2009 IRTA Test 125 Class - Day 1 - Simon Dominates Once Again

The first day of testing for the 125 class at Jerez saw Julian Simon continue his domination of preseason testing. The 125 class returnee - Simon raced in the 250 class with Repsol KTM last year - has topped almost every session of 125 testing he has participated in this winter, and he doesn't look like slowing down.

Only Andrea Iannone managed to better Simon this morning, but the Italian Aprilia rider had to cede over a second to the Spaniard in the afternoon. Simon's compatriot Marc Marquez was the other man to be near the top of the timesheets, finishing third fastest in the morning, and fourth fastest in the afternoon.

British rider Bradley Smith was the worst of the Bancaja Aspar riders, finishing in 11th and 7th spot behind his team mates Julian Simon and Sergio Gadea. Smith is one of the title favorites for 2009, but he has yet to make the kind of impression in testing that his team mate Simon has. Fellow Brits Scott Redding and Danny Webb were further down the order, Redding finishing 9th and 10th, while Webb only managed the 20th and 18th fastest times, despite having an Aprilia RSA at his disposal.

Haojue won the battle of the Chinese manufacturers in the morning, Michi Ranseder finishing ahead of Loncin rider Alex Masbou, but the roles were reversed in the afternoon, with Masbou taking the 24th time, just ahead of Ranseder.

Cameron Beaubier, the sole American in the 125 class, finished a respectable 14th in the afternoon, up five places from the morning. Beaubier, who came up from the Red Bull Rookies cup last year, is having a solid debut so far.

Testing continues tomorrow.

Session 2 times (afternoon session) 

Session 1 times (morning session)