Day 1 of Ducati and MotoGP CRT test at Jerez

Today saw the first day of the MotoGP CRT World Championship test at the Jerez Circuit, after Moto2 and Moto3 completed their IRTA last week. Now it was the turn of the new machines of the premier class, the Claiming Rule Teams.

At the end of January we already got to see some CRTs training, and the debut of the ART from the Team Power Electronics Aspar with Aleix Espargaró and Randy de Puniet, and today we were able to see more CRTs that will take part in the 2012 season, in particular these riders will be training over the coming days: Mattia Pasini of Speed Master with his Aprilia; Danilo Petrucci of Ioda Racing and the British rider James Ellison, who will ride the ART of Paul Bird Racing for the first time tomorrow.

The fastest on this first day was Randy de Puniet, with a lap time of 1:41.6. However, the Frenchman was not very satisfied, as he was slower than at the previous test, but he knows there are still several days left to keep working on his machine and gradually gain more feeling and adaptation. For now he has completed 58 laps of the Andalusian track, so there is a lot of information that they will now have to study and draw conclusions from for tomorrow.

For his part, Aleix Espargaró had a complicated day. He achieved the second best lap time with a 1:42.77 and continued testing his new bike for 2012, but he ended the first test day early: apparently the Catalan was not feeling well and had a bit of a fever, so he finished early to go and rest.

The two Aspar riders have tested their new chassis and swingarm, as well as the carbon brake discs, so there was a lot of work on track and in the pits.

Statements by Randy de Puniet:

Today we had our first contact with the Jerez Circuit. It was a day in which many things were tested. We worked on the suspensions and also on the electronics.

I am a little frustrated because I have not turned as fast as in November, when we were here training. The bike is new and so is everything else, so we have to get used to it. On one hand I would have liked to go faster, on the other I am calm because we still have two full days to work. This afternoon we will analyse the information gathered on this first day of testing, to see what we can improve for tomorrow.

Statements by Aleix Espargaró 1:42.77 (47 laps):

This morning it took me a little while to get into the rhythm here at Jerez, a faster track than Valencia. As the day went on I felt terrible and found it very hard to keep my concentration. We were able to modify some aspects of the chassis, but seeing that I was not performing well I decided to end the day early.

I seem to have caught a cold, because this afternoon I had a fever. Now I understand better why I did not feel comfortable on the bike. I have decided to come to the hotel, go to bed and rest until tomorrow.

Also at the circuit was Mattia Pasini, who will take part in the MotoGP World Championship with number 54 on the Speed Master machine, on his ART, setting today’s third best lap time with a 1:43.2, after 38 laps of the Andalusian track.

The day’s debut belonged to Danilo Petrucci with his IODA, completing 18 laps of Jerez with the ART chassis, and then 25 more laps with the Ioda chassis, setting a best lap time of 1:43.3. Tomorrow James Ellison is expected to make his debut with his CRT, while Michele Pirro of Gresini Racing will have his first contact from 8 to 10 March at the Motorland Aragón circuit. For its part, BQR Avintia Racing will again follow the MotoGP teams and be at Sepang for the test.

The track has not been only for the CRTs: Ducati is also present during these days, today with Franco Battaini at the controls, who completed 57 laps; we do not know the times. Tomorrow Karel Abraham is expected to go out with his satellite Desmosedici GP12, and Héctor Barberá will do the same ahead of Wednesday.

Day 1 CRT test times Jerez