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andyk3
Site Founder
Joined: 15 Dec 2005
Posts: 21574
Location: Widower to a Nintendo DS
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 Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 4:22 pm Post subject: MOTO Gp Donington |
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Spies shows promise on Rizla Suzuki MotoGP debut
Ben Spies made his Rizla Suzuki MotoGP debut at Donington Park in England today and settled into his new environment quickly, showing a marked improvement in his times during today’s two free practice sessions.
Spies (1’30.766, 58 laps) is deputising for the injured Loris Capirossi at the British Grand Prix and the two-time AMA Superbike Champion spent the majority of the day learning the 4,023m English track. Spies knocked over a second off his lap-times between the morning and afternoon sessions as he finished the day in 17th place on the timesheets. He is confident of improving tomorrow and will be trying to move further up the standings.
Chris Vermeulen made a strong start to the Donington weekend and topped the timesheets a number of times during the two sessions, working with his crew to further develop the Suzuki GSV-R using some of the data gathered from the recent Catalunya test. Vermeulen completed a long run on a set of Bridgestone race tyres in the afternoon session and was pleased with the results. His best time of 1’29.410 from his 57 laps gave him ninth position on the leaderboard. Today’s fastest time was set by Casey Stoner on his factory Ducati.
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP has one more free practice session tomorrow morning followed by an hour of qualifying in the afternoon. Sunday’s 30-lap race is round eight of the season and the event gets underway at 15.00hrs local time (14.00GMT).
Chris Vermeulen:
“At least we got a full dry today at Donington, as the weather forecast had been a bit hit and miss as to whether it would rain. We tried a lot of different things with the bike today, most of which we learnt from the Barcelona test and it seems to be helping the machine around here. I’ve lapped consistently today and I kept in a set of tyres for most of this afternoon’s session, and with over twenty laps on them I put in my best time of the day – which was also quicker than my qualifying time here last year! So it seems we have taken a big step here with the GSV-R, but we still have a few things to try tomorrow, both chassis and engine wise to make the bike work better. If we can get a little bit more pace I think we can jump in front of a few riders.”
Ben Spies:
“I’m not used to being this far back in the field, but with what we are trying to achieve here this weekend I’ve got to be pleased with how it has gone today. This is the first time I’ve been on this bike and the first time I’ve ever been to Donington, so realistically only being about a second off a decent pace is pretty good. I feel we can be competitive if we can get more dry time and every time we have gone out we’ve knocked off a second, so if we continue with that we’ll be good. I’m getting more comfortable on the bike and it’s working great, the crew have been real good and it’s me right now that needs to learn the track a bit more every time out. Hopefully it will come good tomorrow and we’ll be able to get up and into the middle of the pack!”
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“Luckily the weather has been kind today and we have been able to get through some valuable preparation work for Sunday’s race. Chris has been pushing hard from the start and has been very consistent, but he is also a bit frustrated that he hasn’t been able to go quicker. That said, his best times have come on tyres that have done over 20 laps and that is a good sign for the race. Now if we can find a bit more rear grip and make the bike easier to ride in certain sections of the track, there is without question a fair bit more to come from him. He has his race-face on and nothing less than challenging for the podium is going to satisfy him this weekend!
“In the team’s opinion Ben’s performance today has been outstanding! We have to remember he only rode the 2007 GSV-R for about two hours at Valencia in November last year, and that Donington Park is completely new to him. Learning a new racetrack is one thing, but learning to ride a new machine with different tyres on a new racetrack is another thing altogether - and pretty difficult to do as well! To get into the 1’30s on the first day is a fantastic achievement and he is serious about going a fair bit faster still, and we are really looking forward to hopefully getting more dry time tomorrow to see how fast he can go!”
bwin.com British Grand Prix Free Practice Classification:
1. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 1’28.979: 2. Nicky Hayden (Honda) +0.576: 3. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +0.656: 4. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) +0.716: 5. Alex De Angelis (Honda) +0.739: 9. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +1.157: 17. BEN SPIES (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +2.513: |
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Fishy
Captain Nemo
Joined: 19 May 2007
Posts: 5352
Location: 20,000 leagues under the sea
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| Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 2:03 pm Post subject: |
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Vermuelen (3rd) and Spies (2nd row) did well in final qualifying.
