow at the Motegi circuit in Japan.



Pol Espargaro

7th / 1'46.041 / 20 laps

“In all honesty it was quite a demanding day today. The track is not an easy one to ride due to the hard braking, as well as working out where the references are for each corner and we are still learning step by step. However, the final result itself is not bad at all and I am convinced that we have a large degree of improvement to make. For tomorrow, I certainly need to work on my riding style and afterwards we will try to fix some minor issues with the bike. At the moment we are losing most of our time in the intermediate sectors of the circuit and this is where we will focus on for tomorrow. Once we make these improvements I am certain that I will be able to have a strong qualifying where I intend to score a top grid position for the race on Sunday.”






Bradley Smith

8th / 1'46.105 / 18 laps

“I am happy with today's final outcome even if it was tricky at the start, but we found a good setting which gave us a solid direction to work towards. My final run was a big step forward plus I was lapping with consistent times at the end so although we have some work to do to refine this setting further, I am pleased with the job we have done. It is a technical track and it appears as though the softer compound of tyres it is giving the Ducati's and the open class riders an advantage so it’s vital that we progress with our hard work in order to get into the top ten and go straight into Q2. Moreover I think it will be crucial to get a perfect run in qualifying as some other riders are close and will certainly be in the hunt. Considering the tough start, the end result is positive and we will confidently continue to push onwards tomorrow.”



The NGM Forward Racing back on track at Motegi
The first day of the GP of Japan, 15th round of the 2014 MotoGP season, saw the NGM Forward Racing riders Aleix Espargaro and Alex De Angelis respectively in 13th and 17th position.

The Spaniard made a good start this morning finishing the FP1 in ninth position with a positive lap time of 1’46.404. In the afternoon, some electronics issues obliged him to spend some time in the garage, preventing him to use at the best the session to work on the bike set up. With a lap of 1.46.315, Espargaro finally closed 13th and tomorrow he will continue working in preparation for the race.

Teammate Alex De Angelis also started working in the right direction in the FP1 setting a good 1.47.285 and closing in 15th position. In the FP2 Alex suffered some technical issues that prevented him to further improve his lap times. Despite this, the rider from San Marino is confident for tomorrow's qualifying session.



Aleix Espargaro

13th / 1'46.315 / 10 laps

“I’m not completely satisfied of today’s result. This morning I lacked a bit of confidence on the front. We worked on this direction and in the FP2 the feeling was better. Unfortunately due to some electronic issues I had to enter the pits and lost some time. I couldn’t do so many laps and this will complicate the work on the set up in preparation of the qualifying. Anyway I’m very motivated to do my best to recover the gap from the other guys.”






Alex De Angelis

17th / 1'47.285 / 19 laps

“This morning in the FP1 we made a good start although I lacked a bit of feeling on the rear under braking. In the afternoon we tested some different solutions and I could improve a bit. It’s a pity that at the end of the session I had some problems when I had the soft tyre on and I couldn’t improve my lap times. We will keep on working tomorrow and I’m confident that we can make another step forward.”



Successful Session for "YAMALUBE Racing Team with YSP" team
Regular wild card rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga had a positive outing during the first two Free Practice sessions in the Grand Prix of Japan, round 15 of the 2014 FIM MotoGP World Championship. His 1’46.973 lap around the Twin Ring Motegi circuit saw him finish 15th in the combined Free Practice times.



Katsuyuki Nakasuga

15th/ 1’46.973 / 15 laps

“This will be my first time participating in the MotoGP class since last year’s Grand Prix of Japan, so I was really nervous during the first free practice session. And, when I started riding I was greatly surprised by the high level of riding the other competitors were showing. My personal goal this time is to get a lap time better than my personal best of 1’46.780 that I set the year before last, and since I was able to get my time down to a 1’46.973 in the first session and the machine felt good, I expect to have a good chance of reaching my goal in tomorrow’s qualifying. Like last year, the main purpose for my participation in the race this time will be the data collecting, etc., that I will be doing as the Yamaha YZR-M1 development rider, so I have to make absolutely sure not to have any falls or crashes during race week. I will have this responsibility firmly in mind during the race, but I will go all out and try to do my best within those limits.”





2014 MotoGP Japan

Twin Ring Motegi 10/10/2014

1 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati ITA 1'45.140
2 Jorge Lorenzo
Yamaha
ESP 1'45.580
3 Stefan Bradl Honda GER 1'45.637
4 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 1'45.727
5 Valentino Rossi
Yamaha
ITA 1'45.890
6 Marc Marquez Honda ESP 1'45.939
7 Pol Espargaro
Yamaha
ESP 1'46.041
8 Bradley Smith
Yamaha
GBR 1'46.105
9 Andrea Iannone Ducati ITA 1'46.107
10 Yonny Hernandez Ducati COL 1'46.113
11 Cal Crutchlow Ducati GBR 1'46.221
12 Alvaro Bautista Honda ESP 1'46.227
13 Aleix Espargaro
Forward Yamaha
ESP 1'46.315
14 Hector Barbera Avintia ESP 1'46.571
15 Katsuyuki Nakasuga Yamaha JPN 1'46.973
17 Alex De Angelis Yamaha SMR 1'47.285





Circuit Length:
4801
Weather:
Dry
Lap Record:
1'45.589
(Daniel Pedrosa, 1-1-2012)
Fastest Lap Ever:
1'44.969
(Jorge Lorenzo, 14-10-2012)
Last Years Winner:
Jorge Lorenzo
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