Honda Motorcycles India have silently announced the prices for the new 2013 colours of the Honda CBR250R on their website. Surprisingly though the website has not been updated with any photographs of the same. Since the 2013 colours were announced internationally much earlier we already know what these look like. For 2013 the 3 new colour options are the Red, Black, White and the Repsol edition. The new models are expected to reach showrooms early July. The prices of the 2013 Honda CBR250R for the new colours are mentioned below and are of-course costlier than the previous generation. Prices are shown for Bangalore city and will vary marginally depending on city.

2013 Honda CBR250R colour and price

• CBR250R Sports Red / Black -STD: 161840 (ex-showroom): 186134 (approx on-road)
• CBR250R Sports Red / Black -ABS: 191356 (ex-showroom): 219920 (approx on-road)
• CBR250R Pearl Sunbeam White -STD 162858 (ex-showroom): 187300 (approx on-road)
• CBR250R Pearl Sunbeam White -ABS: 192373 (ex-showroom): 221085 (approx on-road)
• CBR250R REPSOL -ABS: 198429 (ex-showroom): 228018 (approx on-road)

Apart from the colour updates, mechanically the CBR250R remains the same. There are no change to its specifications. The CBR250R still remains the most practical 250 in the market, combining easy maintenance and usability with performance package that is pretty good for a 250cc single cylinder engine. You can check out a detailed CBR250R review for a complete understanding of its real world performance. Check out more photographs of the 2013 Honda CBR250R below.

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The post Yamaha Ray Z detailed photographs appeared first on IAMABIKER.

Yamaha Ray Z

The Yamaha Ray Z is the Yamaha’s offering for the male crowd in India. The Ray Z is primarily a cosmetic updated Ray, but the entire Ray series also gets couple of minor internal changes along with tweaks to its suspension. Although the Ray was targeted at the women crowd it being a good machine was popular with the male crowd aswell. You can check out the Yamaha Ray review for a detailed look at that, below is our review of the Yamaha Ray Z.

Engine and Performance

Powered by an 113cc engine that produces 7 HP of power and 8.1 Nm of torque, the Ray Z wastes no time to get going. The usual lag that is present in a CVT engine is almost nil. The internal changes that the Ray Z and also the new batches of the Ray will receive include new roller type rocker arms, new low friction oil seals to improve efficiency and a throttle position sensor. Although if you are hopping back on the Ray Z after a spin on the older Ray, these changes are pretty much not apparent, all these minor tweaks are to make the engine more efficient. In the city the Ray Z was a pleasure to ride and like a true Yamaha was always ready to go and did not lose its composure even after a good long session in slow moving traffic. With a pillion onboard the Ray Z was expectedly slower off the mark and the characteristic lag of the CVT engines shows its presence here, although a much better performer than all its similarly specced competitors. After riding in mixed conditions in the city the Ray Z returned a mileage of 43 kmpl, slightly better than what we got in the Ray but then pretty much the same. We expect with a good relaxed riding pattern that figure can go up to 50 kmpl. The top speed we clocked was 80 kmph.

Look and Feel and Build Quality

The Yamaha Ray Z with the new colours and new design elements definitely is a visual step up from the single tone/coloured Ray. To be exact, the new design changes are the two tone graphics with ‘Z’ prominently displayed in either side, a faux carbon fibre finish to the speedometer and the seat, red coloured rear suspension spring, a small front visor and an elongated tail (grab rail). The Ray Z looks like a big scooter but the moment you sit on it you realize it is so very compact, it feels super light and surprisingly has a lot of space. Even with a tall rider onboard there was enough space to accommodate his legs and with a pillion there was still enough place for both to be comfortably seated. The most beautiful design element according to us is the gorgeous looking exhaust, all the style added by that one panel on top. The plastic quality is on par with its competitors and panel’s gelled in together with minimal panel gaps. The usual ‘familiar’ looking switchgear welcome’s you when on board but overall a good job with the build quality. 

Handling and Braking

The Yamaha Ray Z handles brilliantly, its so very well balanced and light that you can just hop on and feel confident and precise in the way you ride. The low weight and easy handling ensures that you are not at all fatigued by riding it around in traffic. Its compact to let you squeeze through traffic with ease and has a very small turning radius making it an absolute pleasure in tight spots. We love the fact that Yamaha have used the telescopic forks at front. This single feature complements the handling so well and makes the ride a very comfortable one. Even if you are pushing the Ray Z quickly around turns it will happily oblige and will feel confident and planted. The braking is handled by drum brakes at both ends and are good enough for a scooter of this capacity. The tyres are the MRF ones and they held up fine all through our test. 

Accessories and Key features

Yamaha have kept the Ray Z simple, all that is needed is present and all the extra’s have taken a miss. One key thing that we would have liked to see on the Ray Z is the rear brake lock, being a gearless it does come in handy in a lot of situations. The Ray misses on some extra features that the competition provides to add that extra value. The instrument console is pretty basic and has all the standard meters. The seat is grippy and comfortable, the underseat storage is good only for a half faced helmet. There is some space upfront below the handle to keep stuff, but we reckon things would just pop out from here on our bumpy roads. The mirrors are maybe the only thing on the Ray Z that we were not happy with, could have done with a wider view. The traditional hook is present at the front for holding on to those bags. The rear pillion grab rail is big and easy to hold on to and it is ever so easy to put it on main/centre stand. Headlights are pretty good while we wish it had a better spread it had an above average throw.

