Oliveira and Moncayo starting fast and motivated into the new season
The official preseason test at Valencia marked the start of the 2011 season. At the circuit the Andalucia Cajasol technical staff and the two riders, Alberto Moncayo and Miguel Oliveira, were back in action and achieved excellent results during the three days of this first contact.
Since the end of last season, Pedro Machado’s team has worked hard to arrive at this first test with the structure of the new season well defined. En 2011 hay cambios tanto en el equipo técnico como en el deportivo, con interesantes incorporaciones como Enrique Quijal como Director técnico, Mario Martini nuevo telemétrico de Alberto Moncayo y el piloto Miguel Oliveira que llega al Mundial tras proclamarse subcampeón de España con este mismo equipo. In 2011 there are changes in both the technical team and the rider lineup, with interesting additions such as Technical Director Enrique Quijal, Mario Martini as Alberto Moncayo’s telemetry specialist and Portuguese Miguel Oliveira moving up to the world championship after becoming runner-up in the Spanish championship with the same team last season.
This first contact in Valencia was used to return to action after the winter break and start working with the new team members. Work on the development of the bike started to search for the best technical solutions for each rider.
The result of the work could not be better, Alberto Moncayo has improved his previous best laptime getting faster and had the fastest rhythm he ever did at the Valencian circuit so far.
Meanwhile Miguel Oliveira demonstrated the motivation he has to do a good job in the world championship in his debuts year. The Portuguese, who focused on doing his work in the best way possible did laptimes much faster than what would be expected from a rookie.
Both Alberto and Miguel have completed the first test with laptimes that placed them among the top five.
Now they have a new opportunity to continue their workin Portugal. The Andalucia Team is at the Estoril circuit at the moment to take part in the second official test. Both riders are highly motivated to ride at the Portuguese circuit. On the one hand, Alberto Moncayo did a great job at Estoril GP last year and he goes back there with the desire to continue improving. Oliveira visits his home track for the first time as a rider of the world championship, which is unprecedented (Miguel is the first Portuguese permanent starter in the MotoGP championship) and he is very motivated to continue working and improving to start the season at the highest level.
Alberto Moncayo, 1’41 .1
“It’s been three pretty good days, I think is the best start to a season I had so far and more, keeping in mind that I didn’t ride a bike since the last race last year. We tested many parts which will be much more difficult to assess during the season and we made good progress in this regard. This circuit is not my favorite, but I managed to improve on my best laptimes, I did a faster pace every time and I was very consistent with the laptimes. “
Miguel Oliveira, 1’40 .4
“We arrived in Valencia with the aim to brush off the dust and start working with the bike of the world championship. On Thursday we focused to get the pace and work in the development of the bike,yet we still did good laptimes. The second day we used to work on improving the laptimes and the result was very good, I did a fastest lap very close to that of the top riders. However, I think in many cases, like the riders who moved down from Moto2, they need a little more time to get back to their level and when the season starts they will be up there.
For me, being in the world championship is very special, but I focus on my work to get the results and do not look at who the others are. For the moment this has given me very good results.”
Pedro Machado, Director Team Andalucía
“We’re starting the season and both the technical team and the riders have to adapt to the new structure, but once again we have shown that we can achieve good results and I am sure we will continue on our way up this year. Alberto and Miguel have done a great job and this is reflected in the laptimes. The time references are not official and merely an orientation, but being in this first test with our two riders in the top five is a sign of our potential.”
Enrique Quijal, Technical Director
“Miguel is introduced to the world championship this year and he has the same technical team that worked with him last year in the CEV, so for them the work does not change much and the rider feels at home, something important for a young rider who makes the move to the world championship. In the case of Alberto, Mario Martini is incorporated as telemetry specialist and these tests have been the first time they’ve worked together. This year I also joined the world championship team and we made some changes in how the team works.
The result of the test is very positive because we have good laptimes with both riders, we just started and there is still much work ahead.”
Source: Andalucia Cajasol Team
