Solid Start For Simon & Fores

The Moto2 riders were the lucky ones at the Circuit de Catalunya today as they were the only ones to get two full dry sessions on track, or at least two full sessions on slick tyres. Intermittent rain throughout the day held off for both intermediate class sessions and although the track dried quickly it was not in ideal shape. The top twenty riders are separated by just a second, with Simone Corsi the man on top. Aleix Espargaró, Julian Simón and Marc Márquez lead the significant Spanish challenge.

From the evidence so far it seems the private test carried out by the MAPFRE Aspar team at Aragon Motorland last week was a success, with Julián Simón and Xavi Forés setting a strong pace throughout the first day. Simón was third fastest this morning and eleventh in the afternoon, making very few changes to his set-up and maintaining a solid pace in the high 1’47s before finishing four tenths off the best lap time. Xavi Forés continues his impressive adaptation to the class and was just a second off the best time today.

11th Julián Simón 1.47.847 (34 laps):
“Today was really positive. Luckily the rain held off and we were able to work well. We were able to confirm the progress we made at Aragón and even had chance to test a couple more things, such as a longer gear setting. I had to adapt my riding to get the most out of it so we decided to take a step back. The fact we used the same tyres all day had an effect on our lap time at the end but our pace is good so I am happy. Tomorrow we just need to pull one fast lap out to get the best possible grid position. It will be a fight to get onto the front two rows.”

20th Xavi Forés 1.48.382 (22 laps):
“I had a good feeling with the bike this morning. We decided to spend the whole session on one tyre, with the race in mind, and then switched to a harder one for the afternoon and I felt more comfortable so I think we’ll use that on Sunday. We were quite close to the top all afternoon. We made a couple of little changes to the geometry that helped under braking and I was able to do a lot of laps on my own in the 1’48s. I wanted to know what my true pace was and I am happy with it. We are getting closer and closer to the top.”

Source: Aspar Media