Submitted by David Emmett on
The final day of testing for the Moto2 and Moto3 classes saw warmer temperatures and a fuller track, the riders taking advantage of the warmer track to make up for time lost to the chilly mornings on the previous two days of the test. After two days of domination, Scott Redding finally had to cede top spot at the test to Pol Espargaro, the Pons Racing rider lapping four tenths faster than Redding, and two tenths quicker than Redding's fastest lap on Thursday. Redding still ended the test in a very strong position, setting the second fastest time, matching the time set by Speed Master's Andrea Iannone, and just ahead of two more Italians, Ioda Racing's Simone Corsi and Italtrans man Claudio Corti. Redding did have consistency on his side, however: during the race simulation Redding carried out in the afternoon, he lapped better than record pace for all but two laps, an a standard Moto2-spec engine.
Though a Kalex machine once again topped the timesheets, the full standings showed a much more varied mix of machinery. Both Kalex and FTR had three bikes each in the top six, including the FTR-based Speed Up machine of Andrea Iannone. Thomas Luthi was the first rider on a Suter, setting the 7th fastest time on the Interwetten bike, while former World Supersport rider Gino Rea - who has still not been confirmed with Gresini for this season, though that can't be far off at this point - put the Moriwaki into 9th, a second behind Espargaro. Bradley Smith was once again the best Tech 3 rider, ending the day in 13th, 1.1 seconds behind the leader.
While Espargaro had topped Redding on the final day of Moto2 testing, Sandro Cortese had maintained his spot at the top of the Moto3 timesheets, completing a clean sweep of all three days of testing for the new class. His advantage had dwindled, however, from nine tenths on Wednesday to just one tenth of a second on Friday. Runner op on Friday was Maverick Viñales, who edged ahead of Alberto Moncayo, Danny Kent and Luis Salom. Viñales also managed to spoil the KTM party, putting his FTR Honda into the middle of the ranks of Austrian-powered machines which had dominated the first two days of testing. KTM's suffering was not too significant, however, with KTM-powered bikes - housed either in the factory's own chassis, or in the German-built Kalex frame - taking 8 of the top 10 spots, with only the FTR Honda of Viñales and the Honda NSF250R of Miguel Oliveira finding room in the top 10.
With the Valencia test complete, the Moto2 and Moto3 circus now moves further south to Jerez, where the next three-day test is due to commence on February 16th.
Below are unofficial times from the test, as supplied to the Valencia circuit by the teams, for both the Moto2 class and the Moto3 class.
Unofficial Moto2 times, courtesy of the Valencia circuit:
| No | Rider | Team | Bike | Time | Diff | Previous | Laps |
| 40 | POL ESPARGARO | PONS RACING | KALEX | 1:35.4 | 61 | ||
| 45 | SCOTT REDDING | MARC VDS RACING TEAM | KALEX | 1:35.8 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 63 |
| 29 | ANDREA IANNONE | SPEED MASTER | SPEED UP | 1:35.8 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 37 |
| 3 | SIMONE CORSI | IODARACING PROJECT | FTR | 1:35.9 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 45 |
| 71 | CLAUDIO CORTI | ITALTRANS RACING TEAM | KALEX | 1:35.9 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 38 |
| 60 | JULIAN SIMON | AVINTIA RACING Moto2 | FTR | 1:36.0 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 55 |
| 12 | THOMAS LUTHI | INTERWETTEN PADDOCK | SUTER | 1:36.0 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 53 |
| 80 | ESTEVE RABAT | PONS RACING | KALEX | 1:36.3 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 42 |
| 8 | GINO REA | GRESINI RACING Moto2 | MORIWAKI | 1:36.4 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 48 |
| 36 | MIKA KALLIO | MARC VDS RACING TEAM | KALEX | 1:36.5 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 57 |
| 15 | ALEX DE ANGELIS | NGM MOBILE FORWARD | SUTER | 1:36.5 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 47 |
