MotoGP Quatar 2014 < ¡ Spoilers ! >

[Jester]

Without any data to prove otherwise I'd say there's just as good a chance that softer tire might very well work as the equalizer that it's intended to be.

Pure speculation on my part...of course.

Colin said its toast after three laps, for what its worth.

[lazylightnin717]

Colin said its toast after three laps, for what its worth.

I see no point in having it if that be the case.

What good is qualifying when you are gonna get walked anyways?

[ducpainter]

Colin said its toast after three laps, for what its worth.

That's data.

[triangleforge]

I see no point in having it if that be the case.

What good is qualifying when you are gonna get walked anyways?

Staying near the front is a whole lot easier if you aren't starting on row four, for one thing, and with Espargaro throwing down very fast laps on the harder tire, it's far from a foregone conclusion that he's going to get walked.

He's at the top again in FP2, with Dovi (on a soft compound tire) in second. The factory Hondas are making up ground, the factory Yamaha's aren't.

Free Practice 2:
1.   Aleix Espargaro
2.   Andrea Dovizioso
3.   Alvaro Bautista
4.   Dani Pedrosa
5.   Marc Marquez
6.   Bradley Smith
7.   Stefan Bradl
8.   Pol Espargaro
9.   Valentino Rossi
10.   Andrea Iannone
11.   Jorge Lorenzo
12.   Colin Edwards
13.   Cal Crutchlow
14.   Nicky Hayden
15.   Yonny Hernandez
16.   Scott Redding
17.   Karel Abraham
18.   Hiroshi Aoyama
19.   Hector Barbera
20.   Mike Di Meglio
21.   Broc Parkes
22.   Danilo Petrucci
23.   Michael Laverty

More at: http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/201347/1/aleix-espargaro-stays-top-in-qatar.html

[duccarlos]

The announcers just admitted that the soft tire is just a qualifier. It lasts 3 to 4 laps. So we're looking at the medium for the race for all Open and Ducati (Factory 2). The Factory bikes look to be going with the medium tire as long as they continue to have issues with grip.

[Jester]

We won't know the true state of affairs until week two, where no one has had any testing.  That being said, I wonder how Yamaha feels about their real factory bikes being on the NGM team.   

[thorn14]

It's insane how Aleix is still faster than everyone by .4 of a second. Lorenzo has got to be pissed right now. From what I read about yesterday's FP he was harassing the Bridgestone boss everytime he got off the bike, which I'm sure happened a lot today as well.

[zooom]

FP3 RESULTS...

Pos. No. Rider Bike Time Diff. / Prev.
1 41 Aleix ESPARGARO Forward Yamaha 1'54.773   
2 29 Andrea IANNONE Ducati 1'55.186 0.413 / 0.413
3 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA Honda 1'55.240 0.467 / 0.054
4 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati 1'55.250 0.477 / 0.010
5 93 Marc MARQUEZ Honda 1'55.446 0.673 / 0.196
6 38 Bradley SMITH Yamaha 1'55.474 0.701 / 0.028
7 99 Jorge LORENZO Yamaha 1'55.495 0.722 / 0.021
8 6 Stefan BRADL Honda 1'55.676 0.903 / 0.181
9 46 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 1'55.702 0.929 / 0.026
10 26 Dani PEDROSA Honda 1'55.754 0.981 / 0.052
11 44 Pol ESPARGARO Yamaha 1'55.793 1.020 / 0.039
12 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW Ducati 1'56.013 1.240 / 0.220
13 69 Nicky HAYDEN Honda 1'56.357 1.584 / 0.344
14 5 Colin EDWARDS Forward Yamaha 1'56.373 1.600 / 0.016
15 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ Ducati 1'56.633 1.860 / 0.260
16 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA Honda 1'56.939 2.166 / 0.306
17 45 Scott REDDING Honda 1'56.997 2.224 / 0.058
18 17 Karel ABRAHAM Honda 1'57.345 2.572 / 0.348
19 23 Broc PARKES PBM 1'57.665 2.892 / 0.320
20 63 Mike DI MEGLIO Avintia 1'58.204 3.431 / 0.539
21 8 Hector BARBERA Avintia 1'58.219 3.446 / 0.015
22 70 Michael LAVERTY PBM 1'58.378 3.605 / 0.159
23 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ART 1'58.651 3.878 / 0.273

[duccarlos]

He hasn't been happy with the tire at all this year. Even in Sepang they could never find a way around the issues. In Phillip Island he set good times on the 2013 tire that broke apart after a few laps, so it wasn't much of a test. They're not as concern about the race because most likely they will all be using the medium option, but they're kinda screwed if all the Open bikes use the soft tires during FP3 to get into Qualifying 2 and push all the factory bikes onto Qualifying 1 fighting to get up there. The Yamahas might end up feeling like the Ducati Factory riders last year trying to pull themselves out of the bottom half of the field.

