Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Start First Qatar FP Session with Perfect 1-two (Market Press Releases)

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP took its 1st strides towards the 2016 MotoGP title challenge these days at the start of the Commercial Bank Grand Prix of Qatar. Riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi produced their intentions for the new season clear in the 1st free of charge practice session of the season beneath the scenic floodlights at the Losail International Circuit, securing first and second place respectively.

After positively concluding pre-season testing a fortnight ago, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team’s Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi returned to the Losail International Circuit these days to officially commence the 2016 MotoGP season. As if the winter quit never happened, the teammates immediately fell back into their old groove and placed their YZR-M1s 1-2 in the ranking order.

Lorenzo felt confident and in a excellent physical shape soon after completing pre-season testing and his eagerness to get back into ‘racing mode’ didn’t go unnoticed at this evening’s totally free practice session once he hit the track. Having provided the field a ‘head start’ to be guaranteed some clear space on track, he left his box as the second to last rider and immediately shot to the prime of the leader board with his initial flying lap. The Majorcan continued to set the bar high, dropping a 1’55.693s, far more than ,6s more rapidly than all his rivals, about the midway stage of the session. As the pace picked up during the finish of the session, the reigning Globe Champion responded practically with ease and wrapped up the proceedings with a very best lap of 1’55.440s for the provisional lead in the standings.

Rossi was also not shy in claiming a key protagonist position in the initial 45-minute practice session. Equivalent to his teammate he left his departure from pit lane late, but was swift to turn up the heat as soon as his tyres have been warmed up. Totally focused on obtaining his setting exactly to his liking, he worked on the balance of the YZR-M1 with the new electronics and Michelin tyres and steadily moved up the timesheets. He ended the day with a extended stint in the course of which he skillfully made the site visitors on the track work to his advantage. climbing up to second position as the session came to an finish and finishing ,267s from the leading time.

As Sunday’s race will be held at 21:00 (GMT+3), the format of the race weekend has been changed to enable the riders to be completely ready for the evening occasion. There will be a second and third free practice session held tomorrow evening.

Massimo Meregalli – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team Director

“The new MotoGP season is now well and actually underway and we can be very happy with the final results of today’s first free practice session. Anytime we arrive at this track it requires a handful of sessions to get the initial dust and debris from the desert off the track, but nowadays the conditions and level of grip have been OK. Jorge began the season where he left off the earlier year and showed his rapidly and constant pace throughout the complete session. Vale was also rapidly correct from the get go and his motivation showed in the lap times. Though there are nonetheless places of the setting that we aim to boost on, we will try to sort this out ahead of tomorrow’s FP2.”

Jorge Lorenzo
1st / 1’55.440s / 15 laps

“I had a excellent start off. From the first run I was able to have the best lap time and most likely also the ideal pace, but we still have a margin for improvement each in lap time and pace. We will keep working on the setting and the electronics to increase in some areas for tomorrow. The track will also be greater with a lot more grip level tomorrow and the lap instances will be more rapidly.”

Valentino Rossi
2nd / 1’55.707s / 17 laps

“The first practice was positive. I’m really happy, it was a robust way to commence the season, due to the fact the second position is very good and also the lap times are already not so negative. They’re in the 1’55s and the pace is fairly excellent. We begin working from what we did in the test. This means that we did a good job for the duration of pre-season and we start with a good base, but now we have to keep focus. The situation of the track modifications a lot session by session and together with the team we have to deliver great operate so we will be ready when the grip becomes far better. I’ll try to boost the feeling and also attempt to make the proper decision for the tyres.”

Espargaro shines brightly on opening day at Qatar

The Monster Yamaha Tech3 Group riders Pol Espargaro and Bradley kicked off their 2016 campaigns and hit the track with instant speed in the first shakedown in Qatar as they began setting up their Yamaha MotoGP bikes for Sunday’s very first round battle.

