Submitted by David Emmett on
A week after their MotoGP counterparts packed up the garages in Sepang, the Moto2 and Moto3 teams rolled out at Valencia for the first test of 2012. The day started very cold, leaving a lot of the teams stuck in the garage waiting for temperatures to rise; despite the winter sun, track temperatures reached just 12°C, putting a damper on grip and lap times.
Despite the cold, Scott Redding managed to get just inside Karel Abraham's Moto2 lap record at Valencia circuit, the young Briton adapting very quickly to the Kalex chassis which the Marc VDS Racing team switched to for 2012. The Kalex proved to be quick for everyone: the five fastest men were all on Kalex machinery, with Thomas Luthi the first of the Suters in 6th, ahead of Andrea Iannone on the FTR Speed Up and Simone Corsi on the FTR Ioda bike. 2010 World Champion Toni Elias return to the Moto2 class has been muted: Elias posted the 11th fastest time on Wednesday, 1.8 seconds down on Redding, and a tenth of a second behind 2011 125cc runner up Johann Zarco, telling MotoGP.com that he had decided to take it a little easy on his first day back on the bike after a two-month layoff.
In the Moto3 class, Kalex put in another strong showing, the bikes sharing the top of the timesheets with the official KTMs of the Ajo team leading the way. Sandro Cortese posted the fastest time, though the cold was more of a factor for the Moto3 machines, Cortese ending the day more than 2.3 seconds off the 125cc lap record - set back in 2007 by Hector Faubel. Faubel was 3rd fastest on Wednesday, ending the day equal with his teammate Alberto Moncay, and ahead of Niklas Ajo, RW Racing's Luis Salom, and Danny Kent. Miguel Oliveira was the first non-KTM, putting the Estrella Galicia Honda into 7th spot, ahead of another KTM, this time belonging to Zulfahmi Khairuddin.
There was no official timing at the test, and so the only times available were those provided by the teams, meaning they should be taken with at least a small pinch of salt. The Moto3 times were even more difficult to judge: according to Italian specialist site InfoMoto3.com, not all of the Moto3 bikes had access to the spec Dell'Orto ECU, making their times hard to compare.
Below are the unofficial Moto2 and Moto3 times, as published on the MotoGP.com website.
Unofficial Moto2 times, courtesy of MotoGP.com:
| Pos | Rider | Team | Time | Diff | Diff previous | Laps |
| 1 | SCOTT REDDING | MARC VDS RACING TEAM | 1:36.5 | 53 laps | ||
| 2 | POL ESPARGARO | PONS RACING | 1:37.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 47 laps |
| 3 | CLAUDIO CORTI | ITALTRANS RACING TEAM | 1:37.4 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 52 laps |
| 4 | MAX NEUKIRCHNER | KIEFER RACING | 1:37.5 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 38 laps |
| 5 | ESTEVE RABAT | PONS RACING | 1:37.5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 43 laps |
| 6 | THOMAS LUTHI | INTERWETTEN PADDOCK | 1:37.9 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 24 laps |
| 7 | ANDREA IANNONE | SPEED MASTER | 1:37.9 | 1.4 | 0.0 | 27 laps |
| 8 | SIMONE CORSI | IODARACING PROJECT | 1:38.0 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 43 laps |
| 9 | MIKA KALLIO | MARC VDS RACING TEAM | 1:38.1 | 1.6 | 0.1 | 26 laps |
| 10 | JOHANN ZARCO | JIR Moto2 | 1:38.2 | 1.7 | 0.1 | 22 laps |
| 11 | TONI ELIAS | ASPAR TEAM Moto2 | 1:38.3 | 1.8 | 0.1 | 47 laps |
| 12 | ALEX DE ANGELIS | NGM MOBILE FORWARD RACING | 1:38.7 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 20 laps |
| 13 | ANGEL RODRIGUEZ | SAG TEAM | 1:38.7 | 2.2 | 0.0 | 27 laps |
| 14 | BRADLEY SMITH | TECH 3 RACING | 1:38.8 | 2.3 | 0.1 | 36 laps |
| 15 | DOMINIQUE AEGERTER | TECHNOMAG-CIP | 1:39.0 | 2.5 | 0.2 | 68 laps |
| 16 | AXEL PONS | PONS RACING | 1:39.1 | 2.6 | 0.1 | 45 laps |
| 17 | TAKAAKI NAKAGAMI | ITALTRANS RACING TEAM | 1:39.2 | 2.7 | 0.1 | 40 laps |
| 18 | MIKE DI MEGLIO | SPEED UP | 1:39.2 | 2.7 | 0.0 | 21 laps |
| 19 | NICOLAS TEROL | ASPAR TEAM Moto2 | 1:39.6 | 3.1 | 0.4 | 30 laps |
| 20 | RANDY KRUMMENACHER | GP TEAM SWITZERLAND | 1:39.7 | 3.2 | 0.1 | 36 laps |
