Faubel taking it easy in treacherous conditions, but feeling confident about his pace

Heavy rain driven by high winds greeted the riders as they arrived at the Estoril circuit this morning, with the first free practice session held in fully wet conditions. Faubel completed just seven laps during the session, one more than his teammate, but his lap time was enough to secure fourth place on the timesheet, in a session in which only 19 riders recorded a time.

The second free practice started wet, but with the sun finally breaking through the clouds the track continued to dry throughout the 45-minute session. Even when a dry line appeared and the Moto2 riders were able to switch to slick tyres, conditions were difficult with damp patches remaining at key points on the circuit.

Both Faubel and Redding opted not to take any unnecessary risks and settled for 24th and 25th places on the timesheet this afternoon, but confident of improvement tomorrow whatever the conditions.

Hector Faubel #55: 24th – 1’56.082
“The weather was bad this morning, but I had a good feeling with the bike and I was able to lap quite consistently on the wet tyres, eventually finishing the session fourth fastest. This afternoon was more difficult. It started wet, dried very quickly in places, but with damp patches remaining until the end of the session. We switched to slicks quite early; this is the first time I’ve ridden the bike in these mixed conditions, so it was a case of building confidence with every lap. I took three seconds off my time on my final lap, but then we simply ran out of time. I have a good feeling about this track and this weekend and I’m looking forward to tomorrow whatever the weather throws at us.”

Trevor Morris: Hector Faubel’s Crew Chief
“This afternoon was the first time Hector has ridden the bike on slicks in damp conditions, so we took things easy while he built up confidence in the bike. At first it was difficult for him to keep the temperature in the tyres but then, right at the end of the session, he found his confidence and managed to improve his lap time by three seconds. I’m confident we’ll see even further improvements tomorrow, regardless of the weather.”

Source: Marc VDS Racing