Simoncelli happy after topping the timesheets on day one

Friday, 29 April 2011

San Carlo Honda Gresini Team’s Marco Simoncelli was fastest in both practice sessions on Friday for the bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal, despite a crash in the afternoon.

Simoncelli happy after a `great day´

After the disappointment of crashing whilst leading the race in Jerez, the 24 year old dominated both first and second practice, to finish ahead of fellow Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner. Simoncelli was consistently quick on a circuit where he has enjoyed good results in the past. His best result of his debut season was here at Estoril with a fourth place. The rider from Cattolica was happy with his set-up after improvements were made from earlier in the day and is confident of continuing enhancements throughout the weekend.
Marco Simoncelli, San Carlo Honda Gresini Team
“Yes today is a great day of course for me because I started the morning very fast. We continued this into the afternoon. We did some work on our set-up and made some modifications to the chassis and everything is working good. We still need to improve the grip in the first corner for the maximum angle, this is the main problem. This morning we had some problems with the brakes but we solved the issue, not completely but a very good step forward. I’m happy and confident with the set-up of my bike.”

Simoncelli fastest again in FP2

Friday, 29 April 2011

San Carlo Honda Gresini Team’s Marco Simoncelli was quickest for the second practice for the bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal after also topping the timesheets in FP1. The Honda rider got the better of reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda).

Estoril 2011 - MotoGP - FP2 - Highlights

The Italian lost the front end of his Honda going into Turn 3 midway through the second session so had to jump onto his second machine, but he was never headed. The 24 year-old won at this circuit back in 2009 in the former 250cc class and will be aiming for his maiden podium finish this weekend, after missing out on the opportunity at Jerez in the previous round.
The second session of the day – in the afternoon – was run in much hotter temperatures underneath the Portuguese sunshine. The MotoGP class just missed out on the rain which began to fall at the end of the 45-minute practice, and all 17 riders improved on their earlier times to end the day spread across 2.510s.
Reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) who has won from pole position at Estoril for the previous three seasons was consistently quick throughout the day and finished with a deficit of just 0.061s to Simoncelli. The 23 year-old was 0.003s faster than his rival Dani Pedrosa in third. The Repsol Honda rider has yet to win in any category at this circuit and it is one of only four venues the Spaniard has been unable to achieve victory at.
Finishing on identical lap times of 1’38.102 were Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) and Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda) after their much talked about coming together from the last race in Jerez. The Italian has had five wins here in the premier class, whilst the Australian is yet to take victory in the premier class at Estoril.
Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) was again solidly in the top ten, keen to put the disappointment of Jerez behind him. The American has had two fourth places here, in 2006 and 2008, which are his best results at this circuit. Rookie Karel Abraham (Cardion ab Motoracing) was seventh quickest, and the Czech rider finished in 10th place here last season in the Moto2 race.
Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) has not had a happy time so far at this venue after crashing on the sighting lap in 2010. After a run off in first practice in the morning, the Yamaha rider was eighth fastest, 0.9s off Simoncelli’s best time.
The final two places in the top went to two Ducati machines. Ninth was Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) who will be hoping to achieve the first win for Ducati at this circuit. Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar Team), who had his best ever finish in MotoGP thanks to his sixth place in Jerez, was tenth quickest in FP2. The ten riders were covered by less than a second.
Making his return to action was Rizla Suzuki rider Álvaro Bautista, who completed both the practice sessions in his first MotoGP action since breaking his left femur in Qatar.

Simoncelli leads a Honda top three in FP1

Friday, 29 April 2011

San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Marco Simoncelli made a positive start to his weekend for the bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal by setting the early pace in the first practice at Estoril. Repsol Honda riders Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa were second and third quickest in a closely fought session.

Estoril 2011 - MotoGP - FP1 - Highlights

The Italian was fastest after his disappointment of crashing out whilst leading the wet race in Spain. The 24 year-old’s best time of 1’38.032 was an advantage of 0.209s over the Australian after collecting the quickest time of FP1 in the dying moments.
At the undulating circuit in Portugal, the weather predictions had suggested variable conditions but the first practice of the weekend for the MotoGP class was run in cloudy and humid conditions. After a three-week break after Jerez, many riders were returning to the track following surgery from injuries.
Stoner had a problem with a loose cable in the early stages of the first practice which saw him sitting in the pits whilst it was fixed. The 25 year-old clawed his way to the top of the timesheets with a few minutes remaining but was edged out by his fellow Honda rider. After surgery on his shoulder, Pedrosa completed 19 laps to finish 0.227s off Simoncelli’s best lap.
Fresh from claiming his first ever wet race victory, Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) was fourth fastest after leading the session early on. The reigning World Champion’s deficit to Simoncelli was 0.381s on a circuit where the Spaniard has won for the past three seasons.
Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) was the quickest Ducati in the first practice ahead of fellow compatriot Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda). The Italian duo were 0.537s and 0.749s respectively off the top time.

After retiring on the final lap in Jerez whilst in a podium position, Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) was seventh fastest, ahead of Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing). The Texan had an excursion into the gravel at Turn 6 in the first part of the practice but was able to continue after the bike was repaired. Rounding out the top ten places were the Ducatis of Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar Team) and Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing). The top ten riders were within 1.749s of each other.
Nicky Hayden who took the first Ducati Team podium of 2011 in the last race, suffered a mechanical problem in the last ten minutes of the session and had to stop the bike and make his own way back to the pits. The American was able to rejoin on his second bike and finished in 14th place.
Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) who on Thursday was passed fit to ride this weekend after breaking his left leg in the season opener at Losail finished in 17th place, 3.002s off the pace after confirming he was going to use FP1 to test his fitness back on the bike. The Spaniard completed 20 laps.