Pol Espargaro wasted no time in getting straight on the pace as he aims to win the fight for the major satellite rider battle this year. The young Spaniard lapped the track 18 occasions and set his private ideal on the final run which left him in 6th, just 3 tenths back from third, marking a promising begin to the weekend. Meanwhile, Bradley Smith leapt into gear as he confidently started the 2016 season and right after regularly gaining speed, he set his quickest time on his 13th lap whilst aiming to improve additional. But, a tiny crash at turn 13, close to the finish of the session, prevented Smith from ascending any greater. However, the young British remains fully confident of bouncing back strongly tomorrow.

Pol Espargaro
6th / 1’56.051s / 18 laps

“It undoubtedly feels great to open the weekend in this way, even if I was a bit nervous at the start of the session. I had a tiny situation with one particular of my gloves, which disturbed my concentration and I really wanted to set a rapidly lap time straight away. But, due to this, I wasn’t really relaxed so I came back to the garage, to calm down prior to going out again. Soon after that, I attempted to keep in mind each single detail that we focused on during the test, corner by corner, and then things got a lot much better. By the close of the session, we were in a position to post a excellent lap time on utilised tyres and I feel confident for tomorrow. Still, we have a big margin of improvement to make, but general I’m feeling satisfied and hunting forward to the subsequent sessions.”

Bradley Smith
11th / 1’56.524s / 17 laps

“It was a constructive commence to this Grand Prix, but it was genuinely unfortunate to finish the first evening with a crash. I felt really comfortable and confident with the Yamaha along with the tough Michelin tyre and I did a lengthy run at the beginning of the session. We then changed to the tyres that I preferred to use at the test here, and however, I made a little mistake in turn 13 which triggered me to shed the front. Anyway, for me it was important to get the data about each tyre possibilities for the duration of the 1st night, in order to have a clear path to adhere to for the remainder of the weekend. We will continue to push forward inside the leading ten, since I am convinced that with out the crash, I could have ended the session there. This is a great step forward compared to the test, so now we will repair the bike, verify the data and come back a bit stronger tomorrow.”

Industrial Bank Grand Prix of Qatar – Cost-free Practice Nr. 1 Classification

1. Jorge Lorenzo, ESP, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP, 1’55.440s
2. Valentino Rossi, ITA, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP, 1’55.707s, +.267s
3. Andrea Iannone, ITA, Ducati Group, 1’55.736s, +.296s
four. Hector Barbera, ESP, Avintia Racing, 1’55.810s, +.370s
five. Maverick Viñales, ESP, Group Suzuki Ecstar, 1’55.847s, +.407s
6. Pol Espargaro, ESP, Monster Yamaha Tech 3, 1’56.051s, +.611s
7. Dani Pedrosa, ESP, Repsol Honda Group, 1’56.098s, +.658s
8. Marc Marquez, ESP, Repsol Honda Group, 1’56.258s, +.818s
9. Andrea Dovizioso, ITA, Ducati Group, 1’56.387s, +.947s
10. Scott Redding, GBR, Octo Pramac Yakhnich, 1’56.412s, +.972s
12. Cal Crutchlow, GBR, LCR Honda, 1’56.596s, +1.156s
13. Loris Baz, FRA, Avintia Racing, 1’56.783s, +1.343s
14. Jack Miller, AUS, Estrella Galicia , Marc VDS, 1’56.939s, +1.499s
15. Danilo Petrucci, ITA, Octo Pramac Yakhnich, 1’56.981s, +1.541
16. Aleix Espargaro, ESP, Group Suzuki Ecstar, 1’57.096s, +1.656s
17. Alvaro Bautista, ESP, Factory Aprilia Gresini, 1’57.129, +1.689s
18. Yonny Hernandez, COL, Aspar MotoGP Team, 1’57.192s, +1.752s
19. Eugene Laverty, IRL, Aspar MotoGP Team, 1’57.421s, +1.981s
20. Tito Rabat, ESP, Estrella Galicia , Marc VDS, 1’57.916s, +two.476s
21. Stefan Bradl, GER, Factory Aprilia Gresini, 1’57.989s, +2.549s