Aspar Team riders strong on day 1 of testing in Valencia

The Aspar Team riders in the Moto2 and Moto3 categories went out to the Cheste Circuit yesterday eager to get on their bikes and rack up kilometres, so there is plenty of work ahead on a difficult day due to the track conditions, but both Nico Terol and Toni Elías in the intermediate category, and Alberto Moncayo and Héctor Faubel in Moto3, have done a great job.

For Faubel and Moncayo it is yet another test with their Moto3 bike, a young machine that still needs to evolve, and today they set a 1:42.50 for both team riders, so step by step the work continues on the Kalex/KTM, especially on the front end, completing more than 40 laps in total, both riders doing short runs so they can evaluate, together with the engineers and mechanics, how the bike feels.

Statements from Héctor Faubel 1:42.50 (45 laps):

We received new tyres and there is a noticeable difference compared with the ones we tested last week and the ones we have been using recently. Although the day has been quite chilly, the times have been fast.

Consistently running in the 1:42s, taking the low temperatures into account, is very positive. Personally, this pace has surprised me and I think it is a good starting point. Today we focused mainly on accumulating laps; we are here to gather information and we still have two more days of work.

The aim of these sessions is to understand how this bike works, so that we can ask the engineers to prepare the most reliable bike possible for the start of the year.

Statements from Alberto Moncayo 1:42.50 (48 laps):

I’m quite happy, because the feeling has improved compared with the test we did a week ago at this same circuit. I’m also very pleased with the new tyres; they seem to work a little better. The engine continues to respond perfectly, and in terms of the chassis we are gradually improving our feeling with it.

Regardless of the temperature, freezing, we are managing to develop the bike as a whole, and that is basically what I take away from today. We are improving our lap times. It is still early to set ourselves targets, but I am convinced we are taking the right steps. The support of Kalex/KTM has been crucial; thanks to them we will arrive at the first race in good shape.

For their part, the Aspar men in Moto2, Nico Terol and Toni Elías , also had a day marked by the cold, but they finally got out on track with their new Suter chassis, with which they are very happy, as it has great torsional capacity and plenty of potential ahead.

As for the 18, Terol completed 30 laps, and preferred not to risk a possible crash in the morning, while Elías defied the cold and went flat out, setting a 1:38.3, while his team-mate stayed at 1:39.65. Without doubt a good start to this warm-up. Both will surely improve today, although everything will depend on the conditions at Cheste.

Statements from Toni Elías 1:38.30 (47 laps):

It is very cold, so I am taking it easy, because it is easy to make a mistake and end up on the ground. Being careful, you certainly get a few scares, but it is still important to be able to work, since we have gone two months without riding. I am very happy because the bike is running quite well, and we also solved an issue with the clutch that we had at the last test. We worked hard and fortunately it could be fixed.

Today we had quite clear ideas and thanks to that we worked in the right direction. It is very important for us to lay a good foundation. We know how we need to work. Today was the first training day of this 2012 season. The World Championship starts in April and it seems like an eternity away, but we have to make the most of the time to prepare as well as we can.

Statements from Nico Terol 1:39.65 (30 laps):

At the start of the day I felt quite strange. The truth is I have covered few kilometres in the new category and I still have to keep getting used to many things. In the last run of the day I began to regain some of the feeling. I only did thirty laps, on the same tyre, and I did not gather much information, but this day has helped me shake off the rust after the whole winter.

Today we basically worked on my position on the bike. We tried to get everything right in its place, so that tomorrow and Friday we can test many things. The base is good and we have time ahead of us, so I am calm and satisfied with how this training has started.

Temperatures have dropped a lot, so we decided not to go out for the final run of the day. I liked the new chassis; I notice that the lack of grip has been considerably reduced and it is more manageable when turning.

Today, more for the Aspar boys.

Source | Aspar Team