Value for Money

The Yamaha Ray Z costs about Rs 1,750/- more than the Ray, not a huge difference. What you get for this extra price is a more sporty looking scooter that we feel will appeal to both the sexes. The new colours available are the red that you see here, a white and a black one with similar graphics. Like we said earlier the Ray Z is just looks big while actually being a compact easy to handle scooter. The fuel efficiency is good and spares are cheap. Its pricing is almost similar to its competitors and where the Yamaha Ray Z has the advantage is in the fact that it looks the more fun and energetic. Yes, it does miss out on some of the special features that other manufacturers throw in, but the Yamaha compensates for those in pure riding pleasure. 

Final Verdict

The Yamaha Ray Z is probably the best handling scooter in India. It combines the expected good handling from a Yamaha while keeping things simple and sticking to the basics, a good engine, decent build quality, good value for money and overall a good looking design. Do we wish this ‘male’ oriented Yamaha scooter had more juice with at least a 125cc engine? Yes! But looks like that will have to wait, but this package, we feel will in fact make the Yamaha Ray Z appealing to both the sexes and even across a wider age group.

Motorcycle Courtesy:

Test Riders

Sudeep

Avin

Anoop

Ashwin

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We knew it was coming, and last week we pretty much had the date and now we have an official confirmation. The 2013 KTM Duke 390 will be launched in India on 25th June at Pune. The Duke 390 will be the second KTM to go on sale in India and is a whole lot similar to the 200 except for the bigger engine, the colour scheme, ABS and the Metzeler tyres. The Duke 390 which produces a 44HP with a kerb weight (fully loaded with fuel and oil) of just over 150 kgs has a power to weight ratio that makes it do a 5 something second 0 – 100 and a top whack of about 165kmph. Those figures make it a very powerful package for India and with an expected price in the area of 2.2 lakhs it will be an awesome value for money package as well.

Although the bike is visually similar to the Duke 200, it is just not simply a Duke 200 engine with a bigger bore and stroke. Infact almost all of the engine internals are different so that it can handle all that power with reliability. The most distinguishing factor externally is the orange frame and of course the new sticker job. The ABS on this makes a whole lot of sense and is much welcome and it can also be turned off when not needed. We pretty much already know everything about this new Duke 390 everything on paper that is and all that is remaining is a full fledged Duke 390 review IAMABIKER style, which will shortly follow after the launch which of course we will be covering as well. Check out the KTM Duke 390 specifications below.

2013 KTM Duke 390 specifications

• Design: Single-cylinder, 4-stroke, spark-ignition engine, liquid-cooled
• Displacement: 373.2 cm³
• Bore: 89 mm
• Stroke: 60 mm
• Performance: 32 kW (44 hp)
• Starting aid: Electric starter
• Transmission: 6-speed, claw shifted
• Engine lubrication: Forced oil lubrication with 1 rotor pump
• Primary gear ratio: 30:80
• Secondary gear ratio: 14:45
• Cooling system: Liquid cooling system, continuous circulation of cooling liquid with water pump
• Clutch: Clutch in oil bath / mechanically operated
• Ignition system: Contactless, controlled, fully electronic ignition system with digital ignition timing adjustment
• Frame: Tubular space frame made from chrome molybdenum steel, powder-coated
• Fork: WP Suspension Up Side Down
• Shock absorber: WP Suspension Monoshock
• Suspension travel: Front 150 mm
• Suspension travel: Rear 150 mm
• Brake system: Front Disc brake with four-pot brake caliper
• Brake system: Rear Disc brake with one-pot brake caliper, floating brake discs
• Brake discs – diameter front 300 mm
• Brake discs – diameter rear 230 mm
• Chain: 5/8 x 1/4” (520) X-Ring
• Steering head: angle 65°
• Wheelbasese: 1,367±15 mm
• Ground clearance (unloaded): 170 mm
• Seat height (unloaded): 800 mm
• Total fuel tank capacity: approx. 11 l
• Unleaded premium fuel (95 RON)
• Weight without fuel approx. 139 kg

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Suzuki at the pre testing press conference in Catalunya has confirmed that they will be returning to MotoGP, but only in 2015. After two years since suspension of operations in 2012, Suzuki Motor Corporation has now organised its test team to undergo a more practical running test of its prototype motorcycle the Suzuki XRH-1 which is at an advanced development stage and has participated in the official joint testing at the Catalunya circuit in Spain.

Suzuki Motor Corporation will take feedback from the advanced technology used at this stage to develop further attractive production models. The outline of testing team and racing machine to be developed are as follows.

• Team manager: Davide Brivio
• Development rider: Randy De Puniet

The delay in entry is rumoured to be due to a lack of financial support from Dorna in 2014. In 2015 though depending on the performance of the team, Suzuki could be entitled to financial support, travel allowances and even free tires from Bridgestone. They seem to be oncourse for this and if the testing times are anything to go by, they already have a very competitive bike being just + 0.772 seconds from the best lap time set by Jorge Lorenzo.

