Yamaha Factory Racing rider Ben Spies put in a strong performance in qualifying today for the Grand Prix of Aragon to deliver third on the grid and a front row start for tomorrow’s race. Spies has improved consistently over the weekend, coinciding with an increase in grip level on the Spanish circuit. A small crash in the extended final practice this morning resulted in no injuries, the Texan finishing in sixth place 1.104 seconds from first. A set up change mid-qualifying brought another step, enabling him to deliver third place and close the gap to pole to 0.704 seconds. Reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo left his fastest times to later in the session, battling a lack of rear grip to deliver fourth place for tomorrow’s race, 0.819 seconds from Championship rival Casey Stoner on pole. The Mallorcan rider was less then happy with the final result and will continue to work overnight with his crew to make another step for morning warm up.
Ben Spies
Position 3rd – Time 1.49.155 – Laps 24
“The whole weekend has been pretty good for me, I’m pretty happy with it. We struggled a little bit this morning but the bike’s working really well. We looked over a bit of data and tried to find the best compromise. We found it with 30 minutes to go in qualifying and with the race tyres we were about third or fourth quickest. When we put the softer tyres on we were able to go quicker and get on the front row. The crew has done an amazing job to get the bike where it is, we’re just lacking a bit of speed from the front two guys. We’re going to try and challenge for the podium tomorrow.”
Jorge Lorenzo
Position 4th – Time 1.49.270 – Laps 21
“We struggled here last year and we are here struggling again this year, maybe even more. We have many problems with rear grip; we are not getting enough traction to be really fast. Tomorrow I think the maximum we can get is third place on the podium unless something very strange happens so that is the goal we have. The long straight is not the best for us but in the corners we are also a bit slower than the others so we must find something.”
Wilco Zeelenberg – Yamaha Factory Racing Team Manager
“We’re still struggling for grip so fourth place is not so bad, it’s far from good though! With the soft tyre we can do a decent lap time, with the hard race tyre we struggle even more though so for sure we need to try and find something for tomorrow morning. We will go over the data from today and see what we can come up with to try in warm up.”
Massimo Meregalli – Yamaha Factory Racing Team Director
“I think that Ben and the track are working in the same direction, they both improved grip over the day. We were struggling this morning but as the track has improved it has allowed Ben to improve as well. To start from the first row is a good advantage, especially in a circuit like this with its layout. We have to work a bit again to try and get closer but from yesterday to now we’ve made good steps. We are quite positive about the race tomorrow. The temperature will be less which may have an effect, we’ll have to wait and see. Jorge also made some improvements but is still looking for some more grip with his set up. His crew are working hard and we are confident they will make another step before the race.”
Crutchlow aims for top 10 at Motorland Aragon
Cal Crutchlow is confident he has the speed to challenge for a top 10 finish in tomorrow’s Motorland Aragon MotoGP round after the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider narrowly missed securing a place on the third row of the grid.
American team-mate Colin Edwards is also determined to battle for a strong result despite a tough qualifying session left him uncharacteristically outside of the top 10 on the grid ahead of his 150th MotoGP start tomorrow.
Crutchlow will make his debut at the technical 3.155 miles track from 12th place on the grid, the British rider unlucky not to see his efforts rewarded with a much higher starting position.
The 2009 World Supersp ort champion has quickly got to grips with the Motorland Aragon track, despite yesterday’s disruption when second practice was cancelled because of a major malfunction in the electricity supply to the state-of-the-art venue.
With 75 minutes on track this morning to compensate for the time lost yesterday, Crutchlow was able to lap almost two seconds faster than he managed on Friday, boosting his confidence ahead of this afternoon’s qualifying session.
Crutchlow made big progress with improving the set-up of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machine and a best lap of 1.49.893 secured him 12th place on the grid. Today’s session though provided further evidence of just how competitive the MotoGP class is this year, with Crutchlow’s time less than 0.2s away from seventh position.
Edwards will start a further three places back in 15th, the 37-year-old using his vast experience and knowle dge to try and improve rear grip in hot conditions that saw track temperatures soar to 41 degrees.
He managed to set a best time of 1.50.105, which was over 0.3s faster than his 2010 qualifying pace, but frustratingly he was unable to qualify inside the top 10 for only the second time this season.
Cal Crutchlow
Position 12th – Time 1.49.893 – Laps 25
“I don’t think 12th place on the grid really reflects just how well myself and the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team have been performing this weekend. I’ve come to a new track and pretty much lost a session with all of yesterday’s power problems and yet another couple of tenths would have put me in the top six on the grid. I am really happy with the way I’m riding and happy with my crew, who have done a great job again this weekend. The times are so close that 12th could quite easily have been sixth or seventh, but I’m still confident that I can race inside the top 10 tomorrow. It is going to be difficult because we’ve got a bit of a speed issue on the straight. I’m really strong in three sections of the track but in the last sector I’m a long way down the split times and that makes it quite difficult. It is not going to be easy to pass people but I’ll get my head down and push as hard as I can to do the best job possible. The goal as always will be the top 10 and I’m looking forward to a good battle and picking up more valuable points.”
Colin Edwards
Position 15th – Time 1.50.105 – Laps 22
“That was a hard session to say the least and starting my 150th MotoGP race from 15th on the grid certainly wasn’t in the plan. We’ve gone from qualifying seventh in Misano to 15th, so it is clear we’ve had a few issues this weekend. One is the bike isn’t the fastest out there and I’ve not got a lot of rear grip. The moment I touch the throttle the rear tyre spins, and that combined with the engine means we simply aren’t fast enough. I guess we’ve got to back to the drawing board tonight and see if we can come up with something, but it is going to be a tough race. Like I always do, I’ll be going out and giving it my maximum effort for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team and see how far we can climb up the order and score a few points.”
2011 MotoGP Spain
Motorland Aragon 17/09/2011
1 Casey Stoner Honda AUS 1’48.451
2 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 1’48.747
3 Ben Spies Yamaha USA 1’49.155
4 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 1’49.270
5 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 1’49.372
6 Marco Simoncelli Honda ITA 1’49.528
7 Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 1’49.752
8 Karel Abraham Ducati CZE 1’49.777
9 Hiroshi Aoyama Honda JPN 1’49.813
10 Randy De Puniet Ducati FRA 1’49.826
11 Alvaro Bautista Suzuki ESP 1’49.883
12 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 1’49.893
13 Valentino Rossi Ducati ITA 1’49.960
14 Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 1’49.976
15 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 1’50.105
Circuit Length:
5345
Weather:
Dry
Fastest Lap Ever:
1’48.451
(Casey Stoner, 9/18/2011)
Last Years Winner:
Casey Stoner
