Terol continues good form as Torres puts focus on rear shock

 In Moto2, News

VALTEST2013_36The second day of Moto2 testing saw preseason preparations intensify as the top eleven riders lapped within a second of each other at Valencia. Nico Terol, the pacesetter from the opening day, was marginally outdone by Pol Espargaró today, the two Spaniards establishing themselves as the men to beat at this early stage of the new campaign. High winds this afternoon made it difficult for the riders to shave tenths off their lap times but once again it was the home riders who made the best of the conditions, with Spaniards taking four of the top five positions on the timesheets.

ASPAR Team rider Terol has started his year in fine style and after dominating yesterday’s proceedings it was his name that figured at the top of the timing monitors throughout much of today. A best effort of 1’35.733, two tenths quicker than yesterday, was just two tenths shy of his compatriot Espargaró. Nico tested the new Suter chassis and even though it is early to draw too many conclusions there were certainly signs of improvement in terms of rear grip. His team-mate Jordi Torres also improved by two tenths today after a marathon 66 laps and he finished tenth fastest overall, half a second shy of Terol.

2nd Nico Terol 1.35.733 (54 laps): “I feel very comfortable at this early stage of preseason, the team is working well and I feel great on the bike. My riding is coming easily and things are working for us. Today I was able to lead the way along with Pol and it feels good. I tried the 2013 bike this afternoon and started the long process of finding a base set-up, without worrying about lap times. We had a lot to do so it is difficult to evaluate the new bike but the first impressions are good. It is quite similar to the old bike but it has more grip and offers better confidence in corner entry. We have made a positive start but it is a long road ahead and our rivals are very strong so we can’t afford to get distracted.”

10th Jordi Torres 1.36.290 (66 laps): “We continued to test a tonne of things today although our main focus was on the rear shock. We played around with the height and stiffness just to try and get a bit more grip. We weren’t bothered by the wind or the lap times. For us it was a case of gathering information and that’s it. The new chassis allows us to play around a lot more with the rigidity of the bike and it’s an important test for me to learn about the bike and the tyres. It’s a case of getting our homework done before the racing starts. Like I say we are not looking at lap times but we want to be consistently inside the top ten and we are doing that at the moment. The idea is to find a system that allows us to solve problems quickly and accurately during race weekends. So far I think we are on the right path and I’m satisfied.”

Source: Aspar Team Press Release

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