Simoncelli Given Warning Over Mugello Idiocy

Okay - well in a minor victory for common sense, the FIM has handed Simoncelli a warning over his riding today.
Whether it'll make the slightest bit of difference to someone so unfeasibly ignorant we will have to wait and see, but it's a start...
Here is the wording in full:

"On Sunday 31st May, during the 250cc race, rider Marco Simoncelli (ITA) rode in an irresponsible manner, causing danger to rider Alvaro Bautista (SPA), which is an infringement to the Art. 1.21.2 of the 2009 FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix Regulations. The Race Direction has decided to penalize rider Marco Simoncelli with a warning as to his future conduct, which means any further incident of the same nature this year may result in a suspension and to impose him a fine of USD 5,000.
No appeal has been lodged.
The decision of the Race Direction is final."

Mugello GP: Alvaro, Post-Race Quotes In Full

"It started to rain on the grid, and we had to change bikes. The goal was to get more confidente in the wet, because we hadn't practiced in it all weekend. I saw that I could chase Marco, so I got to work and caught him. I couldn't see anything because of the rain, and decided to pass him then. Later on the corner he touched me and we ran off track, and I lost a lot of ground. I traed again, but then made a mistake in the chicane and lost my chance of the victory. I am happy to have kept on the podium and gone round fast in the wet, but annoyed at the way in which I lost the chance of the win."

Mugello GP - 250cc - Results In Full

Pos | Rider | Bike | Time
1. Mattia Pasini Aprilia 45m38.391s
2. Marco Simoncelli Gilera + 0.117s
3. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia + 1.293s
4. Thomas Luthi Aprilia + 24.557s
5. Hector Barbera Aprilia + 27.014s
6. Hiroshi Aoyama Honda + 30.037s
7. Alex Debon Aprilia + 31.325s
8. Hector Faubel Honda + 35.178s
9. Raffaele De Rosa Honda + 44.856s
10. Roberto Locatelli Gilera + 46.483s
11. Alex Baldolini Aprilia + 49.521s
12. Mike di Meglio Aprilia +1m00.539s
13. Karel Abraham Aprilia +1m23.730s
14. Ratthapark Wilairot Honda +1m25.519s
15. Imre Toth Aprilia +1m30.397s
16. Balazs Nemeth Aprilia + 1 lap
17. Axel Pons Aprilia + 1 lap
18. Bastien Chesaux Honda + 1 lap
19. Valentin Debise Honda + 1 lap
20. Daniel Arcas Aprilia + 3 laps


Retirements:

Shoya Tomizawa Honda 6 laps
Lukas Pesek Aprilia 5 laps
Vladimir Leonov Aprilia 4 laps
Jules Cluzel Aprilia 0 laps

Alvaro Bautista: Post-Qualifying Quotes, Mugello

"The truth is that the times are very close! Things didn't go well this morning and I wasn't comfortable on the bike. I didn't have a good feeling with the front and couldn't brake well or get into the turns as I like. We stiffened the front up a little for the afternoon and it felt like a different bike. I immediately recovered the good feeling I was missing this morning and felt I could do a low 1'52, which I managed. I think we've done a great job and our pace is good.
All of the riders on the front row are going to want to win at all cost, each of us for their own reasons, so it will be tough. I'll try to get a good start and stay with the lead group but I'm sure it's going to be a close battle like Jerez. It is highly satisfying to set pole but the gap between the front three is tight so the important thing tomorrow will be to stay focused."

Alvaro Takes Mugello Pole

Alvaro took pole for tomorrow's Mugello GP in a close-fought qualifying session, where he was happier with his bike's front end setup than during the morning's free practice session.
He shares the fron row with Aoyama, and Dumb & Dumber again - so it'll be interesting to see what happens at the start. Hopefully Bati can get clean away, although his starts have not necessarily been the strongest so far this season.
Nonetheless, we know how he can come good during a race anyway, so let's wait and see...

Suerte Alvaro :-)

Here's the full Qualy roster...

