Returnee Rodriguez fastest Spaniard on second day of testing

By gb

Posted February 9, 2012

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Action resumed at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia, where low temperatures greeted the riders for the second of three days of fine-tuning and analysis of the Moto2™ machines.

In a repeat of yesterday morning, none of the participating teams attempted a run on the cold pavement before 11:00am due to the cold track temperatures, and again the Marc VDS Racing Team reported their star Scott Redding as posting the fastest lap time, a 1’35.6, nine tenths quicker than his reported time yesterday and half a second faster than the best recorded lap set by Toni Elias in 2010.

In a change from yesterday however, the top five were on a varied mix of bikes, with Andrea Iannone reporting the second fastest time, two tenths behind Redding aboard his Speed Up modified FTR. The Italian was able to put in around fifteen more laps than yesterday and making a two second improvement in the process.

Claudio Corti was again third with an improvement of 1.3s on his Italtrans Racing Kalex, followed by the Suter of Thomas Luthi and Simone Corsi on the FTR Ioda bike reporting the same time (1’36.3) to complete the top five unofficial times. 2010 Champion Toni Elias improved his pace seven tenths, landing him in twelfth position,

There were a handful of minor crashes, including both JiR team’s Johann Zarco and Brazilian rider Eric Granado, the latter of whom will debut in the Moto2 World Championship from the Silverstone race after he reaches the required age of 16, and all three members of the Pons Racing Team, Tito Rabat, Pol Espargaró and Axel Pons, none of whom provided any lap times for today, though Espargaró and Rabat reported the second and fifth fastest times yesterday.

Unofficial Moto2 lap times Thursday (recorded by teams):

1. SCOTT REDDING, MARC VDS RACING TEAM, KALEX, 1’35.6 (59 laps)
2. ANDREA IANNONE, SPEED MASTER, SPEED UP, 1’35.8 (40 laps)
3. CLAUDIO CORTI, ITALTRANS RACING TEAM, KALEX, 1’36.1 (48 laps)
4. THOMAS LUTHI, INTERWETTEN PADDOCK, SUTER, 1’36.3 (30 laps)
5. SIMONE CORSI, IODARACING PROJECT, FTR, 1’36.3 (30 laps)
6. BRADLEY SMITH, TECH 3 RACING, TECH 3, 1’36.5 (52 laps)
7. MIKA KALLIO, MARC VDS RACING TEAM, KALEX, 1’36.6 (54 laps)
8. ANGEL RODRIGUEZ, SAG TEAM, FTR, 1’36.8 (42 laps)
9. MAX NEUKIRCHNER, KIEFER RACING, KALEX, 1’37.2 (67 laps)
10. RANDY KRUMMENACHER, GP TEAM SWITZERLAND, KALEX, 1’37.5 (55 laps)
11. ALEX DE ANGELIS, NGM MOBILE FORWARD RACING, SUTER, 1’37.5 (51 laps)
12. TONI ELIAS, ASPAR TEAM Moto2, SUTER, 1’37.6 (59 laps)
13. MIKE DI MEGLIO, SPEED UP, SPEED UP, 1’37.6 (50 laps)
14. NICOLAS TEROL, ASPAR TEAM Moto2, SUTER, 1’37.7 (60 laps)
15. JOHANN ZARCO, JIR Moto2, MOTOBI, 1’37.7 (34 laps)
16. XAVIER SIMEON, TECH 3 RACING, TECH 3, 1’37.7 (62 laps)
17. GINO REA, GRESINI RACING Moto2, MORIWAKI, 1’37.8 (50 laps)
18. TAKAAKI NAKAGAMI, ITALTRANS RACING TEAM, KALEX, 1’37.8 (66 laps)
19. YUKI TAKAHASHI, NGM MOBILE FORWARD RACING, SUTER, 1’37.9 (57 laps)
20. ALEXANDER LUNDH, MZ RACING TEAM, MZ-RE HONDA, 1’38.4 (45 laps)
21. DOMINIQUE AEGERTER, TECHNOMAG-CIP, SUTER, 1’38.4 (67 laps)
22. RATTHAPARK WILAIROT, THAI HONDA GRESINI Moto2, MORIWAKI, 1’38.6 (61 laps)
23. DAMIAN CUDLIN, QMMF RACING TEAM, MORIWAKI, 1’39.4 (44 laps)
24. ROBERTO ROLFO, TECHNOMAG-CIP, SUTER, 1’39.7 (61 laps)
25. ELENA ROSELL, QMMF RACING TEAM, MORIWAKI, 1’40.1 (52 laps)
26. ERIC GRANADO, JIR Moto2, MOTOBI, 1’40.3 (20 laps)
27. MARCO COLANDREA, SAG TEAM, FTR, 1’42.3 (19 laps)
28. JULIAN SIMON, AVINTIA RACING Moto2, FTR, No times provided
29. POL ESPARGARO, PONS RACING, KALEX, No times provided
30. AXEL PONS, PONS RACING, KALEX, No times provided
31. ESTEVE RABAT, PONS RACING, KALEX, No times provided