[duccarlos]

FP3 RESULTS...

Pos. No. Rider Bike Time Diff. / Prev.
1 41 Aleix ESPARGARO Forward Yamaha 1'54.773   
2 29 Andrea IANNONE Ducati 1'55.186 0.413 / 0.413
3 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA Honda 1'55.240 0.467 / 0.054
4 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati 1'55.250 0.477 / 0.010
5 93 Marc MARQUEZ Honda 1'55.446 0.673 / 0.196
6 38 Bradley SMITH Yamaha 1'55.474 0.701 / 0.028
7 99 Jorge LORENZO Yamaha 1'55.495 0.722 / 0.021
8 6 Stefan BRADL Honda 1'55.676 0.903 / 0.181
9 46 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 1'55.702 0.929 / 0.026
10 26 Dani PEDROSA Honda 1'55.754 0.981 / 0.052
11 44 Pol ESPARGARO Yamaha 1'55.793 1.020 / 0.039
12 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW Ducati 1'56.013 1.240 / 0.220
13 69 Nicky HAYDEN Honda 1'56.357 1.584 / 0.344
14 5 Colin EDWARDS Forward Yamaha 1'56.373 1.600 / 0.016
15 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ Ducati 1'56.633 1.860 / 0.260
16 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA Honda 1'56.939 2.166 / 0.306
17 45 Scott REDDING Honda 1'56.997 2.224 / 0.058
18 17 Karel ABRAHAM Honda 1'57.345 2.572 / 0.348
19 23 Broc PARKES PBM 1'57.665 2.892 / 0.320
20 63 Mike DI MEGLIO Avintia 1'58.204 3.431 / 0.539
21 8 Hector BARBERA Avintia 1'58.219 3.446 / 0.015
22 70 Michael LAVERTY PBM 1'58.378 3.605 / 0.159
23 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ART 1'58.651 3.878 / 0.273

At least the favorites did enough to get out of the shitter.

[lazylightnin717]

"Staying near the front is a whole lot easier if you aren't starting on row four, for one thing, and with Espargaro throwing down very fast laps on the harder tire, it's far from a foregone conclusion that he's going to get walked"

I don't disagree with you. But I don't know the full potential of those "open" bikes yet or the potential of the medium tire. I just don't see this being the equalizer unless that softy can go the distance.

I've been wrong before  

[zooom]

Tech 3 rider Bradley Smith destroyed a bike in a massive high side crash which he was lucky to survive.
Cal Crutchlow also crashed in the session but was able to return on his second bike.

Italian Andrea Iannone cut an unbelievably fast lap in the session as he drafted the Honda of Dani Pedrosa. "Crazy Joe" on the soft "Open" tire and Pedrosa, not, of course.

as quoted from SBKPlanet.com...   " With qualifying still to come tomorrow, one has to be thinking the solid "race" money might be on Alvaro Bautista. He's been fast on the "factory" Bridgestone rubber and has endured little drama. Soft tire heroes are all around him in the sessions, but it's conventional wisdom that the soft tire will never work long enough to finish on the podium. However that rings like what they told VR 1000 rider Pascal Picotte one year at Sears Point. The Canadian used the "unusable" to almost win the race. "

[triangleforge]

It's undeniable that the soft tire is helping the Ducati riders back into the fast (one-off) laps, but I'm curious how that's happening - I don't see how a stickier rear would help with the Desmo's chronic understeer, but I've read that one of the big problems they've had is making effective use of the engine's power delivery. A stickier rear tire could definitely help with corner exits.

[thought]

Has Aleix done a race simulation on either the soft or medium tire yet?  And the pic I want to see is the face of Aleix's agent every time he posts one of those laps... Happiest man in the paddock at this point.

And I'm guessing that the soft tire is helping the corner exits for the duc.  Vmplaints were always of under steer and controlling the power out of the corners. Softer tire, more grip, easier to get the power to the ground.

It's still funny that even after all the factory2 shenanigans... The duc's are still a speed bump compared to everything else on the grid.  Let's hope Gigi can figure something out soon.

But yeah... This season is looking to be pretty fun.  When was the last time a non factory bike came close to winning a championship?

[TACstrat]

Was the open class available last year and if so what changes were made to the open class rules from last year to this year? I'm trying to figure out why the open class is more competitive in these initial practice sessions. Is the softer tire the only difference?