Pics of the Day: Malaysian GP, Sunday

Congratulations Bati & Talma!

MotoGP - Malaysia - 250cc - Quotes after race

1st Álvaro Bautista
“The race has been very hard because of the heat. I started a little badly, but quickly I caught up with the front group. I think that we had a great weekend, as we were at the front for the entire time in practice. We tried to slow the race pace down to let some other riders come into play in the World Championship picture, but in the end we were just three at the head of the race. When we saw that there were no other riders near, the decision was made to at least try and win the race. The season didn’t start as we would have liked, and we were always on the back foot after some early problems, but second place is not so bad in the championship. However, it wasn’t our goal when we started the year, and we will have to give our all in Valencia to cheer up the home fans.”

Héctor Faubel (DNF)
“Once again I had a crash that I don’t understand. It was in the second section of the track, on the fifth corner. I was fast off the line and my front went out. We keep having this problem on the weekends, where the practices go well and in the race something happens to us. It’s a pity because we couldn’t take a good result home. Now we have to turn the page and look to Cheste. It is a circuit that I love, and I won last year in 125cc. I will be at home and trying to have fun enjoying the atmosphere.”

MotoGP - Malaysia - 125cc - Quotes after race

1st Gábor Talmacsi
"It has been a fantastic weekend and I am glad to repeat the result from last year. I made a good start and tried to maintain a fast pace to get away from the beginning. I felt Iannone around me and trying to put pressure on me in the braking points, but he wasn't able to get close enough to me. The bike was working to perfection, and for that reason I just had to make sure that I didn't lose concentration. I love this circuit and am proud to have won here again, and now we will go to Valencia which is another favourite of mine. I love the fans and atmosphere there. I always feel good when we race in Valencia."

12th Sergio Gadea
"This morning in the warmup we did well, and we finished third. It seemed as if the setting on the Aprilia was ready for the race, but later I tried to push for the front when the lights went out and didn't feel at all confident. Then I lost positions, which was a shame because we started from fifth, had done a good job and at the crucial moment we weren't able to get the result that we wanted. Fortunately the next race is at home, and I hope for better there."

15th Adrián Martín
"It has been a very hard race. I started with a good pace, and when I saw that I could get faster and faster I upped the pace. I stuck to a rhythm in the 17's, although I had a little scare when the front end went out on me. I kept my concentration and tried to finish as high up as possible. With four laps to go I really felt the tiredness and heat, but the desire to pick up points spurred me on. I am very happy with this result in only my fourth race, and more than anything it delights me to have gone well all weekend. The team did a great job."

MotoGP - Malaysia - 250cc - Bati wins!

In even hotter conditions that the 125cc race, Mapfre Aspar rider Alvaro Bautista rode to a dominant victory at the Malaysian Gran Prix in Sepang.
Starting badly from second position on the grid he quickly worked his way up the order and arrived at the lead group with Aoyama, Simon, Kallio and Simoncelli. However, soon after that the KTM machines of Kallio and Simon had to retire due to mechanical problems which left a trio at the front fighting for victory. Alvaro's only option to keep Simoncelli from winning the championship was to win the race at Sepang and hope for other riders to go faster than Simoncelli. But with Julian Simon ultimately retiring with mechanical problems and the second group being over 7 seconds behind Simoncelli, it was enough for him to bring home third place, partly riding more than 2 seconds slower than Alvaro Bautista.
Realizing that there were no other riders fast enough to catch up with the lead group and therefore steal points from Simoncelli, Alvaro went on to at least ensure another victory at the Malaysian track, even breaking the four-year-old lap record from Dani Pedrosa in the penultimate round with degrading rubber. However, this victory was not enough to keep Simoncelli from mathematically winning the championship.
Alvaro will now look forward to close the season with another win at his home track in Valencia and to make up for this season's bad luck next year.