Feel sorry for JT, 2 offs in the final session, prob pushing too hard  |
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andyk3
Site Founder
Joined: 15 Dec 2005
Posts: 21574
Location: Widower to a Nintendo DS
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| Posted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 4:41 pm Post subject: |
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Vermeulen splashes to the front row at Donington
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racer Chris Vermeulen piloted his Suzuki GSV-R to his first front row grid position of the season, as he again showed his true class as one of the world’s best wet weather riders.
Vermeulen (1’39.018, 29 laps) will start from third on the grid for tomorrow’s race at Donington Park after a near faultless performance on the wet 4,023m circuit that saw him in pole position several times in the hour-long session. Vermeulen had a crash in this morning’s practice that saw him lose valuable track time, but Suzuki’s Australian star was able to return to the track uninjured this afternoon and challenge for the front row, which leaves him well placed for tomorrow’s race – whether it is wet or dry.
Ben Spies (1’40.244, 25 laps) produced a fantastic performance on his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R as he rode the MotoGP machine in the wet for the very first time. The American Superbike Champion raced to eighth position on the grid to give him a third row start – in-front of many experienced Grand Prix racers.
Today’s heavy rain meant track temperatures never rose above 15ºC making conditions extremely difficult for all riders. World Champion Casey Stoner took pole position on his Ducati with current Championship leader Valentino Rossi second. Vermeulen’s third position gave Bridgestone total tyre dominance on the front row of the grid for the first time this season.
Tomorrow’s event is round eight of the MotoGP World Championship and the action gets underway at 15.00hrs local time (14.00hrs GMT), when both riders will be looking to score impressive results at the team’s home Grand Prix.
Chris Vermeulen:
“I’m happy to be back on the front row, it’s the first time this year - so it was about time it happened! The team gave me a great bike to do the job on in the wet conditions. This morning I made a bit of a mistake in the wet and crashed, so that cost me a bit of track time. It made this afternoon a bit of a gamble as far as set-up goes, but as I say my guys gave me the tool to do the job. I just went out and reeled off some laps and felt very comfortable doing those times. If it’s wet tomorrow we’ve got a good tyre, and if it’s dry we’ve got our tyres sorted as well so hopefully in all conditions we’ll be strong – we now have to wait and see what the weather does!”
Ben Spies:
I am pretty pleased with the result today, but I still want to be up front! I know I’ve got to take it step-by-step, but every session we are getting better and better again so things seem to be going good. If it’s wet again tomorrow morning and the race is in the dry it’s going to be pretty tough, but I think we will be able to cope with it, the crew are doing a real good job and I think everyone was pleased with how things went today. I’m pretty happy to get in the top 10 at my first GP qualifying and I‘ve got to keep moving on from here.”
Paul Denning - Team Manager:
“I am really pleased that Chris has made the front row. The crash this morning was not an ideal way to prepare for qualifying and he was able to put that behind him and do a really solid job this afternoon. Casey did a great time at the end and I think we could have been second with another lap, but Chris made the right decision - when he thought he’d received the chequered flag - to abort the chance of a final lap right at the end of the session. Well done to him and the crew on the front row result, it was well deserved and puts Chris in good shape for tomorrow.
“As for Ben, I think it is an amazing result today and a performance that he should be proud of! It doesn’t matter what the conditions are and what the circumstances are, it’s the same for everyone out there - he’s gone quicker today than some of the world’s very best riders on his first visit ever to Donington and his first time on a GP bike in the wet. If the weather is dry tomorrow I think we are all very realistic that it will be tough for Ben to run the pace of the riders around him, simply because of his lack of experience of both the bike and the circuit, but his confidence will certainly have been lifted by today’s result. We just hope he now brings the bike home, enjoys his first Grand Prix and continues with his learning process.
