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Category: Moto GP
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Packed final day of racing brings curtain down on successful first event
Over the past three days, classic racing fans have enjoyed thrilling racing from the biggest collection of former racing heroes ever assembled who between them have over 300 grand prix wins.
Wayne Gardner, Freddie Spencer and Kevin Schwantz each took to the top step of the podium in three headlining 500cc races at World GP Bike Legends at Jerez Circuit, Spain. The encounters, which also saw the likes of Christian Sarron, Didier de Radiguès José Cardoso, Phil Read and Steve Parrish battling it out for position, were the tip of the entertainment iceberg, as legends also raced in 125c and 250cc classes, plus there was supporting action from the International Classic Grand Prix series.
With Gardner winning the first race on Saturday, it was the turn of ‘Fast Freddie’ to take glory in the second battle aboard a Yamaha YZR 500 ahead of Schwantz and Radiguès. In the final contest, Schwantz grabbed the early lead but was caught and passed by Spencer. Undeterred, the pair swapped positions several times before Schwantz eventually made the move stick to the delight of the Spanish fans at the circuit.
In the supporting 250cc/350cc, Manuel ‘Champi’ Herreros and Jorge ‘Aspar’ Martinez both scored popular podium finishes, while the supporting ICGP races were both won by Ian Simpson.
Away from the track action, World GP Bike Legends has been full of fun, with trial shows taking place throughout the weekend, two spectacular stunt riding shows, plus displays of classic racing bikes and contemporary machines. Friday and Saturday nights were filled with live music from some amazing acts, with renowned tribute bands The ZZ Tops and QueenMania on Friday and James Toseland and Bonnie Tyler closing proceedings on Saturday with two brilliant performances.
With the success of this inaugural event, discussions are already underway to begin planning for the next chapter of World GP Bike Legends history.
Freddie Spencer said: “This event is all about what we’ve been experiencing outside with the public. It’s the passion and the emotion that gets generated – I’ve been around motorcycles my whole life, and it has given me so many things – and the look on people’s faces is what it’s all about. I saw a couple of young guys in the paddock and they said ‘thank you so much for doing this and allowing us to see you live’, and that’s what it’s all about. For us it’s also brilliant to be back on the 500s, I've been riding a bike I was actually racing against back in the ‘80s! It’s the beginning of this connection between us guys up here, the collectors who have given us the opportunity to ride, and the fans who have come along to see us. I’m truly looking forward to where this is going in the future.”
Wayne Gardner said: “My perspective of the event has been overwhelmingly successful. I saw the look in people’s eyes and heard all the cheering when I won yesterday which was so cool. It brought back a lot of memories and it’s my third GP victory at Jerez! To ride with all your friends is such a pleasure. Today I was riding around the outside of Christian and I had total confidence and it was a great feeling. These motorcycles are still so thrilling, and of course we’ve got it all filmed on TV and hopefully the documentary will help us grow further. There’s already negotiations for events in other countries so the future is very bright. I think this event will springboard the interest in it and will make it easier for us to fill the grids in the future. I applaud Nick Wigley and the team at Goose for coming up with such a great concept.”
José Cardoso said: “For me it has been a great weekend. I’m so happy to be here and to be with such heroes of grand prix racing – it’s a great pleasure. I’m a local rider and it feels so good – the people who come love to be near to us and the bikes, a lot of them have never had that opportunity and that’s the most important thing about the weekend.
Steve Parrish said: “It’s great to be back with the old motorcycles and remember how they were in the old days. Unfortunately I’d like to apologize to Steve Wheatman because I managed to break one of his today – it’s been very kind of him to lend them to me and I was able to go out on a different bike which was really enjoyable as I managed to finish the races today! To be out there with colleagues from the past, the fumes and the camaraderie that goes on as well as to go right into the middle of all the fans and see so many enthusiastic people is really great.”
Christian Sarron said: “I want to say that it is always heart touching to see the fans – I’ve seen so many people riding their bikes all the way from France, from England, Holland, all sorts of places, and they said to me that ‘we did it because we wanted to see you.’ This is something incredible, we are all so pleased and so honoured that they came. We’ll keep improving the show for the future to see as many fans and people as possible.”
