Jordi Torres & Nico Terol set to work at Catalunya
The first day of action at the Circuit de Catalunya was characterised by a mixture of curious conditions.
Almost half of Moto2 riders took their best times in the morning, with the rest taking the more traditional route of setting their fastest laps in the afternoon. Heat and humidty (33°C and 40%) may have been two determining factors for this situation.
Many riders complained of a lack of grip and excessive sliding, but home rider Esteve Rabat had no such issue as he dominated the timesheets in the intermediate class.
The MAPFRE Aspar riders announced before arrival in Catalonia that they were especially motivated for their second home Grand Prix. Both have good memories of the track and feel comfortable riding there.
Their comfort was slightly limited today by the intense heat and lack of grip on the track. Nevertheless, Jordi Torres and Nico Terol completed the first session of the day in seventh and eighth.
Both their best lap times and feelings came during the opening runout in Catalonia, as in the afternoon excessive sliding posed a problem for the pair. Jordi Torres and Nico Terol completed 37 laps apiece, closing the day in 12th and 14th position, respectively and look forward to continuing working to push for top positions.
12th Jordi Torres 1.48.219 (37 laps):
“I always come to a home Grand Prix very motivated, because my family and the people who support me are all here. It is special for me to ride at the Circuit de Catalunya. This morning we did a good job, but we still need more. We still haven’t found that little extra to make us go faster. I really want to be higher up, so I’m pushing hard but have yet to get the setup I want. Today the bike was sliding too much at some points, so we must work to change this. This lack of grip with the rear takes away our stability and the disadvantage is transferred to the front end. I guess the state of the track and the heat played a part, so tomorrow we will work to change this. I am convinced that by tweaking the setup I can ride better and take more risks. Tomorrow we will work in the same way and I am sure that we can take another small step forward.”
14th Nico Terol 1.48.280 (37 laps):
“It’s very hot in Catalonia, and that hurt us today. We suffered at some points because the bike was sliding out a lot, much more than we would have liked. This morning I was quite happy but in the afternoon I struggled to find a good feeling. I noticed that I could hardly turn the bike in on the faster corners. On the last sector of the circuit I am losing a lot of pace, so we will study why so that we can improve tomorrow. With the low grip level on the circuit today it was difficult to ride fast, but we still worked hard to find solutions. For tomorrow we will work to make the bike turn more when we first get on the gas. Despite the setbacks today, I am happy that we have started much better than at other rounds and I am convinced that our work will give us good results soon.”
Source: Aspar Media