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A MotoGP race day which came, happened and went away without much happening, at least from a racing fan’s, seeking thrilling overtakes/maneuvers, perspective. And now we can progress and look forward to the next race. The whole weekend however was not uninteresting at all.

It was almost a perfect weekend for a race event, sunny, dry, clear skies with no virtually no wind, although the temperatures were at the high side; the air temperature was pleasant with 25 degrees but the track temperatures were sweltering hot, going up to 57 degrees celsius in the qualifying session.

The Moto3 weekend started with one top rider less in the form of Jonas Folger, who was the pole position holder in the last race, pulling out of the weekend because of a broken wrist caused due to a motocross accident. Free Practice Sessions were topped in turn by Luis Salom, Isaac Vinales (elder cousin of Maverick Vinales) and Alex Rins. But the pole position in the qualifying was captured by Luis Salom. This was Salom’s second pole of the season after Qatar. The front row was completed by Alex Rins and Mahindra’s Miguel Oliveira, his second front row start of the season.

Race was always exciting with 7 riders, Efren Vazquez, Jack Miller, Alex Rins, Miguel Oliveira, Alex Marquez, Maverick Vinales and Luis Salom, competing for the top place and behind them there was even a bigger group competing for 8th place with riders even from 15th place in the hunt. Riders swapping positions was as they as “blink and you will miss”.

Race start saw Luis Salom and Alex Rins leading the first corner and soon joined by other riders and from them on it was the same group until the latter half of the race when the Mahindra riders and Jack Miller could not keep up the pace with the superior KTMs and it was a group 4 riders Vinales, Rins, Marquez and Salom. All this while when riders were swapping places, Salom kept his head in the race and waiting patiently, not involving in the overtaking, strategizing, always trying to save something for the end. With just 6 laps to go Salom finally decided that this was the right time to take over the race and he did it in a spectacular fashion at end of the home straight where he would take the lead passing all the three riders in front of him. And he absolutely timed the move beautifully. None of the other riders were able to match his pace even though Maverick Vinales tried hard by recording a fastest lap of the weekend but that was not enough. In the end Luis Salom took the win Rins behind and Vinales completing the podium. This was a back to back win for Salom after Mugello and just like last time he strategized the race perfectly and probably this was his best race of his career so far. He has won three out of six races this year and has taken the top position in the points table as well with a 5 points gap from Maverick Vinales. Alex Rins is sitting at 3rd place with 22 points difference. It will be really interesting to see the championship chase for Moto3.

Team Mahindra had a good day with both their riders competing in the leading group for more than half of the race and Oliveira and Vazquez taking 6th and 5th place respectively. This year their bikes have leaped forward in terms of development and both riders, especially Oliveira, is involved with the top guys regularly at least till now. The team has even got attention of the other teams in the paddock as well and they want to use their bikes for the next season! That’s really good news that an Indian company is seen competitive and given respect in the highest racing championship though still a lot is need to compete with the mighty KTM’s moto3. Their alliance with Suter is paying off well, Suter is the company that supplies bike chassis in Moto3, Moto2 and to the MotoGP CRT bikes as well.

Other riders worth mentioning were Malaysian rider Fahmi Khairuddin who started from 16th and finished at 9th place and similarly Italian talented rider Romano Fenati started from 22nd position finishing the race at 15th.

Moto2 race was a homeboy spectacle, Pol Espargaro stamped his authority over the Catalunya circuit in an authoritative way topping every session except for FP3 session and taking the pole position as well. He was joined by Esteve Rabat and Marc VDS rider, Scott Redding at the front row. Japanese rider Takaaki Nakagami was off the front row for the first time in the season. He grabbed 4th position in qualifying with Alex De Angelis and Johann Zarco. What was surprising was Nico Terol’s qualifying, he could not record even a 20th fastest timing. Thomas Luthi who too missed previous races due to his shoulder injury was back in form, he had topped the FP3 session on Saturday but he could only qualify only 10th fastest. When the lights went out it was Pol led the first corner. Luthi made a great start and by first corner he was just behind Espargaro but went off track and rejoined at 3rd behind Rabat. Redding had a bad start and went backwards. Apart from the early incidence the race was virtually decided with Espargaro giving the lead to Rabat for some time, only to take back the lead and that was it, Pol won the race with Rabat at second place and Luthi at third. Redding finished the race with a lonely 4th, he just didn’t have the race pace to challenge the win and probably settled with 4th place instead of trying too hard only to crash out or wear out the tyre too much that he gave many more positions. Redding still leads the points table with a 35 points gap from Pol Espargaro who climbed several spots with this win also helped by Nico Terol’s non scorer result and also a not so good result from Mika Kallio. Still a lot of work required from Pol Espargaro if wants to get back in the championship hunt. His effort has gotten even more difficult because of the fact that his teammate, Rabat, is also performing well, challenging Pol for the wins and also just behind him in the points table.

