IN TOUCH MOTORSPORT NEWS ISSUE 13 SEPTEMBER ’10 DUNLOP TAKE VICTORY AT 74TH BOL D’OR THIS ISSUE: BMW AND DUNLOP PERFORM AT SPA CIV SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP UPDATE TOP TEN EUROPEATHISN TRACK ISSUE: DAYS REVEALED DUNLOP ENTERS MX1-GP DOWNLOAD IMAGE CZECH REP. GP BRNO MOTO2 Date: 15/08/2010 Track name: Brno Track length: 5403 m. Track temp: 30 ° C / Ambient temp: 24 ° C Spectators: 148,120 TYRE SPECS FOR THIS RACE Front: C - Medium, Single-Tread E - Hard, Single Tread Rear: C - Medium F - Medium Asymmetric Brno in the Czech Republic traditionally opens the second half of the MotoGP Season and the 5.4 km circuit with its dramatic changes of elevation poses severe strain on tyres, the downhill sections demanding very hard front compounds. The weekend saw changeable weather with the Sunday morning warm-up sessions and the 125cc race run on wet tyres whilst the track was almost fully dry for the Moto2 race. Technomag CIP’s Shoya Tomizawa prevented Fimmco Speed Up rider Andrea Iannone from making it four pole position in a row, claiming the premium grid position with a qualifying time of 2’03.452. Iannone took the second grid position posting a time 0.232 seconds behind Tomizawa, followed by current championship leader Gresini Moriwaki’s Toni Elias (+0.289) and Roberto Rolfo on the Italtrans Suter bike (+0.342). The race started badly for Iannone with him immediately back to 10th position, whilst Tomizawa stayed at the front of the leading pack for the first 3 laps, before engine problems caused him to slow and drop down the order. Lap 6 saw Iannone return to the race lead which he managed to extend whilst the chasing pack which was headed by Rolfo until he was forced to retire with an engine problem 8 laps before the finish. Toni Elias managed to pick away at Iannone’s lead once he broke free of the chasing group, consistently running in the 2’04s, before taking the lead on lap 12. Iannone then struggled to hold on to second position, as Tech3’s Yuki Takahashi posted consistent fast laps, finally taking Iannone on the 18th lap to ensure his second podium of the season just 2.312 seconds behind Elias. Iannone completed the Podium with Jules Cluzel on the Forward Racing bike finishing in fourth followed by Mapfre Aspar’s Julian Simon. The result means that Elias extends his lead in the championship to 55pts on 161pts. “I felt I had a good rhythm to lap in 2.04 throughout the race,” said Tony Elias, “and once I got my head down, I could retain this pace, setting the fastest lap on L16 of the 20 lap race.” “It’s quite apparent that riders are picking up on the benefits of the asymmetric tyre, as most comments from the weekend were about the improved left hand grip and faster heat up time that it gave” commented Clinton Howe, Dunlop Race Engineer. “This was also apparent in the cooler and damp conditions that were witnessed.” DOWNLOAD IMAGE REDBULL INDIANAPOLIS GP MOTO2 Date: 29/08/2010 Track name: Indianapolis Motor Speedway Track length: 4195 m. Track temp: 52 ° C / Ambient temp: 34 ° C Spectators: 62,794 TYRE SPECS FOR THIS RACE Front: C - Medium, Single Tread E - Hard, Single Tread Rear: C - Medium D - Medium Hard Indianapolis is like no other circuit on the MotoGP calendar. A mixture of the oval, the F1 circuit built in 1999 and the complex specifically built for MotoGP in 2007. This means three different surfaces, with different grip levels and some really bumpy corners. Mapfre Aspar’s Julian Simon claimed his first pole position of the season with a 1’46.139. Marc VDS team mates Hector Faubel and Scott Redding achieved their first front row starts in second and third respectively alongside Simone Corsi (JIR – Motobi) in fourth with a time of 1’46.334. Championship leader Toni Elias Qualified in sixth, whilst his closest rival Andrea Iannone, lined up in 26th due to a crash early on in the session. The race started with immediate incident as eight riders crashed out, in two separate incidents, in turn 2. The red flags were raised and the grid was reformed for a shortened 17lap race. Toni Elias immediately took command of the lead after the restart, as Simon and Redding joined him and broke away from the chasing pack. Simon took the lead on lap five and held off Elias until the ex MotoGP rider retook the lead on lap 12 and brought home the win. Scott Redding completed a successful weekend with his first podium of the year crossing the line in third 3.822 seconds behind Simon. Andrea Iannone climbed from 25th to fourth after his Qualifying crash, whilst Simone Corsi crossed the line just behind him having started from the back of the grid for the shortened race. Toni Elias now leads