Jorge Martin leaves Jerez test in positive mood

The fog that hung briefly over the Jerez circuit yesterday returned in force this morning to limit track activity on the final day of preseason testing for the Moto3 class in Spain.

When it finally cleared around midday the riders encountered strong winds in the afternoon, limiting the amount of fast laps they were able to complete before next week’s final test of preseason at Losail.

The three days at Jerez have shown that once again Honda and KTM are competing at a high level and that they have stronger competition this season from Mahindra, who have made good use of the winter. The season promises to be an exciting one for the Italian riders at the front although there are a host of Spaniards determined to have their say.

After two positive days at Jerez for the Aspar Mahindra riders the final day was not as productive, especially after the first session was lost to the fog.

Jorge Martín and Pecco Bagnaia used their time on track to continue working on the set-up of their new machines although the strong winds proved to be a major handicap to the Spaniard and the Italian, who were unable to improve on their best lap times from the test. Jorge and Pecco know they have plenty to improve on in their next outing at Losail, before the season starts for real at the same circuit in a couple of weeks’ time.

19th Jorge Martín 1.48.132 (42 laps):
“The day started out quite foggy and we decided not to risk riding in the first session. When we finally went out it was very windy and it was hard to get a feeling. I didn’t feel the same as yesterday but even so the team did a great job and we tried to improve our performance ahead of Qatar. The thing I’m taking away from here is the pace we showed yesterday, when I set some fast laps. In Qatar we will have to try some new maps, we tried a lot of things here at Jerez but not everything worked out so we have to choose what works best for the material we have available. We still have to improve our lap times, I think we need another half a second. At Losail, a completely different track to this one, I hope we can start from a solid base and be fast from the start.”