If you thought Moto2 race boring, MotoGP race would be superlative of that. Well the qualifying wasn’t that boring thanks to Dani Pedrosa’s scorching lap clocking the fastest ever lap of Catalunya circuit on a motorcycle and also shattering Casey Stoner’s long standing lap record, since 2008, by three tenths of a second. And if you are a Rossi you would have had the pleasure of The Doctor topping the charts in a session for the first time this season. It was a pleasant, frankly a surprise as well after his disastrous seasons with Ducati, to see him topping the Free Practice session 2 on Friday, a lap which was already under the race lap record. Rossi is yet to master the new qualifying rules and eventually he could only go 7th fastest and hence the third row start yet again for the legend. Rossi often states that whenever he is on the track for Q2 trying to get a fast lap, the other riders, who are in front of him, drop their speed so that they can tail him and get a tow. Rossi is trying everything to go faster in qualifying and hopefully he will in coming races. Defending champion Jorge Lorenzo also did not have a great qualifying, as soon as he went out in Q2, his bike started having a clutch problem and he had to return to pits without even recording a lap in the time sheets and also had to take his “B” bike, his second bike. Lorenzo could only register third fastest by the end of Q2. Second place in the front row was taken by Tech 3 Yamaha Rider Cal Crutchlow once again showing his brute talent. Marc Marquez grabbed 6th place followed by Nicky Hayden and Alvaro Bautista.

Lights out and for a change we saw Lorenzo getting the holeshot instead of our pocket rocket Dani Pedrosa and Lorenzo led the first corner. Marquez also made a good start and was just behind Dani at 3rd. Bautista, who in the last race at Mugello collided with Rossi crashed, was again trying too hard and on lap 3 he lost his front and almost took out Rossi yet again but luckily not the case this time. The higher track temperatures as we mentioned started playing an important part. Lap 6 Cal Crutchlow lost his front and crashed out of the race, stating post race that the tyres and the track was too greasy for the bike, with an almost full fuel tank, to stop and turn. He was not the only to crash out of retire from the race, Nicky Hayden, Michael Laverty, Lukas Pesek, Karel Abraham, Randy De Puniet, Andrea Iannone all either crashed out or retired from the race. The Bridgestone tyres were not holding up well in the hot greasy Catalunya track surface.

There was absolutely no overtaking going on the track except for a couple of them happening between Tech3′s Bradley Smith and Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso way back for 6th place. By lap 19 Lorenzo had put the Hammer (or Mortillo in Spanish) down and started building up the gap and soon he was 1 second ahead of Dani Pedrosa. All race long Marquez had been towing behind Dani and in the last laps he did try to overtake him. But with some brilliant defense from Dani, Marquez could not do so. Penultimate lap Marquez tried one more time and almost crashed due to a tank slapper. He lost around half a second and astonishingly he was again at pace and on Dani’s rear tyre only to be again denied a pass through. Despite Dani having front tyre problems he was able to fend off attacks from his teammate which was mighty impressive. Lorenzo ultimately took the win which was his back to back win from Mugello and back to back wins at this circuit as well after winning here in 2012 as well. Dani took second and Marquez third. Valentino Rossi finished the race at a lonely 4th place and was not able to match up the pace of the front runners. He still needs to find some more pace in his M1 so that he can keep up with those three. Bradl finished 5th with Bradley Smith at 6th and Dovi seventh. Follow the link to check out post race rider quotes and the race results.

Lorenzo’s win has cut short his gap in points table to 7 points to Dani Pedrosa. After qualifying it was looking like an all Dani race but yet again Lorenzo turned the tables around. There is a looming danger as well and that is the number of engines Yamaha has used up compared to Honda with one engine each Rossi and Lorenzo decommissioned. Both Lorenzo and Rossi have taken their fourth out of total 5 engines allowed. The same situation is with Tech 3 as well where Cal Crutchlow is also on his 4th engine. On the other hand both Honda factory riders are still using their first and second engines. This was 6th race of the season and Yamaha riders will have to survive the remaining season with 3 used and 1 unused engine and it will be a start from the pit-lane should they decide go over the quota of engines. This will have an impact at the later point of the season but this is what the teams will have to deal with. Hopefully we do not get to a point where the championship is decided because of this. Roll on to Assen in two weeks time.

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LML (Lohia Machinery Limited) has relaunched its 110cc motorcycle the LML Freedom 110. The launch is however not an all India one. The motorcycle will initially reach dealers in Delhi and then focus will be on Punjab, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Once known for its iconic scooters in association with Vespa, LML has not been doing well in India, and currently almost all its revenue comes in from exports. Following this launch will be more launches in the coming months which will include 2 news scooters called  the LML NV and the LML Star Automatic. Further on LML plans to get into the 125 and 150cc market. The company will also take the initiative to enter the 150cc and above scooter segment.

The relaunched LML Freedom 110 has the same engine and changes are mostly cosmetic updates to make it more in tune with the current market demands. Alloy wheels, better looking colour schemes and more colour options that now include blue, black, beige, silver and red. Other features include side stand with a gear lock, electric start, silencer with a chrome guard and a console with power / economy indicator lights. Check out the LML Freedom 110 specifications below. The old LML Freedom 110 used to return a real world mileage of about 65kmpl when ridden sanely and since its the same engine expect the same. The LML Freedom 110 will be available in two variants the DX and LX versions with ex-showroom prices ranging from Rs 49,410/- and Rs 49,950/- in Delhi.

