MotoGP
Bridgestone Qatar GP Friday report
Bridgestone MotoGP
Edited: Apr 10, 2012, 11:40 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Lorenzo fights back to finish on top in Friday practice
Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: Yamaha Motor Racing
On the second day of practice at the Qatar MotoGP, Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo and Monster Tech3 Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow combined forces to lock out the top two positions on the timing sheets.
Utilising the combination of the harder front and softer rear tyre, both Lorenzo and Crutchlow clocked impressive times, with Lorenzo’s time of 1:55.302 good enough to edge out Crutchlow by just over a tenth of a second. Yesterday’s pace-setter Casey Stoner continued to run with the harder rear tyre on his Honda and his FP3 time of 1:55.674 placed the Australian third overall. Randy de Puniet was the quickest CRT rider during Friday practice, with his best lap of 1:58.261 placing him ahead of the BMW-Suter of Colin Edwards by just 0.049 of a second.
With the circuit in better condition than it was for FP1, teams opted out of using the soft front tyre option, instead focusing on getting the best out of the medium and extra-hard front compounds in tandem with using both the medium and hard rear tyres. The asymmetric rear tyres that have been brought to Qatar were well received by riders, with the extra durability afforded by the harder rubber on the right hand shoulder helping to maintain good grip levels on the longer runs.
The riders will be back on track tomorrow for the first MotoGP™ qualifying session of 2012 which starts at 1955 local time (GMT+3).
Shinji Aoki - Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department “Today we saw improved track conditions and this was reflected in the quicker lap times compared to yesterday. Teams were able to take advantage of this to find a good setup with most teams testing softer and harder rear options and the medium and extra-hard front options. All of these compounds worked well and I expect teams will use part of the qualifying session tomorrow to find the front and rear combination that will work best for them during the race.
“I am pleased with how our tyres are performing here at Qatar as conditions here are always variable. Due to the improved warm-up performance of the 2012 specification tyres, riders are feeling confident from the first lap which is of benefit to their safety.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Lorenzo leads the way at Qatar
Next article Ducati Qatar GP Friday report
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Randy de Puniet
Former LCR MotoGP rider joins team in MotoE
MotoE
MotoE
Former LCR MotoGP rider joins team in MotoE
De Puniet becomes KTM tester for rest of 2018
MotoGP
MotoGP
Austrian GP
De Puniet becomes KTM tester for rest of 2018
KTM's MotoGP bike completes Jerez test
MotoGP
MotoGP
KTM's MotoGP bike completes Jerez test
More from
Yamaha Factory Racing
Yamaha may not be competitive immediately in MotoGP's 850cc era, says Pramac
MotoGP
MotoGP
Qatar GP
5 h
Yamaha may not be competitive immediately in MotoGP's 850cc era, says Pramac
With the Qatar MotoGP Grand Prix over, it is time to heal the wounds
MotoGP
MotoGP
Qatar GP
With the Qatar MotoGP Grand Prix over, it is time to heal the wounds
Carlos Ezpeleta: Qatar GP “noise” left MotoGP unnecessarily exposed
MotoGP
MotoGP
Qatar GP
Carlos Ezpeleta: Qatar GP “noise” left MotoGP unnecessarily exposed
Latest news
Retaining Liam Lawson isn't enough – Red Bull must stop treating him like a failure
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 2 h
Retaining Liam Lawson isn't enough – Red Bull must stop treating him like a failure
Yamaha may not be competitive immediately in MotoGP's 850cc era, says Pramac
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Qatar GP
5 h
Yamaha may not be competitive immediately in MotoGP's 850cc era, says Pramac
You Ask The Questions: Jack Miller
MotoGP
Qatar GP
You Ask The Questions: Jack Miller
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe