IRTA Test Qatar – Day 1, Quotes 125cc
1º Bradley Smith 2.06.568 (55 laps):
“Most important of today is that we have improved a lot and in addition the conditions of the track also have been improving throughout the training. We have worked mainly on the front suspension and I believe that we have found the best way to follow and work on tomorrow. In this circuit it is very important to achieve that the bike turns well, because the majority of the curves is long and it is necessary to get out of them fast. At the moment we are still very far from the fastest laptime of last year, but we still have a day to continue progressing. If we continue to work like we did today, I am convinced that we could again come out fastest.”
3º Julian Simón 2.07.042 (48 laps)
“Frankly speaking I was very uncertain to ride here for the first time with a 125cc bike at night and I immediately noticed that it is completely different from the 250s. Last year I had my worst race here and I had my doubts, but we have reached a good level from the first moment on, always getting better laptimes step by step. Our main disadvantage has been chattering on the rear in the fast curves, that has prevented us from getting better laptimes, but despite that I had a good rhythm in several laps and I am content with the first day. Looking to tomorrow the team and me will work the best we can to solve our chattering problems and to be prepared for the race.”
4º Sergio Gadea 2.07.843 (35 laps)
“I am content, because at the beginning of the test session we did very well and finished in first position. In the later session I went on track again feeling very comfortable, but I had a crash early on and therefore I wasn’t able to go out again. In the third session I also had a crash and we had to finish the day before time. It’s a pity because the feeling with the bike was good. But be that as it may, I’m working hard to get a fast rhythm as quickly as possible, so we only have to polish up some details on the bike. For tomorrow we will continue to ride with the setup that we had last year and will try to make the setting perfect and get to the first race being competitive.”