Moncayo and Faubel in high spirits after testing new solutions

A blanket of cloud created a greenhouse effect at Assen today as summer temperatures soared to a stifling 30ºC for the opening day of practice at the Dutch TT. However, the conditions provided a valuable chance for the Moto3 teams and riders to make use of dry track time for both of their opening two sessions, which saw some close lap times and extra traffic on track in the shape of wildcards Bryan Schouten and Julián Miralles.

BANKIA Aspar rider Alberto Moncayo, the only rider other than Sandro Cortese to have scored points at every race so far this season, is hoping to maintain his consistent run of form here and he started work in earnest fashion as he looks to make up for a lack of dry track time with his new chassis at Silverstone two weeks ago. This morning he was third fastest, finishing eleventh in the afternoon as he worked systematically and calmly on his set-up for Saturday’s all important race. Héctor Faubel worked in similar fashion, spending the day on one set of tyres tyres but constantly pushing to improve his set-up and lap times, finishing in a satisfactory sixteenth.

11th Alberto Moncayo 1.45.797 (38 laps): “This morning we started out strongly and took a big step forward with the bike. We have changed the way we approach practice for Assen and I am concentrating on riding alone, setting my own pace. I felt comfortable and was able to test the chassis extensively. It gave me a lot of confidence and the engine improved under acceleration but we need to keep working to find more power in the bottom two gears and in terms of top speed. We tried something with the gearbox that didn’t work out so we’ll take a step backwards with that tomorrow but so far I am happy with our pace and the work done.”

16th Héctor Faubel 1.45.971 (36 laps): “I am happy because looking at the lap times and our general pace it seems we have taken the right steps with the bike. I focused on getting my pace and my reference points together in the first session and then stayed on the same tyres from the afternoon to get some data for the race. We put some fresh tyres on at the end to set a fast lap but Rossi almost crashed right in front of me and I had to back off so I didn’t hit him. We have some new parts to try for the engine tomorrow so I am sure the bike will perform better and we’ll be leaving Assen with a good result on Saturday.”

Source: Aspar Team Press Release