The 31-year-old from Lancaster acknowledged that his main target for his two days of testing was simply to get as many laps as possible under his belt and gain more experience on the new CRT bike as well as collect data for the team to analyze and work with for the next test. Overall he was just overjoyed to be riding the bike, saying that it felt great so far and data exchange with the other Aprilia teams is working well, so he’d make sure to return it to the garage tomorrow evening at the end of the test still in one piece.

Source: motogp.com

Monday at the Circuito de Jerez closed with a private test that saw several CRT (Claiming Rule Team) riders aboard the bikes that will debut in the MotoGP World Championship this season, including the first ride for Danilo Petrucci aboard his Ioda Racing prototype .

Paul Bird Motorsport was present with James Ellison, though having just received the bike this morning the team spent the day working on an initial set-up and Ellison did not hit the track, though tomorrow the Briton will have his very first run on the ART bike ahead of his return to the premier class.

Tomorrow will also see Karel Abraham of CardionAB Motoracing joining the field of riders, with Hector Barbera of Pramac Racing riding on Wednesday, the final day of the private test.

Unofficial lap times Monday (recorded by teams):

MotoGP (CRT)
1. Randy De Puniet, ART 1’41.6 (57 laps)
2. Aleix Espargaró, ART 1’42.6 (47 laps)
3. Mattia Pasini, ART 1’43.3 (43 laps)
4. Danilo Petrucci, IODA 1’43.3 (43 laps)

Source: motogp.com

No official lap times were available from the test, but Mahindra Racing team manager Nicola Casadei was satisfied with the team’s progress. “I am happy with where we are at this point in our development programme,” he explained. “We brought a few new things to test after last week that have improved our performance. From what we saw, there were a couple of fast guys out there but our riders were not so far off. Reliability has been good again. We had a few minor problems, but this is all part of the learning curve with this new bike. We did a lot of laps and have a lot of data that will help us to develop the bike. I am confident that when we are back here for the next test the bike will be much improved again.”

Danny Webb: “We’ve made some good improvements from the last test just a week ago. The mid range has improved a lot as well as the top end. We’ve still got work to do to improve acceleration and work on the engine braking, but this was only our second proper test with this bike and I think it is another good job. The important thing is that the engineers have now got a lot of data that they will take back to base to analyse and improve the bike.

“Same as last week in Valencia, the handling felt good around Jerez, although the track conditions were a bit slippery. Conditions were best early this afternoon, but I had a small problem and so was in the garage for a while, otherwise I think I could have been even faster.“

Source: Mahindra Racing

Redding and his crew worked to further refine the set-up on their Kalex Moto2 machine during the opening day of testing, with the work paying dividends on day two, as the 19-year-old British rider bettered by half a second the outright lap record set by Stefan Bradl during qualifying for the 2011 Spanish Grand Prix.

Redding had a minor crash at the right-hand turn five towards the end of the third and final day after losing the front while pushing for another fast lap, but declared himself happy with both his pace and consistency during the three days at Jerez.

The Marc VDS Racing Team will return to Jerez in one month’s time for the third and final official pre-season test.

Scott Redding #45: Best Lap – 1’42.2
“It was difficult to get a feel for the level of grip on day one, and it wasn’t much better on day two and three to be honest. But I was able to get plenty of laps in, 236 in total, and I’m pretty pleased with the fact that I was consistently quick on the last two days. The bike continues to improve and we’re certainly getting a lot more from the tyres than we did last season, so it’s all good. Now we’ve got a break of more than a month before we return to Jerez for the last test. That’s going to drag a bit!”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Manager
‘Today marks the end of another successful three-day test for the Marc VDS Racing Team, with both riders achieving their aims and Scott once again topping the timesheet. More important than fast lap times is the fact that both riders are able to lap consistently within two or three tenths of their fastest lap, which is something we were missing last season. The tyre situation is also much improved compared to last year, with both riders able to maintain their lap times right to the end of their race simulation runs. It’s early days yet, with the first race still over six weeks away, but we are definitely heading in the right direction.”

