After a rather standard Friday, it was a rather eventful Saturday that the pilots experienced and, this time, it was not the weather which had its effects: numerous falls, sanctions and rumors...
Here is an overview of what to remember from this Saturday in Aragon.
Marc Marquez, a new record
Today, Marc Marquez knocked out the competition in the standings during the practice sessions. He ended the day by scoring his 64th pole position with a time of 1'47.117, ahead of Maverick Viñales, his closest rival, by 0.631s. It is also the largest gap in the dry in MotoGP qualifying since Le Mans 2014, where he was 0.692s ahead of Pol Espargaro.
However, the day got off to a bad start for the Spanish driver, as he suffered a heavy fall this morning while trying to slow down under the yellow flags, taking Pol Espargaro with him, “At Silverstone in 2013 it was completely my fault,” reference Marquez who had fallen during the warm up while Cal Crutchlow had just fallen. “But since then I always slow down when I see a yellow flag, even if I'm on my best lap, because it's dangerous. I never make the same mistake twice.”
“I spoke with Mike Webb [race director]. After checking, there was no yellow flag before the turn. I saw him at the last moment when I started to overtake Pol. I was surprised, I lost the front. It’s bad luck.” (see his full remarks)
Although injured in the right shoulder, just like at Silverstone in 2013 and in Austria this season, the Spaniard was not hampered, “I had a sore shoulder, but everything is sorted to ride the bike.”
Memory loss
Espargaro Pol was unlucky in FP3. Before finding himself in Marquez's path, he first crashed at the second corner causing Danilo Petrucci in turn who came out of the pit lane to set off. The Italian from the Pramac team immediately returned to the box to set off again on his second Ducati GP15, “The problem is that I don't remember everything. I saw Pol’s bike coming 10 cm away and then it was a crash.”
“I was conscious, but I didn't remember where I was. When I returned to the box to get back on my bike, I didn't remember where I was. I completed six laps this morning and I only remember four. I was quite scared.”
This afternoon Petrucci visited the doctor after Q2 and he will take another test tomorrow morning before being declared fit to ride or not, “I have to visit the doctor this afternoon and tomorrow morning. I'm starting to get my memory back, but there are certain minutes I don't remember. I hope I will be in good shape tomorrow.”
Since 2015, the FIM has adopted the SCAT3 test for the assessment of concussions. The adoption of this test aims to avoid excesses following a pilot's fall causing a concussion. A poorly diagnosed concussion can have serious consequences for both the driver and others on the track.
Note that during the World Supersport round in Aragon this year, Glenn Scott crashed at the second corner and hit Kyle Ryde. Glenn Scott had to end his season with multiple leg fractures.
Tire choice
Michelin tells us that the types of tires should be the simplest for everyone to understand: soft, medium and hard. Behind the scenes, it's a little more complicated than that, since each tire is codenamed 34P, 34V, 34K, or 56A. If the code is the same at each Grand Prix, the tires are different from one Grand Prix to another.
“The question mark remains the front tire, because I feel good with the hard tire in these high temperatures,” Explain Marquez. “But we will have to see with lower temperatures [expected tomorrow]. Anyway, I feel good with the bike, I feel ready for the race, and as I already said on Thursday, this circuit is one of my favorites and we have to try to attack this a little bit. weekend."
To Jorge Lorenzo, third on the grid, it is rather the soft tire which seems to be the one on which he feels best, “It's difficult for us, because we suffer much more than others with the hard and medium options,” declares the Majorcan. “We can't be fast this year, with this bike and on this track. I knew that for qualifying I would be able to play the front row if I rode the softs.”
If the soft tire corresponds to Lorenzo's Yamaha, it poses problems over the distance of the race, “With the soft, we are competitive. Michelin brought tough ones here for the front and rear and they are difficult to get to grips with. On this track we don't have much grip, either front or rear. And with my riding style, I suffer more from the lack of grip at the rear.”
Although second on the grid, Maverick Vinales is not yet ready for tomorrow. The GSX-RR poses some difficulties for the Suzuki duo, in particular when turning the bike, “It's not the best track for us, because there are a lot of slow corners and it's difficult for us to turn the bike, but anyway, we found good settings ,” he reassures. (see his full remarks)
To Valentino Rossi, “Everything will depend on the conditions. We saw all these falls this morning.” There have been no less than 12 crashes today in MotoGP. A phenomenon explained by the cool temperature this morning and the wind which tended to cool the tires in certain sectors. “This time again I think the tire choice will be very important,” concludes Rossi who thinks he is not “Unlikely to beat Marquez tomorrow, but it will take a small miracle.” (see his full remarks)
You will take back a few sanctions
On the MotorLand Aragon route, “Aspiration can save up to half a second,” entrusts us Fabio Quartararo who narrowly missed pole position. Ahead of the first sections of his last fast lap, the Leopard driver did not find any traction in the final straight to confirm pole.
In the game of aspirations, Khairul Pawi (5 places on the grid), Ramirez (3 places) and George Martin (3 places) lost for slowing down while waiting for a wheel today. Yesterday, these were, Niccolo Antonelli (4 seats), Gabriel Rodrigo (4 seats), Livio Law (3 places) and Fabio Spiranelli (5 seats).
Some teams and certain riders went to discuss with the panel of commissioners to question certain sanctions by bringing the data from the motorcycles or by double-checking on the cameras. It is not uncommon to see a driver penalized for simply pulling straight or for being hampered during his deceleration lap, “I waste my time accompanying my drivers to justify,” a Moto3 Team Manager explains to us. “We have to bring our data and verify every element. Sometimes we are wrong, sometimes we are right.”
Livio Law, in addition to being penalized on Friday, was relegated to the back of the grid after the technical inspection of his machine for having used a non-compliant gearbox. He had set the third fastest time in qualifying.
Nicolo Bulega was fined 300 Euros for making an insulting gesture towards Jorge Martin today.
2017… and miscellaneous
We saw Stefan Kiefer (Leopard Racing) at the Lausitzring last week for the WorldSBK round in Germany. Kiefer would like to offer the services of PJ Jacobsen, WorldSSP rider in the Honda World Supersport team, but, according to our information, this is still far from being confirmed. Likewise, the team wants to move from Kalex to Suter.
Despite several offers in Moto2, John mcphee should stay in Moto3. Setting up a Moto3 team with BT Sport is unlikely to happen, but the Briton could still land a Honda in a different structure.
Among the transfers Adam Norrodin will stay one more season in the SIC Racing Team. The official announcement is expected to take place during the overseas tour. Johann Stigefelt wants a second Asian driver in place of Jakub Kornfeil which will pass to Peugeot.
In MotoGP, if the 2017 grid seemed closed, Yonny Hernandez finds himself in the hot seat in the Aspar team. Karel Abraham is looking to return to MotoGP after a tricky WorldSBK season.
Christian Boudinot, creator of the TranFIORmers, should line up his machine at the start of the Valencia Grand Prix. Gregg Black is expected to be the pilot, but that has yet to be confirmed.