Didier de Radiguès said: “We can see and feel that many many people love this and enjoy it. It’s great to give them something back, but I also must admit I had a lot of fun on the track! It was very nice to race again with the guys.”
Event director Nick Wigley said: “I’m so proud of the whole team for bringing World GP Bike Legends to life. I need to thank a lot of people for making it possible, but especially Wayne Gardner for being an incredible ambassador for what we are creating here and getting so many legends together to race this weekend. The passion from the fans at Jerez Circuit is like nothing I’ve ever seen, and the potential for this to become something on a global scale is really, really exciting. We hope everyone has seen just how special this can be, and are already in discussions to take the event to more venues all around the world.”
The Race Of Legends 500cc – Race 1
1.Wayne GARDNER – Cagiva V589
2.Didier de RADIGUES – Suzuki XR88 RGV 500
3.Kevin SCHWANTZ – Suzuki XR84 RGV 500
4.Christian SARRON – Yamaha YZR 500
5.Niggi SCHMASSMANN – Yamaha YZR 500
6.Freddie SPENCER – Yamaha OW48R
7.Gary LINGHAM – Suzuki RGB500 MK7
8.Graeme CROSBY – Suzuki XR34
9.Steve PARRISH – Suzuki XR34
10.Michael NEEVES – Yamaha YZR 500
11.Phil READ – Suzuki Mk1RG
12.Jose Luis CARDOSO – Kawasaki KR500
The Race Of Legends 500cc – Race 2 1.Freddie SPENCER – Yamaha YZR500 OW48R
2.Kevin SCHWANTZ – Suzuki RGV500 XR84
3.Didier DE RADIGUES – Suzuki RGV500 XR88
4.Christian SARRON – Yamaha YZR500
5.Niggi SCHMASSMANN – Yamaha YZR500
6.Wayne GARDNER – Cagiva V589
7.Jose Luis CARDOSO – Kawasaki KR500
8.Steve PARRISH – Suzuki RGV500 XR34
9.Phil READ – Suzuki RG500
10.Graeme CROSBY – Suzuki RGV500 XR34
The Race Of Legends 500cc – Race 3 1.Kevin SCHWANTZ - Suzuki RGV500 XR84
2.Freddie SPENCER - Yamaha YZR500
3.Niggi SCHMASSMANN - Yamaha YZR500
4.Jose Luis CARDOSO - Kawasaki KR500
5.Didier DE RADIGUES - Suzuki RGV500
6.Graeme CROSBY - Suzuki RGV500
7.Steve PARRISH - Suzuki RGV500
8.Phil READ - Suzuki Mk1RG
9.Wayne GARDNER - Cagiva V589
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Jerez gears up for party of the year as Bonnie Tyler and Toseland provide soundtrack to landmark event.
 With the first ever World GP Bike Legends just around the corner, southern Spain is soon to be gripped by festival fever as an amazing mix of racing and rock and roll blasts into Jerez on 19-21 June.
As well as unmissable races that will feature the legends like Kevin Schwantz, Freddie Spencer, Wayne Gardner and Loris Capirossi, there will be music legends closing the show on both Friday and Saturday nights.
World famous tribute acts will hit the stage on Friday, as The ZZ Tops and QueenMania blast out some of the best known songs of all time from ‘Sharp Dressed Man’ to ‘We Are The Champions’ – a fitting theme tune to World GP Bike Legends!
The event kicks into top gear on Saturday night when double World Superbike Champion James Toseland takes to the stage with his eponymous hard rock group before Bonnie Tyler blows the crowds away with her incredible repertoire of legendary hits.
With live music headlining the evenings, there’s plenty more to keep fans entertained throughout the day. Shows from Trials World Championship riders Marcel Justribó and Jordi Pascuet plus a comedy motorcycle show ‘No Limits’ will undoubtedly draw attention, and there will be static displays of both classic and modern bikes.