LML Freedom 110 specifications, mileage, colours and cost

• Engine: 4 Stroke, Single Cylinder, Air Cooled
• Cubic Capacity: 109.15cc
• Max. Power: 8.5 BHP @ 7550RPM
• Gear Box: 4 Speed
• Ignition: CDI
• Front Brakes: Drum
• Rear Brakes: Drum
• Front Tyre: 2.75 X 18
• Rear Tyre: 3.00 X 18
• Wheelbase: 1235mm
• Ground Clearance: 165mm
• Dry Weight: 111 Kg
• Tank Capacity: 12.25 Litres
• Colour options: Blue, Black, Beige, Silver and Red
• Expected mileage: 65kmpl
• Cost: Rs 49,410/- and Rs 49,950/ Ex-showroom Delhi

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Jorge Lorenzo

“A perfect day, to be honest I didn’t expect to win, I knew I had some chance but not like in Mugello where I was more convinced we could get the victory. It was really difficult physically as it was the hottest race of the year. I kept pushing 100% all race because any mistake would have been a disaster. I was surprised at the start as I expected to just pass Cal but I passed Dani also. I took profit from it and tried to open the gap but it was not enough to go away, Dani was there and we played some games, I was 0.5 ahead then 0.2; I was going then he was recovering me. Finally because I was tough mentally and never gave up I could open in the last five laps a little gap that was enough to win. The girl who designed my helmet, Anna Vives, is famous in Spain; she is a symbol that people with Down syndrome are capable of a lot more than some people think. I think it was very original and colourful so I was very proud and happy to have her on the podium to share the win with me.”

Dani Pedrosa

“Today was a bit of a strange race. We could not get maximum performance and physically it was very hard, because of the heat of the bike and the tyres. When I tried to open the throttle the bike wobbled in the front and I had to be very careful. We three frontrunners were battling the track conditions today. It was a bit disappointing not to be able to push more, since the differences between us all was minimal.

We rode practically the entire race without any overtaking. It was very easy to make a mistake and in fact, on the closing laps, Marc [Marquez] made one and I had a slide, but in the end we were able to take a very important second place. We expected to do better after yesterday, but we now have an extra twenty points and we continue to lead the standings.”

Marc Marquez

“It was a difficult race. We expected it to be tough, but we never imagined that we would be fighting for the podium with Jorge [Lorenzo] and Dani [Pedrosa] and I’m very happy with this result! It gives us confidence after a slightly tricky weekend, as in the end we found the ideal setup. During the race I learned a lot from riding behind Dani, trying to figure out how to ride a MotoGP bike at this track, and in the end we did quite well. We knew it would be difficult to finish in the top five, but we managed to get on the podium. I can only say I’m thrilled with the result. Now we look to Assen and we’ll see if we can improve anything for that race during the test at Aragon.”

Valentino Rossi

“We wanted to try and arrive on the podium, but anyway it was quite a good race. Race by race, apart form the unlucky times, especially like Mugello, we grow up and I am able to ride the bike in a better way. We still have some challenges, especially in the first part of the race where I still don’t have the right setting to push to the maximum. After some laps my pace was not so bad and we were not so far from the top guys. We did a good job and we will now go for two days of testing where we will try to improve further. We don’t give up, we will make another step and we will not be so far from the front.”

Stefan Bradl

“Honestly we thought it would have been tough to get such a good result so we are very happy about this P5. It has been a very tough race in these hot conditions and I had to be very clever to save the tyres in every single lap. Some riders crashed in the first part of the race so I decided to be less aggressive in the beginning. I am quite satisfied about my performance because I was capable to adapt to these difficult conditions. This strategy gave me a lot of confidence and a big gap to the guys behind me. Tomorrow we will back on track for a half-day test here and then 2-day testing in Aragon”.

Michele Pirro

“Unfortunately, in order to avoid Hernandez on the first lap, I was forced to go long in a corner and run off the track. Then I took a long time to get through the gravel because of the anti-spin, and by the time I got back on track, I couldn’t see anyone—I thought maybe the race was finished! At that point, I gave it everything I had to recover as many positions as possible. I tried switching maps to see if it would reduce the pumping, but I wasn’t able to reduce the gap as much as I wanted. I hoped to catch Dovi, but then I realized that the tyre was losing a lot and I had to settle for tenth place. We didn’t change much compared to Mugello, as we didn’t have enough time, but due to the worse pumping and grip we found all this weekend, this is how it went. On one hand I’m happy to have had the opportunity to ride here because we were able to see this bike’s limits, but on the other hand I’m disappointed because I hoped to have a better result. We’ll see how things go in tomorrow’s test, and then at Assen, although I still don’t know which bike I’ll ride.”

Andrea Dovizioso

“We knew it was going to be difficult on this track, due to the layout and the bike’s pumping, but it was worse than we thought. I really didn’t think I’d do such slow lap times, but with the heat, the performance became worse and worse every lap as we lost grip. It’s just more confirmation that we’re still a long way back, and that we have a lot more work to do.”

Nicky Hayden

“It’s such a disappointment because until the crash, it had been my best weekend of the year so far. I got a pretty good jump on the start, but some guys overtook me going to turn one. I had to make a few passes, but once I got into fifth I thought I had the grip to do a solid race. Unfortunately, I went into a corner a bit deep, stayed on the brake too long, and went down. It was my fault, especially with the track being so hot and greasy, and I apologize to the team because they had given me a bike that was working pretty well. There’s nothing to do but take it on the chin and try to shake it off.”