Pos. Rider Nation Team Total time
1 A. BAUTISTA SPA Mapfre Aspar Team 42'56.428
2 H. AOYAMA JPN Red Bull KTM 250 + 2.586
3 M. SIMONCELLI ITA Metis Gilera + 8.343
4 Y. TAKAHASHI JPN JiR Team Scot 250 + 11.032
5 A. ESPARGARO SPA Lotus Aprilia + 13.846
6 A. DEBON SPA Lotus Aprilia + 14.274
7 R. LOCATELLI ITA Metis Gilera + 15.101
8 R. WILAIROT THA Thai Honda PTT SAG + 16.987
9 T. LUTHI SWI Emmi - Caffe Latte + 25.356
10 L. PESEK CZE Auto Kelly - CP + 26.846
11 F. LAI ITA Campetella Racing + 49.907
12 K. ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing + 50.088
13 A. BALDOLINI ITA Matteoni Racing + 1'05.816
14 S. GROTZKYJ ITA Campetella Racing + 1'15.544
15 I. TOTH HUN Team Toth Aprilia + 1'19.905
16 M. HERNANDEZ SPA Blusens Aprilia + 1'35.890
17 D. ARCAS SPA Blusens Aprilia + 2'00.717
18 D. PRADITA INA Yamaha Pertamina Indonesia + 2'28.842

Not classified
M. PASINI ITA Polaris World 5 Lap
J. SIMON SPA Repsol KTM 250cc 9 Lap
M. KALLIO FIN Red Bull KTM 250 15 Lap
H. FAUBEL SPA Mapfre Aspar Team 16 Lap

MotoGP - Malaysia - 125cc - Talma wins!

Bancaja Aspar rider Gabor Talmacsi rode a brilliant race in Sepang today and claimed a dominant win in extremely hot conditions.
Fellow teammates Sergio Gadea and Adrian Martin finished in 12th and 15th place respectively with replacement rider Martin claiming his first world championship point.

Pos. Rider Nation Team Total time

1 G. TALMACSI HUN Bancaja Aspar Team 43'00.716
2 B. SMITH GBR Polaris World + 3.416
3 S. CORSI ITA Jack & Jones WRB + 6.896
4 S. CORTESE GER Emmi - Caffe Latte + 6.925
5 M. DI MEGLIO FRA Ajo Motorsport + 7.115
6 P. ESPARGARO SPA Belson Derbi + 15.122
7 J. OLIVE SPA Belson Derbi + 21.805
8 D. AEGERTER SWI Ajo Motorsport + 21.869
9 N. TEROL SPA Jack & Jones WRB + 21.958
10 A. IANNONE ITA I.C. Team + 23.615
11 T. KOYAMA JPN Red Bull KTM 125 + 23.651
12 S. GADEA SPA Bancaja Aspar Team + 35.224
13 L. ZANETTI ITA ISPA KTM Aran + 40.502
14 P. NIETO SPA Onde 2000 KTM + 51.404
15 A. MARTIN SPA Bancaja Aspar Team + 55.726
16 J. CLUZEL FRA Loncin Racing + 56.537
17 J. FOLGER GER Red Bull MotoGP Academy + 1'07.140
18 M. RAVAIOLI ITA Matteoni Racing + 1'07.573
19 R. KRUMMENACHER SWI Red Bull KTM 125 + 1'07.741
20 R. LASSER GER Grizzly Gas Kiefer Racing + 1'08.849
21 B. CHESAUX SWI WTR San Marino Team + 1'46.609
22 R. MURESAN ROU Grizzly Gas Kiefer Racing 1 Lap

Not classified
E. RABAT SPA Repsol KTM 125cc 2 Lap
S. BONSEY USA Degraaf Grand Prix 7 Lap
S. BRADL GER Grizzly Gas Kiefer Racing 8 Lap
S. REDDING GBR Blusens Aprilia Junior 8 Lap
H. VAN DEN BERG NED Degraaf Grand Prix 8 Lap
R. DE ROSA ITA Onde 2000 KTM 11 Lap
D. WEBB GBR Degraaf Grand Prix 11 Lap
E. JEREZ SPA ISPA KTM Aran 11 Lap
A. MASBOU FRA Loncin Racing 13 Lap
T. NAKAGAMI JPN I.C. Team 16 Lap

