Moto2™ and Moto3™ back on track for Spielberg test

The intermediate and lightweight classes put in a few more laps on Monday at the Red Bull Ring

Monday, 12 August 2019

After an action-packed myWorld Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich, 23 Moto2™ and six Moto3™ riders were back on track to put in a day of testing on a sunny Monday at the Red Bull Ring, with most working on gearing up for the remainder of the season.

Moto2™ Championship leader Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) was one of the key names putting in the work and the Spaniard had an evolution chassis from Kalex to test for the 2020 season. Key rival Tom Lüthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) and his teammate Marcel Schrötter were also there, working on race setup in Austria after a tougher than expected weekend for both.

Fellow Kalex rider Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2), who had a tricky weekend in Austria, was also out and able to find the setup he was looking for all weekend on Monday. Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46) and teammate Nicolo Bulega were in testing action too. Compatriot Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) was meant to be, but the Italian is still hurting from Sunday’s Turn 9 crash with the same Marini.

Elsewhere, Austrian GP race winner Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was getting more laps under his belt ahead of the rest of the campaign, with teammate Jorge Martin having a 3D printed front air intake to try, as well as having a different fairing to Binder. Both Martin and Red Bull KTM Tech 3’s Marco Bezzecchi were trying the front air intake, which had the same look as the original 2019 version, but without a split in the middle. Bezzecchi was also given the new KTM from Brno to test. Fellow KTM rider Iker Lecuona had a few bike issues at the start of the day as the American Racing KTM team were also out testing with Lecuona and Joe Roberts.

Beta Tools Speed Up’s Jorge Navarro and Fabio Di Giannantonio gave a new, leaner front fairing a go. Simone Corsi was out testing Steven Odendaal’s NTS RW Racing GP bike with the aim of helping the South African out, with Odendaal also trying teammate Bo Bendsneyder’s bike for setup comparison as NTS continue their development. MV Agusta Temporary Forward were likewise focused on development for the rest of 2019. A few of the Moto2™ riders also tried Dunlop’s new front tyre for 2020.

In the Moto3™ class, fourth-place Austrian GP finisher and rookie Celestino Vietti (Sky Racing Team VR46) did a fair amount of work on the 2020 KTM, and the young Italian seemed to be the only rider testing it. The new bike had a full carbon fairing. Can Öncü, meanwhile, stayed in Austria to continue his work on the 2019 Red Bull KTM Ajo machine as he aims for more rookie success.

Jakub Kornfeil (Redox PrüstelGP) was joined by FIM CEV Repsol Moto3™ Junior World Championship rider Jason Dupasquier as he had a run out on a World Championship level machine for the first time, and BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race riders Kazuki Masaki and Makar Yurchenko were on track, too.

The riders now have a weekend off before heading to Silverstone in under two weeks’ time for the GoPro British Grand Prix.

More, from a press release issued by Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Racing:

Estrella Galicia Team 0.0 Marc VDS completes intense test in Austria

Alex Márquez and Xavi Vierge completed a productive day of official testing at the Red Bull Ring where they evaluated new parts and some evolutions for 2020.

The team that finds itself at the head of the Moto2 World Championship was back to work at the Austrian track on Monday for an official one-day test that was carried out under clear skies and warm temperatures.

The test proved to be an excellent opportunity for Alex Márquez and Xavi Vierge to test a variety of news parts, some of which could feature on the 2020 bike.

Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS now heads to Great Britain where the 12th Grand Prix of the year takes place at the Silverstone circuit next week.

Alex Marquez

In order to further optimise the performance of his Kalex chassis, Alex Márquez tested several new parts aimed at improving his feel with the rear of the bike.

The #73 also spent many laps evaluating a new front tyre that Dunlop brought for riders to test with the 2020 season in mind.

In the afternoon, Alex tried a chassis evolution aimed at giving Kalex more information for next year’s motorcycle

“We found some interesting things for the rest of the year”

“It’s been a positive day of testing. We found some interesting things for the rest of the year. The main objective was to go into the last Grand Prix of the year in even better shape than we were in, so it’s been good. We also tried out different development directions to follow next year. I think we’ve been able to provide good information to Kalex and they know where to go to try to improve the bike for 2020. We’re ready and looking forward to the races that are coming up in the next part of the season.”

Xavi Vierge

Xavi Vierge and his team focussed on working on the geometry of the bike, mainly at the rear end, to improve his feeling and traction on corner exit.

Braking was another aspect on which Xavi Vierge focussed during this day of testing.

As well as testing some new parts, Xavi also worked with the new Dunlop tyres.

“We found some really positive results”

“There was no better way to get over the disappointment of yesterday than to get on the bike this morning. I’m very happy. We went well at this track all weekend so we tried several things and found some really positive results. I did a longer run and was posting a very competitive pace so I’m happy to have been able to take advantage of this day. Now I’m really looking forward to Silverstone.”