Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi will start tomorrow’s Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland from the first and second row of the grid, having taken third and sixth respectively in today’s qualifying session.
A sunny and crowded Sachsenring set the scene today for the duel for pole position that saw Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo ride his Yamaha YZR-M1 to a third place start for tomorrow’s race. Valentino Rossi also looked threatening for a spot on the front row at the Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, but came just short and secured sixth place on the second row of the grid.
As often, Lorenzo displayed his determination by being the first rider out of the pit box. He moved into second position with his first flying lap, dropping immediately into the low 1’21s with a 1’21.481. Unable to improve his time in the following laps he came in for a change of rear tyre with eight minutes remaining, to continue his attack.
Having dropped to sixth, the Spaniard returned to the circuit two minutes later and climbed back up to second place, dipping under the 1’21 mark with a blistering 1’20.921. Lorenzo had three more attempts at beating his personal best time, but was unable to improve and ended the day in third, 0.585s from the front.
Teammate Valentino Rossi also went straight in to the action as soon as the green light signaled the start of the 15-minute time attack. The Italian’s first lap initially lifted him to sixth before dropping to seventh as the pace increased, but the short German circuit allowed him three more tries and he responded soon with a 1’21.364 for third.
He returned to the pits with a little more than six and a half minutes on the clock and quickly changed tyres in under a minute, before heading back out. He stepped up his pace in the next lap, but was still pushed back to fourth. Not letting this discourage him, he bettered his time even further on his second try with a 1’21.220 to reclaim third. He held on to this front row start until three rivals jumped in front of him in the final stages of the session, moving Rossi to sixth on the grid, 0.884s from first.
Jorge Lorenzo
3rd / 1’20.921 / 10 laps
“Third is a very good position, because we always struggle to be competitive at this track. This isn’t the easiest circuit for Yamaha and it’s also difficult with my riding style, but I did my best to ride a good lap time. I wasn’t very happy about the first try, I was in sixth position, so that wasn’t a really good lap time, but in the second one I improved so much. I was happy because I thought I was close to pole position, but when I saw that the fastest time was a 1’20.336, I understood that today was not our day and that our rivals had a better bike to do one fast lap. Tomorrow it will be difficult to stay with Marquez, who seems to have a better pace, but everything is possible in racing and we are going to try our best to be fast from the start.”
Valentino Rossi
6th / 1’21.220 / 11 laps
“I wanted to try to start tomorrow’s race more in front, because our potential today wasn’t so bad. I thought and hoped that I could do a 1’20-high, but unfortunately I made some mistakes and I couldn’t do the perfect lap. Apart from that, I’m on the second row and that’s not so far behind and my pace is quite good. I can keep a good pace also with a used tyre so now we have to work and try to fix some small problems and make some small improvements for tomorrow and see what happens in the race. If you look at today’s pace, Marquez is very strong and Pedrosa is the second, but very close. After them come me and Jorge and we are very similar. All the essential is there, I will try to fight with Jorge, ride a good race and try to arrive in front of him and score more points.”
Massimo Meregalli – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team Director
“Starting the race from the first row was our goal, considering how difficult it is to overtake here. We are satisfied about the pace of both our riders and the job we have done so far, but there is still a margin for improvement. We will try to make another step forward during the night, which we will test during the warm up. Tomorrow is going to be a tough race, but I expect we can achieve another top result.”
Espargaro to contest Sachsenring battle from 8th on the grid
Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team rider Pol Espargaro will bolt from 8th on the grid aboard his Yamaha YZR-M1 after a firm qualifying performance in the 15 minute Q2 shootout at the tight and twisting Sachsenring circuit today. The young Spaniard began the second day by continuing to make steps forward with the setup of his MotoGP bike and concluded the morning FP3 session in 10th place, which allowed him to progress through to Q2. The 24 year old rider jumped straight into gear as the session began and pushed instantly in order to seize a strong grid position. With the seconds continuing down, Espargaro posted a best time of 1’21.274 which equalled an 8th place start, yet his performance saw him a blink of an eye from the second row by only 0.054. He now sets his sights on charging through the MotoGP field at the challenging circuit as he aims to lead the battle for the top satellite position in tomorrow’s race.
On the opposite side of the Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team pit box, Bradley Smith will begin the 30 lap sprint around the 3.7 kilometre circuit from the rear of the third row on the grid after a resolute effort in qualifying today. The young British rider started the day with a rapid pace in FP3, where he finished in 5th position and which elevated him through to the QP2 face off. Here, he leapt into action and pulled the plug instantly as he did his upmost to clinch a top qualifying time. However, he was forced to enter the pits in order to repair the windshield at the end of his first lap after pulling off a dramatic save to prevent himself from a high side. Nevertheless, Smith determinedly returned to the track soon after and on his penultimate lap, he set a 1’21.329 which certified 9th on the grid, but was just over a tenth of a second from the second row. Tomorrow he will launch from the starting grid and will then intend to record a ninth successive top eight finish in 2015 at the GoPro Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland.
