Avintia Blusens ends pre-season closer to top

Three days of intense work (the second of which was almost completely lost to rain) from the entire Avintia Blusens team at the Jerez Test wrapped up on Sunday, and the crew worked tirelessly to be able to head to Qatar in good shape for the first Grand Prix of the season.

Both Iván Silva and Yonny Hernández put in solid shifts as the team looked to sort out the problems the pair had been having with their FTR machines in turns since pre-season, with slow corners especially problematic. Both riders and their crews dedicated a lot of time to this area, also focusing heavily on electronics.

The results were positive and Avintia Blusens cut the gap to the MotoGP™ machines in terms of time, when compared to previous Tests. Iván Silva ended the Test 3.666s off Casey Stoner's time, and just eight-tenths off the second CRT. Aside from De Puniet, the remainder of the CRT bikes are within a second of one another, which pre-empts an exciting season in which the Avintia Blusens riders can battle with their fellow CRT rivals.

Raúl Romero (Team Manager):
"I'm delighted with this result. We've taken another step forward and have also shown we're at a good level in relation to the other CRT bikes. There's room to improve and that motivates us. We also have to take into account that some of the others have been working for a long time while we are just starting out. Every time we go out on track we're improving lots. On Sunday Iván lowered his times and Yonny worked a lot on the electronics and with the second bike in order to have it ready for Qatar. We haven't had any major problems or crashes. I'm proud of the whole team and what they have achieved in order to be able to get the job done."

Iván Silva:
"We've done a great job here. The result is positive and, with a couple of little things left which we still haven't had time to try out, I'm sure we could have gotten below 1'42". We'll get there though. Right now I'm learning the bike and every alteration is one which will benefit us going forwards. I've worked a lot with the issues we were having with the front and we've improved, but we've also lost a little bit of rear grip. We have to take into consideration that we are building a bike from scratch, and that involves a lot of work. We have a good rhythm and, with the level playing field that is CRT, that could be very telling in the races."

Yonny Hernández:
"I got under 1'43" even though there's still a lot left to improve on. We've been working with the second bike a lot which took up plenty of time, but we have a solid direction for Qatar. A great job has been done with the electronics and bit by bit we are getting more competitive. I'm excited because there is a great equality amongst the CRT machines, and we still have a lot left to improve on. De Puniet got away a little bit, but we'll get there!"

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Lorenzo and Spies ready for Losail

This Sunday sees the long awaited and hugely anticipated season opening race of the 2012 MotoGP™ Championship at the Losail circuit in Qatar. Yamaha Factory Racing riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies will line up on the grid under the spectacular floodlights alongside their rivals for the first true test of the 1000cc era. A strong winter testing period with very competitive times means both riders arrive in Qatar confident in the abilities of their all-new 1000cc YZR-M1 as they set their sights on the podium.

2011 Championship runner up Lorenzo has a strong record at Qatar, starting every MotoGP race there from the front row and always finishing on the podium. An outright Losail victory has so far eluded him, something he aims to put right this weekend. Team-mate Spies has yet to score a podium finish in Qatar, taking fifth in 2010 and sixth in 2011. The Texan is looking very comfortable on the new 1000cc machine and is aiming for nothing less than a podium finish on Sunday.

Jorge Lorenzo:
"I’m very excited to finally race and see how we are compared to our rivals. Qatar was a good race for us last year but I think this season we have a slightly more competitive bike so I am hoping for good things to happen. Because of my hand injury it has been a long time since I was in a race so I am really excited for Sunday. I have been training a lot for this season; I’m feeling very good and very happy with the bike as well."

Ben Spies:
"Finally! I think testing can get a bit dull after a while so I’m happy we now get to go and do some racing at last. We’ve worked really hard over the winter; the Yamaha Engineers have done a great job so we’ve got a pretty good bike to race with at the weekend. Let’s get out there on Thursday and start finding a set up and see how it feels. It’s always special to race at night under the lights, we’re going to give it 100% and put on a good show."

Wilco Zeelenberg, Team Manager:
"I’m really excited to go to Qatar, it’s been a longer off season than usual. We had a great winter test season and we solved a lot of problems from 2011 so I’m curious to see how our package behaves under race conditions. Testing is one thing but finishing on a podium is the real test. Jorge is very fit and the M1 is ready to go. Let’s clean the track for the first couple of days and then go racing!"

Massimo Meregalli, Team Director:
"We are going to Qatar in good spirits. After the three winter tests our performance was consistently good which is important. We’re starting this Grand Prix with good expectations, knowing that we can achieve a good result. Last year Jorge had a really good race and the bike was less competitive than it is now, and Ben has always been strong at Qatar, also in World Superbike. The Losail circuit layout is very suitable for our bike characteristics so we should do well!"

Yamaha Factory Racing press release

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Barbera ahead of Rossi and Hayden

Pramac Ducati's Hector Barbera outpaced the factory Ducati pair of Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden over a single lap to leave Sepang as the fastest GP12 rider, at the conclusion of the MotoGP shakedown in Malaysia.

Barbera, who is using the Desmosedici which Rossi rode at Valencia in the November test, completed his fastest lap in a time of 2m 01.231s to be ranked sixth fastest.

