Jerez Moto2 Moto3 Test Day One spoiled by rain
Moto2 Test Day One
Julian Simon finished on top of the overall standings in Jerez, after a first day of testing heavily affected by rain.
The Moto2 paddock was left cursing its luck, as the sunshine that greeted the teams as they arrived at the Circuito de Jerez was replaced by strong winds and heavy rain just as they were about to go out for their first session of the day. Despite this, most teams managed to get in some useful laps in the wet conditions, with riders out on track during all three sessions.
It was during the final session of the day that the fastest times were set, and it was QMMF Racing Team rider Julian Simon who made the most of the tricky conditions to post the best lap time overall, with a 1’55.568 on his Speed Up machine.
Tech 3’s Marcel Shrotter ended the day in 2nd place on the combined timesheets, 0.373s back from Simon and ahead of last years championship runner up Mika Kallio, on the first of the Kalex’s. The Finnish rider, who this year made has made the switch to the Italtrans Racing team, was over half a second off the pace of the leader as he recorded his fastest time on his last lap of the day to finish in 3rd.
Hafizh Syahrin, who led the timesheets during the first session, was a further 0.041s back in 4th place on the Petronas Racing Malaysia bike. There was then a gap of over six-tenths to the next rider, Randy Krummenacher, who managed to improve by over 3 seconds throughout the day to finish in 5th.
The reigning Moto2 World Champion Tito Rabat ended the day in 6th as he put in more laps than anybody else (53) on his Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Racing machine, while Australian Anthony West was a further 0.321s behind the Spaniard in 7th.
Johann Zarco recorded his fastest time during the 2nd session of the day to finish in 8th on the Ajo Motorsport bike, with Florian Alt and Lorenzo Baldassarri rounding out the top ten.
Speed Up Racing’s British rider Sam Lowes finished the day down in 14th place, having set his best time during the opening session, 3.265s off the pace of Simon.
The Moto2 teams will return to the Circuito de Jerez tomorrow for the second day of the final preseason test, which is due to start at 10am local time.
Moto2 Jerez Test Day One Times
- Antontelli 1m55.568
- Schrotter 1m55.941
- Kallio 1m56.063
- Syahrin 1m56.104
- Krummenacher 1m56.780
- Rabat 1m56.840
- West 1m57.161
- Zarco 1m57.374
- Alt 1m57.423
- Baldassarri 1m57.731
- Mulhauser 1m58.081
- Cardus 1m58.377
- Luthi 1m58.669
- Lowes 1m58.833
- Rossi 1m59.150
- Marquez 1m59.206
- Shah 2m00.297
- Corsi 2m00.822
- Aegerter 2m2.072
- Zaidi 2m02.072
- Raffin 2m02.851
- Nakagami 2m03.224
Moto3 Test Day One
It was Ongetta-Rivacold’s Italian rider Niccolo Antonelli who finished on top, after a day heavily effected by wind and rain in Jerez.
After being greeted by sunny skies and an ambient temperature of 18 degrees at the start of the day, it didn’t take long for the forecasted wind and rain to put a dampener on the Moto3 teams testing plans. With only the first morning session taking place in the dry, and with persistent rain throughout the afternoon meaning the track never really had a chance to dry, it was hard to take much from the first day of the final preseason test at the Circuito de Jerez.
Only a handful of riders went out in the last two sessions, as the deteriorating track conditions meant that most teams preferred not to take any risks, and kept their bikes in the safety and warmth of the garage.
With that in mind it was during the first session of the day that all of the riders fastest times were set, with Antonelli managing a 1’49.055 on his final lap of 14 around the 4.4 km circuit, 3.5s slower than the fastest time set by Fabio Quartararo during the previous test at the track in February. The Italian finished 0.381s ahead of the Husqvarna Factory Laglisse of Isaac Viñales in 2nd.
Up next were the two Red Bull KTM Ajo machines of Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira, in 3rd and 4th respectively. The South African Binder setting a lap time just 0.025s quicker than his Spanish teammate.
British rider Danny Kent managed to record exactly the same time as Oliveira to finish in fifth, just ahead of his Leopard Racing teammate Hiroki Ono, who is making his full debut in the Moto3™ World championship this year.
Sky Racing Team VR46’s Romano Fenati, who finished 5th in the Championship last year, ended the day in 7th, almost a second slower than the leading rider. Scotland’s John McPhee showed good pace on his Saxoprint-RTG Honda to finish in 8th overall, just ahead of the factory Red Bull KTM Ajo bike of Czech rider Karel Hanika.
Rounding out the top ten was the man who has dominated the previous preseason tests, class rookie Fabio Quartararo, as he ended day one of the test on his Estrella Galicia 0,0 Honda 1.112s off the pace.
Matteo Ferrari was the leading Mahindra bike in 12th, ahead of another class rookie, Quartararo’s teammate Jorge Navarro.
Competing in her first full Moto3 season, Maria Herrera also managed to impress in her brief time out on track, as the young Spanish rider finished in 14th overall on the second Husqvarna Factory Laglisse bike, 1.473s behind Antonelli.
The sole Australian Moto3 competitor, Remy Gardner failed to get a time in before the rain started and thus rounded out the timesheets in 34th place but still remained upbeat for the experience – “I’m happy because I had not so much experience in this kind of conditions and my performance at the third session has been good. I rode comfortable despite the rain and the bad track conditions. For sure this is a very good experience for the future”.
The teams and riders will return to Jerez tomorrow, with testing due to start at 10am local time.
Moto3 Jerez Test Day One Times
- Antonelli – Honda – 1m49.055
- Vinales – Husqvarna – 1m49.436
- Binder – KTM – 1m49.461
- Oliveira – KTM – 1m49.508
- Kent – Honda – 1m49.508
- Ono – Honda – 1m49.820
- Fenati – KTM – 1m49.960
- McPhee – Honda – 1m50.167
- Hanika – KTM – 1m50.135
- Quartararo – Honda – 1m50.167