Source: Marc VDS

The third and final day of testing at the Andalusian circuit was held under sunny and warm weather (ambient temperature 19°C and asphalt temperature 34°C) with times among the Moto2 riders dropping steadily as the teams wrapped up three busy days of work in preparation for the 2012 Championship season

Italtrans duo Claudio Corti and Takaaki Nakagami both reported the fastest time of the day with a time of 1’42.2, with Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Paccock) and Pol Espargaró of Pons Racing both posting a time of 1’42.4. Meanwhile, Avintia racing’s Julian Simon and Scott Redding both brought up fifth with a shared time of 1’42.7. Redding was mainly battling the reoccuring chatter he experienced on the front of the bike throughout the three days of testing, but seemed reasonably happy with the testing at Jerez.

Fellow Brits Bradley Smith and Gino Rea each had much bigger problems with the setup of their bikes. While Smith’ team completely turned the bike upside down to get a similar feeling with it as last year, they finally had to go back from where they started and do it all over again to find a working setup. Still Smith was taking it patiently and stayed confident that the bike will be in the best possible condition until the first race in Qatar.

Gino Rea on the other hand left the Jerez circuit frustrated as there were a lot of problems with his new Moriwaki still unsolved. Him and the team had to get used to a lot of new things on the bike as well as new Showa forks and simply ran out of time to really get the setup right. Rea will definitely be at the next test before the first race of the season, but still has not officially signed with the Gresini team yet.

The quicker pace and pressure to make to most of the last day on track added to the number of crashes that occurred on the final day, with Tech 3 Racing’s Xavier Simeon, Kiefer Racing’s Max Neukirchner, Yuki Takahashi of NGM Mobile Forward Racing, SAG Team’s Angel Rodriguez and Damian Cudlin of the QMMF Racing team all having crashes in the morning though without injuries. In the afternoon, falls included Marco Colandrea and Pol Espargaró though without incident, however Claudio Corti and Alex De Angelis both had falls that brought out the red flag, though the riders ultimately were pronounced unscathed.

The Moto2 teams now have one month to analyze data and rider feedback collected and perform the required modifications their bikes before testing resumes again at Jerez on March 19th.

Unofficial Moto2 lap times for Saturday (recorded by teams):

1. Claudio Corti, ITALTRANS RACING TEAM, 1’42.2
2. Takaaki Nakagami, ITALTRANS RACING TEAM, 1’42.2
3. Thomas Luthi, INTERWETTEN PADDOCK, 1’42.4
4. Pol Espargaro, Pons Racing, 1’42.5
5. Julian Simon, AVINTIA RACING Moto2, 1’42.7
6. Scott Redding, MARC VDS RACING TEAM, 1’42.7
7. Mika Kallio, MARC VDS RACING TEAM, 1’42.8
8. Esteve Rabat, Pons Racing, 1’42.8
9. Randy Krummenacher, GP TEAM SWITZERLAND, 1’42.9
10. Bradley Smith, TECH 3 RACING, 1’43.0
11. Angel Rodriguez, SAG TEAM, 1’43.2
12. Axel Pons, PONS RACING, 1’43.5
13. Alex De Angelis, NGM MOBILE FORWARD RACING, 1’43.6
14. Toni Elías, MAPFRE ASPAR TEAM, 1’43.6
15. Nico Terol, MAPFRE ASPAR TEAM, 1’43.6
16. Mike Di Meglio, SPEED UP, 1’43.7
17. Simone Corsi, IODARACING PROJECT, 1’43.7
18. Xavier Simeon, TECH 3 RACING, 1’43.7
19. Ricky Cardus, ARGUIÑANO RACING TEAM, 1’43.8
20. Gino Rea, GRESINI RACING Moto2, 1’43.8
21. R. Wiliarot, THAI HONDA GRESINI Moto2, 1’43.8
22. Yuki Takahashi, NGM MOBILE FORWARD RACING, 1’43.9
23. Johann Zarco, JIR Moto2, 1’44.0
24. Andrea Iannone, SPEED MASTER, 1’44.2
25. Max Neukirchner, KIEFER RACING, 1’44.2
26. Dominique Aegerter, TECHNOMAG-CIP, 1’44.5
27. Roberto Rolfo, TECHNOMAG-CIP, 1’44.7
28. Alexander Lundh, MZ RACING TEAM, 1’45.1
29. Marco Colandrea, SAG TEAM, 1’45.4
30. Eric Granado, JIR Moto2, 1’46.0
31. Damian Cudlin, QMMF RACING TEAM, no time provided
32. Elena Rosell, QMMF RACING TEAM, no time provided

Source: motogp.com

Photo: Weisse F. / KTM Images

The riders continued their adaptation to the new bikes for 2012 under the best weather conditions on the final of three days of testing at the Circuito de Jerez. With full sun and more than 20ºC air temperatures and 34°C track temperatures, Danny Kent return to dominate the Moto3 field with a time of 1’47.1, four tenths ahead of Avintia Racing rider Maverick Viñales.