The Pramac team focused on chassis and suspension work on the 'Valencia-spec' GP12, which has since become Barbera's satellite-spec 2012 machine.

“I am very pleased with the day just passed. The feeling with my Ducati is getting better and I'm starting to understand how to use an engine that has a very different response from the 800 last year,” said Barberra.

“The behaviour of the bike is quite severe, but we still have improvements to make in anticipation of the first race. I can't be anything other than happy with the result today.”

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Hayden looking forward to tenth MotoGP season

Nicky Hayden, the final 990cc MotoGP world champion but winless throughout the 800cc era, will start his tenth grand prix season under the floodlights at Qatar this weekend.

It will also be the American's fourth season at Ducati and, despite being denied valuable winter testing time due to a training injury, Hayden has confidence in this year's new 1000cc GP12 featuring an aluminium frame.

“This is my tenth season in MotoGP, and I'm looking forward to it. I have a really solid team and I think we have a good bike this year,” said Hayden.

“With all the injuries from Valencia and my training incident, preparation obviously hasn't gone exactly how you'd like it to, but Jerez was a good test for me to do a lot of laps at very close to 100 per cent.

“Qatar is pretty unique because we're racing at night, but the truth is, after you get rolling, you don't notice it by about the third of fourth corner.

“It really doesn't change too much with things like lines and bike setup, but as it gets later, you have to be careful with the condensation on the track, especially in Turn 2.”

Hayden led the damp second day at the final Jerez test, then claimed eighth (+1.13sec) on the last day of pre-season preparation.

“I'd like to be going into the first race closer to the front, but hopefully we can do some steps," he said. "I've basically only ridden around by myself on this bike, so it will be nice to get in the race and really see how it stacks up against the others.”

The #69 finished ninth at Qatar last year.

Hayden finished seven points behind team-mate Valentino Rossi last season, in eight overall, having also taken one podium finish. 

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Jorge Lorenzo chasing first Qatar MotoGP win

Former MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo, who split the factory Hondas of Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa at Qatar 2011, has his sights set on going one better in the first race of the new 1000cc era at Losail on Sunday.

Lorenzo was the only Yamaha rider in the top five as he rode the wheels off his 800cc M1 in last year's event.

The Spaniard returns knowing that the 2012 Yamaha is a more competitive package, having set strong lap times in all three winter tests, although Stoner again looks to be the man to beat.

While he has never won a premier-class race at Qatar, Lorenzo has a strong record at the desert track, starting his four MotoGP events from the front row and always finishing on the podium.

“I'm very excited to finally make a race and see how we are compared to our rivals,” said Lorenzo. “Qatar was a good race for us last year but I think this season we have a slightly more competitive bike so I am hoping for good things to happen.

“Because of my hand injury [three rounds from the end of last year, at Phillip Island] it has been a long time since I was in a race so I am really excited for Sunday. I have been training a lot for this season; I'm feeling very good and very happy with the bike as well.”

Team manager Wilco Zeelenberg is eager to see how the new machine shapes up in a race situation.

“I'm really excited to go to Qatar, it's been a longer off season than usual,” said the Dutchman. “We had a great winter test season and we solved a lot of problems from 2011 so I'm curious to see how our package behaves under race conditions.

“Testing is one thing but finishing on a podium is the real test. Jorge is very fit and the M1 is ready to go. Let's clean the track for the first couple of days and then go racing!”

Lorenzo finished runner-up to Stoner last season, with three races wins. 

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Stoner subdues chatter to set early Qatar pace

Casey Stoner and his Repsol Honda crew were forced to subdue 'huge' chatter from the world champion's RC213V on their way to setting the Thursday night free practice pace for the season-opening Qatar MotoGP.

The Australian was the only Honda rider in the top four, having moving ahead of Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo on the twelfth of his 13 laps.

Stoner, who has battled chatter issues at the Sepang tests but not at the final pre-season outing in Jerez, said:

“The track tonight wasn't so bad, I expected the conditions to be much worse but in general it was ok. We started this evening with huge chatter issues and I was a little afraid we couldn't fix this, but after a few more exits we managed to reduce it to a more comfortable level.

“This is a positive point for the weekend but with such a short session and then nothing until tomorrow it's slightly strange. It was an ok start tonight, we finished quickest which is good, but we'll have to wait until tomorrow for some real track time and with the conditions a little better and see where we are.”

Team-mate Dani Pedrosa also experienced chatter problems during his first RC213V laps at the desert track, plus other complications that left the Spaniard in fifth place, 0.656sec from Stoner.

“There are some corners where we are struggling a lot with the chattering, especially in the area where you slide more, but it's like this and we will need to adapt the best we can.,” said Pedrosa.

“On my first exit I had an issue with the tyres and I had to stop in the garage; I felt a vibration in the wheels, so we decided to change both tyres. I lost some time there and at the end of the practice I went wide twice.

“Anyway, it's been good to go out there and get the feeling back at this track after a long time without riding here. Tomorrow, with two practices sessions, we will start working more with the chassis and electronics to improve and prepare for the race".

The Qatar action continues on Friday with two more practice sessions to prepare for qualifying on Saturday. 

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