Varying experiences for Moto2 and 125cc riders at Catalunya
The weather was a major factor across the three days of the Moto2/125cc test at the Circuit de Catalunya, as the Moto2 and 125cc riders present at the track tried to make the most of the time available across the three days which finished on Friday.
The Moto2 riders worked on their chassis set-ups, with the official Honda 600cc engines due for testing at the first official Moto2/125cc test at Valencia from March 1-3. Mapfre Aspar rider Julián Simón, Tech3’s Yuki Takahashi and Technomag-CIP rider Shoya Tomizawa were the joint-fastest Moto2 riders of the test with an unofficial time of 1’49.3. Joining the pair under the 1’50” mark were Jules Cluzel (Forward Racing, Suter), Yonny Hérnandez (Blusens-STX, BQR-Moto2), Kenny Noyes (Jack&Jones by A. Banderas) and Anthony West (MZ Racing).
Wednesday and Friday were largely affected by wet conditions from overnight rain, with Thursday met by sun for most of the day. A number of riders also experienced crashes on the middle day, with the two most affected being Alex Debón (Team Aeroport de Castelló, FTR) who fractured a collarbone and Roberto Rolfo (Italtrans STR, Suter) who dislocated his left shoulder after a productive first day. Rolfo and team-mate Robertino Pietri were the only Moto2 riders out on Wednesday morning, but by the afternoon Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing, Suter), Hérnandez and his team-mate Mashel Al Naimi had all ridden, as had G22 HolidayGym’s Fonsi Nieto and Yannick Guerra.
Tech3 pair Raffaele de Rosa and Takahashi and Mapfre Aspar’s Simón and Mike di Meglio opted against riding on Wednesday, instead choosing to start on Thursday due to the conditions. Simón and Di Meglio both experienced falls, but were able to carry on for the rest of the day and also rode on Friday, as did the Tech3 riders.
Pons Racing duo Axel Pons and Sergio Gadea used all three days to continue their acclimatisation to their Kalex prototypes, as did Tomizawa’s Technomag-CIP team-mate Dominique Aegerter on his Suter. Kiefer Racing pair Stefan Bradl and Vladimir Leonov also got some valuable time in on the two latter days.
Other Moto2 riders also present to work on their bikes included Claudio Corti (Forward Racing), Alex Baldolini (Caretta Technology Race Dept), Gabor Talmacsi (Speed Up), Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing), Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Moriwaki Racing) and Vincent Lonbois (Marc VDS Racing).
In the 125cc category, there were a number of World Championship hopefuls present. Pol Espargaró’s unofficial time of 1’52.9 was the fastest across the three days, and he was followed closely by Nico Terol (Bancaja Aspar), Efrén Vázquez (Bainet Derbi), Bradley Smith (Bancaja Aspar), Esteve Rabat (Blusens-STX), Marc Márquez (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport), and Alberto Moncayo (Andalucia Cajasol) all taking the opportunity to get some valuable track time in.
— Marc VDS Race Team Report
The Marc VDS Racing Team leave the Montmelo circuit in Barcelona satisfied with the progress made by Scott Redding and Vincent Lonbois during their first Moto2 test, despite rain causing disruptions to the test schedule on two of the three days.
Overnight rain meant that testing didn’t get underway today until after lunch, when a dry line finally started to appear around the 4.727km/2.937 mile Montmelo circuit. Both Redding and Lonbois continued to refine the set-up of their Suter MMX machines, a process that they started during the much better conditions yesterday.
The chatter that appeared yesterday continued to cause problems for Redding this afternoon. Changes to the suspension settings on his bike did lead to a reduction in the chatter, but also to a corresponding reduction in rear grip. Despite this, and the less than ideal track conditions, Redding signed off from his first test for the Marc VDS Racing Team with his fastest time, posting a 1’51.1s lap shortly before rain brought the test to an end.
For Lonbois today was all about continuing his familiarisation with both the Suter MMX Moto2 bike and the Dunlop tyres. The 19-year-old Belgian rider pushed hard during the limited track time this afternoon, in a bid to better understand the limits of both the bike and the tyres. As a result, Lonbois heads for the next test in Valencia confident of closing on the lap times of his more experienced teammate.
The next test for the Marc VDS Racing Team will take place from 1-3 March at Valencia, where the team will be issued with the official Honda race engines for the first time.
Scott Redding – Laps 35 – Best Time 1’51.1
“We could have done with more track time over the three days, but the weather put paid to that! Even so, we’ve made some big steps forward in the limited track time we’ve had; I wasn’t comfortable on the bike the first day, but it definitely feels like my bike now. We had some issues with chatter yesterday and today, but I’m not too worried about this. We had started the process of dialling it out, but we simply ran out of time. I’m confident that we’ll be on top of this pretty quickly at the next test in Valencia. Overall I’m really pleased with how things have gone this week. The team works well together and I get on with everyone, which is always a good thing for a rider. Now I’m looking forward to getting back on the bike at Valencia and pushing for some fast lap times.”
Vincent Lonbois – Laps 33 – Best Time 1’52.8
“These three days have been a real education, but I’m really pleased with what we’ve managed to achieve. Today I was able to better understand where the limits of both the bike and the tyres are, which is good for my confidence as a rider. We still have a lot of work to do, and I still have a lot to learn, but my Crew Chief has enough experience for both of us and the communication between us gets better every day. I hope that at the next test in Valencia we’ll be able to continue to improve and that I’ll be able to get a little closer to Scott’s lap times.”
Michael Bartholemy – Moto2 Team Manager
“Overall I’m very pleased with what we’ve managed to accomplish during our first test, despite rain disrupting proceedings on two of the three days. We have a very experienced team of people and this has allowed us to very quickly find a good way of working with both riders. Scott and Pete Benson have already built up a good rapport and we’ve seen the benefits of this on track. Vincent is also making good use of the vast experience of his Crew Chief, Trevor Morris, to help him adapt to what is a very new environment for him. Both riders have made progress over the past three days and I’m confident that this will continue during the next test in Valencia. It was important to me that our President, Marc van der Straten, was able to join us at the test. He has never seen a racing motorcycle on track before but, judging from his comments while he was here, he’s now a true two-wheeled convert!”