Pos | Rider | Bike | Time
1. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 1m52.804s
2. Marco Simoncelli Gilera 1m52.818s + 0.014
3. Hector Barbera Aprilia 1m52.842s + 0.038
4. Hiroshi Aoyama Honda 1m53.050s + 0.246
5. Alex Debon Aprilia 1m53.573s + 0.769
6. Thomas Luthi Aprilia 1m53.702s + 0.898
7. Ratthapark Wilairot Honda 1m53.811s + 1.007
8. Mattia Pasini Aprilia 1m53.875s + 1.071
9. Raffaele de Rosa Honda 1m53.941s + 1.137
10. Roberto Locatelli Gilera 1m53.988s + 1.184
11. Karel Abraham Aprilia 1m54.052s + 1.248
12. Jules Cluzel Aprilia 1m54.211s + 1.407
13. Hector Faubel Honda 1m54.351s + 1.547
14. Mike di Meglio Aprilia 1m54.363s + 1.559
15. Lukas Pesek Aprilia 1m54.375s + 1.571
16. Shoya Tomizawa Honda 1m54.992s + 2.188
17. Alex Baldolini Aprilia 1m55.461s + 2.657
18. Imre Toth Aprilia 1m56.201s + 3.397
19. Axel Pons Aprilia 1m57.574s + 4.770
20. Valentin Debise Honda 1m57.699s + 4.895
21. Vladimir Leonov Aprilia 1m58.464s + 5.660
22. Balazs Nemeth Aprilia 1m59.132s + 6.328
23. Daniel Arcas Aprilia 1m59.513s + 6.709
24. Bastien Chesaux Honda 1m59.617s + 6.813

Pics Of The Day: Italian GP, Mugello, Friday

Italian GP, Mugello - Alvaro, Friday Quotes

"It is only the first session, but it is obviously always better to be up at the front. I think that we had a good practice, and at the end I was putting in a string of pretty fast laps. The last lap of the session saw me clock my quickest time, without even changing tyres, something that shows that we can go even faster.
The confidence that knowing that we have been working well since preseason means that I can go much faster and concentrate more.
Being the series leader also takes the heat off, but it is still too early to say what will happen on Sunday. In any case, we've started well and I am going to try and win at all cost. My mentality is a winning one, and we want to fight for victory at every race. I love the track, but it is demanding because you have to unlock the secret to three or four parts to go fast."

Alvaro Leads Friday Free Practice

We'll have more details and quotes later, but for now - good news is that a confident and ever-improving Alvaro was top of the timesheets this afternoon. A great start to the weekend....


Pos | Rider | Team | Lap | Time Gap

1 Alvaro BAUTISTA Mapfre Aspar Team 1'53.814
2 Hiroshi AOYAMA Scot Racing Team 250cc 1'54.058 0.244
3 Hector BARBERA Pepe World Team 1'54.272 0.458
4 Alex DEBON Aeropuerto-Castello-Blusens 1'54.374 0.560
5 Raffaele DE ROSA Scot Racing Team 250cc 1'54.584 0.770
6 Karel ABRAHAM Cardion AB Motoracing 1'54.661 0.847
7 Ratthapark WILAIROT Thai Honda PTT SAG 1'54.712 0.898
8 Marco SIMONCELLI Metis Gilera 1'54.845 1.031
9 Mattia PASINI Team Toth Aprilia 1'55.120 1.306
10 Hector FAUBEL Valencia CF - Honda SAG 1'55.442 1.628
11 Thomas LUTHI Emmi - Caffe Latte 1'55.519 1.705
12 Roberto LOCATELLI Metis Gilera 1'55.581 1.767
13 Mike DI MEGLIO Mapfre Aspar Team 250cc 1'55.978 2.164
14 Lukas PESEK Auto Kelly - CP 1'56.104 2.290
15 Jules CLUZEL Matteoni Racing 1'56.299 2.485
16 Alex BALDOLINI WTR San Marino Team 1'56.591 2.777
17 Shoya TOMIZAWA CIP Moto - GP250 1'57.242 3.428
18 Imre TOTH Team Toth Aprilia 1'58.473 4.659
19 Valentin DEBISE CIP Moto - GP250 1'59.652 5.838
20 Axel PONS Pepe World Team 2'01.677 7.863

Out of limit time
8 Bastien CHESAUX SWI Racing Team Germany Honda
56 Vladimir LEONOV RUS Viessmann Kiefer Racing Aprilia
37 Daniel ARCAS SPA Milar - Juegos Lucky Aprilia
11 Balazs NEMETH HUN Balatonring Team Aprilia

Italian GP - Mugello - TV Schedules (UK)

Friday May 29th

Live MotoGP British Eurosport 2, Fri 29 May, 11:40 - 12:45
Live coverage from Mugello of the practice laps in the 125cc class at the Italian MotoGP meeting.