Bradley Smith

“Obviously today was a much more positive result for me, even if sixth position looks a bit better than it really is. But at the end you have to finish the race to score the points and I did that in difficult conditions while not at my 100% physical best. So it is a great result for the team and me. I really focused on the first eight laps trying not to make any mistakes and trying to stay as close to Dovizioso and (Stefan) Bradl because I knew they should have been more or less on the same race pace as me. I tried to attack Espargaro as quick as possible so I didn’t lose too much time and I managed that. Finally to be in a fight with Andrea towards the closing laps of the race, knowing that he has been always very strong during this part of the race, was obviously something special and makes me feel proud. And to finish 32 seconds behind the winner is another great step and I just want to continue like this until the summer break. My team did a fantastic job to help me on the YZR-M1 and we really turned around a difficult Friday to have a great result on Sunday and that makes me really happy.”

Cal Crutchlow

“Obviously I am disappointed that a great weekend ended with a crash and I have to hold my hands up and say it was a stupid mistake on my part. Like last season and again in the first few races of 2013, I have been struggling to stop the bike in the early laps with a full fuel load. I was giving it my all to stay in the battle with the top three and unfortunately I hit the kerb on the inside and crashed. It was a silly mistake and I am sorry to the team because I am confident I could have stayed in the fight for the podium right to the end. We have got to understand why we don’t have so much grip at the start of the race but I can take some big positives out of the weekend again. I was on the front row, I was fastest in the warm-up and I was battling for the podium in the race. Now we can go to Assen confident that I will have good speed and be in the rostrum fight again.”

Alvaro Bautista

“It is such a shame. We have had a great weekend and this was the last thing we needed. After the start I felt like the guys in front of me were holding me up and in an effort to stay with the lead group I tried to get past them and I crashed. Maybe with a hard tyre on the front I could have been a bit more careful but I was worried about losing touch and I went for it. In hindsight it would have been better to wait but in racing these things happen. I feel sorry for the team because they have done a great job here and I want to apologise to all the guys, who are giving 100% and deserve a different result. Now we just have to look forward to the next race and try to stay calm.”

Bryan Staring

“I have scored my first World Championship points today but I am still not particularly happy because I would have liked to do it more on the front foot. It wasn’t an easy race because of the conditions and I was able to improve my pace from qualifying so that’s good but I’m still not happy to be honest. Anyway, we have to take the positives and try to learn from this experience in the future.”

MotoGP Catalunya 2013 Results

• 1. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Yamaha Factory Racing 43’06.479
• 2. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team + 1.763
• 3. Marc Marquez (SPA) Repsol Honda Team + 1.826
• 4. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha Factory Racing + 5.874
• 5. Stefan Bradl (GER) LCR Honda MotoGP + 26.756
• 6. Bradley Smith (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech3 + 32.228
• 7. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Ducati Team + 32.692
• 8. Aleix Espargaro (SPA) Power Electronics Aspar + 58.615
• 9. Colin Edwards (USA) NGM Mobile Forward Racing + 1’03.142
• 10. Michele Pirro (ITA) Ignite Pramac Racing + 1’09.774
• 11. Danilo Petrucci (ITA) Came Iodaracing Project + 1’24.377
• 12. Claudio Corti (ITA) NGM Mobile Forward Racing + 1’33.679
• 13. Yonny Hernandez (COL) Paul Bird Motorsport + 1’45.355
• 14. Bryan Staring (AUS) Go&Fun Honda Gresini + 1’50.745
• 15. Javier Del Amor (SPA) Avintia Blusens After 1 laps
• 16. Lukas Pesek (CZE) Came IodaRacing Project After 1 laps
• 17. Hector Barbera (SPA) Avintia Blusens Not classified (10 laps)
• 18. Karel Abraham (CZE) Cardion AB Motoracing Not classified (15 laps)
• 19. Cal Crutchlow (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech3 Not classified (20 laps)
• 20. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Team Not classified (20 laps)
• 21. Andrea Iannone (ITA) Pramac Racing Team Not classified (21 laps)
• 22. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Power Electronics Aspar Not classified (24 laps)
• 23. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Go&Fun Honda Gresini Not classified (25 laps)
• 24. Michael Laverty (GBR) Paul Bird Motorsport Not classified (25 laps)

The post MotoGP 2013 Catalunya results and rider quotes appeared first on IAMABIKER.

Dani Pedrosa set a new pole position record in qualifying, the Repsol Honda rider setting a remarkable lap time of 1’40.893 to claim the first slot on the grid for tomorrow’s Catalan Grand Prix. He broke a record held by Casey Stoner since 2008, en route to pole position for his home round. The new marker time for the track gave Pedrosa his second consecutive start from the front of the grid. Repsol Honda teammate Marc Marquez will take off from the second row, in sixth place. He also set a new record on Saturday, with the fastest ever top speed of 342.4km/h at the Circuit de Catalunya. That bested a feat held by Alex Barros since 2004. Pedrosa’s storming lap saw him qualify more than six-tenths of a second ahead of his nearest rival, the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 M1 of Cal Crutchlow whose best time of 1’41.608 placed him in second position. Rounding out the front row of the grid in third place and 0.065 seconds adrift of Crutchlow was Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo. Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaro was the best CRT qualifier, his time of 1’42.878 placing him twelfth overall.