the championship with 186pts, ahead of Iannone (119pts) with Thomas Luthi in joint fourth with Simon, on 108pts. Toni Elias quote: “I have been suffering from fever all week, and was not sure I could race in this heat. I tried to save what little energy I had for the last five laps. Tyres were again consistent, and the fact that I set my fastest lap of the race on the last one confirms this”. “Both specs of front and rear performed well, with consistent lap times in high track temperatures” commented John Higgins, Dunlop Engineer. “70% of competitors opted for the harder front choice, whilst 60% chose the harder of the two rears. All four slick tyre choices were represented on the podium.” DOWNLOAD IMAGE SAN MARINO GP MISANO MOTO2 Date: 05/09/2010 Track name: Misano Track length: 4226 m. Track temp: 37 ° C / Ambient temp: 26 ° C Spectators: 50,918 TYRE SPECS FOR THIS RACE Front: A - Soft, Multi-Tread E - Hard, Single-Tread Rear: C - Medium D - Medium Hard Gresini Racing’s Toni Elias stepped up in qualifying to take only his second pole position start of the 2010 season at the Misano circuit at San Marino, the first being at the opening round of the championship at Qatar in April. Elias beat young British Marc VDS Racing Team rider Scott Redding to pole by a mere 0.044 seconds, Redding taking his second consecutive front row start after Indianapolis. Mapfre Aspar’s Julian Simon secured third with Forward Racing Team’s Jules Cluzel completing the front row. Sunday’s Moto2 race was overshadowed by Shoya Tomizawa’s crash on L12, in which he was hit by both Scott Redding and Alex de Angelis. Tomizawa was treated at the circuit and then transferred to nearby Riccione hospital, but later succumbed to his injuries. Pole position starter Elias went on to take the chequered flag, scoring is sixth race win of the season and extending his championship lead to 83 points. Front row starter Simon held on to take second place on the podium, moving into second in the championship in the process and Interwetten Moriwaki’s Thomas Luthi completing the podium in third, his fifth podium of the season after an impressive ride from 15th on the grid. DOWNLOAD IMAGE DUNLOP VICTORIOUS AT 74TH BOL D’OR WITH SUZUKI DOWNLOAD IMAGE The 74th Bol d’Or 24HR Endurance the Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone were favourable for the weekend’s “It’s been a very satisfying weekend Race on the 11th & 12th September team from the early hours of Sunday endurance racing, the remaining for us and our partners,” said at Magny Cours in France saw morning, increasing to the 14 lap practice and qualifying sessions Dunlop Motorsport Manager Steve Dunlop take the win for the second lead at the finish line. were run in dry conditions and the Male. “We experienced no problems year in succession, providing the race itself was also dry. This made with our tyres in practice, qualifying winning tyres to enable the Suzuki The victory puts the team second tyre choice easier for the teams and and the race itself. Our teams were Endurance Racing team to take the in the championship standings with Dunlop engineers. A team of eight consistently fast in every session chequered flag some 14 laps ahead 65 points, trailing the leaders by tyre fitters, one logistics controller, resulting with us in the end winning of their closest rivals. nine points. This position is five track managers and one the race for the second year in especially impressive considering manager worked continuously succession! It was rewarding to see Riders Freddy Foray, Guillaume they have entered just two of the through the 38 hours of the race nearly half the field choosing our Dietrich and Vincent Philippe had a four rounds of the 2010 period plus 32 hours of practice. tyres for this incredibly tough event, relatively trouble free 24Hr run, championship so far. 2,500 Dunlop tyres were taken to the trackside team worked Starting from a second row grid the race event to be used by an incredibly hard throughout to ensure position after qualifying second the Barring some rain at the start of the impressive 22 of the 55 motorcycles all our racing customers had exactly team built a comfortable lead over first practice session the conditions on the grid. what they needed.” 1st August saw Team BMW Motorsport score third and fourth place finishes at the Spa-Francorchamps 24-hour race. The gruelling BITTER SWEET SUCCESS FOR BMW AND endurance race had started strongly for both the number 79 BMW M3 GT2 car of Dirk Werner, Dirk Muller and Dirk Adorf and the number 78 BMW M3 GT2 of Jorg Muller, Uwe Alzen and Pedro DUNLOP AT SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS Lamy.