Simon and Forés keen to improve overall bike feeling
Replacing yesterday’s rain a strong wind has marked the second day of testing at Jerez. But regardless of this at least most riders were able to finally test with the official engines without too many problems. Whether due to gusts of wind or the preseason nervousness, many riders crashed today which resulted in several red flags throughout the day and an unexpected break this morning. Overall the laptimes have not been better than last week when only a handful of riders tested at Jerez. The main reason has been the condition of the track due to the different weather.
The Mapfre Aspar riders were among the first riders out on track, just in case the rain would come again at noon like yesterday. Julián Simón admitted after the session that he took the day easy since the strong wind made it difficult in every curve. But calm approach or not, the Villacañas native finished the day fifth fastest. Far from venturing into too many tests, he wanted to analyze the feelings with the chassis settings they found last week.
His teammate Xavi Fores is still in the process of adapting to his new Moto2 bike. And adaption that is going well very quickly and the rider from Llombay didn’t want to lose a minute of work. Today he did no less than 76 laps at the Jerez track, always looking to improve the geometry of the bike. Gradually the Mapfre Aspar rider gets closer to the laptime of the fastest riders and is ready for a good start to the championship.
5º Julián Simón 1.43.989 (47 laps): “Today was a positive day where I took it easy. Although it didn’t rain it was windy and in some corners there was a risk of crashing. I decided to take the test more smoothly than last week, all I wanted was to see that the feeling with the bike remains the same and that the configuration used a week ago is reliable. In a few curves there was a bit of chattering, but overall the bike is going very well. The development of the bike is on a good way, every time we’re testing the geometry we gain confidence. I am very happy with our work today, although laptimes have not been as fast as last week. The wind has been the main handicap to ride in perfect conditions, hopefully tomorrow it will be less and we can do more laps to get everything ready for the first race of the year.”
16º Xavi Forés 1.44.880 (76 laps): “Today has been a positive day, because we had a lot of testing planned and we did it all. We struggled to understand the engine brake, but after a lot of laps we have improved the setting for the chassis. I struggled with the engine brake when braking hard, but it was solved by changing the geometry of the bike, mainly at the front. We got a much more stable bike which improved braking and cornering. I didn’t manage to improve my laptime from last week because the conditions were not the same and because we did many tests. But I am very happy, because I feel better on the bike. I also tried to do every lap alone, without references, to improve my rhythm. Let’s see tomorrow if the weather conditions improve and we can finish everything before leaving for Qatar.”
Source: Mapfre Aspar Team