Pol Espargaro
8th / 1’21.274 / 9 laps
“In all honesty, I’m quite satisfied with how our day went and I feel ready for what will be a challenging battle tomorrow. In FP4 we found out how to improve our performance in the first and second sectors plus, our race pace with used tyres was really promising. As a result, this gave me a lot of confidence and energy for the qualifying session and overall, the final outcome was not too bad. We are in the same bracket as Valentino which is a tenth of a second, which means that we are only 0.054 from the second row. Nevertheless, we will have to begin the race from 8th with three open bikes in front of us, who were on soft tyres today. Therefore, the aim for tomorrow will be to climb up the rankings and finish the first half of the season with a strong result.”
Bradley Smith
9th / 1’21.329 / 10 laps
“Overall, I am optimistic for the race tomorrow, despite the fact that I’m a little bit disappointed with my final qualifying position today. The slide that I had on my bike during my first flying lap affected our qualifying quite a bit. I didn’t take full advantage of the first set of tyres and then I was too nervous on the second pair, especially on my final lap where I lost a lot of time in the last sector due to this. Therefore, I’m a bit dissatisfied as my objective today was to qualify on the front two rows and even though we are not too far back from there, we are 9th and not 6th. However, to be starting on the inside of the track might be an advantage here. In addition, I have a good race pace and am confident with the bike and even though it will be a tricky event as the tyres drop quite a lot here, I am ready for a good challenge.”
Difficult qualifying for Athinà Forward Racing at Sachsenring
Qualifying has just ended at Sachsenring, the circuit that tomorrow will host the ninth race of the 2015 season. It was a difficult session for the riders of the Athinà Forward Racing team. Loris Baz and Claudio Corti will start tomorrow respectively from the seventh and the ninth row of the grid with the aim of getting close to their rivals in the Open category.
It is Loris Baz his first time on the difficult German track and he closed with a 1’22.394 as fourth fastest in Open class and he will start tomorrow’s race from 20th place. The Frenchman, who showed a good race pace and is boosted by the latest positive results, is confident he can do well and fight with the quickest riders tomorrow.
Claudio Corti is also positive even if he will start from the bottom of the grid. The rider from Como returned to racing after eight months and has significantly improved today, pulling off a time of 1’23.374. The work on the data will continue for him today to adjust the setting of his Yamaha Forward for the race.
Loris Baz
20th / 1’22.394 / 8 laps
“It was not the qualifying I hoped: the track is very technical and I made small error on my fast lap. The overall pace is rather good and I’m sure I could get close to Barbera to fight for the Open lead.”
Claudio Corti
25th / 1’23.374 / 8 laps
“I am pretty happy, step by step the feeling with the bike is getting better and better. Improving our lap time in each round was our goal and I am satisfied. During my fast lap I made a small mistake in the last corner and I lost something, otherwise I could have improved even more. I’m gradually getting all the old feelings back and I’m confident for the race. Thanks to all the team and the engineers for their support and commitment, we continue to analyze the data waiting for the race.”
2015 MotoGP Germany
Sachsenring 11/07/2015
1 Marc Marquez Honda ESP 1’20.336
2 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 1’20.628
3 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 1’20.921
4 Andrea Iannone Ducati ITA 1’21.029
5 Yonny Hernandez Ducati COL 1’21.115
6 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 1’21.220
7 Aleix Espargaro Suzuki ESP 1’21.239
8 Pol Espargaro Yamaha ESP 1’21.274
9 Bradley Smith Yamaha GBR 1’21.329
10 Cal Crutchlow Honda GBR 1’21.409
11 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati ITA 1’21.503
12 Maverick Viñales Suzuki ESP 1’21.796
13 Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 1’21.628
14 Scott Redding Honda GBR 1’21.632
15 Danilo Petrucci Ducati ITA 1’21.760
20 Loris Baz Yamaha FRA 1’22.394
25 Claudio Corti Forward Yamaha ITA 1’23.374
Circuit Length:
3671
Lap Record:
1’21.846
(Daniel Pedrosa, 1-1-2011)
Fastest Lap Ever:
1’20.336
(Marc Marquez, 12-7-2015)
Last Years Winner:
Marc Marquez
