Moto 2/3 Valencia Test Wrap – Miller tops day three

Maverick Viñales topped the timesheets on the final day of this week’s opening 2014 Moto2™ test in Valencia, as the reigning Moto3™ World Champion stepped up to the intermediate class with Pons HP 40. However, Tito Rabat remains the quickest rider of the week.

Viñales’ fastest lap came in the third session of the third day, in the form of 1’35.302. There were two Kalex and one Suter bike in the top three, with Takaaki Nakagami second for Idemitsu Honda Team Asia and Tom Luthi third for Interwetten Paddock Moto2; Luthi was particularly pleased, as his bike was responding well to numerous setup changes. Fourth was Rabat, although the Marc VDS Racing Team rider’s best lap of Wednesday remains the quickest of the week (1’35.155) – one and a half tenths of a second quicker than Viñales.

Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP) enjoyed a stronger outing on Thursday, with the Moto3™ title winner of 2012 finishing fifth as Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2’s Jordi Torres and Nico Terol sandwiched Italtrans Racing Team’s Julian Simon in sixth, seventh and eighth places. Incidentally, Torres focused on working with swingarms and front forks while Terol searched for an improvement in rear grip. The top ten was completed by Mika Kallio and Luis Salom, team-mates of Rabat and Viñales. Rookie Sam Lowes also fared well, ending proceedings 12th for Speed Up while Caterham Moto Racing’s Johann Zarco and Josh Herrin were 15th and 17th, respectively.

Much of the field struggled to improve on Thursday, as strong winds lashed the Ricardo Tormo circuit. There was an upset of another kind for Gino Rea, with the AGT-Rea Racing rider have broken the fourth metacarpal of his left foot in a crash on Wednesday; nevertheless, the Englishman braved the pain and did take to the race track on Day 3. Shortly before the chequered flag flew, there was a crash for Terol who lost the front end of his Suter at the first corner, but the Spaniard escaped injury.

Anthony West ended the three-day test 17th quickest and made this comment via his Instagram account – “3 days of testing done!!! Over 150 laps I’m going to sleep well tonight.  I’m happy with the new SPEEDUP bike although we still have work to do. The lap times are nothing to go by yet because at this test other teams are using hot-rod motors and tyres that are not on the Dunlop list. But I feel strong and know it will be a good year.”

Moto2™ testing resumes in Jerez between Tuesday 18 and Thursday 20 February.

There was a change at the top of the Moto3™ test as Jack Miller registered the fastest time on Thursday. Niccolo Antonelli remains the quickest rider of the week, but his third day included a highside and trip to the Clinica Mobile.

On a particularly breezy afternoon at the Ricardo Tormo circuit, there were a selection of crashes in the lightweight class. Antonelli was one of the first at only half past 11, as the rider who had led for both of the first two days highsided at Turn 8. As a result, the Junior Team GO&FUN Moto3 rider was attended to by doctors, but rejoined the action to go fourth quickest during the afternoon.

Scott Deroue (RW Racing GP) and Danny Kent (Red Bull Husqvarna Ajo) also highsided, at Turns 3 and 8 respectively, while Antonelli’s team-mate Enea Bastianini lost control at the quick, left-handed Turn 13 towards the end of the lap. The Italian complained of a headache was but was able to walk away from the scene unaided.

On the timesheet, Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was the only rider to break under the 100-second barrier on Thursday courtesy of his leading 1’39.773 effort. However, the best lap time of the week comes from Antonelli on Wednesday: 1’39.454.

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Second on Day 3 was Sky Racing Team by VR46’s Romano Fenati from Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3’s Juanfran Guevara, with the top five rounded out by the aforementioned Antonelli and Team Calvo’s Isaac Viñales. Sixth was Miguel Oliveira for Mahindra Racing, while the top ten was completed by Francesco Bagnaia (Sky Racing Team by VR46), Philipp Oettl (Interwetten Paddock Moto3), Danny Kent (Red Bull Husqvarna Ajo) and Livio Loi (Marc VDS Racing Team).

Moto3™ testing resumes in Jerez between Tuesday 18 and Thursday 20 February.

KTM Report

KTM riders laid down the markers at the opening official tests for the 2014 Moto3 season this week registering seven of the top eight fastest lap times on the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia.