| 21 | ALEXANDER LUNDH | MZ RACING TEAM | 1:39.7 | 3.2 | 0.0 | 29 laps |
| 22 | XAVIER SIMEON | TECH 3 RACING | 1:40.1 | 3.6 | 0.4 | 36 laps |
| 23 | DAMIAN CUDLIN | QMMF RACING TEAM | 1:40.9 | 4.4 | 0.8 | 45 laps |
| 24 | ROBERTO ROLFO | TECHNOMAG-CIP | 1:41.4 | 4.9 | 0.5 | 46 laps |
| 25 | ERIC GRANADO | JIR Moto2 | 1:41.5 | 5.0 | 0.1 | 30 laps |
| 26 | ELENA ROSELL | QMMF RACING TEAM | 1:41.7 | 5.2 | 0.2 | 57 laps |
| 27 | YUKI TAKAHASHI | NGM MOBILE FORWARD RACING | 1:42.7 | 6.2 | 1.0 | 3 laps |
| 28 | MARCO COLANDREA | SAG TEAM | 1:44.0 | 7.5 | 1.3 | 35 laps |
| 29 | GINO REA | GRESINI RACING Moto2 | no times provided | |||
| 30 | RATTHAPARK WILAIROT | THAI HONDA GRESINI Moto2 | no times provided | |||
| 31 | JULIAN SIMON | AVINTIA RACING Moto2 | no times provided | |||
Moto2 Lap record: Karel ABRAHAM 1'36.611 - 2010
Unofficial Moto3 times, courtesy of MotoGP.com:
| Pos | Rider | Team | Time | Diff | Diff previous | Laps |
| 1 | SANDRO CORTESE | RED BULL KTM AJO | 1:41.6 | 39 laps | ||
| 2 | ALBERTO MONCAYO | ASPAR TEAM Moto3 | 1:42.5 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 48 laps |
| 3 | HECTOR FAUBEL | ASPAR TEAM Moto3 | 1:42.5 | 0.9 | 0.0 | 45 laps |
| 4 | NIKLAS AJO | TT MOTION EVENTS RACING | 1:42.7 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 37 laps |
| 5 | LUIS SALOM | RW RACING GP | 1:42.8 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 30 laps |
| 6 | DANNY KENT | RED BULL KTM AJO | 1:42.8 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 43 laps |
| 7 | MIGUEL OLIVEIRA | MONLAU COMPETICION | 1:42.9 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 35 laps |
| 8 | ZULFAHMI KHAIRUDDIN | AIRASIA - SIC - AJO | 1:43.0 | 1.4 | 0.1 | 33 laps |
| 9 | EFREN VAZQUEZ | TEAM LAGLISSE | 1:44.4 | 2.8 | 1.4 | 30 laps |
| 10 | BRAD BINDER | RW RACING GP | 1:44.9 | 3.3 | 0.5 | 42 laps |
| 11 | ARTHUR SISSIS | RED BULL KTM AJO | 1:45.0 | 3.4 | 0.1 | 52 laps |
| 12 | ALEX MARQUEZ | MONLAU COMPETICION | 1:45.1 | 3.5 | 0.1 | 28 laps |
| 13 | TONI FINSTERBUSCH | RACING TEAM GERMANY | 1:45.2 | 3.6 | 0.1 | 10 laps |
| 14 | ADRIAN MARTIN | TEAM LAGLISSE HONDA | 1:45.5 | 3.9 | 0.3 | 29 laps |
| 15 | NICCOLO ANTONELLI | SAN CARLO GRESINI | 1:45.8 | 4.2 | 0.3 | 26 laps |
| 16 | KENTA FUJII | TECHNOMAG-CIP-TSR | 1:46.2 | 4.6 | 0.4 | 59 laps |
| 17 | DANNY WEBB | MAHINDRA RACING | 1:46.5 | 4.9 | 0.3 | 36 laps |
| 18 | LOUIS ROSSI | RACING TEAM GERMANY | 1:46.5 | 4.9 | 0.0 | 36 laps |
| 19 | ISAAC VINALES | ONGETTA-CENTRO SETA | 1:46.6 | 5.0 | 0.1 | 18 laps |
| 20 | ALAN TECHER | TECHNOMAG-CIP-TSR | 1:46.7 | 5.1 | 0.1 | 40 laps |
| 21 | JACK MILLER | CARRETTA TECHNOLOGY | 1:47.1 | 5.5 | 0.4 | 35 laps |
| 22 | ALEXIS MASBOU | CARRETTA TECHNOLOGY | 1:47.7 | 6.1 | 0.6 | 52 laps |
| 23 | GIULIAN PEDONE | AMBROGIO NEXT RACING | 1:48.7 | 7.1 | 1.0 | 50 laps |
| 24 | JASPER IWEMA | MOTO FGR | 1:49.2 | 7.6 | 0.5 | 21 laps |
| 25 | LUIGI MORCIANO | IODA TEAM ITALIA | 1:50.1 | 8.5 | 0.9 | 9 laps |
| 26 | RICCARDO MORETTI | MAHINDRA RACING | 1:50.1 | 8.5 | 0.0 | 13 laps |
| 27 | ROMANO FENATI | TEAM ITALIA FMI | no time provided | |||
| 28 | ALESSANDRO TONUCCI | TEAM ITALIA FMI | no time provided | |||
| 29 | IVAN MORENO | TEAM MACHADO | no time provided | |||
| 30 | MAVERICK VINALES | AVINTIA RACING Moto 3 | no time provided | |||
| 31 | MARCEL SCHROTTER | MAHINDRA RACING | no time provided | |||
| 32 | JAKUB KORNFEIL | REDOX-ONGETTA-CENTRO SETA | no time provided | |||
| 33 | JONAS FOLGER | MZ RACING TEAM | no time provided | |||
125cc Lap Record: Hector FAUBEL 1'39.38 - 2007
Comments
Do you know why
Geo Technology does not provide engines for testing this year?
It was the case for the first Moto2 season, understandably because the engines were not ready yet but I remember last season they supplied engines to the teams for official preseason tests.
simon?
What's with Julian Simon? I saw the highlights video on motogp.com - he went out to the track. And he's not on the list of crashers.
Zarco
Not a bad start for him, nine positions up from Terol. Really curious to see how he will fare this year.