Live MotoGP British Eurosport 2, Fri 29 May, 12:45 - 14:00
Live coverage from Mugello of the practice laps in the MotoGP class at the Italian MotoGP meeting.

Live MotoGP British Eurosport 2, Fri 29 May, 14:00 - 15:00
Live coverage from Mugello of the practice laps in the 250cc class at the Italian MotoGP meeting.


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Saturday May 30th

MotoGP British Eurosport 2, Sat 30 May, 11:15 - 12:00
Coverage of the practice laps for the Italian MotoGP, from Mugello.

Live MotoGP British Eurosport 2, Sat 30 May, 12:00 - 12:45
Live coverage from Mugello of the qualifying in the 125cc class at the Italian MotoGP meeting.

Live MotoGP British Eurosport 2, Sat 30 May, 12:45 - 14:00
Live qualifying action from the Italian MotoGP meeting at Mugello.

Live MotoGP British Eurosport 2, Sat 30 May, 14:00 - 15:00
Live coverage from Mugello of the qualifying in the 250cc class at the Italian MotoGP meeting.

MotoGP British Eurosport 2, Sat 30 May, 18:00 - 19:30
Qualifying action from the Italian MotoGP meeting at Mugello.

MotoGP British Eurosport 2, Sat 30 May, 23:00 - 00:30
Qualifying action from the Italian MotoGP meeting at Mugello.


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Sunday May 31st

MotoGP British Eurosport 2, Sun 31 May, 09:30 - 09:45
Warm-up for the Italian MotoGP at Mugello.

Live MotoGP British Eurosport 2, Sun 31 May, 09:45 - 11:00
Live coverage of the opening race at the Italian MotoGP in Mugello, the 125cc event.

Live MotoGP British Eurosport 2, Sun 31 May, 11:00 - 12:25
Live coverage of the 250cc race at the Italian MotoGP meeting in Mugello.

MotoGP 2009 BBC2 London, Sun 31 May, 12:30 - 14:00
Round 5 - Mugello (Live)

MotoGP British Eurosport 2, Sun 31 May, 14:30 - 15:30
Highlights of all the Grand Prix action from Mugello, Italy.

MotoGP British Eurosport 2, Sun 31 May, 17:15 - 18:15
Highlights of all the Grand Prix action from Mugello, Italy.


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Source: Tioti.com

Alvaro Looks Ahead To Italian GP At Mugello

"Arriving at Mugello on the top of the championship gives us a sense of calm because we know we can run up front and we can work without feeling under pressure. We have a good base set-up, this is a fast and fun track - the kind I like - so I'm hopeful of a good result. In 2007 I won my first 250 race here and I started from pole so that is further evidence that we can run at the front this weekend.
The Italians will be trying to win this one at all cost, especially Simoncelli, who is in good form after his win at Le Mans. My plan is the same as any other race - to work as hard as possible during practice to be in the best possible shape for the race. If the bike is 100 per cent for Sunday we'll be going out to give our best and if possible take the win, and if not we'll take as many points as we can."

Italian GP, Mugello: Race Results - 250cc

Pos | Rider | Bike | Time
1. Marco Simoncelli Gilera 40:19.910
2. Alex Debon Aprilia + 0.499
3. Thomas Luthi Aprilia + 0.712
4. Mika Kallio KTM + 7.403
5. Mattia Pasini Aprilia + 12.542
6. R.Locatelli Gilera + 12.790
7. Karel Abraham Aprilia + 16.114
8. Hiroshi Aoyama KTM + 17.316
9. Aleix Espargaro Aprilia + 19.642
10. R.Wilairot Honda + 19.704
11. Julian Simon KTM + 19.751
12. Alex Baldolini Aprilia + 47.360
13. Eugene Laverty Aprilia + 47.422
14. Fabrizio Lai Gilera +1:13.423
15. Imre Toth Aprilia +1:25.891
16. Russell Gomez Aprilia +1:36.557
17. D.T.Pradita Yamaha +1:48.224


Retirements:

Rider | Bike | Laps
Hector Barbera Aprilia 19
Yuki Takahashi Honda 17
Lukas Pesek Aprilia 9
Hector Faubel Aprilia 9
Manuel Poggiali Gilera 9
Alvaro Bautista Aprilia 6

Italian GP, Mugello - Final Qualifying 250cc

Results in full...

