First day of testing for Elena Rossell and Damian Cudlin: Good feelings despite cold weather Despite very low air and track temperatures at Valencia, lady racer Elena Rossell and her team-mate Damian Cudlin started off with a hot and busy first day of testing for this year’s Moto2 World Championship. Both new riders of QMMF Racing, the team of Qatar’s Motor and Motorcycle Federation, tried to put in as many laps as possible in order to get a feeling for their Moriwaki prototypes, to develop their work routine with the technicians and to make initial adjustments to seating position and the base set-up of their bikes. “It was a very good and encouraging first day, with lots of smiles in the garage and without any incidents”, said team-coordinator Luis Solano. “Our goal was to give Elena and Damian their first impressions of the bike and to find a base where to start our work from. Everything went very well even though it is much too early to take lap times into consideration and to compare ourselves with the other teams. It was much too cold to push to the maximum and the results are distorted anyway, since some teams run very fast and highly tuned engines whereas others like we use standard street motors with much less horsepower!” Elena Rossell: I am surrounded with a great team of fantastic people. It’s the first time that we are together on the race track and I couldn’t be happier. We have a lot of work to do in order to be competitive because I don’t have a lot of experience in this class and on this level of racing. But in only one day, we made good progress and I am very confident for this season. The Moriwaki is very different to the bike that I had a chance to ride last year, especially the seating position, but the handling is very good and I can feel that it’s got a lot of potential. The only problem today were the low temperatures that made riding a bit more difficult. But I still completed 57 laps because I have to ride as much as possible in order to get the experience I need!” Damian Cudlin: “This first day of testing was like the first day at work. It was like setting up your desk and your computer screen on the first day at a new office, with all the small adjustments to make you comfortable. But it all went very well and the feeling in my stomach is great. From the first moment, there was a good connection between my crew chief Marco, my mechanics and myself. I am also quite happy with my first impressions of the Moriwaki. I can already see the strong and the few weak points and like Elena, I’m convinced that we have a good product with lots of potential. I feel good about the decision that I made and about being here, because I know that, with a bit of work, we can be very strong!”