Salom fastest in private Valencia test despite technical issues

 In Moto3, News

After the long winter break in order to have the best possible preparation ahead of the new season of the Moto3 championship, RW Racing GP rider Luis Salom will participate in a series of tests in the coming weeks, including the one that has taken place on January 30th and 31st this week.

From the first day on Salom had a series of minor technical problems with his Kalex-KTM, which kept the Mallorcan from riding the way he wanted. Furthermore he wasn’t able to use the semi-automatic gear change, so he lost about half a second each lap.

But despite completing only 32 laps on the first day (some riders did more than 60) the Spaniard finished as the fastest (1.43’2) of the nine riders who shared the circuit, including several of his top rivals in 2012, such as Moncayo, Faubel, Cortese, Ajo and Kent.

On the second day the problems persisted, so he was only able to ride in the morning, which other riders used post their best laptimes, including Cortese who matched Salom’s time from the first day. Luis returned to testing in the afternoon, just when the weather began to worsen. The track was very cold, windy and in the last moments of the session even some rain started to fall, but the rider from Palma managed to set a lap of 1.43’5, the second-fastest time of the day. In the overall timing from both days only Luis Salom and Sandro Cortese have been able to post a 1.43’2.

The Moto3 riders will be out on track again next week along with all the Moto2 riders in the official IRTA test which will be held at the Ricardo Tormo Valencia Circuit from 8th to 10th February.

Luis Salom: “Despite some technical problems and not being able to use semi-automatic gear change I am very satisfied with this test. We have worked with different configurations, looking for the best option in the parameters of the chassis, engine development and selection of tyres and we posted the best laptime of two days. We can still improve a lot and this makes me optimistic for the next tests. If we keep working well we arrive in good condition for the first race of the year.”

Source: Luis Salom Official Website

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