Simon content with problem solving on first day

The Moto2 class experienced the worst of the Malaysian weather on Friday afternoon, beginning their opening practice session at 3.10pm local time under dark skies. Rain didn’t take long in falling, although half an hour of dry track time enabled the riders to get some idea of what lies ahead this weekend. The downpour obliged the competitors to return to the pits, although there was a brief window for further track time in the final ten minutes. Alex de Angelis and Scott Redding were the fastest in the session, closely followed by Toni Elías and Julián Simón.

Mapfre Aspar rider Simón was aware that time was going to be short in the free practice run, so he focused on his main objective of solving rear end traction problems. A set-up change allowed him to address the difficulty he further improved over the course of ten laps. The Spaniard was fourth fastest on Friday and is aiming for pole in qualifying.

4th Julián Simón 2.09.976 (13 laps): “Today has been a pretty positive day, albeit shortened due to the rainfall. It normally rains in the afternoon in Malaysia and today it broke up our work schedule, but I am happy with the solutions that we were able to put in place for the traction problems. The bike was stable despite the heat and I had a lot better grip on the exit of the corners. We still have a few tweaks to make to the setting -in particular getting the gearing together to allow us to go master. I’m satisfied with the feeling so far in the ten laps under normal conditions. Tomorrow we will try and find the best configuration possible to go for pole position.”

Source: Mapfre Aspar Team