Jorge Lorenzo continued his unbroken run as the only rider to consistently start from the front row this season, taking third on the grid for tomorrow’s Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya. The reigning world champion had only the last minutes of the brief qualifying heat to record a best time after a clutch issue forced him to pit shortly after the session started. Despite the setback he was able to salvage a front row start in third with a 1’41.566 after completing just seven laps. Lorenzo was able to walk away uninjured from a crash in the morning’s third free practice after losing the front at turn five. Conditions were even hotter than yesterday with track temperatures hitting up to 57 degrees over the afternoon.

Cal Crutchlow stormed to his second front row of 2013 in scorching heat at the Circuit de Catalunya this afternoon, the British rider continuing his hot streak of form to qualify as the fastest Yamaha rider ahead of the sixth round of the MotoGP World Championship. The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team rider saved his best for last with a blistering lap of 1.41.501 on his eighth and final lap moving him ahead of reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo to secure second position on the grid for tomorrow’s 25-lap race.

Crutchlow delivered an ice cool performance to challenge for a ninth career front row right from the start of the 15-minute QP2. The 27-year-old was immediately inside the top three and he never looked like missing out on his front row start since the opening round in Qatar, his quickest lap making him the fastest Yamaha rider by 0.065s ahead of home crowd hero Lorenzo.

Having been the fastest rider yesterday Valentino Rossi continued his competitive pace into the third free practice this morning, ending in fourth but just 0.156 seconds from first. Having mastered race pace the nine-time champion turned to qualifying, allowing most of the field to leave the pits before venturing out to find some clean track. Using the harder front and soft rear tyre option he delivered a best time of 1’41.959 to take seventh on the third row of the grid, less than four tenths from his team mate Lorenzo on the front row.

It was a positive day for Hayden, who was the second-quickest rider in the morning session, then backed it up with his best qualifying session of the year thus far. The American had also set the circuit top-speed record in free practice aboard his Desmosedici GP13, although the mark was subsequently eclipsed by Marc Marquez in the afternoon. Meanwhile, Dovizioso improved his pace from yesterday, but had back luck in qualifying and didn’t manage to put together a good lap. He’ll share tomorrow’s all-Italian third row with Valentino Rossi and Andrea Iannone.

Andrea Iannone and his team had a busy qualifying day today, taking part in every MotoGP session, but by day’s end they had earned the eighth spot on the starting grid—their best of the season so far.

The FP4 session had gone well, with some positive changes being found ahead of Q1, helping the Italian to make the third row for tomorrow. There are still some aspects to work on, and no decision has yet been made regarding which tyre to use in the race, although with today’s high temperatures—30° air and 52° asphalt—Andrea preferred the soft option.

Yesterday’s hot weather intensified today with track temperatures soaring to 58°C in QP1. Many riders took to task in the free practice sessions to evaluate both options of rear slick, and amongst the works riders the consensus is that despite the extremely high track temperatures, the superior edge grip of the softer rear slick has the better overall performance at this circuit which features prolonged periods at high lean angles. With many fast and flowing corners, the harder front slick is preferred due to its more stable feel.

Dani Pedrosa

“I am very happy, because we put in a great lap and took a great qualifying time. It was a fantastic pole position for me. We also broke the circuit record and were able to do so in front of the home fans. I am also happy about improving our race pace, as this is the most important thing. We hope to put on a good show tomorrow and take full advantage of the front row start.”

Marc Marquez

“I am fairly happy and satisfied, because we achieved our objective of getting onto either the first or second row. In the morning I felt more comfortable, with the track temperatures lower than in the afternoon. When they rose sharply, we had more problems. Despite this, I think that we have done a good job. We will try to test out a few things in the warm up tomorrow and see if we can gain a little more confidence when the track is hotter.”

Jorge Lorenzo

“I’m very disappointed because today we had a problem with the clutch in a crucial moment and this lap time was the best I could do. I also had not so much confidence on the front to make a perfect lap. We hope for race distance we can remain constant and fight for the win. We will need to be strong and concentrate for the whole race; we don’t know what can happen in the 20th lap.”

Alvaro Bautista

“We have to be happy today because we are really close to the front row of the grid tomorrow. I felt good as soon as we put the soft tyres on in qualifying this afternoon and I was able to push the bike with conviction. We have done different tests to weigh up our options in terms of tyre choice for tomorrow, which I think will be the biggest problem for everybody. This afternoon we went back to the setting from yesterday because I didn’t feel confident with the front forks we used in the last free practice. Tomorrow will be a tough race but our starting position is good and I need to make the most of it if I want to run at the front. Tyre management will be crucial to the result and we will do our best with it.”

Valentino Rossi

“We worked hard today; it’s not so bad but unfortunately we are not able to start from a better position on the grid. We tried everything but I still don’t have the maximum feeling to improve a bit more. The race tomorrow is going to be very interesting because of the tyre choice and the rhythm. There are four or five riders who are very fast and very constant so we hope to do a good start and good first laps to stay with the top guys and check our performance.”