Thanks to all this off-circuit action the riders will be keen to put on a special show, and with the spectacular list of entries below fans are sure to leave Jerez smiling.
The full list of confirmed riders is as follows: •Freddie Spencer
•Wayne Gardner
•Christian Sarron
•Didier de Radiguès
•Kevin Schwantz
•Graeme Crosby
•Steve Parrish
•José Luis Cardoso
•Carlos Cardús
•Loris Capirossi
•Juan Garriga
•Ángel Nieto
•Jorge Martínez
•Carlos Lavado
•Tadayuki Okada
•Phil Read
•Manuel "Champi" Herreros
•Hubert Rigal
•Niggi Schmassmann
•Michael Neeves (Guest Rider)
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This is the best finish thus far for the Aprilia RS-GP which continues to improve race performance
Barcelona (Spain), 14 June 2015 – It was a weekend of hard work for Aprilia Racing Team Gresini with the changes tested during the week at Misano brought straight away to Barcelona setting a furious work pace for the entire team. It was an effort rewarded by Alvaro Bautista's great race, riding his Aprilia RS-GP to a tenth place finish and the best result thus far in this first part of the season.
Alvaro, who started from the seventh row, got off to an excellent start which allowed him to overtake several riders and immediately lock onto the central group which is the current race goal. He held the pace of the central group well and in the final laps he engaged in an exciting duel with Miller which, thanks in part to a few DNFs, resulted in the first top ten finish and 6 championship points. Marco Melandri had an unlucky race, delayed at the start and then forced to withdraw by problems with the gearbox in the seventh lap.
ROMANO ALBESIANO (Aprilia Racing Manager)
“Alvaro's great race is a good result that lifts our morale. There is a lot of work left to do to close the gap behind the leaders but if you think about the fact that we are racing with a bike which is a laboratory we are rather pleased with today. We see that we are improving race performance and we are often with the centre of the group. Races like this one make it clear which points we need to work on to close the gap behind the leaders. I feel bad for Marco who had a mechanical problem, but that's part of the experience we are building, given the amount of new things we are testing each time."
FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager)
“In a race that promised to be very difficult Bautista battled with great determination, managing to win various battles with other riders. There were some DNFs but Alvaro managed to keep a good pace despite difficult conditions. I'm very pleased with the efforts being made in this project so my compliments go to him and the entire team. It's a nice result, important for morale and to keep progressing.”
ALVARO BAUTISTA
“After a good start which helped me make up a few positions I rode the first laps of the race trying not to be too aggressive in order to conserve the tyres. In fact, we knew that their performance would drop a lot. The track conditions were very difficult with not much grip so I couldn't push like I did in practice. In any case, today we saw a lot of crashes so making it to the finish was important. We made it and we are pleased because we were able to gain more experience with the bike and other valuable data to improve in the coming rounds. In the finale I had fun battling it out with Miller. I felt like I was faster than him and in the end, after overtaking one another several times, two laps from the end I managed to pull ahead a bit to finish in the top ten.”
MARCO MELANDRI
“I had a setup that was different than usual and I was hoping to take a step forward, but unfortunately hard luck reared its ugly head with a problem in the gearbox between third and fourth from the first lap. Anyway, that's normal considering the fact that this is only the second GP for the seamless gearbox. We'll see about continuing the work we weren't able to complete today in the tests tomorrow. Congratulations to Bautista for finishing in the top ten. That's a good sign for everyone.”
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Barcelona (Spain), 12 June 2015 – On the Montmelò Catalan track the practice sessions for Sunday's GP got underway. The Aprilia RS-GP bikes ridden by Alvaro Bautista and Marco Melandri are on the track.
Aprilia Racing Team Gresini also had a midweek track session with tests that Bautista conducted on Wednesday at the Misano circuit. Some of the solutions the Spanish rider tested were brought to Barcelona in keeping with the “test season” spirit that characterises the Italian team's year.
