MotoGP – CarNewsPress

Marini works alone while Mir recovers in San Marino

CarNewsPress — Sat, 07 Sep 2024 10:34:50 +0000

Improving his best lap time by half a second between the sessions, Luca Marini was the author to a busy opening day at his home race but was left wanting more. Working on a two pronged approach, the Italian and his side of the garage began to run through items ahead of the Monday Test while looking for improvements to increase their pace this weekend.

Setting a best lap of 1’32.388 late in the afternoon, the #10 was a second shy of the top ten as 1.7 seconds split the majority of the field and Marini ultimately finished in 22nd overall. The objective overnight is to improve one lap pace.

Joan Mir spent Friday continuing his recovery from a bout of illness, he and the Repsol Honda Team are aiming to be back out on track from Saturday.

Luca Marini

22nd 1’32.388

“I expected more from Friday here and we struggled a bit more than what I had hoped. The test we did here before was not to prepare for this race, so we are not starting with some sort of big advantage. The condition of the circuit is very good, it’s very fast but we need to check the data on our side to make some improvements. Our distance on race pace is not far but we still need to find some time on the time attack. I hope Mir is feeling better tomorrow.”

Challenging Friday in Magny-Cours for Gardner as Delbianco Makes his Debut on the Yamaha R1

CarNewsPress — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 19:44:28 +0000

Remy Gardner and Alessandro Delbianco completed their Friday at the Circuit de Nevers, Magny-Cours, 12th and 21st on combined times with Delbianco making his debut on the Yamaha R1 in the World Championship

Gardner faced a challenging Free Practice 1, producing laps with the same set of tyres throughout the 45-minute session, prioritising race distance. The Aussie rider finished the session 15th with a time of 1’38.258. On the other side of the garage, Delbianco got to experience the R1 WorldSBK for the first time, gaining confidence each lap to cross the line 22nd (1’40.067).

In the afternoon’s session, the story was the same for Gardner and his crew. The 26-year old focused on long runs assessing the different option race tyres, still making a consistent improvement to his lap time to finish 12th (1’36.994). Delbianco’s feeling got better and better throughout the session, managing to improve his FP1 lap time by a remarkable 2.056s to cross the line 21st.

COMBINED PRACTICE RESULTS

Remy Gardner: P12 (1’36.994)

“Not the easiest day, but we knew it could have been a challenging one as we faced a tricky weekend last year here. I’m happy overall with the progress we made, although the final position is not fantastic and surely not where we want to be. Weather could also play a key role tomorrow as we might have a wet race, let’s see. Anyway, I’m confident we could make another step forward on the dry, so let’s stay positive for Saturday.”

Alessandro Delbianco: P21 (1’38.011)

“What a day! It was as good as I was expecting. The team did a fantastic job and all the guys worked really hard to make me feel comfortable on the bike in the best way possible. We made a great step from the morning and I’m confident we’ll be able to improve further more, hoping to have another sunny day tomorrow. I cannot wait to be back on track and to race!”

DAVID ALONSO STARTS THE SAN MARINO GP IN TOP 3

CarNewsPress — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 18:07:38 +0000

Less than a week after the Aragón GP, the Moto3 riders are back on track with the first San Marino GP practice sessions. CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team rider David Alonso has started in the top 3 at the Misano – Marco Simoncelli circuit, despite the fact that the day has not begun in the best way for him. In the first minutes of the first practice session, Alonso has crashed. The Colombian has been able to recover the bike to gone back on track and, after a brief pit stop, he has gone out again with the same tyres to set the session’s best time. The CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team rider has set a time of 1:41.175 and has ended just 98 thousandths ahead of second-placed, José Antonio Rueda. Alonso has also set the pace at the start of the second practice session, in which he has fitted new tyres, and has always been among the fastest. In fact, on his thirteenth lap, he has managed to beat the track record by setting a time of 1:41.096, a register that lowered the previous track record, held by Celestino Vietti since 2020. However, in his second outing on the track, the Colombian has been unable to complete a good lap. In addition, in his last attempt, yellow flags were flying due to another rider’s crash, so Alonso has not been able to improve his time. Adrián Fernández has been capable of taking a step forward in the final minutes and has finished the session with the best time. The Spanish has beaten Alonso’s time by 187 thousandths and has set a new record in the Italian track. Rueda has ended behind Fernández, just 76 thousandths off his time, while the CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team rider has been third.

His teammate Joel Esteban has not had an easy start at the San Marino GP. The CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team rider has finished twenty-fifth on the first day at Misano. The Spanish has worked to adapt to the characteristics of the Italian track and has made great progress from one session to the next. Although he has ended the first practice session 2.7 seconds off the best time, in the second session he has improved his time by more than a second and has reduced the gap with the fastest by eight tenths. The rookie knows that he has work to do to make a step forward that would allow him to fight for a place in Q2 tomorrow.

3rd David Alonso 1:41.096 (+0.187): “I am satisfied with the first day. I have seen the crash coming because I was at the limit. Then I have relaxed and have gradually improved. In the afternoon, I have gone out with new tyres and have concentrated on my work. I have tried to polish some details. In the second run, I have come back to the track at the wrong time and I have found myself with many drivers. If we had gone out ten seconds later, it would have been better. Tomorrow morning, we will focus on deciding which tyre we will choose for the race, which is the most important thing.”

25th Joel Esteban 1:42.896 (+1.987): “It has been a difficult day. I had never ridden here before and it has been quite complicated for me. I have made a step forward from the first session to the second and now I have to keep working for tomorrow. We need to understand where we are doing wrong in order to get a better result.”