2015 Indianapolis MotoGP FP2 Result: Lorenzo Edges Marquez In Very Tight Session

Submitted by David Emmett on

Jorge Lorenzo has ended the day as the fastest man in MotoGP, after a tense battle with Marc Marquez over FP2. All throughout the session, Marquez and Lorenzo swapped places at the top of the timesheets, with occasional interruption from the factory Ducati riders. Marquez seemed to get the upper hand at the end, but Lorenzo first matched his time exactly, then went on to better it. But not by much: at the end, the difference was just three thousandths of a second.

Andrea Dovizioso took 3rd spot behind Marquez, leading his teammate Andrea Iannone but a hundredth of a second, and CWM LCR Honda by three hundredths of a second. Pol Espargaro put in a strong lap to grab 6th, but a couple of laps later he went on to have a massive highside, from which he was lucky to walk away, albeit very gingerly. Dani Pedrosa took 7th spot, the Repsol Honda rider ending the day just ahead of Scott Redding on the Marc VDS Honda, who was in turn only marginally quicker than Bradley Smith on the second Tech 3 Yamaha.

Valentino Rossi struggled to find some pace, the championship leader lingering mid table for much of the session. A late push put him into the top 10, but he was lucky to hold on to 10th at the end. The margins are small, however: Rossi is just two thirds of a second slower than his teammate, and less than two tenths slower than Pol Espargaro in 6th.

Results:

Pos No. Rider Bike Time Diff Diff Previous
1 99 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1'32.860    
2 93 Marc Marquez Honda 1'32.863 0.003 0.003
3 4 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 1'33.155 0.295 0.292
4 29 Andrea Iannone Ducati 1'33.166 0.306 0.011
5 35 Cal Crutchlow Honda 1'33.186 0.326 0.020
6 44 Pol Espargaro Yamaha 1'33.362 0.502 0.176
7 26 Dani Pedrosa Honda 1'33.377 0.517 0.015
8 45 Scott Redding Honda 1'33.443 0.583 0.066
9 38 Bradley Smith Yamaha 1'33.474 0.614 0.031
10 46 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1'33.532 0.672 0.058
11 9 Danilo Petrucci Ducati 1'33.763 0.903 0.231
12 68 Yonny Hernandez Ducati 1'33.934 1.074 0.171
13 25 Maverick Viñales Suzuki 1'33.973 1.113 0.039
14 8 Hector Barbera Ducati 1'34.083 1.223 0.110
15 41 Aleix Espargaro Suzuki 1'34.139 1.279 0.056
16 69 Nicky Hayden Honda 1'34.397 1.537 0.258
17 63 Mike Di Meglio Ducati 1'34.459 1.599 0.062
18 43 Jack Miller Honda 1'34.731 1.871 0.272
19 50 Eugene Laverty Honda 1'34.923 2.063 0.192
20 6 Stefan Bradl Aprilia 1'34.935 2.075 0.012
21 15 Alex De Angelis ART 1'35.185 2.325 0.250
22 19 Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 1'35.284 2.424 0.099
23 24 Toni Elias Honda 1'36.336 3.476 1.052

 

Round Number: 
10
2015
MotoGP
Indianapolis, USA
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Comments

cgates66 replied on

Rossi goes slower in each of his first three runs again! 4th run apparently saw a different tire. This is a very unusual strategy:

Run 1: ~34.2
Run 2: ~34.5
Run 3: slower, but not enough laps to say
Run 4: medium tires

Carl O replied on

Stefan Bradl seems to have gotten comfortable in a hurry. I hope he continues to make big jumps in pace from session to session.

Sttrain replied on

Which ones do we have this weekend? Looks like Jorge's favorites....

Grayfox1 replied on
Site Supporter

I was wondering David if you, or anyone els could elaborate a little why some riders struggle year to year finding bike setup for the weekend.

I was listing to the interred with Rossi after FP2 and he was saying that he's having issues with the "front feeling" and the balance for the change of direction. Of corse I know the bike is different compared to last year. Different chassis, different tires and a million little things i'm sure are different but does that really all add up to over a second of time lost?

Honestly I feel stupid asking but I'm just struggling a little with getting my head around the whole thing. I feel on the one hand that manufacturers don't tend to make radical changes to the bikes year to year and on the other hand setup for the bike (totally going out on a limb here) on each circuit given the layout and surface is the same must be somewhere in the ball park of what it was last year right??

• Are these riders just that sensitive? But i thought a good rider could ride around problems?
• Are the differences in the bike and tires each year so different that you have to start from scratch?
• Is there a method to the madness that I just don't understand like a methodical approach to bike setup that just takes time?
• Ect...
• Ect...

In any case id really love any one who knows more about this to help me out.

:-( Feeling stupid...

Motoshrink replied on
Site Supporter

Don't feel stupid, it's tricky! Imagine how puzzled they feel in the garage when they have the data and settings from last year with the same rider, use that set up and can't get good results. Tough!

I will toss in an idea. The bikes are very sensitive to set up. The riders are sensitive to set up. They are working in a range of performance that is hard to get from 98% to 99%. The level is so high there that they are looking to squeeze out a really small improvement via set up changes, that is the task at hand, so it sounds dramatic.

The track surface is different year to year both in temperature and character of the tarmac. The tires for the season have changed fairly significantly. And the bike is not the same bike. It isn't. The rider is not feeling the same as they did a year ago in condition. The rider has even changed their style some. One could order these and a few other considerations roughly in relevance. But it isn't one thing.

Sorry if this isn't specific enough, just a fan and ex club racer. And psychotherapist, so hope you sleep well, remember how amazing it is to be here as this human experience, and enjoy the race with your keen interest.
:)