Bautista finished today's free practice sessions with the 21st best time (in 1’43,463), placing just behind a group of riders who are all grouped within a few tenths of a second of one another, so Saturday will be decisive in trying to gain positions. Melandri was lagging a bit behind, finishing in 25th place with a best time of 1’45,270.
ROMANO ALBESIANO (Aprilia Racing Manager)
“These were two very demanding sessions in terms of bike setup. Barcelona is a very complex track but toward the end of the session we made significant improvement with Alvaro, also trying some of the solutions we had tested at Misano. We'll use some others tomorrow with the goal of increasing grip to the rear, which is currently our most important objective. Marco was also feeling a general instability with the bike, so we have a few different solutions there as well that we'll try on the track Saturday.”
FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager)
“Today Alvaro worked a lot with his mechanics as usual. He rode in the morning session with the new frame he had tested at Misano before coming here to Barcelona and then he focused on the one he had been using up to now. He also improved his times in the afternoon, moving up in the positions. There are still a lot of little things that need to be improved for tomorrow and hopefully we will go down the right path so that they can work together in the best possible way for us to keep progressing.”
ALVARO BAUTISTA
“This was an important day because we wanted to try the frame we had tested at Misano straight away. I found some advantages there, but here the difference wasn't quite as clear, so obviously it depends on the circuit. Now we need to improve above all in the braking sections and we need more grip on the fast turns.”
MARCO MELANDRI
“Today we worked on the setup and we had some difficulties, especially in terms of grip. So tomorrow we'll try to make a few changes to the frame geometries, trying to reach a higher level of confidence with the bike.”
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A VERY GENEROUS RACE AND TWO POINTS (14th PLACE) AT THE FINISH FOR BAUTISTA. MELANDRI FINISHES 18th. THE SEAMLESS GEARBOX PERFORMS WELL IN THE RACE.
Mugello Circuit (Italy), 31 May 2015 – For the Mugello MotoGP round Alvaro Bautista put all of his generosity on the track and brought home a 14th place finish which is his best performance in this initial phase of the season to earn another two championship points for himself and for the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini. Marco Melandri had a more difficult race, finishing 18th.
Just like when the RS-GP made its début at the beginning of this season, Alvaro expressed himself more skilfully in the race than in practice, significantly improving his position. One of the most awaited changes and innovations brought to the race this weekend was the début of the continuous shifting seamless gearbox which finished the race without any problems for both riders. This is another important milestone in the growth process for the Italian manufacturer's project.
ROMANO ALBESIANO (Aprilia Racing Manager)
“First of all I think the fact that we introduced some new important technology like the seamless gearbox is very positive, as well as the fact that both bikes finished the weekend without any problems whatsoever, both during practice and in the race. This marks and important step forward in our development schedule of the technology we need to compete in MotoGP. As always Bautista raced very professionally and skilfully. Now we need to help him improve his performance so he can increase his race pace.”
FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager)
“Today with Alvaro we collected two points that we can certainly consider useful for morale. Now let's just say that we need to work to earn them... with more overtaking. This weekend we brought a lot of technical changes to the track and we are pleased. There is still a lot of work left to be done but that certainly doesn't frighten us. We are doing our best to be more competitive and we will continue to do so enthusiastically.”
ALVARO BAUTISTA
“Throughout the weekend we worked on improving the situation going in and coming out of turns, also taking a few small steps forward. To be honest I expected to lap a half a second faster, but the conditions slowed me down a bit, probably because of the track that had changed, with less grip on the tarmac compared to the practice sessions. So I tried to maintain the most consistent pace possible and in the end we made our best placing of the season, right here in the team's Home Grand Prix. I'm pleased even if it is clear that there is still much work to be done. In any case I would like to thank the entire team, Aprilia, our sponsors and also all the fans that came out to support us and now we'll be trying to take some steps forward for the next round in Barcelona.”
MARCO MELANDRI
“It wasn't easy to ride because I continued to have various setup problems so I had a difficult race. Aprilia made a big effort bringing various technical innovations here, including the seamless gearbox that works well, but now I need some chassis changes that can help me.”
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