Zarco and Quartararo set the pace in rain-affected Valencia tests
Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) and Fabio Quartararo (Estrella Galicia 0.0) finished at the top of this week’s overall timesheets in Moto2™ and Moto3™ respectively at Valencia, courtesy of their best times in the dry on Tuesday.
See photos below courtesy of www.motogp.com
The three scheduled Moto2™ practice sessions were reduced to two at the Spanish track on the final day as overnight rain, more showers during the day and oil deposited on the track between turns one and four hindered the riders’ progress. The red flags were brought out while the oil was cleaned away.
Only seven riders took part in the final session of the test, with Malaysian rider Syahrin putting in the fastest Thursday lap with a 1’46.971 in that outing, marginally quicker than his Wednesday best of 1’47.666.
The quickest rider over the three days, therefore, was Frenchman Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) who registered a superb 1’34.754 lap in the dry on Tuesday. He was eighth fastest on Thursday, 1.893s behind Syahrin.
Octo Ioda Racing Team’s German rider Florian Alt (+0.513s) and Finn Mika Kallio (+0.916s), who now rides for Italtrans Racing Team, were second and third fastest respectively on Thursday.
Belgium’s Xavier Simeon (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) was fourth best as he lapped +0.964s down on Syahrin, with Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) in fifth place by a 0.159s margin. Those two recorded their best times in session one on Thursday, with a larger group of 16 riders taking part in that run.
However, the likes of Moto2 World Champion Tito Rabat (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) and his new colleague and Moto3 World Champion Alex Marquez did not ride on Thursday, with their compatriots Luis Salom and Moto2 rookie Alex Rins of the Paginas Amarillas HP team taking the same decision to play it safe.
Many of the riders will head to Jerez next week for three more days of testing (17th-19th February) and they will be hoping for better weather in Andalusia.
Mapfre Mahindra Team’s rookie Spaniard Jorge Martin was the quickest Moto3™ rider on track at a wet Valencia circuit on the final day of the test.
The reigning Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup champion coped best with the tricky conditions to finish as Thursday’s fastest rider with a 1’50.386s lap, but the fastest rider of the week in Moto3 at the Spanish venue was Fabio Quartararo (Estrella Galicia 0.0) with his 1’39.392 effort in the dry on Tuesday.
The scheduled Moto3 practice sessions were also reorganised due to the rain and oil on track, which interrupted the activity.
Behind Martin on the combined Thursday timesheet was John McPhee of the Saxoprint-RTG team, the Scotsman lapping 1.465s off P1 pace on the Honda.
Martin’s teammates Francesco Bagnaia and Juanfran Guevara were third and fourth, respectively +2.207s and +2.610s behind their new colleague.
Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Brad Binder rounded out the Thursday top five +3.7s behind Martin, with only 14 riders registering a timed lap over three sessions on the final day.
Many of the Moto3 riders will also reconvene in Jerez for three more days of testing next week.
More, from a press release issued by Marc VDS Racing Team:
Valencia, Spain – 12 February 2015: The opening test of the season at Valencia proved a washout for Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS, as intermittent rain left Tito Rabat and Alex Marquez sat in the pit box for two of the three days.
The two reigning World Champions each completed 50 laps on the opening day, but with the track temperature never rising above 14 degrees centigrade, the opportunity to test anything meaningful was severely limited.
Third on the timesheet at the end of the opening day, Rabat declared himself satisfied with his first day back at work, despite three crashes in the tricky conditions. Moto2 rookie Marquez ended the first day in 26th position but was left frustrated as the deteriorating weather conditions meant he was unable to continue his familiarisation with the Kalex Moto2 bike he’ll race this season.
Both Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS riders were set to test again this afternoon, as more persistent rain left the track fully wet for the first time, only for the circuit to be closed after a Moto3 rider dropped oil from turn one through to turn four.
The team now head for the second test of the season, which gets underway on Tuesday of next week at Jerez, where everyone is hoping for an improvement in the weather.
Tito Rabat: 3rd – 1’35.145
“The first day was very positive for me, despite the cold conditions, because I was so fast and consistent from the start and, on the hard tyre, I was able to match the pole time from last year in only the second session. The second day was half dry, half wet and very cold, so there was no sense to take a big risk and ride. Today we had full wet conditions and we were ready to test, but then one of the Moto3 riders dropped oil on the track so, once again, we were left sitting in the pit box. Now I want to get back into my routine before heading next week to Jerez, where I hope we have better weather.”
Alex Marquez: 26th – 1’37.773
“At the beginning of my first year in Moto2 I need as much track time as possible, especially as my feeling with the bike wasn’t so good after crashing during a shakedown test in Almeria last week. I need to start enjoying myself on the bike again, because this is when the lap times come, and I need to recover again the good feeling. Unfortunately the weather here at Valencia meant I didn’t get a chance to do that, as I only really had one day on the bike. Now we head for three more days of testing at Jerez where, with better weather forecast, we should be able to make up for the lost track time here.”
