Dominant champion Marquez ends Valencia test ahead of MotoGP rivals

2014-11-12 11:55
On Wednesday afternoon at the Valencia circuit Respol Honda’s double-MotoGP™ World Champion Marc Marquez wrapped up three days of testing at the top of the timesheet with a best lap of 1’30.973.

Marquez was 0.146s ahead of his teammate Dani Pedrosa, who was second quickest on Wednesday with a time of 1’31.119 and fourth best over the three days of the test. The Honda pair undertook back-to-back comparisons with their 2014 and 2015 RC213V machines, Marquez’s best time registered on a 2015 prototype.

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo was third on Wednesday and second overall this week, with a best time of 1’31.164 from day three compared to his timesheet topping Monday best lap of 1’30.975. Lorenzo and colleague Valentino Rossi worked on testing chassis and exhaust upgrades, with Rossi completing the test sixth overall.

Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith showed good pace over the three days with various 2014 factory parts filtering through from Yamaha for both riders. On the combined timesheets, Espargaro was third best and Smith fifth.

Pramac Racing pair Yonny Hernandez and Danilo Petrucci looked good inside the Wednesday top ten, with Hernandez enjoying his first dry session on the GP14.2. Ducati test rider Michele Pirro rode with a special mechanism to test swingarm torsion and ended Wednesday’s session in 12h place, 14th overall over the three days.

Cal Crutchlow’s first test with CWM LCR Honda on a factory spec RC213V concluded with him 0.8s off Marquez’s best time in 10th on Wednesday, with the Briton getting more laps under his belt on the final day.

Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales continued their adaptation to the new Suzuki MotoGP GSX-RR bike, Espargaro working on getting ergonomics right as his foot was touching the exhaust on Monday.

Meanwhile rookies such as Jack Miller, Loris Baz, Eugene Laverty notched up further track time with their respective new rides. New team Factory Aprilia Gresini were working with new aluminium calipers with their two riders Alvaro Bautista and Marco Melandri gaining experience on the Italian manufacturer’s machinery.

Wednesday’s session wraps up the official MotoGP group tests for 2014, though further private tests at Jerez and Sepang are planned for some riders, before the winter test ban commences in December.

Zarco marks fastest time of Moto2™ Wednesday Jerez test

Riding a Kalex with his new team Ajo Motorsport Johann Zarco was the fastest rider in Wednesday’s opening day of Moto2™ testing in Jerez.

After a wet morning, the Frenchman commenced his work with his new team by registering a fastest lap of 1’42.858 on the dry track later in the day, marginally quicker than the fastest lap in the 2014 Moto2™ race (1’42.876) set by Jonas Folger.

Whilst today’s unofficial test times were not set with official race prepared Honda Moto2 engines the pace provides a reference point and even at this early stage in 2015 pre-season Zarco will be pleased to have outpaced Moto2 World Champion Tito Rabat (Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) on Wednesday.

Rabat was 0.069s behind Zarco in second, whilst the Spaniard’s incoming Marc VDS rookie teammate Alex Marquez was down in 17th. It was only the first day of Moto2 riding for Moto3™ World Champion Marquez and he has two more days of testing this week in Jerez to try and reduce the 2.192s gap to the top of the timesheet as he adapts to 600cc machinery.

Dynavolt Intact GP’s Sandro Cortese was third fastest (+0.339s), with Interwetten’s Tom Luthi fourth (+0.612s) and Paginas Amarillas HP 40 rider Luis Salom (+0.724s) rounding out the top five.

Alex Rins also started work with Paginas Amarillas HP 40 but his lap times were not registered on Wednesday. The test continues on Thursday and Friday at the southern Spanish track.

Exciting new line-ups in Moto3™ commence 2015 preparations

In Moto3™ the new three rider line-up of the Red Bull KTM Ajo team - Karel Hanika, Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira – worked in the same box for the first time on Wednesday in Jerez.

Meanwhile SKY Racing Team VR46’s Romano Fenati tested alongside new teammate Andrea Migno, whilst the exciting trio of Juanfran Guevara, Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia in the revamped Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3 tried the Mahindra machine they are to use in 2015.

Source: motogp.com

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