Pos | Rider | Team | Time | Gap | Speed
1 H.BARBERA APRILIA 1'52.675 277.6
2 A.BAUTISTA APRILIA 1'53.447 0.772 276.3
3 M.SIMONCELLI GILERA 1'53.611 0.936 271.9
4 M.KALLIO KTM 1'53.635 0.960 277.1
5 L.PESEK APRILIA 1'53.928 1.253 273.3
6 M.POGGIALI GILERA 1'54.144 1.469 269.5
7 A.DEBON APRILIA 1'54.271 1.596 275.8
8 T.LUTHI APRILIA 1'54.376 1.701 276.2
9 M.PASINI APRILIA 1'54.489 1.814 273.8
10 H.AOYAMA KTM 1'54.516 1.841 271.5
11 Y.TAKAHASHI HONDA 1'54.546 1.871 272.5
12 H.FAUBEL APRILIA 1'54.578 1.903 275.3
13 J.SIMON KTM 1'54.626 1.951 267.5
14 A.ESPARGARO APRILIA 1'54.712 2.037 273.8
15 F.LAI GILERA 1'54.735 2.060 269.5
16 K.ABRAHAM APRILIA 1'54.838 2.163 269.1
17 R.WILAIROT HONDA 1'55.549 2.874 273.5
18 R.LOCATELLI GILERA 1'55.888 3.213 274.0
19 I.TOTH APRILIA 1'56.325 3.650 267.6
20 E.LAVERTY APRILIA 1'56.990 4.315 265.0
21 A.BALDOLINI APRILIA 1'57.305 4.630 268.8
22 R.GOMEZ APRILIA 1'58.069 5.394 260.7
23 D.PRADITA YAMAHA 1'58.731 6.056 262.8

Quote from Alvaro; post-qualifying Italian GP

Position | Rider | Bike | Gap
1. Barbera (Aprilia)
2. Bautista (Aprilia) +0.772secs
3. Simoncelli (Gilera) +0.936secs
4. Kallio (KTM) +0.960secs
5. Pesek (Aprilia) +1.253secs
6. Poggiali (Gilera) +1.469secs
7. Debon (Aprilia) +1.596secs
8. Luthi (Aprilia) +1.701secs
9. Pasini (Aprilia) +1.814secs
10. Aoyama (KTM) +1.841secs

The final qualifying for tomorrow's Italian GP at Mugello was sunny and fine (with the odd bit of cloud - but certainly nothing like yesterday's rotten conditions) so times were a lot faster. And with the 250cc session they just kept tumbling, with Mika Kallio initially leading, then Alvaro Bautista and finally Hector Barbera.
Alhtough Barbera eventualy took his last-minute pole with a dominant 0.772 second advatnage over Bati, it's worth bearing in mind that Alvaro's final fast lap was spoiled by traffic - and he reckoned he was on a real flyer.
Let's hope that he has the pace and settings to take advantage of that tomorrow.

Here's the quote from Alvaro...
2nd Alvaro Bautista: 1.53.447 (20 laps):
"The result is good but I think that if it wasn't for traffic over the final few laps I could have improved my time. I'm satisfied because the rhythm is quite good and if the weather tomorrow is like it was this afternoon then I think we have the set-up to fight for a good result.
I aim for the best possible result in every race and if I can win tomorrow I'll obviously go for it. If not I'll just do my best. It's difficult to escape here because of the long straight, which makes slipstreaming so important, but we have a strong pace. I'll just try to get the best out of the set-up of my Aprilia and try to enjoy riding it!"

