Terol maintains consistency, Torres showing Top Ten promise at Jerez test
After a difficult opening day due to inclement weather Moto2 testing continued at Jerez today under welcome blue skies and in pleasant spring temperatures, making for ideal conditions that saw the 2011 circuit record of 1’42.706 set by current MotoGP star Stefan Bradl smashed. The day was again dominated by Spanish riders, who took three of the top five spots with Pol Espargaró leading the way, Takaaki Nakagami (Japan) and Scott Redding (GBR) also staking their claim for preseason superiority.
Between them the ASPAR Team’s two riders completed no fewer than 144 laps, 64 by Nico Terol and 80 from Jordi Torres, as they tested a variety of set-up solutions. Terol was able to confirm his excellent form from last week’s test at Valencia, setting a consistent pace in the 1’43s and finishing the day fifth fastest overall. Torres met his target of staying inside the top ten throughout preseason, despite completing his first dry laps of Jerez on Dunlop tyres. After struggling for rear grip in some areas the Spaniard put in a long stint at the end of the day to gather vital data about the British rubber.
5th Nico Terol 1.43.232 (64 laps): “Today has been a really good day. The weather was perfect but the track was damp this morning and we couldn’t really get started until 1pm. The lap times came quickly though and I was able to set a consistent pace in the mid 1’43s, even though I struggled to go any faster than that. I am satisfied with our work today but determined to improve tomorrow. We improved every day at Valencia so that’s the target here. Pol set an excellent lap but he already has a good base setting from last year so I imagine it wasn’t difficult for him to find his pace early. I am happy with the way our team is working and I feel we have a large margin for improvement. As the day progressed we improved front feel under braking at various points around the track and worked on the geometry to find more stability, as well as finding a way to get on the gas earlier. I am happy to be fifth fastest today but hope to improve on that tomorrow.”
8th Jordi Torres 1.43.549 (80 laps): “The conditions were perfect for us to work in today and we were able to spend a lot of time working on improving rear grip. We tried some different shock settings and played around with the ride height to try and find a bit more traction. During the hour reserved exclusively for Moto2 we put some fresh tyres on but one of them was faulty so we focused our work on the final session of the day and set about completing a 20-lap run. My fastest times came on the last two laps so it was obviously a constructive exercise in finding out more about how these tyres work. It seems daft but I have never ridden at Jerez on Dunlop before and I could really feel the difference.”
Source: Aspar Team Press Release
