Ducati Monster Forum

FP1:

1 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 297.9 1'35.106  
2 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 304.2 1'35.126 0.020 / 0.020
3 1 Casey STONER AUS Repsol Honda Team Honda 302.4 1'35.181 0.075 / 0.055
4 11 Ben SPIES USA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 297.4 1'35.555 0.449 / 0.374
5 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 296.3 1'35.841 0.735 / 0.286
6 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 300.3 1'35.867 0.761 / 0.026
7 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 301.8 1'35.970 0.864 / 0.103
8 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 299.8 1'35.995 0.889 / 0.025
9 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 298.8 1'36.031 0.925 / 0.036
10 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Ducati Team Ducati 300.3 1'36.084 0.978 / 0.053
11 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 300.1 1'36.737 1.631 / 0.653
12 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Power Electronics Aspar ART 283.1 1'37.187 2.081 / 0.450
13 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Power Electronics Aspar ART 279.9 1'37.365 2.259 / 0.178
14 51 Michele PIRRO ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini FTR 281.7 1'37.771 2.665 / 0.406
15 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati 297.9 1'37.850 2.744 / 0.079
16 54 Mattia PASINI ITA Speed Master ART 283.5 1'38.642 3.536 / 0.792
17 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Avintia Blusens BQR 279.4 1'38.649 3.543 / 0.007
18 5 Colin EDWARDS USA NGM Mobile Forward Racing Suter 282.4 1'39.076 3.970 / 0.427
19 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Came IodaRacing Project Ioda 264.9 1'39.385 4.279 / 0.309
20 77 James ELLISON GBR Paul Bird Motorsport ART 281.7 1'39.495 4.389 / 0.110
21 22 Ivan SILVA SPA Avintia Blusens BQR 280.8 1'39.530 4.424 / 0.035

FP2:

1 11 Ben SPIES USA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 299.1 1'34.866 
2 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 297.4 1'34.872 0.006 / 0.006
3 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 297.7 1'34.968 0.102 / 0.096
4 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 302.2 1'35.008 0.142 / 0.040
5 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 299.6 1'35.057 0.191 / 0.049
6 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 303.5 1'35.080 0.214 / 0.023
7 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 302.3 1'35.257 0.391 / 0.177
8 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Ducati Team Ducati 300.8 1'35.296 0.430 / 0.039
9 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 302.7 1'35.298 0.432 / 0.002
10 1 Casey STONER AUS Repsol Honda Team Honda 301.4 1'35.304 0.438 / 0.006
11 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 302.9 1'35.337 0.471 / 0.033
12 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Power Electronics Aspar ART 282.4 1'36.615 1.749 / 1.278
13 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Power Electronics Aspar ART 281.2 1'36.871 2.005 / 0.256
14 51 Michele PIRRO ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini FTR 282.4 1'37.057 2.191 / 0.186
15 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Avintia Blusens BQR 281.3 1'37.572 2.706 / 0.515
16 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati 300.0 1'37.628 2.762 / 0.056
17 54 Mattia PASINI ITA Speed Master ART 285.5 1'37.657 2.791 / 0.029
18 5 Colin EDWARDS USA NGM Mobile Forward Racing Suter 282.1 1'37.669 2.803 / 0.012
19 77 James ELLISON GBR Paul Bird Motorsport ART 283.8 1'37.973 3.107 / 0.304
20 22 Ivan SILVA SPA Avintia Blusens BQR 281.7 1'38.279 3.413 / 0.306
21 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Came IodaRacing Project Ioda 266.1 1'38.373 3.507 / 0.094

Forgot to remind everyone that Assen is the one race on a Saturday!

Interesting the top 3 guys after FP2. Not going to hold my breath, but I would love to see these 3 on top after tomorrow.

the ben - sorta assen, sorta silly season

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Jun/120628z.htm (http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Jun/120628z.htm)

Interesting lap times considering 1-11 are within 1 second of each other in FP2...

many will say that those are one off laps, which they are. Lorenzo didn't look like he was forcing anything and Stoner was in the pits for most of FP2. Rossi came in like 20 times. Spies sems to really like Assen, won there last year, so this might be where he puts his season back together.