Not starting
E. VAZQUEZ SPA Blusens Aprilia Junior

Pics of the day: Malaysian GP, Saturday

MotoGP - Malaysia - 250cc - Quotes after QP2

2nd Álvaro Bautista: 2.07.073 (17 laps)
“The track conditions were different to yesterday. There was more humidity in the air and you could tell. We put a new engine in but didn’t get much chance to set it up and this afternoon it was quite running at 100%. We lost a bit in the gear ratio setting and that’s why I struggled to put my pace together but in the corners the suspension and chassis feels good, which is important for the race tomorrow. We’ll work a bit more on the engine in the warm-up tomorrow and try to have a good race. It is going to be a test of endurance tomorrow because of the heat but I’m going out to win as usual. Lets see if the KTMs can stay with us and make it a group battle.”

10th Héctor Faubel: 2.08.009 (13 laps)
“The rain was a real hindrance to us this morning because we were hoping to try a new engine we’d fitted yesterday. We had to make a few stops this afternoon to refine the setting and we lost a lot of time. We also made a couple of changes to the chassis that didn’t really work so we’ll go back to the setting we had yesterday. It is a shame that our run of second row starts has ended but I think we can still do well from the third row. We’ll try to run up front tomorrow but the lead guys have a good pace and it will be tough to keep up.”

MotoGP - Malaysia - 125cc - Quotes after QP2

2nd Gábor Talmacsi: 2.15.206 (8 laps)
“This morning went really well. I felt comfortable on the bike and I think we made a big step up with the race pace and lap time. We were ready to make a change to the gear ratio for qualifying but the rain prevented that. We’ve got some similar problems to the ones we had in Australia in the wet. I don’t have a good feeling with the wet front tyre but we’ll try to improve that tomorrow in case it’s wet. We’re ready for a dry race and my objective is to win it. I think we’ve been fast today and yesterday and we’ve got the pace to run at the front from the start.”

5th Sergio Gadea: 2.15.684 (10 laps)
“We tried to improve the set-up this morning, made a change and it seemed to work. On the final lap I hit neutral going into the chicane and I was fully leaned over, so I went down. It was nothing really but we missed the chance to set a good lap time. I’m happy with the afternoon session because we ended up third fastest and if it wasn’t for the rain we’d have improved a lot. If it’s a dry race I’m sure it will be as close http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.bold.gifas usual and we’ll have to take a few chances. It’s good that we’re starting from fifth so I don’t have as much ground to make up as I have done recently but it will also be important not to make any mistakes if I want to run with the lead group.”

27th Adrián Martín: 2.18.655 (10 laps)
“I really like this track in the wet. I got faster and faster the more confident I got. It’s a shame qualifying wasn’t dry because we also did a great job this morning and I think I could have moved up into the top twenty. Anyway, I’m going to go out and try to pass as many riders as possible.”

MotoGP - Malaysia - 250cc - Results QP2

With a drying circuit the 250cc riders had a difficult time in the final qualifying in Sepang to improve their laptimes and only a few riders did, changing the grid positions only slightly. Mapfre Aspar rider Alvaro Bautista came close to improve his laptimes from the Friday session on several occasions, but with a setting that was slightly inferior to the one he had yesterday, he didn't quite manage to go faster. Nontheless he keeps his second position on the grid whereas teammate Hector Faubel was relegated to 10th position.

