It was an almost perfect weekend for Cal Crutchlow, he renewed with Yamaha Tech3, took second in qualifying and his first ever podium in MotoGP, and today he was top dog in the post race test at Brno.
Crutchlow posted the best time of 1’56″461 around 5pm and he was a little less than four tenths faster than his best race lap and just under two tenths slower than Jorge Lorenzo’s record breaking lap of 1’56″274 as he concentrated on set-up and testing some new parts.
Team mate Andrea Dovizioso was second fastest – he was the fastest rider in the morning session working on suspensions and settings and he must have been satisfied with his results as he didn’t ride in the afternoon session.
Jorge Lorenzo had a particularly heavy workload as he totalled 54 laps during the test.
In the morning he used his 2012 M1 and it was his on his 2012 machine that he set his best lap (and he was only 0.
004s quicker than Dani Pedrosa) while in the afternoon he concentrated on the new 2013 all black carbon prototype, but apparently didn’t like it and will not be using it again in the next week’s Aragon test, but he will have other parts to test.
Yesterday’s race winner Dani Pedrosa was 4th fastest as he tested some new parts for his already new Honda (that he debuted at Laguna Seca) while Jonathan Rea arrived from his yesterday’s Superbike races at the Moscow Raceway to take the helm of Casey Stoner’s RC213V as his subsititute rider.
The Northern Irishman who tested the 800cc RC212V at Sepang in 2010, through himself in learning the complexities of a prototype and his best lap at the end of the day was 1’59″595 – which was 3 seconds slower than Crutchlow, but the Ten Kate rider will have another two days of testing at the Aragon Motorland circuit on September 4th and 5thStefan Bradl and Álvaro Bautista finished the day in the same positions they finished in yesterday’s race.
Bradl worked on rear grip and news suspensions, while Bautista worked on Showa suspensions and since he is the only rider to use them he always has a massive amount of work to do.
Team owner Fausto Gresini is still considering keeping Bautista next season, even if he is in talks with Ben Spies and Moto2 rider Scott Redding.
While everyone was working hard, Loris Capirossi was probably the only one who was really having fun.
The former MotoGP rider tested various CRT machines (Colin Edward’s Suter-BMW, Michele Pirro’s FTR.
Honda and Yonny Hernandez’s FTR-Kawasaki) and Bautista’s Honda RC213V.
With Bautista’s Honda, Capirossi set a best time 2’00″4 and he was 2″6 from Lorenzo.
Not bad for a rider that hung his lid up after Valencia 2011 and hasn’t rode a bike since then.
Moto2 riders Julián Simón and Mike di Meglio both got a chance to test the Avintia Blusens BQR-FTR machines for the first time.
Unfortunately Simon also crashed the machine this morning and the session had to be red flagged but he didn’t suffer any injuries.
Regular rider Hernandez and Silva also did testing work and ended up 9th and 10th respectively.
The very unlucky Michele Pirro (at Brno he finished for the first time after four consecutive DNF’s due to technical issues) was 11th, while Colin Edwards was testing Mattia Pasini’s Speed Master ART machine as it is expected that NGM Forward will be dropping the BMW-Suter before the Misano round.
Some rider quotes:Cal Crutchlow: “It was a good test and I was really pleased with my times.
We did the whole morning and the first run of the afternoon on the same rear tyre and it was an old one from qualifying on Saturday.
I did a 56.
9 on it, which is basically as fast as my race pace and it had 44 laps on it.
We tried some different settings but the only problem I have with this bike now is we make some big changes but the lap time is the same, so you never know which direction to go in.
In practice for the race on Friday I struggled with the hard tyre but today I tested it again and I was lot faster and consistent as well, so that was a big positive.
We can leave Brno really happy because it has been a great weekend.
I signed a new contract with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team, got my best grid position, scored my first ever MotoGP podium and then set the fastest time at the test today.
We can go to Misano in a positive frame of mind and I’m confident we will be challenging close to the front again.
”Andrea Dovizioso: “It was a positive test today because we tried to understand if a different set-up could help give me more corner speed compared to the race, particularly in the middle of the corner.
We found some positive and negative points with the changes we made so it was good to experiment with the set-up and we have found a direction to help me be faster in the middle of the corner.
We tried something on the front but this didn’t make such a big difference, so it is clearer now that the im provements have to come from the rear to give me more speed in the middle of the corner.
The grip was quite good but the wind was very strong and it was really difficult to do the lap time, so I am happy we made a small improvement and I’m looking forward to seeing how some of the changes we tried work at the next race in Misano.
”Jorge Lorenzo :”We tried the 2013 bike today, for the moment it’s a prototype so not the final one.
The engineers will now take the data away to prepare for our next test.
We also worked on braking which was where I struggled with Dani during yesterday’s race.
We found something a bit better which should help us gain some tenths of a second.
”Ben Spies: “There was not so much for us to do today, we spent some time this morning working on the base set up of the bike which completed our test schedule.
We’ll go to Aragon next week to continue and see if it helps us for the next race in Misano.
”Dani Pedrosa :”Today, we’ve done a general test looking to improve the feelings we had in yesterday’s race.
We tried some ideas to reduce the chatter, but this is something very difficult to fix, so we’ve been basically working on the electronics and the suspension trying to find more edge grip and in the exit of the corner.
I tried a new Öhlins shock which gave me some positive feelings and now we have some new ideas to try in Aragón next week.
”Jonathan Rea: “It’s an opportunity of a lifetime for me and I’m thankful to Honda for asking me to be here, although I’m gutted for the guys in the team and obviously for Casey as he is the guy that should be here and I wish him a fast recovery.
My first impressions are that the bike isn’t that difficult, it’s the tyres and the way they work that I’m finding hard.
I’m struggling to finish off the corner, which is definitely a confidence issue as I just need to load the front and find that confidence but it’s my first day and I don’t want to find that limit, or risk overstepping it just yet.
It’s great to be able to see Dani’s data and learn where to go fast, that’s a big help.
I don’t underestimate how tough a job it is, I just need some time and I don’t feel pressure to perform, it’s a learning process with the team and people around me.
It’s been a great day, one of the best days of my life.
I’ve been a Honda rider all my career and now to ride the best Honda machine in the World has been a dream come true.
”MotoGP Brno test results:01- Cal Crutchlow – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – 1’56.
461 (47 laps) 02- Andrea Dovizioso – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.
117 (31 laps) 03- Jorge Lorenzo – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.
238 (54 laps) 04- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 0.
242 (45 laps) 05- Stefan Bradl – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC213V – + 0.
695 (69 laps) 06- Alvaro Bautista – San Carlo Honda Gresini – Honda RC213V – + 0.
700 (62 laps) 07- Ben Spies – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1.
013 (15 laps) 08- Jonathan Rea – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 3.
134 (61 laps) 09- Yonny Hernandez – Avintia Blusens – BQR FTR – + 3.
282 (40 laps) 10- Ivan Silva – Avintia Blusens – BQR FTR – + 4.
206 (83 laps) 11- Michele Pirro – San Carlo Honda Gresini – FTR Honda MGP12 – + 4.
402 (33 laps)12 – Loris Capirossi -NGM Mobile Forward Racing – BMW Suter – +5.
588 (5 laps) 13 – Colin Edward – Speed Master +6.
682 (29 laps)