Nicky Hayden

“Dani [Pedrosa] had a spectacular pole lap, but the front row wasn’t out of the question for me today. That would’ve been nice, but this is still my best qualifying position of the year so far. The bike is working pretty well when we have new tyres, but as soon as we lose a little bit of edge grip, it starts pumping. It was okay for qualifying, but we’ll have to try something tomorrow morning to see if we can make the tyre last longer. We know it won’t be an easy race, but hopefully we can put up a good fight and have some fun.”

Andrea Dovizioso

“It’s a shame about the qualifying session. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do a perfect lap, and starting from the third row won’t be easy. That’s too bad because Barcelona is one of the nicest tracks to ride when you have a perfect lap, but I’m mainly disappointed that our spot on the grid will make it difficult for us tomorrow. My first exit was good, and I knew that if I could put all the sectors together, I could lower my time by three or four tenths. Then on my first lap with the second tyre, the bike closed the front in turn four. I almost fell and had to abort the lap in order to save the tyre. We’ve improved a lot from yesterday—more with pace than on a fast lap—but it will certainly be a very difficult race as we’ll all be struggling when the tyres wear. It will be important to make up some positions at the start, as anything can happen in the race.”

Andrea Iannone

“I’m happy with today. We made it to Q2, and I did some good laps by myself, which is positive for tomorrow. The pace stayed high, and it may be the first weekend that we’ve really managed to ride hard, improve the bike, and understand the direction to take. I felt quite good today despite some problems that we still have—difficulty in slowing the bike for corner entry, for example—but we know that these are our limits at the moment. In order to remedy the problem, we probably won’t be able to use an ideal setting, as we’ll have to opt for better rear grip in order to decrease the sliding. We certainly won’t solve that for tomorrow, but together with Ducati, we’re preparing for the next GPs. Anyway, we’re improving little by little, and every day I understand better how to continue our work. I’m still not sure which tyre to use in the race. Today we worked mainly on getting the most from the soft tyre. We changed some things that gave positive feedback, and we’ll make our decision after analyzing the data to compare the pace in the different sessions, although I’m currently more inclined to use the soft. The guys did a great job, and now we have to stay strong in order to be fast in the race.”

Michele Pirro

“Unfortunately we were unable to get the best out of the bike’s potential and I struggled a bit but maybe it’s because it’s the first time we’ve had such high temperatures since the start of the championship. This morning we were one second off the best time but the gap widened considerably in the afternoon. So I’d say that as well as the not easy track, the lack of grip and the track temperatures also play an important role. The bike continues to move around a lot and tends to ‘pump’ at the rear and everything becomes even more difficult if the grip drops. As for the set-up we tried to use the one we found at Mugello but once again the results weren’t really positive. It’s strange how things change from one track to another and even from this morning. I had been going quite well and I thought we could have made more progress if we’d worked on the set-up a bit more. The only thing left now is to choose the best set-up for tomorrow and decide what tyre to use; for sure the soft one is better due to the pumping problem because when it kicks in it doesn’t stop until the bike straightens up again. Now we’ll just have to try our best and see what we can do to get a good result in the race.”

MotoGP Catalunya 2013 qualifying times

• FRONT ROW
• 1. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1’40.893
• 2. Cal Crutchlow (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech3 1’41.501
• 3. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Yamaha Factory Racing 1’41.566
• SECOND ROW
• 4. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Go&Fun Honda Gresini 1’41.714
• 5. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Team 1’41.800
• 6. Marc Marquez (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1’41.842
• THIRD ROW
• 7. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha Factory Racing 1’41.959
• 8. Andrea Iannone (ITA) Pramac Racing Team 1’41.963
• 9. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Ducati Team 1’42.053
• FOURTH ROW
• 10. Stefan Bradl (GER) LCR Honda MotoGP 1’42.090
• 11. Bradley Smith (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech3 1’42.548
• 12. Aleix Espargaro (SPA) Power Electronics Aspar 1’42.878
• FIFTH ROW
• 13. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Power Electronics Aspar 1’43.186
• 14. Michele Pirro (ITA) Ignite Pramac Racing 1’43.330
• 15. Hector Barbera (SPA) Avintia Blusens 1’43.659
• SIXTH ROW
• 16. Colin Edwards (USA) NGM Mobile Forward Racing 1’43.983
• 17. Karel Abraham (CZE) Cardion AB Motoracing 1’44.362
• 18. Danilo Petrucci (ITA) Came Iodaracing Project 1’44.369
• SEVENTH ROW
• 19. Claudio Corti (ITA) NGM Mobile Forward Racing 1’44.603
• 20. Michael Laverty (GBR) Paul Bird Motorsport 1’44.630
• 21. Yonny Hernandez (COL) Paul Bird Motorsport 1’44.913
• EIGHTH ROW
• 22. Bryan Staring (AUS) Go&Fun Honda Gresini 1’45.441
• 23. Lukas Pesek (CZE) Came IodaRacing Project 1’46.302
• 24. Javier Del Amor (SPA) Avintia Blusens 1’48.952

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