Full results QP2:

Pos. Rider Nation Team Lap time
1 M. SIMONCELLI ITA Metis Gilera 2'07.109
2 A. BAUTISTA SPA Mapfre Aspar Team + 0.335
3 H. AOYAMA JPN Red Bull KTM 250 + 0.426
4 J. SIMON SPA Repsol KTM 250cc + 0.559
5 Y. TAKAHASHI JPN JiR Team Scot 250 + 0.657
6 A. DEBON SPA Lotus Aprilia + 0.859
7 M. PASINI ITA Polaris World + 1.277
8 M. KALLIO FIN Red Bull KTM 250 + 1.653
9 A. ESPARGARO SPA Lotus Aprilia + 1.692
10 T. LUTHI SWI Emmi - Caffe Latte + 1.815
11 L. PESEK CZE Auto Kelly - CP + 1.882
12 H. FAUBEL SPA Mapfre Aspar Team + 1.908
13 F. LAI ITA Campetella Racing + 1.946
14 R. WILAIROT THA Thai Honda PTT SAG + 1.981
15 R. LOCATELLI ITA Metis Gilera + 2.637
16 K. ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing + 2.951
17 A. BALDOLINI ITA Matteoni Racing + 3.153
18 I. TOTH HUN Team Toth Aprilia + 3.233
19 S. GROTZKYJ ITA Campetella Racing + 3.381
20 D. PRADITA INA Yamaha Pertamina Indonesia + 4.328
21 M. HERNANDEZ SPA Blusens Aprilia + 4.556
22 D. ARCAS SPA Blusens Aprilia + 7.071

MotoGP - Malaysia - 125cc - Results QP2

With a wet track in the final qualifying, no rider in the 125cc class was able to improve his laptime from yesterday. Therefore the grid positions will stay the same as yesterday with Bancaja Aspar rider Gabor Talmacsi on the second position and teammate Sergio Gadea heading the second row.

Pos Rider Bike Time

1. Andrea Iannone Aprilia 2:14.676
2. Gabor Talmacsi Aprilia 2:15.206 + 0.530
3. Daniel Webb Aprilia 2:15.365 + 0.689
4. Pol Espargaro Derbi 2:15.676 + 1.000
5. Sergio Gadea Aprilia 2:15.684 + 1.008
6. Joan Olive Derbi 2:15.860 + 1.184
7. Tomoyoshi Koyama KTM 2:15.922 + 1.246
8. Simone Corsi Aprilia 2:16.001 + 1.325
9. Mike di Meglio Derbi 2:16.030 + 1.354
10. Stefan Bradl Aprilia 2:16.263 + 1.587
11. Scott Redding Aprilia 2:16.272 + 1.596
12. Nicolas Terol Aprilia 2:16.314 + 1.638
13. Bradley Smith Aprilia 2:16.397 + 1.721
14. Alexis Masbou Loncin 2:16.517 + 1.841
15. Steve Bonsey Aprilia 2:16.557 + 1.881
16. Efren Vazquez Aprilia 2:16.586 + 1.910
17. Pablo Nieto KTM 2:16.678 + 2.002
18. Sandro Cortese Aprilia 2:16.731 + 2.055
19. Raffaele De Rosa KTM 2:16.849 + 2.173
20. Lorenzo Zanetti KTM 2:17.272 + 2.596
21. Takaaki Nakagami Aprilia 2:17.418 + 2.742
22. D. Aegerter Derbi 2:17.622 + 2.946
23. Jules Cluzel Loncin 2:18.296 + 3.620
24. Marco Ravaioli Aprilia 2:18.303 + 3.627
25. Esteve Rabat KTM 2:18.334 + 3.658
26. Cyril Carrillo Honda 2:18.413 + 3.737
27. Adrian Martin Aprilia 2:18.655 + 3.979
28. Robin Lässer Aprilia 2:19.002 + 4.326
29. Jonas Folger KTM 2:19.576 + 4.900
30. H. van den Berg Aprilia 2:19.612 + 4.936
31. Robert Muresan Aprilia 2:19.688 + 5.012
32. R. Krummenacher KTM 2:19.735 + 5.059
33. Enrique Jerez KTM 2:19.963 + 5.287
34. Bastien Chesaux Aprilia 2:20.115 + 5.439