I agree but look at the first part of the season and how much disparity there has been in all of the practice sessions. When the differences between fastest in practice versus say 5th in practice is 2-2.5 seconds, this is still encouraging.

Valetino also LOVES Assen. 7 victories there and less than a second off the pace is promising. I am not going to say he is going to be battling for a win and Nicky still needs to find a tire that will last him more than 6 laps but the longer they can keep the field bunched up, the better the chances are for a decent and maybe moderately entertaining race.

http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/181311/1/stoner_the_bike_just_wanted_to_throw_me_off.html (http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/181311/1/stoner_the_bike_just_wanted_to_throw_me_off.html)

You would think he was used to it after years of the Duc trying to throw him off.

What's the weather forecast for the race?  [evil]

FP3

Pos. Rider Team Bike Time
1 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team Honda RC213V 1:34.522
2 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha M1 1:34.683
3 Alvaro Bautista Honda Gresini Honda RC213V 1:34.746
4 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha M1 1:35.069
5 Andrea Dovizioso Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha M1 1:35.250
6 Casey Stoner Repsol Honda Team Honda RC213V 1:35.312
7 Stefan Bradl LCR Honda MotoGP Honda RC213V 1:35.400
8 Nicky Hayden Marlboro Ducati Team Ducati GP12 1:35.428
9 Hector Barbera Pramac Racing Team Ducati GP12 1:35.559
10 Ben Spies Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha M1 1:35.640
11 Valentino Rossi Marlboro Ducati Team Ducati GP12 1:36.466
12 Aleix Esparago Aspar Team MotoGP ART 1:36.663
13 Randy De Puniet Aspar Team MotoGP ART 1:36.784
14 Karel Abraham Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati GP12 1:37.707
15 Michele Pirro Honda Gresini FTR 1:37.765
16 Yonny Hernandez BQR BQR-FTR 1:37.847
17 Danilo Petrucci Ioda Racing Project Ioda 1:38.069
18 James Ellison Paul Bird Racing ART 1:38.483
19 Matt Pasini Speedmaster  1:38.860
20 Ivan Silva BQR BQR-FTR 1:40.332


An ugly session. Declared dry but with a rain shower in it, it saw Casey Stoner crash when the rain began to fall and riders stay in the garage until the track semi-dried out.

Stoner gingerly re-joined the session later.

qualy

Pos. Rider Team Bike Time
1 Casey Stoner Repsol Honda Team Honda RC213V 1:33.713
2 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team Honda RC213V 1:33.828
3 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha M1 1:34.001
4 Stefan Bradl LCR Honda MotoGP Honda RC213V 1:34.035
5 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha M1 1:34.486
6 Ben Spies Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha M1 1:34.644
7 Andrea Dovizioso Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha M1 1:34.698
8 Alvaro Bautista Honda Gresini Honda RC213V 1:34.722
9 Nicky Hayden Marlboro Ducati Team Ducati GP12 1:34.751
10 Valentino Rossi Marlboro Ducati Team Ducati GP12 1:35.057
11 Hector Barbera Pramac Racing Team Ducati GP12 1:35.289
12 Randy De Puniet Aspar Team MotoGP ART 1:35.830
13 Aleix Esparago Aspar Team MotoGP ART 1:36.007
14 Michele Pirro Honda Gresini FTR 1:36.647
15 Mattia Pasini Speedmaster ART 1:36.943
16 Danilo Petrucci Ioda Racing Project Ioda 1:36.967
17 Karel Abraham Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati GP12 1:37.110
18 Yonny Hernandez BQR BQR-FTR 1:37.191
19 James Ellison Paul Bird Racing ART 1:37.281
20 Ivan Silva BQR BQR-FTR 1:37.554


A hectic session, deemed dry but it rained in twice, at least.

The grid looked set with Pedrosa on pole until the final moments when Stoner went out and kicked the door down in a massive lap to take pole.

You can say a lot about Stoner, especially about his attitude off the track, but I'm so going to miss that guy. That lap I was practically off my chair at work cheering him through the finish line. The guy had a massive off in the morning and struggle throughout the whole QP and then suddenly comes out at the end, after it was drizzling, to just kill it.

