FIM Moto2 World Championship Valencia, Spain November 8, 2010 Unofficial Test Times: 1. Julian Simon, 1:36.70 2. Stefan Bradl, 1:36.70 3. Scott Redding, 1:36.90 4. Yuki Takahashi, 1:37.02 5. Alex de Angelis, 1:37.10 6. Thomas Luthi, 1:37.20 7. Kenan Sofuoglu, 1:37.40 8. Aleix Espargaro, 1:37.40 9. Michelle Pirro, 1:37.68 10. Dominique Aegerter, 1:37.80 11. Jules Cluzel, 1:37.80 12. Yonny Hernandez, 1:37.80 13. Xavier Simeon, 1:37.90 14. Tito Rabat, 1:38.00 15. Kenny Noyes, 1:38.20 16. Mike Di Meglio, 1:38.30 17. Andrea Iannone, 1:38.30 18. Rafaelle Da Rosa, 1:38.50 19. Lukas Pesek, 1:38.50 20. Colin Edwards, 1:38.70 21. Bradley Smith, 1:38.70 22. Max Neukirchner, 1:38.80 23. Anthony West, 1:39.00 24. Andrea Boscocuro, 1:39.10 25. Gabor Talmacsi, 1:39.20 26. Arne Todt, 1:39.30 27. Mika Kallio, 1:39.90 28. Pol Espargaro, 1:40.19 29. Jannick Guerra, 1:40.30 30. Alex Baldolini, 1:40.50 31. Jonas Folger, 1:41.50 More, from a press release issued by Tech 3: Tech 3 Racing kick of 2011 Moto2 preparations The Tech 3 Racing Moto2 squad kicked off its 2011 winter testing schedule today with Bradley Smith and Mike di Meglio taking to the track at a chilly Valencia. Grey skies and cool temperatures greeted the paddock this morning and when the sun finally did breakthrough, the afternoon session was dominated by a fierce wind that made conditions from ideal. Fresh from his fantastic victory in the Valencia 125cc race yesterday, Smith began his Moto2 adventure brimming with confidence and he quickly struck up an excellent understanding with experienced new crew chief Tom Jojic. The 19-year-old was able to immediately lap at a consistent and fast pace, the British rider making only minor set-up tweaks to help him adapt to the heavier and more powerful Moto2 machine. His enthusiasm to gain vital information saw him complete an incredible stint of 90 laps and he set a best time of 1.38.70. French rider di Meglio was also impressive on his Tech 3 Racing Team debut. He already has experience of the competitive Moto2 class and was able to give the team an interesting comparison against the bike he rode in 2010. He completed 35 laps and set a best time of 1.38.30. The Tech 3 Racing Team also used today’s test session to benefit from the vast experience of American MotoGP rider Colin Edwards. The 36-year-old offered his expertise to give his feedback on the 2011 machine. Edwards completed 54 laps and was able to give the Tech 3 Racing crew vital information to help with further development of the 2011 bike in the winter. Mike di Meglio 1.38.30 35 laps “This was my first test with the Tech 3 Racing Team and it was an amazing experience to finally work with them. I am very happy with my initial feeling with the bike and I can see it has a lot of potential. I am already sure we have an exciting 2011 ahead of us. Today was quite difficult because when I was out on track it was very windy and didn’t help the lap times at all, but we were able to do some work on the set-up of the bike that helped make me feel comfortable quite quickly. I already feel at home with the Tech 3 Racing Team and I’m looking forward to the next time we are on track.” Bradley Smith 1.38.70 90 laps “What an amazing day and it was great to finally get to work with the Tech 3 Racing Team. They are a really professional outfit and I was immediately able to strike up a good rapport with Tom and the guys. Today was all about getting confident and comfortable on the bike and learning as much as I can. Obviously we’ve got a long way to go but it feels like we’ve done so much already in such a short space of time. Coming straight off the 125 yesterday, the difference with the power and weight was pretty big but I adapted to the bike pretty fast. I got myself into a ballpark area with the times but finding that next one or two seconds is when it becomes a lot more difficult. But I am really happy with the way the test went and can’t wait until I’m back out on the bike again.” Colin Edwards 1.38.70 54 laps “It has been a long time since I rode a 600. Maybe it was back in Daytona in 1994 but today was a lot of fun and I hope the team got a lot of useful informa tion out of it. It was my idea to help them out and try and give them some pointers for the 2011 bike and I’m sure they appreciated a different perspective. Bradley is obviously new to Moto2 and Mike is coming off a difficult season, so it was worthwhile me just trying to give them some of my experience and input. All I did was work on a lot of spring rates rather go out to push for a quick lap. I didn’t go out to set the world on fire and I’ve ridden a MotoGP bike for so long that anything was going to feel pretty strange. But I adapted to the style within about 25 laps and the times came down and I got much smoother. It was an entertaining experience and a useful exercise for the crew.” More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing Team: POSITIVE FIRST TEST FOR KALLIO AND MARC VDS Mika Kallio today completed a successful first test at Valencia aboard the bike he will campaign alongside Scott Redding in the 2011 Moto2 World Championship. Redding was also on track today, evaluating evolution parts for Suter Racing, including a revised chassis. Kallio completed 77 laps of the Valencia circuit today, aboard a