Wet weather at Jerez continues to plague Moto2 Moto3 Testing on Day Two
Moto2
Moto2 teams and riders were once again faced with tricky track conditions on the second day of the final preseason test in Jerez, as a drying racing line in the last ten minutes of the first session allowed riders to take to the track on slick tyres.
It was the Speed Up Racing bike of Sam Lowes that set the fastest lap of the test so far during the best conditions of the day, a 1’44.129, before more rain meant that riders could not improve on their times any more.
Lowes, who finished the first preseason test at the Circuito de Jerez in 2nd place overall, managed 22 laps in the morning session before calling it a day as the track conditions worsened. The British rider finishing over a second quicker than Jonas Folger in 2nd on the AGR Team Kalex machine, with Swiss rider Thomas Luthi ending the day in 3rd.
Takaaki Nakagami set his fastest time on his last lap during the first session, a further four-tenths back from Luthi in 4th, with 5th placed Randy Krummenacher finishing 1.580s off the pace of Lowes.
Nakagami’s teammate, Azlan Shah, was in 6th place on the other Idemitsu Honda Team Asia Kalex, ahead of the reigning Moto2 Champion Tito Rabat (+1.739s) who ended the day 7th on the timesheets, as he was once again one of the busiest riders on track, completing 53 laps.
Dominique Aegerter finished in 8th on the Technomag Racing Interwetten Kalex, ahead of the fastest man from day one, Spaniard Julian Simon in 9th.
Rounding out the top ten on day two was the runner-up from last seasons championship Miko Kallio, who this year is riding for the Italtrans Racing Team, with his best time 2.059s off the leaders pace.
Australia’s Anthony West was 14th out of the 26-rider field but with bad weather making opportunities for good laps rare and inconsistent it is fair to say that the real pre-season pace of the Moto2 competitors can’t really be measured from today’s times.
The Moto2 teams return to Jerez tomorrow for the final day of preseason testing, before the championship kicks off in Qatar on 29 March.
Moto2 Test Jerez Day Two
- Sam Lowes – 1m44.129
- Jonas Folger 1m45.207
- Thomas Luthi – 1m45.244
- Takaaki Nakagami – 1m45.651
- Randy Krummenacher – 1m45.709
- Azlan Shah – 1m45.729
- Tito Rabat – 1m45.868
- Dominique Aegerter – 1m45.977
- Julian Simon – 1m46.020
- Mika Kallio – 1m46.188
- Franco Morbidelli – 1m46.384
- Axel Pons 1m46.454
- Hafizh Syahrin – 1m46.523
- Anthony West – 1m46.573
- Xavier Simeon – 1m46.790
Moto3
Spanish rider Jorge Navarro took advantage of the only dry session of the day on Wednesday to set the fastest time of the Jerez test so far.
Once again the weather had a major part to play in todays proceedings, with the track only dry enough for riders to use their slick tyres during the second session. Most teams were active throughout the whole day though, taking the chance to gain invaluable experience of riding in wet conditions.
John McPhee had led the way during the damp first session, and it was Czech rider Karel Hanika who showed off his wet riding skills to set the fastest time during the final session, although all of the meaningful times were set during the second session when track conditions were at their best.
It was Spanish rider Jorge Navarro, on the Estrella Galicia 0,0 Honda, who managed to set the quickest lap of the test so far to finish on top of the combined timesheets with a 1’48.189 set during the dry second session when riders could use slick tyres. His time was still 2.609s off the quickest lap of Fabio Quartararo during the first test at Jerez in February, which was set on a completely dry track in ideal conditions.
Leopard Racing’s Danny Kent ended the day in 2nd place after only heading out on track when he could use his slick tyres during the dry second session. The British rider was 0.741s behind Navarro, which was impressive considering he only completed 5 laps throughout the entire day.
In 3rd place was the man who has dominated the previous preseason tests, Fabio Quartararo on the Estrella Galicia 0,0 Honda, completing a 1-2-3 for the Japanese manufacturer at the top of the timesheets. His best time of 1’49.033, a further 0.103s back from Kent.
2014 Red Bull Rookies Cup winner, Jorge Martin, was the fastest non-Honda rider on his Mapfre Mahindra Team machine in 4th.
Jorge Martín: “The track was still damp in the first session but we decided to ride anyway to try the new engine and get a feel for how it works. We didn’t test anything else in particular, I just tried to get a feel for the track. We were able to work with slick tyres in the second session and managed to complete several useful laps. Then it started to rain again and since we had achieved our objective for the day we decided not to ride in the wet conditions.”
Italian Enea Bastianini on the Gresini Racing Moto3 Honda snatching 5th place, just two-hundredths of a second quicker than Spaniard Isaac Viñales in 6th.
Next up was Livio Loi (+1.212s) on the RW Racing GP machine in 7th, with the Ongetta-Rivacold Honda of Niccolo Antonelli, the fastest man on day one, being relegated down to 8th in the standings on day two.
Romano Fenati was the leading KTM rider, finishing in 9th place despite a crash in the final session, with Scottish rider John McPhee completing the top ten.
Remy Gardner was 27th quickest in the 34-rider field.
The teams and riders return to the Circuito de Jerez tomorrow for the final day of preseason testing, before the season kicks off in Qatar on 29 March.
Moto3 Test Jerez Day Two
- Jorge Navarro – Honda – 1m48.189
- Danny Kent – Honda – 1m48.930
- Fabio Quartararo – Honda – 1m49.033
- Jorge Martin – Mahindra – 1m49.265
- Enea Bastianini – Honda – 1m49.277
- Isaac Vinales – Husqvarna – 1m49.301
- Livio Loi – Honda – 1m49.401
- Niccolo Antonelli – Honda – 1m49.417
- Romano Fenati – 1m49.433
- John McPhee – Honda – 1m49.714