Alberto Moncayo (Bankia Aspar Team) was unaffected by yesterday’s crash that ended his day early and the rider from the nearby city of Cadiz returned to the circuit today to report the third quickest pace with a best time of 1’47.9. Team mate Hector Faubel finished fifth with a time of 1’48.4, four tenths behind Sandro Cortese who lapped fourth quickest.

Kent’s fellow countryman Danny Webb was still busy finding the best setting for his new Mahindra bike and finished the test in 15th position.

Numerous crashes today included those of Japanese rider Kenta Fujii, Luis Salom, Niccolo Antonelli, Jakub Kornfeil, all without serious consequences, while the afternoon brought two red flags from crashes that resulted in a broken wrist for Giulian Pedone (Ambrogio Next Racing), and a fractured fibula for Alessandro Tonucci.

Unofficial Moto3 lap times for Satruday (recorded by teams):

1. Danny Kent (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1’47.1
2. Maverick Viñales (Avintia Racing) 1’47.5
3. Aberto Moncayo (Bankia Aspar Team) 1’47.9
4. Sandro Cortese (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1’48.0
5. Héctor Faubel (Bankia Aspar Team) 1’48.4
6. Zulfahmi Khairuddin (AirAsia SIC Ajo) 1’48.4
7. Luís Salom (RW Racing GP) 1’48.5
8. Efrén Vázquez (Team Laglisse) 1’48.7
9. Miguel Oliveira (Monlau Competición) 1’48.9
10. Arthur Sissis (Red Bull KYM Ajo) 1’50.1
11. Louis Rossi (Racing Team Germ) 1’49.2
12. Niccoló Antonelli (San Carlo Gresi ni) 1’49.3
13. Niklas Ajo (TT Motion Events Racing) 1’49.4
14. Alex Márquez (Monlau Competición) 1’49.6
15. Danny Webb (Mahindra Racing) 1’49.7

Source: motogp.com

Day two of testing at the Jerez circuit featured cloudy skies and even a few drops of rain for the Moto2 field, thought the track remained dry and the riders were able to put in a full day’s work in preparation for the 2012 Championship season, with the majority of the field pacing quicker than yesterday.

While the times stated today are not official, the majority of teams reported lap times with Marc VDS Racing reporting a very quick time of 1’42.2 from their rider Scott Redding. Claudio Corti followed with a 1’42.4 and yesterday’s leader Thomas Luthi set the third fastest time, just one tenth off that of Italtrans Racing rider Corti.

Newcomer Takaaki Nakagami (Italtrans Racing) continues to impress as the Japanese rider finished the day with the fourth fastest time with Pol Espargaro (Pons Racing) completing the top five times.

Bike changes and adaptations throughout the paddock resumed full force, with riders such as Gino Rea and Rattapark Wilairot of the Team Gresini team working on the set-up of their 2012 version Moriwaki, while Bradley Smith of Tech 3 Racing went back to the settings the team used in November after various changes did not produce the results expected. Johann Zarco reported finding the adaptation to 4 stroke bikes rather difficult and said he still needs to get more confidence with braking.