 [thumbsup]

Isn't that just great?  All the Ducati's are bunched up at the back just ahead of the CRT's.   [roll]  And what have I missed?  No Colin Edwards in CRT? Banged up again?

Colin was out there bringing up the rear. I believe he's 21st.

I think his time was slower than the 107% and didn't make it maybe?

Not sure, he was struggling just to get the damn thing around. He was not happy.

I have no clue how the guys in Moto2 and 3 can have QP. The track is so make the beast with two backsing full that getting enough space to get a nice run is a hazzle. Marquez showed why Repsol wants him. That last move in his QP lap was crazy. Then he decides what the hell, I feel like I need to have a huge highside so that I don't crash tomorrow. Not sure why he was pushing so hard.

I don't know if anyone else noticed, but Casey is fast.  I'm not kidding.  He's fast.

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Jun/120629rydernotes.htm (http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Jun/120629rydernotes.htm)

Gotta like Cal!  [laugh]

Barbera is a douche.

in the post-QP interview on motogp.com he goes on for quite a bit about him...  [laugh]

Decent race. Bautista took out Lorenzo on the first turn and forced Crutchlow into 13th, so that setup 3 main battles. Pedrosa/Stoner was boring. Spies/Dovi had their moments, Spies officially lost his ride for next year. The Ducs and Crutchlow were the most entertaining taking into consideration the comments from yesterday. Nicky again outriding Rossi. All in all, good first half of the race, then it became a parade.

Stoner was impressive. When he decided to get past Pedrosa it was over.

Sucks for the Ben...I was hoping he could hold off Dovi. I agree...his ride is gone.

Nice riden by Hayden on that POS. He deserves to keep his ride.

...but there is little loyalty left in the corporate world. Hard work and towing the company line is rarely repaid.

Let's see how many podiums Crutchlow fights for on the Duc if he does end up there.

Agreed; however, Hayden currently has 11 more points in the season standings than Spies, and is only behind the mighty Rossi by 2. I think that makes him deserving of an extension. No one not named Stoner has been able to ride the Duc as well as him.

No way Cal ends up on the Duc.

I agree with you.

My point is that if Ducati can get Crutchlow...or any other name rider...they'd ditch Nicky like a red headed stepchild.

Nicky knows it now too with the talk about not making him an offer until the Audi deal is complete.

He may be country...he isn't stupid.

In the telecast down here, when interviewed, Crutchlow confirmed Ducati were talking to him, which proves they are bullshitting to Hayden. Assholes.
Gazillions of Euros, how many bloody frames and engines, moving heaven and earth, Rossi's public posturing, and Rossi will piss off. Hayden shows nothing but class and gets treated like shit.
Whatever Ducati learned technically, they learned nothing about loyalty.

Crutchlow would be well advised to stay away. He even said he would prefer "to stay", meaning a factory ride.  A straight talker.

Why did they penalize Bautista?

Marquez can pull shit like that all day long and get away with it  ???

What level penality he get? They ceased the coverage by then down here.

Darryl Beatie said it looked like Bautistas brakes weren't up to temp and didn't work at first, but then locked on the second grab. He was too hot, but if he pulled it off it would have been a great launch.

Stoner rode a great race, really breaking Pedrosa once he decided to pass.
In the interview he was impressive, fatherhood has matured him. Nothing like the perspective fatherhood brings.
He was very respectful to Lorenzo (whom he likes), and gracious to his team, thanking them for "putting a good bike under a rider not on his game". Sounds like they have made progress on the chatter issue and we a championship  fight.

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Jun/120630ds.htm (http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Jun/120630ds.htm) - Bautista To Start From Back Row at Sachsenring

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Jun/120630b.htm (http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Jun/120630b.htm) -- 'Eyewitnesses say Spies rear tire, on the cool-off lap, had hand-sized chunks missing from the right hand side.'
 + http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Jun/120630mgpquptemachi.htm (http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Jun/120630mgpquptemachi.htm)


 

http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/181426/1/out_of_luck_rossi_hit_by_tyre_woe_bridgestone_launch_probe.html (http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/181426/1/out_of_luck_rossi_hit_by_tyre_woe_bridgestone_launch_probe.html)

 [laugh] self sacrifice

 Well played Bautista!!  [clap]

Stoner retires as #1

Sucks that both Spies and Rossi had issues with their tires.

