Oliveira, Marquez and Viñales taking steps forward with bike setup

Work continued for Repsol Moto3 riders Maverick Viñales, Miguel Oliveira and Álex Márquez at the Circuito de Jerez on Friday, as they continued to adapt to their 4-stroke 250cc bikes. The former two will be participating in the World Championship on these machines, whilst Álex Márquez will be taking part in the CEV Spanish championship in 2012. All three dropped their laps times from day one.

The opening day was adversely affected by strong winds, but on day two it was the humidity and clouds which delayed the riders. The track asphalt failed to heat up enough to provide sufficient grip and light rainfall added to the difficulty, but the track never got wet enough to stop the riders from putting in laps. The sun came out for the afternoon.

Maverick Viñales was once again one of the leading riders, squeezing everything out of his Moto3 bike and continuing to develop the machine. He tried several modifications to his bike and finished the day with a satisfying time of 1’47.67 after 43 laps.

Miguel Oliveira, winner of the final CEV race of 2011 at Jerez onboard the same Honda NSF 250R with which he will contest the World Championship this season, continued to progress on Friday. The Portuguese rider recorded a fastest time of 1’48.9 after 46 laps.

Álex Márquez racked up 30 laps, as the 125GP Spanish championship runner-up experienced electronic issues in the morning. His quickest lap was 1’50.2.

Miguel Oliveira 1:48.9, 46 laps, 203 km.
“We are satisfied with today’s testing. The team are working very hard in order to get the set-up ride for the start of the season. We know that we can improve a lot, as our new bike developments will come at the next test.

We will now meet up to look at how we can make another step forward, then we will rest up ahead of the final day here”.

Álex Márquez 1:50.2, 30 laps, 133 km.
“We had some problems with the electronics this morning, which kept us in the garage. Later on we were able to ride for almost the entirety of the remaining time. I felt comfortable in the afternoon and was clocking times as quick as the fastest laps in the CEV. I’m feeling positive ahead of tomorrow”.

Maverick Viñales 1:47.7, 43 laps, 190 km.
“It’s been a very good day. We tried out a lot of things and made some steady steps forward, above all with the chassis and the engine. Tomorrow we have a final day in which we will do some tyre testing and try to improve the combination of the three things, which will allow us to feel comfortable and find a faster pace. You can see that we are starting to ride fast —especially when I’m on the limit”.

Source: Repsol Media