Italian Grand Prix, Mugello: Bridgestone Race Review
Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo unleashed the strong pace he showed all weekend to win the Italian Grand Prix in dominating fashion ahead of Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa and Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Andrea Dovizioso.
Starting from second on the grid, Lorenzo managed to squeeze his way past pole-sitter Pedrosa on the exit of turn one on the first lap and then set a relentless pace to eventually finish over five seconds ahead of his compatriot at the checkered flag. Pedrosa passed Dovizioso to move up into second place on the fourth lap and despite setting a new race lap record of 1:47.705 on lap ten, the Spaniard couldn’t catch Lorenzo and had to settle for second place ahead of Dovizioso who once again rode brilliantly to score his third successive podium. The first CRT rider across the finish line today was Randy de Puniet on the Power Electronics Aspar ART machine in twelfth place.
Like the rest of the weekend, track conditions for today’s race were good with track temperatures very similar to yesterday’s qualifying session. Fourteen of the twenty riders on the grid selected the harder compound for the rear, with only one rider selecting this compound in the special construction rear slick, while front tyre choice was uniform across the field with all riders selecting the harder front slick.
Lorenzo’s fifth win of the season increases his lead in the championship over Pedrosa to nineteen points at the halfway point of the season, while Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner remains in third position overall and thirty-seven points off Lorenzo.
Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium, Hard. Rear: Medium, Hard* (Asymmetric)
Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Hard (Main), Soft (Alternative)
* The hard compound rear slick tyre was available in both regular and special constructions at Mugello this weekend.
Weather: Dry. Ambient 28-28°C; Track 49-48°C (Bridgestone measurement)
Hiroshi Yamada – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Department
“Congratulations to Jorge and the Yamaha Factory Racing team for capping off an impressive display at Mugello with their fifth win of the season. The race was run at an impressive pace with the winning race time over thirteen seconds faster than last year and in particular, the battle from third to seventh position was a thrill to watch. I would like to offer my thanks to all the teams and riders for their cooperation these past few days and for taking the time to evaluate both specifications of rear slick tyre. The addition of the special construction rear slick to our tyre allocation for this weekend required extra effort from our engineers to ensure teams could incorporate this additional supply of tyres into their programme without too much disruption. Our technical team now turns its focus to tomorrow’s MotoGP test at Mugello where they will support all the teams taking part before heading over to Laguna Seca for the U.S. Grand Prix.”
Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department
“Today’s race was held under very similar conditions to Friday and Saturday and this was the first race weekend since Qatar where rain didn’t interrupt any sessions, so this was a welcome change. As track temperatures for the race were the same as yesterday, most riders selected the harder compound rear slick in the regular construction for the race, and only one rider chose the harder rear slick in the special construction. Front tyre choice was much more straightforward with all riders deciding that the superior durability and stability of the harder front slick was the best choice for the race. This race was quite unique in that we offered three specifications of both front and rear slick tyres, so we had to work closely with teams throughout the weekend to ensure the best choice of tyre for the race conditions we had today.”
Source: Bridgestone Motorsport Press Release
