IN TOUCH MOTORSPORT NEWS ISSUE 11 APRIL ’10 TOMIZAWA WINS FIRST MOTO2 RACE THIS ISSUE: DUNLOP ENTERS MX1-GP DOWNLOAD IMAGE LMS 1000KM CASTELLET COMMERCIALBANK GRAND PRIX OF QATAR Date: 11/04/2010 Track name: Losail International Circuit Track length: 5380 m. Track temp: 26 ° C / Ambient temp: 24 ° C TYRE SPECS FOR THIS RACE Front: B - Medium, Multi-Tread E - Hard Single Tread Rear: D - Medium Hard G - Hard Qualifying had been incredibly close with 14 riders within one second. Toni Elias, still suffering from a testing accident, put his Gresini Racing Moriwaki on pole, just ahead of 2009 125cc champion Julian Simon (RSV), with Stefan Bradl (Suter) and Alex de Angelis (Force GP210) completing the front row. Starting from ninth on the grid of 41 riders, the 19 year old Tomizawa watched as Bradl and De Angelis crashed out together on the first lap, and then worked his way through to the front of the leading pack of Elias, Debon and Cluzel to take the lead on the sixth of 20 laps. By half distance he had a 1.5 second gap which he gradually extended to four and a half at the flag. Debon (FTR) and Cluzel (Suter) filled the other podium places after swopping places throughout the last five laps, whilst Elias held onto fourth despite the injuries he was carrying. “This is a like a dream” said Tomizawa as he celebrated his first ever Grand Prix win “but I could stay here forever because this is very, very nice!” “The first ever Moto2 race bettered all our expectations, said Dunlop’s Jeremy Ferguson. The first 14 on the grid were on the same second and there was less than 20 seconds between the top ten at the finish. Both of the front and rear specs that we brought to Qatar were raced, although the majority opted for the hard front and medium hard rear. Tyres were very consistent over the race, with Tomizawa’s lap times never varying by more than 0.5 second over the 20 laps.” DOWNLOAD IMAGE Next Race: Grand Prix of Japan, Motegi 25th April Shoya Tomizawa - Technomag-CIP Team DOWNLOAD IMAGE DUNLOP AND DORNA BRIEF THE GLOBAL MEDIA ON MOTO2 CHALLENGES Just before the first ever practice session in Moto2, Carmelo Ezpeleta, Dorna CEO, chaired a press conference with Dunlop’s European Marketing Director Sharon Antonaros and ENI’s Paolo Puglisi for the global media. The conference was an opportunity for both Dunlop and Dorna to personally deliver further insight into Moto2 to the attending media. Sharon Antonaros also took time to explain in greater detail the challenges for Dunlop in developing tyres for the all-new race category. With racing firmly rooted in the DNA of the Dunlop brand, Moto2 also represents a test bed for the tyre manufacturer to deliver class leading products to both race and road customers. “As much as racing is part of Dunlop’s DNA, race to road is the way that we develop our tyres. We know that consumers are aware that the tyre a professional racer gets is not the tyre that a consumer can purchase at his local store. However, we know also that racing development influences buying decisions of consumers and this is clearly one of the main reasons why we believe that Moto2 is an all-round story that will work for all us, commercially and technologically.” - Sharon Antonaros From left to right: Sharon Antonaros (Dunlop European Marketing Director) - Carmelo Ezpeleta (Dorna CEO) - Paolo Puglisi (ENI Marketing Wholesale Manager) DUNLOP BACK AT CUTTING EDGE OF MOTOCROSS The ruts, ripples, waves and shifting bumps of Bulgaria and Lombardia (Italy) provided a diverse re-introduction for Dunlop and their GEOMAX MX51 and MX71 profiles in the FIM Motocross World Championship. The first two Grand Prix of the 2010 campaign took place across the fast climbs of Sevlievo and then last weekend through the loose sand of Mantova and saw the factory Martin Honda team embark on their season’s goals. American world championship rookie Jimmy Albertson had a tough debut under the Bulgaria sun but the use of Dunlop’s sand profile inI taly helped the 21 year old with his works CRF450R enjoy a decent run at the front of the premier MX1 class. ‘Albee’ started brightly in the first of two 35 minute and 2 motos last Sunday and held a top seven slot for the majority of the sprint before rising to 6th. A drier and rougher track in Moto2 meant a similar getaway from the gate could not be achieved but still he posted some decent times to finish 13th for 9th overall. “It was a really rough track; I did not think it could get much worse than it did yesterday but when that second moto came around, man, it was beat, really gnarly,” the Missourian said. “I ran Dunlop’s sand ‘scoop’ tyre on the back in the first moto and it worked really well for the start; I