More, from a press release issued by NGM Mobile Forward Racing:
Top10 for Corsi after injury comeback
It ends today the three-days test at Valencia circuit for the Forward Racing team and its riders Simone Corsi and Lorenzo Baldassarri.
The first official Moto2 test of the 2015 season was an opportunity for Simone Corsi to get back on a bike after being six months away from racing due to a serious injury occurred last year at Silverstone . The Italian, after a long period of rehabilitation, rejoined the Forward Racing team lapping in 1.35.895 with his Kalex bike, a time that earned him the tenth place in the combined standings.
His teammate, Lorenzo Baldassarri, worked hard during the three day test, getting back on his Kalex bike after testing at Jerez last season. Baldassarri made the most of the sessions and boosted his riding confidence even despite two falls, fortunately without consequences, stopping the clock in 1.36.435, 17th overall.
A test, the one in Valencia, characterized by bad weather that has been the real protagonist of the event during the last two days. The testing for the upcoming season will continue for the Moto2 team next week at Jerez de la Frontera.
Simone Corsi
“I’m really happy to be back on track after six months from the accident at Silverstone. Being back in the box with my team and riding my bike again was a wonderful feeling. Unfortunately the weather was not on our side as two of the three days of testing were affected by heavy rain. I have not lapped a lot, I did not want to risk anything, but I am pretty satisfied. My arm has not given me any problem and I cannot wait to get back on track in Jerez.”
Lorenzo Baldassarri
“After a long winter finally I am back riding my Kalex. I could not work as hard as I wanted because of the weather, but I’m happy with the results. The feeling is good both in wet and dry conditions and this is very positive. I was immediately at ease riding the bike and I’m sure we can improve during next test in Jerez.”
More, from a press release issued by KTM:
RED BULL KTM AJO RIDERS COMPLETE FIRST IRTA TESTS IN VALENCIA
Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 riders were in action this week on the Valencia circuit for the first official pre-season tests for the 2015 World Championship but action was hampered by weather conditions at the Spanish circuit.
New signing Miguel Oliveira of Portugal was the fastest of the three factory riders setting a lap time of 1:39.805 to be fifth overall, some 0.413 off the winning pace. Karel Hanika was eighth fastest with 1:39.982 and teammate Brad Binder was eleventh fastest with 1:40.221. All three riders set their best time in the third session of the opening day on Tuesday. There was very little track action on the other two days because of the weather conditions.
All three riders were satisfied with having had a positive first day but were disappointed that both rain, and on Thursday an oil spill on the circuit meant they were not able to complete their planned activities. They now got to Jerez for the second round of the official pre-season tests next week.
Oliveira said he was taking away “very positive feelings” from the first day. “We have to go to Jerez and focus on working with the bike and trying to understand it as much as possible,” he added.
Hanika, the Czech rider who is about to start his second season with the team said he was happy because they had improved a lot. “We tested different setups and lap after lap we’ve been getting better and I feel more confident. The most important thing is that we set good times with new tyres and were consistent,” he said.
Binder, of South Africa, like Oliveira new to the Red Bull KTM Ajo garage, said the first day had been positive. “I think we are going in the right direction. Today I had hoped we would have a dry track and better weather, but it ended up raining all day. This morning I put in a few laps to see how I felt in rainy conditions, and I really enjoyed it.” He said the team will now analyze things like the geometry of the bike and work on getting the setting right.
Team Manager Aki Ajo said although the conditions were not favorable it was necessary to be positive. “We were able to ride on Tuesday, put in a lot of laps. We kept learning and continued setting up the new bike. We also kept the entire team working with the new riders, which is always important. Tuesday was a very positive day and the riders were very consistent, although we did not put on a soft tire to try to set any spectacular laps. They are very happy with the new bike and the feeling is very positive.”
KTM riders are competing on the 2015 KTM RC250GP machine.
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Moto3 Pre Season Tests at Valencia
Results
1. Fabio Quartararo, FRA, Honda 1:39.392
2, Danny Kent, GBR, Honda 1:39.415
3, Enea Bastianini, ITA, Honda 1:39.669
4, Niccolo Antonelli, ITA, Honda, 1:39.784
5, Miguel Oliveira, POR, KTM, 1:39.805
7, Karel Hanika, CZE, KTM1:39.982
8, Romano Fenati, ITA, KTM, 1:40.017
11. Brad Binder, RSA, KTM 1:40.221
Other KTM
15, Andrea Migno, ITA, KTM 1:40.427
21, Niklas Ajo, FIN, KTM 1:40.806
23, Philipp Oettl, GER, KTM 1:40.985
Second official IRTA pre-season tests at Jerez next week