Unofficial Moto2 lap times Friday (recorded by teams):

1. Scott Redding, MARC VDS RACING TEAM, 1’42.2
2. Claudio Corti, ITALTRANS RACING TEAM, 1’42.4
3. Thomas Luthi, INTERWETTEN PADDOCK, 1’42.5
4. Takaaki Nakagami, ITALTRANS RACING TEAM, 1’42.7
5. Pol Espargaro, Pons Racing, 1’42.8
6. Julian Simon, AVINTIA RACING Moto2, 1’43.0
7. Esteve Rabat, Pons Racing, 1’43.1
8. Bradley Smith, TECH 3 RACING, 1’43.2
9. Mika Kallio, MARC VDS RACING TEAM, 1’43.3
10. Xavier Simeon, TECH 3 RACING, 1’43.4
11. Randy Krummenacher, GP TEAM SWITZERLAND, 1’43.4
12. Nico Terol, MAPFRE ASPAR TEAM, 1’43.4
13. Andrea Iannone, SPEED MASTER, 1’43.5
14. Alex De Angelis, NGM MOBILE FORWARD RACING, 1’43.3
15. Angel Rodriguez, SAG TEAM, 1’43.6
16. Mike Di Meglio, SPEED UP, 1’43.8
17. Toni Elías, MAPFRE ASPAR TEAM, 1’44.0
18. Axel Pons, PONS RACING, 1’44.0
19. Gino Rea, GRESINI RACING Moto2, 1’44.0
20. Simone Corsi, IODARACING PROJECT, 1’44.0
21. Yuki Takahashi, NGM MOBILE FORWARD RACING, 1’44.1
22. R. Wiliarot, THAI HONDA GRESINI Moto2, 1’44.1
23. Johann Zarco, JIR Moto2, 1’44.3
24. Max Neukirchner, KIEFER RACING, 1’44.6
25. Dominique Aegerter, TECHNOMAG-CIP, 1’44.6
26. Roberto Rolfo, TECHNOMAG-CIP, 1’45.1
27. Ricky Cardus, ARGUIÑANO RACING TEAM, 1’45.3
28. Alexander Lundh, MZ RACING TEAM, 1’45.8
29. Eric Granado, JIR Moto2, 1’46.1
30. Damian Cudlin, QMMF RACING TEAM, 1’46.3
31. Marco Colandrea, SAG TEAM, 1’46.8
24. Elena Rosell, QMMF RACING TEAM, 1’46.9

Source: motogp.com

Photo: Weisse F. / KTM Images

Danny Kent reappeared at the top of the list as the fastest rider on day two of the Official Test held at the Jerez circuit in Southern Spain. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider reported a lap time of 1‘47.5, followed by Maverick Viñales (Avintia Racing) who paced two tenths behind the Briton and Hector Faubel (Bankia Aspar) four tenths off Viñales in third.

Sandro Cortese followed up with the fourth quickest of the field, despite a carsh that ended the German rider’s day early, with Miguel Oliveira (Monlau Competición) rounding out the top five times.

Out of a number of crashes today, two produced a red flag, the first of which was that of Alberto Moncayo (Bankia Aspar), the rider who reported the second best time yesterday. After only six laps, the Spanish rider crashed in turn 6 after which he spent several hours in the medical clinic after reporting dizziness. While eventually pronounced to be fine, he was advised to sit out the remainder of the day though he will return to the track tomorrow.

The second red flag appeared after Efren Vasquez (Team Laglisse) and Louis Rossi (Racing Team Germany) collided, both riders emerging unhurt. Also crashing but without consequences were Brazilian rookie Eric Granado and sole Malaysian representative, Zulfahmi Khairuddin (AirAsia-SIC-Ajo).

Track action resumes tomorrow (Saturday) for the third and final day of testing.

Unofficial Moto3 lap times Friday (recorded by teams:

1. Danny Kent (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1’47.5
2. Maverick Viñales (Avintia Racing) 1’47.7
3. Héctor Faubel (Bankia Aspar Team) 1’48.1
4. Sandro Cortese (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1’48.3
5. M. Oliveira (Monlau Competición) 1’48.9
6. A. Moncayo (Bankia Aspar Team) 1’49.0
7. Niklas Ajo (TT Motion Events Racing) 1’49.5
8. Arthur Sissis (Red Bull KYM Ajo) 1’50.1
9. A.Márquez (Monlau Competición) 1’50.2
10. Efrén Vázquez (Team Laglisse) 1’50.3
11. Niccoló Antonelli (San Carlo Gresi 1.’0.6
12. K. Fujii (Technomag CIP-TSR) 1’50.7
13. A. Techer (Technomag CIP-TSR) 1’51.2
14. Jakub Kornfeil (Redox Ongetta) 1’52.0

Source: motogp.com