Pics of the day: Malaysian GP, Friday

MotoGP - Malaysia - 250cc - Quotes after QP1

2nd Álvaro Bautista, 2.07.073 (17 laps)
“It’s a shame they pinched pole off us right at the end because we’d dominated the session. It is only provisional, though, and the important one is tomorrow. The first session is always tricky here but the track improved in the afternoon with the more rubber that was laid down. We’ve spent all day working on the setting of the bike and I’m pretty happy with the result. The KTMs go really well at this track, as we saw last year, but I think that could be a good thing for us in terms of the championship because the more riders there are at the front the better. We’ll try to take advantage of that and put ourselves ahead of the rest.”

9th Héctor Faubel, 2.08.009 (16 laps)
“The pace is fast compared to last year. I felt comfortable riding, apart from in the last two sections, which I’m struggling with a bit more. We improved this afternoon but we still have to work to find a better pace and drop those lap times. I’m happy with the start we’ve made and I think we can get back on the second row tomorrow. It is very humid but the conditions are the same for everybody. Personally I’m in good physical shape and I feel good. The track improved a lot tomorrow and if the conditions are good tomorrow it will improve a whole lot more.”

MotoGP - Malaysia - 125cc - Quotes after QP1

2nd Gábor Talmacsi, 2.15.206 (11 laps)
“I struggled this afternoon to go faster than I had in the morning. We made some set-up changes over lunch and I think we went in the wrong direction. The engine was working well but I didn’t have a good feel for the front and I didn’t enjoy riding. I’d planned to stop twice this afternoon but when http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=699499080923087076I saw the dark clouds I decided to stay out there. Second place is good on the first day but I think we’ve got a little more up our sleeves.”

5th Sergio Gadea, 2.15.684 (11 laps)
“We had a problem with the bike this morning and couldn’t really test anything, which meant I didn’t have any pace this afternoon. I really had to push hard at the end of the session to take a few risks and set a decent time. It was a little lucky but definitely the right decision to go for it. I’m a second off Iannone, who looks very strong here, but if we can get more laps in tomorrow we can do a good job on the set-up and fight for the front row.”

27th Adrián Martín, 2.18.655 (12 laps)
“It was a really hot day, as I expect the rest of the weekend will be, but I had fun even though this track has some really difficult corners. I’m happy because I improved as the day went on and I hope to improve much more tomorrow and move up the grid. We’ve got some set-up issues because I’m losing the front in the slow corners so we’ll try a few things tomorrow.”

MotoGP - Malaysia - 250cc - QP1

Pos | Rider | Bike | Time
1. Hiroshi Aoyama KTM 2:06.893
2. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 2:07.073 + 0.180
3. Mika Kallio KTM 2:07.118 + 0.225
4. Marco Simoncelli Gilera 2:07.359 + 0.466
5. R. Wilairot Honda 2:07.410 + 0.517
6. Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 2:07.455 + 0.562
7. Yuki Takahashi Honda 2:07.858 + 0.965
8. Alex Debon Aprilia 2:07.920 + 1.027
9. Hector Faubel Aprilia 2:08.009 + 1.116
10. Mattia Pasini Aprilia 2:08.417 + 1.524
11. Fabrizio Lai Gilera 2:08.483 + 1.590
12. Julian Simon KTM 2:08.541 + 1.648
13. Lukas Pesek Aprilia 2:08.649 + 1.756
14. Thomas Luthi Aprilia 2:08.653 + 1.760
15. R. Locatelli Gilera 2:09.150 + 2.257
16. Imre Toth Aprilia 2:09.301 + 2.408
17. Alex Baldolini Aprilia 2:09.759 + 2.866
18. Karel Abraham Aprilia 2:10.451 + 3.558
19. S.G. Giorgi Gilera 2:11.280 + 4.387
20. D.T. Pradita Yamaha 2:11.753 + 4.860
21. Daniel Arcas Aprilia 2:13.770 + 6.877
22. Manuel Hernandez Aprilia 2:13.975 + 7.082

