Productive testing in Catalunya for Jordi Torres & Nico Terol

Just two days after the Grand Prix of Catalunya a host of Moto2 riders were back on track in Barcelona today to test alongside the MotoGP factories of Suzuki and Ducati. The track was open to the intermediate category riders from 0900h until 1130h and from 1400h until 1630h.

The conditions were cloudy and there was some rainfall at around 1100h but it wasn’t enough to cause any breaks in the action on another hot day in Spain.

The MAPFRE Aspar Team continue their quest to solve their early season problems through a simple recipe of hard work, with Jordi Torres and Nico Terol today making full use of the available track time.

The pair were able to improve their machine set-up as well as lowering their lap times with respect to the weekend’s Grand Prix at the same circuit, with Jordi completing 80 laps as he worked to iron out some chatter problems through a combination of tyre and chassis tests.

The Spaniard smashed his best lap from the weekend by almost a second, whilst Nico found the rear grip that he had been looking for over the weekend, taking half a second off his personal best time.

Jordi Torres 1.46.71 (80 laps):
“We made the most of today to improve on the things we struggled with at the weekend. We did a lot of different rear tyre tests and by gathering a lot of information we were able to iron out the front chatter problems we had. We also played around with the rear end set-up and got the bike running more smoothly into the corners, improving our pace and consistency from the Grand Prix. I am happy because I really enjoyed riding today and I hope the work we have done proves useful at Assen.”

Nico Terol 1.47.70 (58 laps):
“The test day here at the Circuit de Catalunya has been very productive. We have improved our lap times from the weekend and also my feeling with the bike. I felt comfortable this morning and it was just a shame that it started to spot with rain, slowing our progress slightly. Anyway, I am still happy because we have found some more rear grip and that makes the bike easier to ride. We still need to take another step but I am happy with the result of today. We have done a lot of tests and gathered a tonne of information. We still have some chatter on the front that makes me lose confidence in corner entry but other than that it has been a positive test.”

Source: Aspar Media