Day 1 of MotoGP testing in Valencia and rain as the main character

Today saw the first day of testing for the MotoGP World Championship at the Cheste circuit, and it looks like it may be the last one, since the big star of the day at the Valencian track was the rain. As a result, it was a pre-season day that provided no reference points and didn’t let riders and teams work, at least not according to the plan they had made after the end of the 2012 season, so most of the front-runners stayed in the garage.

Once again, the big star of the day was the rain and the temperatures, leaving the asphalt at a very cold temperature that would greatly affect the tyres when it came to gaining grip. It would have been a huge risk on the first training day preparing for the next 2013 season, so several front-runners decided to go out to avoid unnecessary risks on a day when they wouldn’t have drawn any conclusions.

The truth is that we had bad luck with the rain this 2012 season, and the test could not have been any different. So we saw the most anticipated new developments, but we couldn’t enjoy them as we would have liked, since Marc Márquez was unable to make his debut on his Honda RC213V, and everything suggests we’ll have to wait until the Sepang test to see him in action. So we’ll have to wait to see the young genius debut in MotoGP. What we did get to see was the other big moment of the day: Valentino Rossi’s return to Yamaha. The Italian was eager and didn’t hesitate for a second. Despite the rain, he went out on his M1 to get his first feel for it again.

We also saw Álvaro Bautista on his Honda from Gresini, with his new sponsor Go&Fun. He was the fastest man of the day after going out while the track was still dry. He had just enough time to set that lap time, which didn’t change throughout the testing session, so the 19 closes the day as the fastest with a time of 1:35.936, having completed five laps and set that time on the fourth of them.

Behind the Talavera native was Stefan Bradl. The 2012 rookie completed five laps and set a good time on the third given the conditions, finishing just 0.262s behind Bauti. Completing the top five were Dovizioso in 3rd, Aoyama in 4th and Hayden in 5th. But these riders were already more than three seconds behind the leaders, and it shows they went out after the track conditions had worsened, so they had no chance to improve or work properly.

The top 10 was completed by Rossi in 6th, Pirro in 7th, Corti in 8th, De Puniet in 9th and Espargaró in 10th. The Yamaha rider was one of the riders who covered the most laps in these conditions, with 28 laps, although the one who rode the most at this track was Héctor Barberá with his new CRT from Avintia Blusens, with 42 laps at Cheste. Closing the positions of the riders who went out on track, we have Edwards in 11th, Abraham in 12th, Iannone in 13th and Barberá in 14th.

The rest of the riders did not go out to ride. They didn’t want to take risks given the circumstances, so Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa, Marc Márquez, Shane Byrne, Bradley Smith, Cal Crutchlow and Danilo Petrucci did not take part in the test. Although the Yamaha riders are heading to Motorland Aragón to train tomorrow alongside several Superbike teams, so they will keep working.

Lots of anticipation.

Source | MotoGP Official website