rocked it out of the gate and almost had the holeshot. I think I got a bit nervous out there and when I dropped back to seventh my lap-times were terrible but with four laps to go I could raise my speed and was four seconds better each lap. I kept the same tyre for the second start and that perhaps was a mistake because it was much drier and I just couldn’t get the same grip. Overall it was a good weekend and a big step up from last week; that’s what I was looking for. I want to keep on improving from here.” The 2010 FIM Motocross world championship is two rounds into the scheduled fifteen with trips to Holland, Portugal, Spain and the USA to come DOWNLOAD IMAGE before the end of May. Jimmy Albertson - Martin Honda Team DOWNLOAD IMAGE Jeff Goblet - FIM Enduro World Championship rider GOBLET OPENS EWC CAMPAIGN Last weekend a sweaty, stuffy and long Grand Prix of Spain represented an arduous opening to the 2010 Maxxis FIM Enduro World Championship. The Dunlop booted Yamaha WR450F of Belgian Jeff Goblet and the national champion took 14th and 11th positions at Valverde del Camino. Just prior to his trip to southern Europe, Goblet began his quest for a fourth Belgian Championship with victory at a wet Warnant. Over four laps and ten stages the Yamaha ace used the traction afford by his Dunlop Geomax Enduro rubber to negotiate some treacherous conditions and post his first significant triumph of 2010, beating former MX GP victor Cedric Melotte in the process. “I am really happy to win in Warnant especially because I was not sure of my speed compared to my rivals coming here. However I had better times in all the specials and my set-up worked brilliantly.” ZEMKE KICKS OFF 2010 WITH DAYTONA VICTORY National Guard Jordan Suzuki rider Jake Zemke opened the 2010 AMA American just two thousandths of a second. Hayden took the second spot right behind Superbike Championship in style at the Daytona International Speedway on him with Pegram completing the podium in third. March 4th. Having qualified on the second row the start saw Zemke tuck in behind Rockstar Makita Suzuki team-mates Tommy Hayden and Blake Young Good weather for the duration of the race weekend meant straightforward and the battling pair of Michael Jordan Motorsports Suzuki’s Aaron Yates and Dunlop tyre choices for the riders, picking the best rubber to deliver on Daytona’s Foremost Insurance Ducati’s Larry Pegram. The five broke away from the pack, punishing 31 degree banked curves. The race marked the opening of the season with Zemke taking the lead seven laps in which he held until lap 11. He made and Dunlop’s second year of its three year exclusive contract as tyre partner for a last minute dive for the front on the final lap, eventually taking the race win by the race series. DOWNLOAD IMAGE Jake Zemke / Tommy Hayden NEW MOTORCYCLE VIDEOS ONLINE Motorsport and GP Racer D211 Javier Alonso SportSmart/TR91 (Dorna Managing Director) launch event on Dunlop and Moto2 Dunlop race service area tour and Jörg Teuchert Interview tips on looking after your tyres Suzuki World Endurance Racing Team Interview SPORTSMART HITS THE ROAD Dunlop’s exclusive testing facilities at the Mireval circuit near Montpellier were the scene for the launch of the groundbreaking new SportSmart Supersport tyre last month along with the launch of the TR91 big trail bike tyre. Close to 75 journalists and nearly 100 Dunlop dealers from across Europe spent eight days riding in extremes of weather from snow to rain to blazing sunshine, enjoying the unique opportunity to evaluate the new Dunlop rubber against its closest competitors. Present at the SportSmart launch were DEKRA, who independently tested the Dunlop tyre against its competitors, confirming Dunlop’s claim that the tyre delivers greater mileage than its competitors following exhaustive testing. To help the journalists understand the ground breaking abilities of the SportSmart in wet conditions, data experts 2D were on hand at the wet track, datalogging a number of laps by the invited guests. When analysed the subsequent data proved that in most cases the riders were finding up to 7km more in corner speed in the wet on the new tyres and were turning in faster, and with more confidence. The event also saw 2009 IDM German Superbike Champion and Dunlop rider Jörg Teuchert taking to the circuit amongst the journalists and testing out the SportSmart for himself. DOWNLOAD IMAGE DUNLOP MOTO2 MICROSITE VERSION 1.0 Launched in advance of the 2010 Moto2 World Championship season opener at Qatar on April 9, the Moto2 micro site endeavors to inform both press and public about Dunlop’s biggest commitment and challenge in recent years of motorcycle racing.