MotoGP - Malaysia - 125cc - QP1

Pos | Rider | Bike | Time
1. Andrea Iannone Aprilia 2:14.676
2. Gabor Talmacsi Aprilia 2:15.206 + 0.530
3. Daniel Webb Aprilia 2:15.365 + 0.689
4. Pol Espargaro Derbi 2:15.676 + 1.000
5. Sergio Gadea Aprilia 2:15.684 + 1.008
6. Joan Olive Derbi 2:15.860 + 1.184
7. Tomoyoshi Koyama KTM 2:15.922 + 1.246
8. Simone Corsi Aprilia 2:16.001 + 1.325
9. Mike di Meglio Derbi 2:16.030 + 1.354
10. Stefan Bradl Aprilia 2:16.263 + 1.587
11. Scott Redding Aprilia 2:16.272 + 1.596
12. Nicolas Terol Aprilia 2:16.314 + 1.638
13. Bradley Smith Aprilia 2:16.397 + 1.721
14. Alexis Masbou Loncin 2:16.517 + 1.841
15. Steve Bonsey Aprilia 2:16.557 + 1.881
16. Efren Vazquez Aprilia 2:16.586 + 1.910
17. Pablo Nieto KTM 2:16.678 + 2.002
18. Sandro Cortese Aprilia 2:16.731 + 2.055
19. Raffaele De Rosa KTM 2:16.849 + 2.173
20. Lorenzo Zanetti KTM 2:17.272 + 2.596
21. Takaaki Nakagami Aprilia 2:17.418 + 2.742
22. D. Aegerter Derbi 2:17.622 + 2.946
23. Jules Cluzel Loncin 2:18.296 + 3.620
24. Marco Ravaioli Aprilia 2:18.303 + 3.627
25. Esteve Rabat KTM 2:18.334 + 3.658
26. Cyril Carrillo Honda 2:18.413 + 3.737
27. Adrian Martin Aprilia 2:18.655 + 3.979
28. Robin Lässer Aprilia 2:19.002 + 4.326
29. Jonas Folger KTM 2:19.576 + 4.900
30. H. van den Berg Aprilia 2:19.612 + 4.936
31. Robert Muresan Aprilia 2:19.688 + 5.012
32. R. Krummenacher KTM 2:19.735 + 5.059
33. Enrique Jerez KTM 2:19.963 + 5.287
34. Bastien Chesaux Aprilia 2:20.115 + 5.439

MotoGP - Malaysia: Schedule Of Events

Friday October 17

125cc :: Free Practice 1 :: 09:00-09:45 
MotoGP :: Free Practice 1 :: 10:00-11:00 
250cc :: Free Practice 1 :: 11:15-12:15 
125cc :: Qualifying 1 :: 13:10-13:40 
MotoGP :: Free Practice 2 :: 13:55-14:55 
250cc :: Qualifying 1 :: 15:10-15:55 

................................................................


Saturday October 18

125cc :: Free Practice 2 :: 09:00-09:45 
MotoGP :: Free Practice 3 :: 10:00-11:00 
250cc :: Free Practice 2 :: 11:15-12:15 
125cc :: Qualifying 2 :: 13:10-13:40 
MotoGP :: Qualifying 1 :: 13:55-14:55 
250cc :: Qualifying 2 :: 15:10-15:55

................................................................


Sunday October 19

125cc :: Warm-Up :: 08:40-09:00 
250cc :: Warm-Up :: 09:10-09:30 
MotoGP :: Warm-Up :: 09:40-10:05 
125cc :: Race :: 11:00-11:45 
250cc :: Race :: 12:15-13:00 
MotoGP :: Race :: 14:00-15:00

................................................................


(All times local: Sepang = GMT +8)