Italian Niccolo Antonelli took the combined time honors with a lap of 1 minute 39.451 on Day Two. Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Jack Miller was solid throughout, setting the fastest lap times on all three sessions on the final day. His best time came in the opening session on Day Two, to finish second fastest overall.

Together with the official factory team, Miller and teammate Karel Hanika of the Czech Republic have been hard at work, also at private tests for a nine day period and resume next week for the second round of official tests at Jerez.

Hanika has moved up to Moto3 as 2013 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Champion. His three-day session was marred by a crash on Day Two and a wrist injury that had to be checked by doctors. Hanika was back on the track on Day Three and wound up his tests in twenty-third fastest overall

Team boss Aki Ajo said he was particularly pleased with his charges. “It’s been very hard work and we tried out many things. These have been very good tests here in Valencia and Jack has worked hard and has been constantly getting good results. We had some problems with the wind on the first day, but for February in Valencia, even the weather has been quite good.”

In total it was an impressive performance for a number of teams running KTM-driven machinery. Italian Romano Fenati of Valentino Rossi’s Sky Racing Team by VR46 junior team set the fourth fastest overall lap time and was second fastest on Day Three. Isaac Vinales, cousin of Maverick, the 2013 World Champion on KTM was fifth fastest overall.

Seven of the top eight fastest riders were on KTM-driven machines, split only by Husqvarna rider Danny Kent who set third fastest overall, also on Day Two.

Combined Moto 3 lap times over three days of tests

1, Niccolo Antonelli, ITA, KTM 1:39.451

2, Jack Miller, AUS, KTM 1:39.462

3, Danny Kent, GBR, Husqvarna 1:39.726

4, Romano Fenati, ITA, KTM, 1:39.885

5, Isaac Vinales, ESP, KTM, 1:40.060

Marc VDS Report

The Marc VDS Racing Team got their 2014 Moto2 campaign off to a flying start at the opening test of the season in Valencia. Tito Rabat dipped under the outright circuit record to top the timesheet, while Mika Kallio ended the three-day test seventh on combined times.

An unseasonably cold Valencia welcomed the riders on the opening day of the test, with strong winds making conditions on track less than ideal for testing. Undeterred after a winter spent at home in Finland, it was Kallio who conquered the cold to post the fastest lap on day one. Rabat, while not a fan of the cold or the wind, still ended the day eighth on the timesheet.

Both Marc VDS Moto2 riders took advantage of the much-improved conditions on the second day, with Rabat setting a blistering pace in the final timed session. The 24-year-old Spaniard’s lap time of 1’35.155s was the fastest of the day, almost 0.4s quicker than second placed Tom Lüthi. The return of the wind on the final day meant that nobody, including Rabat, was able to improve on this time.

Moto3 rider, Livio Loi, made significant progress over the course of the three-day test, eventually finishing 11th on combined times and within one second of the fastest time of the test, set by Niccolò Antonelli.

The Marc VDS Racing Team depart Valencia this evening, destination Jerez, where the second three-day test of the 2014 season will take place from 18-20 February.

Tito Rabat: 1st – 1’35.155 – “I’m very happy for the feeling with the bike and with the team during these three days in Valencia. We worked very well, trying many different things on the bike – suspension, swinging arm and fairings – and we learnt a lot. We made improvements to the bike and also found a good rhythm during our race simulation today. Now we need to head down to Jerez to confirm everything at a different track, under different conditions and, hopefully, make one step more.”

Mika Kallio: 7th – 1’35.690 – “Overall I’m quite satisfied, mainly for the progress made over the first two days. I was fastest on day one, but slipped to third on day two. The plan for today was to try to make a few fast lap times, to close the gap to the top, but the feeling with the soft tyre wasn’t so good and I couldn’t take advantage of the additional grip. Rather than chase a time, we decided instead to work on a solution to the problem I had at the race here last year, when my rear tyre was almost completely destroyed. Over the race simulation today they was a significant improvement in both the grip and the endurance of the rear tyre, which was positive, but we need to confirm this and a number of other things at Jerez next week.”

Livio Loi: 11th – 1’40.394 – “After some of the issues I had last year with my feeling on the bike, here we’ve focussed on testing different settings to find the best base set up. My feeling has improved and this can be seen in the lap times, as well as the reduced gap to the front-runners. Today was also very important; in the past I’ve had problems when it’s been windy, but today I was able to maintain the same gap to the front despite the wind, which is a big step forward. Now we head to Jerez, where the goal is to make another step.”