Check out MotoGP™ Legend Randy Mamola’s things to look out for this weekend at the Catalan GP as MotoGP™ surpasses the halfway stage in 2020
It’s time for you to delve into Randy Mamola’s key points for the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya. The MotoGP™ Legend and 13-time Grand Prix winner talks you through some of the talking points ahead of Saturday and Sunday’s track action, as the premier class surpass the halfway stage of a mouth-watering 2020 season.
1. A September Catalan GP – very different conditions to normal
“Barcelona is a completely different racetrack to Misano, it’s a much faster track, much faster and flowing. A lot of riders love Barcelona and obviously the fans do too. Its fantastic. The Ducatis, KTMs, obviously the bikes that have top speed should be doing very well there. It’s quite unusual because we talk about Yamaha not having that much speed, but yet they have won four races this year. KTM have won two, and Ducati have won one so it’s quite funny to see one of those things.
“It’s a different time of year for the Catalan GP. Normally it takes place in June time where we can almost guarantee it to be very hot. I live in the region so it’s definitely not a guarantee for sunshine at this time of year. In fact, last week for WorldSBK they had some big rainstorms so well have to wait and see what happens for the weather this weekend. Another thing for the Montmelo circuit is grip levels, they seem to change very quickly depending on the track temperatures so therefore it will be interesting to watch who gets the best grip out of the Michelin rear tyre, especially in this race so that’s what we’ll be looking for.”
2. Rookies on the rise
“Binder, Lecuona and Alex Marquez, these are our rookies and they are getting stronger. We already know how strong Brad Binder is because he managed to win a race in Brno this year as a rookie and it was his first time on the podium too. Not bad. He looked really strong in the last Misano but unfortunately, he fell off but he was strong enough for a podium I believe.
“When we talk about Lecuona and Marquez, both of them had strong weekends. Alex Marquez had a great finish to the double-header in Misano because he finished in seventh place. The thing you have to commend him for is he finished in seventh, less than one second behind Nakagami, who is riding on a LCR Honda bike, and everybody praises Naka so you have to get give that praise to Alex Marquez as well because he is in a tough situation too and I’m sure he is getting a lot of pointers from his brother Marc. Will Lecuona and Alex Marquez be able to continue their speed in Barcelona?”
3. Four points, four riders – a stunning title race
“Four points separating the top four riders: Dovizioso, Quartararo, Viñales and Mir. The top 10 in the Championship is also incredible, separated by just 27 points. Just to give you an example: after the fifth Grand Prix which was the Styrian GP, Viñales was 22 points behind. Now he sits one point behind Dovizioso. Then Mir, who’s four points off Dovi, was 26 points behind at the Styrian GP, so in two races they clawed back a lot of points – 22 to be exact for Mir, and that’s how quickly things can turn around.
“Pol Espargaro is in 10th place, 27 points off and Rossi is just ahead of him in 9th – in between there’s Oliveira, Nakagami, Miller, Morbidelli and the three behind Dovi. Let me know your comments and let me know what you think about what’s going on in this Championship!”
Don’t forget to tune into MotoGP™ FP3 at 09:55 (GMT+2) on Saturday morning as the Q1 and automatic Q2 places will be decided!
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No one could beat Lowes or Marini though, the Brit and Italian sit P1 and P2 heading into Saturday’s action despite finishing P10 and P14 in FP2 respectively. Schrötter’s solid performance in the second session of the weekend sees him rise to P3 from P12, Di Giannantonio leapfrogs Tetsuta Nagashima (Red Bull KTM Ajo) in the combined standings to move up to 4th, the Japanese rider demoted to P5. Behind Nagashima sits Aron Canet (Inde Aspar Team Moto2) and Marco Bezzecchi (SKY Racing Team VR46) – none of these riders improving their FP1 times – with Vierge jumping ahead of compatriots Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Augusto Fernandez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) in the top 10.
In the early stages of FP2, a lot of riders were able to go quicker than their FP1 lap times. Morbidelli, Binder and Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) all rose into the top four to slot in behind FP1 pacesetter Quartararo, with Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP duo Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi also improving their times. Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) then went up to P4 on the combined times to shove Championship leader Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) down to P6 from P2 in FP1, the Italian, Quartararo, third in FP1 Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) the only riders inside the top 10 not going faster in the first 15 minutes of the second 45-minute stint of the weekend.
Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) remained fastest at the close of Day 1 of the Monster Energy Catalan Grand Prix thanks to his lap in FP1 on Friday morning, however, the Spaniard’s advantage was halved after Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) topped FP2 despite a tumble. Last week’s victor Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) takes the final spot inside the top three, four tenths adrift of Fernandez who was the only man to dip beneath the 1:49 barrier.
Class rookie Aron Canet (Inde Aspar Team Moto2) made a good start to his weekend by finishing fourth in FP1, the Spaniard was just 0.007 off Nagashima, with fellow Speed Up rider Fabio Di Giannantonio (HDR Heidrun Speed Up) also having a positive start to the Catalan GP – P5 for the Italian. The top 14 were within a second in FP1 and with Lowes half a second faster than Nagashima in P3, that means half a second covers P3 to P14 – it’s close again in the Moto2™ class.
Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) led the way in MotoGP™ FP1 at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya by nearly half a second, thanks to a 1:40.431. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) finished P2 on Friday morning, the Championship leader 0.430 off as the top four in the title race occupied the top four positions as proceedings kicked off in Barcelona – Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) finishing P3 and P4 respectively.
Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Raul Fernandez has now taken top spot in the last three Moto3™ FP1 sessions after being the only man to dip beneath the 1:49 barrier in Friday morning’s opening session to the Monster Energy Catalan Grand Prix. The Spaniard was nearly four tenths clear of last week’s race winner, Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team), with fellow Italian Tony Arbolino (Rivacold Snipers Team) a further tenth back in third.
Starting on Friday September the 25th, you will have the opportunity to purchase three different reusable MotoGP™ face coverings from the Official Store: black, camouflage (blue and yellow) and a black and red one. Each, of course, complies with the regulations for fabric masks and are composed of three protective layers.
“In the end for sure we are working and we trying to improve, but the Honda has the potential that only you need to know. Where you take that potential, how to manage that potential and it’s a bike that really difficult to take all the profit from the bike. So for sure all bikes have weak points, Honda has a weak point like all manufacturers but I think in the end this year, with small changes like Andrea (Dovizioso) says, small details make the difference because all the bikes are working really good in a different way, in different points of the tracks but all the bikes are so competitive. The Honda has the potential, the only thing we need is to understand a bit more, to take the profit of the potential and I’m sure we can be fast from now until the end of the season.”
It was a difficult week for Ducati, with Dovi’s underwhelming race form since his Austrian GP masterclass, Pecco Bagnaia’s (Pramac Racing) heartbreaking crash in the second GP in Misano which cost him a maiden premier class victory, Jack Miller’s (Pramac Racing) early retirement due to a freak incident involving Quartararo’s visor tear-off and Danilo Petrucci’s (Ducati Team) inconsistency on race day – all compounding a below-par return in Round 7. However, with the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya next up on the list, it provides a fresh set of challenges and headaches for teams and riders, but more importantly, an opportunity for Ducati.
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