Suter MMX machine fitted with a standard CBR600 engine and gearbox. The Finn, who celebrated his 28th birthday today, recorded his best time of 1’39.9s on only his second exit from pit lane, before encountering the chatter problems that so many first time Moto2 riders experience. It was a positive introduction to the Moto2 class for Kallio, despite a minor tumble at turn four – the first right-hand corner on the circuit – on a cold front tyre. The Marc VDS rider will return to the Valencia circuit on Thursday for a further day of testing, this time with a supersport tuned engine and kit gearbox fitted in the bike. Redding completed a total of 40 laps as he worked to evaluate upgraded components on his Suter MMX machine, including a revised chassis. Despite unpredictable winds that made comparison tests difficult, the 17-year-old Marc VDS rider reported improvements in a number of areas, most importantly with rear traction out of the turns. Mika Kallio #36: 77 Laps – Best Lap 1’39.9 “I’ve never ridden this type of bike before, so I came into this test with no real expectations. Immediately during the first run I could feel the bike is much lighter than a MotoGP machine, changing direction much quicker as a result, but obviously there is also a lot less power. The bike was fun to ride; in the corners you can carry more speed than in MotoGP, but chatter is a problem for me at the moment. Apparently this is normal and everyone complains of it when they ride these bikes for the first time, but the team tell me that you eventually get used to it with more time on track. On Thursday we will run the supersport engine and kit gearbox, which will eliminate the small issues we had with the standard gearbox today and give us some more power.” Scott Redding #45: 40 Laps – Best Lap 1’36.9 “It was pretty windy out on the track today, which isn’t ideal for testing new parts, but the revised chassis definitely offers better rear traction and improved drive out of the corners. There are other small improvements, but we need more track time on Thursday, hopefully in better conditions, to get a feel for how much of an improvement the new parts offer. It’s been good to have the Marc VDS car teams with us here this weekend at Valencia; I’m sure they enjoyed the three races on Sunday and I think we may have managed to convert more than one of them into bike racing fans!” Michael Bartholemy: Team Manager “The wind meant that conditions weren’t ideal for Mika’s debut Moto2 ride, nor for Scott’s development schedule today. Mika was quick to adapt to the Suter MMX, but ran into the chatter issues that are common for new riders in this class. We know from experience that we can alleviate the problem and this will be one of our main priorities at the next test with Mika on Thursday. Scott started the test on his race bike, before switching to a revised chassis that will form the basis of the 2011 Suter MMX. His initial feedback was good, although we need more time in better conditions to confirm this first impression.” More, from a press release issued by Jack & Jones By Antonio Banderas: The Long Road To 2011 Starts For Kenny Noyes At Valencia Less than 24 hours after his rookie Moto2 season ended, Kenny Noyes was back at work for 2011. At 10am sharp on Monday morning, the Jack&Jones By Antonio Banderas rider rolled out of pit lane at Valencia to start testing for next season. There’s plenty of work to do. The Jack&Jones By Antonio Banderas team are switching chassis for the 2011 season, and the first item on Kenny’s todo list was to familiarize himself with the Suter bike and to work on finding a base setting for the machine. That process was hampered by the extremely strong winds which lashed the Valencia circuit, but by the end of the day, Kenny pronounced himself very happy with the results of his first outing on the new chassis. With just a stock engine instead of the more powerful official Moto2 one, Kenny still managed to get within a few tenths of his best lap time from the race on Sunday. Kenny now heads home for a well-deserved break, before returning to his tough physical training regime in preparation for the 2011 season. With a strong team around him in the shape of the Jack&Jones By Antonio Banderas squad, and a proven chassis in the Suter, Kenny Noyes will be giving it his all to be a force in next year’s Moto2 championship. Kenny Noyes Fastest lap 1’38.2 (unofficial) Kenny said: “I’m really happy, just with the way the bike felt, it’s pretty much what I expected. It’s got some better turning ability, better grip, and it’s just going to be up to us to do an awesome preseason, put a lot of work in to get it right for us. It’s a good base, but to get up to a good level where we can run consistent laps at a high speed is going to take some work.” “The Suter guys seem like they have a real good attitude, and they were here helping us out the whole time, it’s kinda like they want all their bikes to be up at the front, so right from the beginning we’re going to get a lot of help from them. We’ve got a good base, and we’ll have good development.” “Right now, I’m going to take a couple of weeks off, just hang out. It’s been a long, intense season. But after that, I’ll start training for next season. I can’t wait for next year to start!”