I think the Beastie Boys said it best...

Beastie Boys - Sabotage (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5rRZdiu1UE#)

 [laugh] Actually, I am glad to see Bridgestone is launching a probe but do we really think they will find themselves at fault?
The chunks of rubber missing from Rossi's tire were simply awe inspiring in that he managed to not crash.
(http://blog.photozac2.com/weblog/gigi1/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/1GG7083.jpg)

I remember Chili's Michelin doing that at the Island one year, but it was very hot weather.

Being a Rossi fan, I am once again sad it didn't go well.  But I love his comment in the beginning (bbc) where he said I want to go this way but she want to that way :-).  Hope he leaves Ducati for Honda or Yamaha next year.

My next fav is Dovi and I am really glad he got podium again.  Obviously BBC commentators are biased for their countryman understandably, but Dovi needs lot credit.

 :o

Wow! Now I know why Rossi suddenly dropped off and went to pit.

I'm surprised the tire didn't blow out.....never realized those tires are that thick...

Maybe it's time to end the spec tire experiment and let each team/mfg bring its own rubber  [coffee]

yeah, cause the exact same thing wasn't happening to the michelins when there was competition...

I have also seen Pirelli and Conti slicks doing some similar stuff under extremely hot conditions on SBKs at some of the local tracks. Scary as shit when it happens as you can lose either chunks of the carcass or the entire cap can become separated but it isn't *supposed* to happen.

Who's still watching MotoGP?

After getting turned on to Moto2 last year, this year has been all about Moto2 and Moto3 for me...

Finally got to see the race, overall a pretty good... I guess we can say that the move to 1000cc has at least upped the quality of the racing.

And... after seeing those tires... does this mean that Ben might get a pass on losing out to Dovi for the podium?  But overall... Ben just been having a shit year in terms of luck.

indeed he is.  and to your question: yes.

He gets a pass for this race, but he's already lost his ride, I presume to Dovi since Cal has had some similar luck the past few races.

check out that interview video in the ben thread.  maybe not.

http://www.motomatters.com/analysis/2012/06/30/2012_assen_motogp_saturday_round_up_of_t.html (http://www.motomatters.com/analysis/2012/06/30/2012_assen_motogp_saturday_round_up_of_t.html)

yikes.  didn't realize that lorenzo's engine was brand new.  no bueno.
 

Think they said he would be given an extra due to the scenario.

They (not sure who that is) said it was a possibility.  Then Honda reminded "them" that there are rules.  Then they said "Oh, yeah, the rules. No extra engine, Georgie.  Lo siento."

Actually, what I said was not *quite* how it happened.   Check the motomatters link from gm2.  

HOLE-EEEEEE SHIT!

The Moto3 race was the stuff highlight reels are made of make the beast with two backsING fantastic racing and right down to the last chicane.

More and more I love Maverick.

But it wasn't the Duc that was chunking tires then, was it?

Seeing as how some tires grenaded but others didn't on Saturday, the thought I had was (based on general info gleaned here and other places) that Ducati's bikes seem to be ill-suited to these tires even when they don't chunk, so maybe the Duc caused them to chunk (Spies excepted) and letting them bring Pirellis might make the bike work better....

who knows/cares anyway....

I thought the pattern seemed to be more that the hard rear chunked not the soft rear.

+1  [bow_down] [bow_down] [bow_down] [bow_down] [bow_down]

and yes... moto3 was basically just one huge highlight reel.

I think my fave quote was "and that's the front row... 24 riders deep" haha

 [thumbsup]   I saw the full moto3 race for my first time and wow that was some excellent race.  Time to expand my viewing to moto3 and moto2 on regular basis.

I subscribe and support motomatters.com and really enjoy the coverage on that site.  worth my $40 bucks a year (i think it was $40 or $30 or whatever it was)

Like I said... MotoGP as compared to the other two classes seems to way more about the various riders' soap operas with the racing as a backdrop.

Or, I watch moto2 and 3 before I watch MotoGP when Sunday rolls around.