“We’re all looking forward to seeing Loris here tomorrow. He phoned straight after the session to congratulate the guys on the qualifying positions, and I think his presence will give us another boost towards challenging for a good result tomorrow.”
bwin.com British Grand Prix Qualifying Classification:
1. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 1’38.232: 2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +0.649: 3 CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +0.786: 4. Nicky Hayden (Honda) +1.038: 5. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) +1.369: 8. BEN SPIES (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +2.012: |
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andyk3
Site Founder
Joined: 15 Dec 2005
Posts: 21574
Location: Widower to a Nintendo DS
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| Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 5:08 pm Post subject: |
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Vermeulen eighth as Spies scores first GP points at a windy Donington
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racer Chris Vermeulen battled to eighth place at today’s British Grand Prix at Donington Park, with replacement rider Ben Spies finishing in 14th to score his first-ever MotoGP points.
Vermeulen was looking comfortable in sixth place, but as grip reduced he was unable to fight off the attacks from riders around him, and even though he fought right to the chequered flag he just couldn’t find that extra bit he needed to hold on to a higher position.
Spies acquitted himself very well at his first-ever MotoGP event. The 23-year-old American continued with his steep learning curve to bring his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R home safely in 14th .He had a tough start to the race, but settled into a smooth rhythm by half distance and then produced his fastest time on the 21st lap of the race.
Today’s race was held in dry, but very windy, conditions which kept temperatures down. Over 88,000 fans at trackside saw reigning World Champion Casey Stoner lead the race from start to finish, taking the win from current championship leader Valentino Rossi in second.
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP now makes the short trip across the North Sea to The Netherlands for the Dutch TT next Saturday, where it looks ever increasingly likely that Loris Capirossi will make a return to track action following his crash at Catalunya earlier this month which sidelined him for today’s race with a broken hand.
Chris Vermeulen:
“It was a difficult race today as we hadn’t had a lot of track time in the dry to prepare for it. For me though we have taken a big step with the bike compared to here last year in the dry - that had a lot to do with the Barcelona test and what we learnt there. I’ve got to say a big thanks to my team because they worked so hard this weekend and gave me a bike that worked really well considering the little amount of set-up time we had. Unfortunately we didn’t have the pace of the front guys, and although I rode as hard as I could for the whole race it just didn’t quite happen. Towards the end we didn’t have much grip left in the rear tyre, which was unfortunate because I felt like I had the pace to fight with other riders around me. Let’s now move on to Assen next week and see how things go there.”
Ben Spies:
“It was a tough race as I was still trying to learn the tyres, the bike and the track in the first few laps. The first half of the race felt like garbage to me, but the second half was really good! I was running times towards the end that would have put us in the top-10 so I’m quite pleased with that. I was catching the guys in front and reeling them in lap-by-lap, but I just didn’t have enough laps to get up and past them. I was definitely getting more comfortable on the bike and even though the result wasn’t what I wanted the times at the end were really fast and I’m happy with that!”
Paul Denning – Team Manager:
“Unfortunately we weren’t able to turn the front row start into the result we were looking for today - it certainly wasn’t through lack of effort on Chris’s part. He got a good start and looked like he could get up there with the front guys, but he just didn’t have that bit of extra pace that was needed to make a challenge. Chris is very motivated and if points were rewarded for hard work, he and his crew would be at the top of the board!
“Ben did a good job here this weekend and he looked comfortable and quick on the bike towards the end of the race. He turned in lap times that were good enough for the top-10 - and that is a credit to him. He hasn’t made a mistake all weekend and has improved consistently no matter what has been thrown at him. He has done very well indeed. It’s not yet clear whether Ben will race at Assen to continue his learning curve, but he will be there ready to step in if Loris is not able to ride.”
Bwin.com British Grand Prix Race Classification:
1. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 44’44.982: 2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) +5.789: 3. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) +8.347: 4. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) +12.678: 5. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) +14.801: 8. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +21.666: 14. BEN SPIES (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +49.591:
World Championship Classification:
1. Rossi 162: 2. Pedrosa 151: 3. Stoner 117: 4. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 104: 5. Edwards 82: 9. LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) 51: 11. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) 48: 19. BEN SPIES (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) 2: |
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