Italtrans Racing Team’s Takaaki Nakagami (Moto2)2013 MotoGP Championship RacingFollowing are official reports from Losail International Circuit in Doha, Qatar, for the first day of testing in the Moto2 and Moto3 championships:
Italtrans Racing Team’s Takaaki Nakagami posted the fastest time of Thursday in the Bank Grand Prix of Qatar’s second Moto2 practice session on Thursday evening ahead of Tuenti HP 40 pairing Esteve Rabat and Pol Espargaró.After Espargaró had topped the first session, the later period kicked off in dramatic fashion as NGM Mobile Racing’s Mattia Pasini and Argiñano & Gines Racing’s Steven Odendaal were involved in an incident, with the Italian attempting an ambitious passing manoeuvre on the South African as both riders went down. Although the latter found himself briefly underneath his machine, both men escaped unharmed.Nakagami’s best effort came in the shape of 2’00.924, making him the only rider to duck inside the 2’01.000 barrier tonight. Rabat, who led for much of the session, was less than a tenth slower, with Espargaró having made a mistake on his final run. Marc VDS Racing Team’s Scott Redding continuously challenged for top times, but was losing ground on the start/finish straight. He finished fourth from the second Italtrans Kalex of Julián Simón and NGM Mobile Racing’s Simone Corsi, doing well to end the day as fastest Speed Up rider.The top-ten was rounded out by Technomag carXpert’s Dominique Aegerter, Marc VDS’ Mika Kallio, NGM’s Alex de Angelis and Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2’s Nico Terol. Technomag’s Randy Krummenacher ended his night in 16th place after suffering a fall as he lost control at penultimate corner Turn 15, but was able to walk away unhurt. Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Luis Salom (Moto3)Qatar Moto3 Thursday ResultsRed Bull KTM Ajo’s Luis Salom went quickest on day one in Qatar in the second Moto3 practice session on the opening day ahead of Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3’s Jonas Folger and Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Alex Rins.Under floodlights for the Commercial Bank Grand Prix of Qatar this weekend it was Salom who put in a best effort of 2’07.341 to displace Folger into second, after the German had topped the morning session.Behind third-placed Rins, teammate Alex Márquez, brother of MotoGP™ rookie Marc Márquez, was fourth fastest, with Niccolò Antonelli and GO&FUN Gresini Moto3 rounding out the top five. In the case of Antonelli, the Italian was fortunate to re-join the action after a fall at Turn 10. Behind came Mahindra Racing’s Efrén Vázquez in sixth spot from Ambrogio Racing’s Brad Binder and Avant Techno’s Niklas Ajo.It was a mixed session for Team Calvo, including for Maverick Viñales, the rider regarded by many as this year’s title favorite. Still recovering after a crash at the final pre-season test in which he lost a fingertip, the Spaniard ended his evening ninth, as newbie and first female Moto3™ rider Ana Carrasco frustratingly managed only ten minutes of track time. Jakub Kornfeil completed the top ten for Redox RE Racing GP.2013 Qatar Moto2 Free Practice 2 Results:
Hello everyone and welcome once again to the Ultimate Motorcycling podcast—Motos and Friends. My name is Arthur Coldwells.
Motos and Friends is brought to you by the Yamaha YZF-R7—Yamaha’s awesome supersport machine that is as capable on the racetrack as it is on the street. …and it’s comfortable too! Check it out at at your local Yamaha dealer, or of course at YamahaMotorsports.com.
In this week’s first segment, Senior Editor Nic de Sena rides the BMW K 1600 GT. This is the sporty bagger version of BMW’s K series of machines, those are the models with the awesome 6-cylinder engine. The GT has been given a little makeover for 2023, and Nic gives us his take.
In the second segment, I chat with one of my all time heroes—three-time World Champion racer ‘fast’ Freddie Spencer. I’ll do my best not to come off as too much of a fanboy here, but frankly it’ll be tough!
In my humble opinion, Spencer is a contender for the GOAT—greatest of all time. Sure, his career was a little shorter than some, and his number of championships falls behind the likes of Lawson, Doohan, Rossi, and of course Marquez. But at the time, Freddie literally changed the way motorcycles were ridden. 30 years before Marc Marquez, Freddie was able to push the front wheel into a slide, corner after corner, lap after lap in order to get the bike turned faster than anyone else. Freddie took completely different lines and was able to get on the throttle so early he could out accelerate anyone off a corner.
In the modern era, of course Freddie is the chairman of the FIM MotoGP Stewards panel. This is the panel of referees for all three classes of Grand prix racing. I talked to Freddie about his task there, and although for contractual reasons with Dorna and the FIM he cannot talk about specific riders, teams, or events, nevertheless his explanation of the job makes for interesting listening. It’s a tough job, and frankly I wouldn’t want to do it!
At any rate, Freddie’s new book ‘Feel’ is available on Amazon—I’d highly recommend you reading it whether you’re a fan of Freddie or not, even whether you’re into racing or not; every rider has something to learn from his mental approach.
Actually—Ultimate Motorcycling is giving away five copies of the book—signed by Freddie himself—to the first five listeners who contact us with the correct answer to the question: How many national AMA championships did Freddie win, and which years were they?
Please email your answers to producer@ultimatemotorcycling.com and we will contact the winners and send you a signed copy of Feel. Those five winners will be announced on a future episode. Unfortunately for legal reasons this offer is ONLY open to US residents.
So, from all of us here at Ultimate Motorcycling, we hope you enjoy this episode!
