MotoGP Portugal Testing
Although Marco Simoncelli crashed out of the Estoril MotoGP Sunday, he redeemed himself at the official MotoGP test at the same track Monday.
The Italian spent most of his 70 laps testing various clutch settings on the San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V. Simoncelli’s overall best lap time was a 1:36.211, over a tenth quicker than the second fastest rider at the Estoril MotoGP test, Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo.
Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) says: “I’m obviously satisfied after this test but also angry because we showed one time more that yesterday we could have ridden with the first group. We tried something new that could definitely help us in the future and the new Bridgestone tire for 2012.”
Lorenzo ran 91 laps, working on the various suspension components and suspension settings on the Yamaha M1. Third fastest was another Honda, the Repsol RC212V piloted by the Australian Casey Stoner.
Fourth went to Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow, with Valentino Rossi posting the quickest time of all the Ducati prototypes.
Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team GP11) says: “We finally chose the new chassis and now we have a clear direction to follow. We also made some changes to the engine and now I’m more confident with the bike. Unfortunately the rivals also made great improvements and our gap is still too big to the front.
“The shoulder is good now, but of course after the first 50 laps I was a bit tired and I had no chance to try the new Bridgestone tires in a good shape. Anyway the feeling with that is great”
Only 15 MotoGP riders tested on Monday. Hector Barbera (Mapfre Aspar Ducati) and Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing Ducati) were absent due to medical issues; Barbera damaged a vertebrae during his first-lap crash at Estoril Sunday, and de Puniet went for further testing on his leg. Rizla Suzuki’s Alvaro Bautista was also absent, but a test rider rode the GSV-R.
Besides collecting valuable data on their machines, the rest of the riders also tested some new Bridgestone tire compounds (one front, two rear).
Estoril MotoGP Test Results: May 2, 2011
Pos | Rider | Team | Fastest lap | Prev. Gap | Lead. Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Marco Simoncelli | San Carlo Honda Gresini | 1:36.211 | – | – | 70 |
2. | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha Factory Racing | 1:36.316 | +0.105 | +0.105 | 91 |
3. | Casey Stoner | Repsol Honda Team | 1:36.602 | +0.286 | +0.391 | 49 |
4. | Cal Crutchlow | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 1:36.850 | +0.248 | +0.639 | 71 |
5. | Valentino Rossi | Ducati Marlboro Team | 1:37.382 | +0.532 | +1.171 | 82 |
6. | Colin Edwards | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 1:37.410 | +0.028 | +1.199 | 51 |
7. | Ben Spies | Yamaha Factory Racing | 1:37.421 | +0.011 | +1.210 | 69 |
8. | Andrea Dovizioso | Repsol Honda Team | 1:37.460 | +0.039 | +1.249 | 63 |
9. | Nicky Hayden | Ducati Marlboro Team | 1:37.463 | +0.003 | +1.252 | 89 |
10. | Dani Pedrosa | Repsol Honda Team | 1:37.679 | +0.216 | +1.468 | 17 |
11. | Hiroshi Aoyama | San Carlo Honda Gresini | 1:38.032 | +0.353 | +1.821 | 73 |
12. | Karel Abraham | Cardion AB Motoracing | 1:38.087 | +0.055 | +1.876 | 85 |
13. | Toni Elias | LCR Honda MotoGP | 1:38.412 | +0.325 | +2.201 | 108 |
14. | Loris Capirossi | Pramac Racing Team | 1:38.633 | +0.221 | +2.422 | 97 |
15. | Nobuatsu Aoki | Rizla Suzuki MotoGP | 1:38.850 | +0.217 | +2.639 | 68 |