Jorge Martin & Juanfran Guevara test with Aspar at Jerez
As MotoGP testing concluded at Valencia yesterday, the 2015 preseason action was just starting for the Moto3 and Moto2 riders, who were at Jerez for the first of a three-day session.
A rainy start to the day made for damp conditions until around 2pm and even though the day was due to be split into separate sessions for the two categories, the adverse weather made it more sensible for them to share the track, which was open from 10am to 6pm.
For the MAPFRE Aspar Team this test marked the start of a completely new period in its proud history, with this being its first outing as the Mahindra factory team and with two new riders joining 2014 season regular Juanfran Guevara.
At 19 years of age Juanfran is the ‘grandfather’ of the team, with Francesco Bagnaia, 17, and Jorge Martín, 16, alongside him in a brand new three-rider line-up.
Jorge was the first on track at around 11:30am, with Juanfran and Francesco joining him around an hour and a half later, with all three riders enjoying a positive start and expressing their satisfaction with the new chassis.
Juanfran Guevara 1’47.98 (57 laps):
“I am happy with the way the first day has gone on the Mahindra. My first impressions are of an agile bike. I found it quite hard to take to the limit in the slow corners but in the fast ones I felt comfortable. The track conditions here at Jerez today were not good and the track stayed damp for quite a long time, but the lap times were still quite quick. We have made some set-up changes to try and gain some rear grip and we did some tests with the clutch to improve the engine braking, to make it easier in corner entry. In any case, the main thing here was to complete some laps and understand this bike.”
Jorge Martín 1’48.60 (61 laps):
“The team have treated me like one of their own from the start, so I already feel at home, like part of a family. This first day was a chance to get used to the new Mahindra. We had a little setback with the front fork but we were able to improve it as the day progressed and tomorrow we will have it completely sorted. The lap times were quite close today and we are not a long way off the top so I am satisfied, although today wasn’t about lap times – it was about getting comfortable on the bike and in that respect we have done well. I can take the bike where I want to and I feel confident with it in mid-corner and under braking. The chassis feels comfortable and hopefully we can push it more over the next couple of days.”
Source: Aspar Media