Good luck guy - go for it!
Vamos Bati! :)

Italian GP, Mugello - Qualifying 1

Pos | Rider | Team | Time | Laps
1. Mattia Pasini Polaris World 2:05.711 18
2. Marco Simoncelli Metis Gilera 2:06.638 + 0.927 18
3. Hector Barbera Team Toth Aprilia 2:06.707 + 0.996 20
4. Hiroshi Aoyama Red Bull KTM 250 2:07.838 + 2.127 18
5. Alvaro Bautista Mapfre Aspar Team 2:07.876 + 2.165 16
6. Manuel Poggiali Campetella Racing 2:07.911 + 2.200 19
7. Mika Kallio Red Bull KTM 250 2:07.929 + 2.218 17
8. Thomas Luthi Emmi - Caffe Latte 2:08.462 + 2.751 18
9. Karel Abraham Cardion AB Motoracing 2:08.521 + 2.810 18
10. Imre Toth Team Toth Aprilia 2:09.289 + 3.578 18
11. Julian Simon Repsol KTM 250cc 2:09.309 + 3.598 17
12. Lukas Pesek Auto Kelly - CP 2:09.790 + 4.079 16
13. Alex Debon Lotus Aprilia 2:09.963 + 4.252 15
14. Aleix Espargaro Lotus Aprilia 2:10.359 + 4.648 18
15. Yuki Takahashi JiR Team Scot 250 2:10.653 + 4.942 16
16. Fabrizio Lai Campetella Racing 2:11.215 + 5.504 16
17. Alex Baldolini Matteoni Racing 2:11.881 + 6.170 19
18. Hector Faubel Mapfre Aspar Team 2:12.025 + 6.314 18
19. Ratthapark Wilairot Thai Honda PTT SAG 2:12.087 + 6.376 16
20. Roberto Locatelli Metis Gilera 2:12.211 + 6.500 18
21. Eugene Laverty Blusens Aprilia 2:12.914 + 7.203 15

Italian GP, Mugello - Friday

Interesting to note that in his Friday quotes from the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello, Alvaro is swift to apologise for not speaking to the press after Le Mans; to be honest though, who could blame him - he must have been gutted. Anyway - a very sweet gesture to acknowledge this...

Álvaro Bautista: 5th - 2.07.876 (16 laps):
"First of all I want to apologise to the media and acknowledge that I was wrong not to speak with them after the Grand Prix in France. I was disappointed but that's no excuse. Here we've come to work as hard as ever - this morning it was going well and in the afternoon the feeling was good in the wet too. Towards the end of the session I opened the throttle too far and crashed by riding with too much confidence. Luckily I escaped without any serious injury and hopefully I get the chance to improve in dry conditions tomorrow because it looks like it will be a dry race."

Italian GP, Mugello - Event Schedule

Friday May 30th
125cc :: Free Practice 1 :: 09:00-09:45 
MotoGP :: Free Practice 1 :: 10:00-11:00 
250cc :: Free Practice 1 :: 11:15-12:15 
125cc :: Qualifying 1 :: 13:10-13:40 
MotoGP :: Free Practice 2 :: 13:55-14:55 
250cc :: Qualifying 1 :: 15:10-15:55 


Saturday May 31st
125cc :: Free Practice 2 :: 09:00-09:45 
MotoGP :: Free Practice 3 :: 10:00-11:00 
250cc :: Free Practice 2 :: 11:15-12:15 
125cc :: Qualifying 2 :: 13:10-13:40 
MotoGP :: Qualifying 1 :: 13:55-14:55 
250cc :: Qualifying 2 :: 15:10-15:55


Sunday June 1st
125cc :: Warm-Up :: 08:40-09:00 
250cc :: Warm-Up :: 09:10-09:30 
MotoGP :: Warm-Up :: 09:40-10:05 
125cc :: Race 11:00 
250cc :: Race 12:30 
MotoGP :: Race 14:00

Alvaro Bautista Looks Ahead To The Italian Grand Prix

Here’s a quote from Alvaro (filtered via me and Google!) looking ahead to the coming weekend’s Italian GP at Mugello...

“I am ready for Mugello, to see if we are able to work as well as we have been doing so far, but more importantly, to see if we can get a good result, with a happy outcome. Over the past two years I have come first and second in the Italian Grand Prix and I think that is a circuit I am good at. It’s a very fast circuit, with abrupt changes of direction, hard work but fun.
My goal is to work the Aprilia hard over the weekend, and be ready for race day with the best options possible.”

Best of luck Alvaro :)
Enjoy the bike, enjoy the circuit and let’s see you break that bad luck spell again!
Go Bati :)