Yellow Flag - Silverstone 2011

This week on Yellow Flag we analyze the ins and outs of the Silverstone race:

– In 125cc:

It was the last of the three races, but despite this it was not a race to take a nap in. It was an elimination race, where every corner and every puddle could be a trap for the riders.

Right from the start, Nico Terol took the lead with a spectacular getaway, but seeing the state of the track and keeping in mind what had happened in the previous races, he decided to run a conservative race, finishing eighth. Nico managed the race very intelligently, and it is that this young man has the world title firmly in his sights.

During the first half of the race, the battle between Terol, Viñales and Faubel, constantly swapping positions and making some overtakes at the limit, allowed those in front, Zarco and Folger, to build up a certain gap, which would allow them to fight for the victory.

Zarco followed the strategy of riding lap after lap behind Folger, studying him so that when the moment came he could attack him where he felt most comfortable. So, when there were 11 laps left to the end, Zarco launched himself and passed Folger, managing to open a certain gap between the two, but a scare made him lose position 3 laps from the end and he could no longer regain control of the race, with Folger achieving a very special victory in the water. Héctor Faubel completed the podium despite having the worst set-up of the entire season.

It is important to highlight the role of Adrián Martín, who achieved a commendable 6th place (the best of his life). Efrén, who fought and fought, had a couple of scares and finished in 5th position, and Luis Salom in 4th added some very important points.

– Moto2:

As it was a wet race and Moto2, we all had our hearts in our mouths at the start, but thanks to the escape route at the first corner at Silverstone, it was passed without any crashes.

At the start, where Marc Márquez held his pole position, Aleix Espargaró got as far as fourth, but neither of them would have a good race.

Marc’s bike had to be repaired in record time after the crash suffered during the warm-up. Almost all the parts were new (engine, chassis, suspensions), and this resulted in a bike in which Marc did not feel comfortable. In this type of race it is very difficult to hold on for 18 laps, fast, in the wet, with riders passing you on all sides and trying to gain positions. Finally, this rider’s eagerness to go fast made him fall, and despite picking the bike up he had to retire.

As for Aleix, he did not feel well all weekend; only during qualifying did he manage a good performance, and he finished very disappointed with his position, although he already warned that wet races were not his thing, and knowing his character, he is surely already thinking about Assen.

During the early stages, Redding, Bradl, Krummenacher, Sofuoglu and Cluzel formed the leading group. Redding was riding very strongly and only Bradl could follow him, until the arrival of Pasini in a comeback from 22nd place, which is quite admirable given the conditions the track was in. Upon reaching the lead, he wanted to keep his pace and pull away, which led him to push too hard; with the consequent excessive degradation of the tyres, he suffered a crash while braking, losing the front end to aquaplaning.

Bradl, who showed intelligence matching his riding style, managed to win the race by always staying in front, never forcing it, letting those faster than him burn themselves out and trusting in his own pace.

A truly great race from Bradley Smith, who starting 28th crossed the finish line in second place. Also a very good race from Tito Rabat, who, despite having hand problems at the previous GP, is the most consistent of the Spaniards, always being among the top 10.

We really missed Julián Simón, for whom the whole plusmoto team has a special affection, and we want to see him on track as soon as possible.

– MotoGP:

Steel brakes, as in the old days, rain tyres; in the premier class we have several things to analyze and several readings, as was seen at Jerez, where the tyres were going to be a crucial issue:

We’ll start by talking about Valentino Rossi, who finished sixth in the race, but more because of the crashes that occurred than his own pace. A good performance from him was expected due to the water he had repeatedly mentioned, that the Ducati was going very well in these conditions. In my opinion they have been testing things all weekend, because in every session of the weekend: practice, qualifying, warm-up, Hayden was always well ahead of him.

In the Yamaha team they were left without official representation, as both Ben Spies and Jorge Lorenzo crashed during the race. Jorge’s crash, a highside, was due to excessive push, wanting to go for the race since he knows that it will probably be harder for him to be in the fight at other circuits. Silverstone is a circuit of linked corners, and above all medium-speed corners, where in the dry Jorge would have had a lot to say. The Yamaha team is looking to improve its engines, increasing their power, but they are encountering problems with the relationship with the chassis, as it does not behave the same way with this more powerful engine. Above all, you can see how he has lost the stability under braking that was so characteristic of him.

There was controversy in the Toni Elías team, where it is said he was given an ultimatum. Following this, Toni decided to take the team on his own shoulders and lead the set-up above the opinions of the technicians; it seems he was not wrong, as he achieved his best result of the season, even finishing ahead of Aoyama, with a bike identical to his. We will have to see how this issue continues in a normal race, that is, in the dry.

Barberá, with set-up problems, finished 11th, and as he commented, it was very soft at the front suspension, dropping very quickly. Likewise, the plusmoto team noticed a detail: Barberá had some kind of loose cable at the front, possibly a brake line, although confirmation is not yet available.

One of the winners of this race was Álvaro Bautista, equalling his best MotoGP position in what was a very difficult race; let’s hope he keeps it up and we can see him at his best. Another of these winners is Colin Edwards, who had undergone collarbone surgery a week earlier and managed to finish third, adding one more podium to his career.

It was a shame not to see Cal Crutchlow, who had shown that he was really fast at home; we are convinced that had he been able to race in the conditions there were, he could have played a role on a par with his teammate.

Stoner, who benefited from the battle between Lorenzo and Dovizioso, was not without problems, as he commented that during the first 6 laps he could not see anything through his visor. Once he got rid of this problem he began to impose his pace.

We are eager for the next race to arrive already, and you?

Source | Plusmoto