Successful first test of the season for West and Simón
QMMF Racing Team riders Anthony West and Julián Simón completed the first pre-season test for this year’s Moto2 world championship in Valencia, Spain, with strong lap times and valuable set-up conclusions. With new WP suspension systems, both riders had the right feeling for the latest version of the Speed Up prototype straight away and clocked 12th and 13th fastest on the first day of testing. When rain set in for the second and third day, the 33-year-old Australian and his 27-year-old Spanish team-mate continued their work despite cold and treacherous conditions, establishing a solid set-up base for possible wet races to come. Simón was as high up as third and West as high up as eighth in some of the wet sessions, confirming the team’s high potential for the 2015 season. The next three-day test will take place at Jerez, Spain, next week.
Anthony West – 12th in 1.36,017
“It was a bit strange to get on the bike after a couple of months, but I feel okay because I did a lot of riding in Australia and I did two Superbike races in Qatar. The Moto2 bike is quite different, but I am happy with what we achieved in a short time. We were here for the first time with the new suspension and I was immediately up to speed, even though it was were very cold and I felt stiff and a little bit sick coming straight from Australia with temperatures of 30 degrees. I need another week or so to adjust to the weather. Despite the difficult conditions, I was matching my best times on this circuit consistently. On day two I tried to improve and to put a few fast laps in, but then the weather turned bad. We started with a dry setting and when it got wet, the spring was obviously too hard, so I came in and we changed to another shock with a softer spring, but there still was a problem. We fixed our issues for the third day of testing and I went faster immediately. But it turned out that we need a specific rain setting with this suspension, which we still have to learn. Even though the conditions were cold and difficult, it was good to realize this and it will help us in the future when we have to race in the rain. It was not a nice day, but we learned something!”
Julián Simón – 13th in 1.36,130
“I am very happy about my return to the race track after a long winter without any racing motorcycles. On the first day, my goal was to get into the swing again with the Speed-Up and to adapt myself to this bike as much as possible. I managed to put a fast lap in, which made me happy, but the most important thing was that I had a good feeling with the bike straight away. It’s only the second time for the team with WP suspension, so we started off trying a lot of different suspension set-ups in order to learn and to establish a good base. On day two, we tried to build on that, but rainy weather set in and made it impossible to improve. I still went out in wet conditions in order to get some experience and some data with the new suspension, which was very positive. The bike is good in these conditions, with good grip and good feedback from the tyres. But I am not at the limit yet, because this bike feels more rigid than the one I had last year and I am still trying to understand how hard you can push and open the throttle. On day three, it rained again and I just did eleven laps to confirm our settings for the wet. Yesterday, I used the standard suspension settings for the rain- Today, we developed our rain set-up further. I did reasonably good times with this set-up, which I am happy about. Of course I would have preferred nicer weather in order to improve our dry settings. At least we had a good first day on which I was fast and had the right feeling with the bike. I hope we will have better conditions at the next test in Jerez!”
More, from a press release issued by Gresini Racing:
SIMEON ENDS VALENCIA TEST WITH A SUCCESSFUL LONG RUN IN WET CONDITIONS
The third and final day of Moto2 IRTA Test at Valencia was hampered by bad weather conditions: however, Xavier Siméon was still able to head out on track aboard the Team Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 Kalex machine, taking advantage of the first morning session to complete a successful 24-lap long run in the wet. The 25-year-old Belgian rider set the fourth best performance of the day with a time of 1’47”935. In the combined standings of the three-day test, Siméon remains fifth thanks to the lap time obtained in the first day in the dry, 1’35”264.
The team will return to action next week for testing scheduled at the Jerez circuit from the 17th to 19th of February.
XAVIER SIMEON (4th – 1’47″935)
“Today we used only the first of three sessions available, which proved to be useful, anyway: I took the opportunity to make a long run under the rain and I found myself very at ease, riding steadily on good lap times. In these tests I always felt a good feeling with the bike on both dry and wet conditions, so despite the bad weather we can be satisfied with these three days. Next week in Jerez we will resume the work hoping to meet more favorable weather conditions”.
More, from a press release issued by Tech 3:
Wet weather limits first test for Schrotter and Cardus at Valencia
Tech3 Racing Team’s Marcel Schrotter completed the opening preseason test at the Valencia circuit with a positive run to 11th position overall, despite difficulties with the troublesome weather which cut short the testing time. The first day saw the young German complete 51 laps and he set his quickest time of 1’35.920 in the final session on the 2014 specification Mistral 610. This was under three tenths of a second from 5th position on the opening day. Schrotter’s hopes of undertaking numerous laps on the 2015 specification Mistral 610 were prevented by the weather on Wednesday where he opted to not run at all. Although the conditions failed to improve today, the young German powered through and completed 34 laps as well as posting a best time of 1’48.137, which left him in 6th. Despite a limited run in Valencia on the new Mistral 610, Schrotter now confidently looks towards continuing his preseason work at next week’s Jerez test.
Meanwhile, Ricky Cardus eased back into riding a Moto2 bike after the long winter break as well as sampling the new 2015 specification Mistral 610 to post a best time of 1’37.492 on the opening day. Similarly to his teammate, the Spaniard did not run on Wednesday, yet ran 11 laps in the morning of the final day. Cardus finished with a best time of 1’51.145, leaving him in 13th place on the day and his best lap from Tuesday placing him 25th overall. Although the weather interfered and limited a full test, the Spanish rider remains fully confident in the ability of the 2015 specification Mistral 610 and will seek to undertake a more productive test at Jerez.
Marcel Schrotter : 11th : 1’35.920
“This year the testing at Valencia was a bit different because we had one hour slots and had to take it in turns with the Moto3 bikes who were on track when the Moto2 bikes were off and vice versa. On the opening day, we used the 2014 chassis Mistral 610 in order to get back into the swing of riding. A part in the engine broke in the second session, so we had to replace the motor which meant we lost some track time. Yet, once the bike was ready, I went back out and it was great to be riding again after the long winter. On Wednesday we originally planned to use the 2015 chassis but as the weather was still not good, we chose not to ride. Even though the conditions did not improve today, we were still able to run and I completed some laps on the new chassis which had a good feeling. Now we hope for better weather in Jerez next week, because after the initial laps on the new bike, I am super excited. I feel super comfortable on the bike, so I can’t wait to get back out on track.”
Ricky Cardus : 25th : 1’37.492
‘Unfortunately the weather wasn’ on our side for this test, so we couldn’t work through our testing plan. On the opening day, we just tried to get back into the rhythm and increase my confidence after the long break. Also, I didn’t want to push really hard on the new 2015 specification Mistral. It was cold at the track and I had a silly crash when I touched the brake on the right corner and the tyre was still not warm enough, so I fell. Of course, this slowed us down a bit and we lost some track time and I had some difficulties with finding a good feeling with the bike afterwards. The chassis is quite different compared to last year, so it took a while to get used to it but the first impressions are good. Yesterday we didn’t test and today, because it was still raining we only did eleven laps, however I was able to be competitive with my times. The team know the direction which we need to head towards, but we definitely need to ride more kilometres on the bike and really put our work in at the next test in Jerez. I am optimistic and if we do this, we will be fully prepared for Qatar where we will be able to reach the chequered flag higher up the field.’