| 47 | ANGEL RODRIGUEZ | SAG TEAM | FTR | 1:36.5 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 47 |
| 38 | BRADLEY SMITH | TECH 3 RACING | TECH 3 | 1:36.5 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 50 |
| 30 | TAKAAKI NAKAGAMI | ITALTRANS RACING TEAM | KALEX | 1:36.7 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 67 |
| 76 | MAX NEUKIRCHNER | KIEFER RACING | KALEX | 1:36.7 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 79 |
| 24 | TONI ELIAS | ASPAR TEAM Moto2 | SUTER | 1:36.8 | 1.4 | 0.1 | 50 |
| 18 | NICOLAS TEROL | ASPAR TEAM Moto2 | SUTER | 1:36.8 | 1.4 | 0.0 | 61 |
| 72 | YUKI TAKAHASHI | NGM MOBILE FORWARD | SUTER | 1:36.9 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 55 |
| 49 | AXEL PONS | PONS RACING | KALEX | 1:37.3 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 53 |
| 19 | XAVIER SIMEON | TECH 3 RACING | TECH 3 | 1:37.4 | 2.0 | 0.1 | 78 |
| 4 | R. KRUMMENACHER | GP TEAM SWITZERLAND | KALEX | 1:37.6 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 53 |
| 5 | JOHANN ZARCO | JIR Moto2 | MOTOBI | 1:37.6 | 2.2 | 0.0 | 60 |
| 63 | MIKE DI MEGLIO | SPEED UP | SPEED UP | 1:37.7 | 2.3 | 0.1 | 27 |
| 77 | D. AEGERTER | TECHNOMAG-CIP | SUTER | 1:37.8 | 2.4 | 0.1 | 79 |
| 14 | R. WILAIROT | THAI HONDA GRESINI | MORIWAKI | 1:37.8 | 2.4 | 0.0 | 54 |
| 44 | ROBERTO ROLFO | TECHNOMAG-CIP | SUTER | 1:39.0 | 3.6 | 1.2 | 55 |
| 82 | ELENA ROSELL | QMMF RACING TEAM | MORIWAKI | 1:39.3 | 3.9 | 0.3 | 53 |
| 57 | ERIC GRANADO | JIR Moto2 | MOTOBI | 1:39.6 | 4.2 | 0.3 | 60 |
| 10 | MARCO COLANDREA | SAG TEAM | FTR | 1:40.6 | 5.2 | 1.0 | 45 |
| 7 | ALEXANDER LUNDH | MZ RACING TEAM | MZ-RE HONDA | no time provided | |||
Moto2 Lap record: Karel ABRAHAM 1'36.611 - 2010
Unofficial Moto3 times, courtesy of the Valencia circuit:
| No | Rider | Team | Bike | Time | Diff | Previous | Laps |
| 11 | SANDRO CORTESE | RED BULL KTM AJO | KTM | 1:40.9 | 41 | ||
| 25 | MAVERICK VINALES | AVINTIA RACING Moto3 | FTR HONDA | 1:41.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 66 |
| 23 | ALBERTO MONCAYO | ASPAR TEAM Moto3 | KALEX KTM | 1:41.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 56 |
| 52 | DANNY KENT | RED BULL KTM AJO | KTM | 1:41.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 67 |
| 39 | LUIS SALOM | RW RACING GP | KALEX KTM | 1:41.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 28 |
| 31 | NIKLAS AJO | TT MOTION EVENTS RACING | KTM | 1:41.4 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 32 |
| 55 | HECTOR FAUBEL | ASPAR TEAM Moto3 | KALEX KTM | 1:41.6 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 54 |
| 44 | MIGUEL OLIVEIRA | MONLAU COMPETICION | HONDA | 1:41.8 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 60 |
| 63 | ZULFAHMI KHAIRUDDIN | AIRASIA - SIC - AJO | KTM | 1:42.0 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 44 |
| 41 | BRAD BINDER | RW RACING GP | KALEX KTM | 1:42.0 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 50 |
| 7 | EFREN VAZQUEZ | TEAM LAGLISSE | HONDA | 1:42.2 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 35 |
| 96 | LOUIS ROSSI | RACING TEAM GERMANY | FTR HONDA | 1:42.9 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 40 |
| 61 | ARTHUR SISSIS | RED BULL KTM AJO | KTM | 1:43.1 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 50 |
| 26 | ADRIAN MARTIN | TEAM LAGLISSE | HONDA | 1:43.1 | 2.2 | 0.0 | 40 |
| 99 | DANNY WEBB | MAHINDRA RACING | MAHINDRA | 1:43.2 | 2.3 | 0.1 | 32 |
| 27 | NICCOLO ANTONELLI | SAN CARLO GRESINI Moto3 | HONDA | 1:43.2 | 2.3 | 0.0 | 68 |
| 12 | ALEX MARQUEZ | MONLAU COMPETICION | HONDA | 1:43.7 | 2.8 | 0.5 | 60 |
| 9 | TONI FINSTERBUSCH | RACING TEAM GERMANY | MZ-RE HONDA | 1:44.1 | 3.2 | 0.4 | 44 |
| 10 | ALEXIS MASBOU | CARRETTA TECHNOLOGY | HONDA | 1:44.3 | 3.4 | 0.2 | 73 |
| 51 | KENTA FUJII | TECHNOMAG-CIP-TSR | HONDA | 1:44.3 | 3.4 | 0.0 | 82 |
| 94 | JONAS FOLGER | MZ RACING TEAM | MZ | 1:44.5 | 3.6 | 0.2 | 38 |
| 8 | JACK MILLER | CARRETTA TECHNOLOGY | HONDA | 1:44.7 | 3.8 | 0.2 | 60 |
| 89 | ALAN TECHER | TECHNOMAG-CIP-TSR | HONDA | 1:44.8 | 3.9 | 0.1 | 47 |
| 5 | ROMANO FENATI | TEAM ITALIA FMI | IODA | 1:46.1 | 5.2 | 1.3 | 35 |
| 77 | MARCEL SCHROTTER | MAHINDRA RACING | MAHINDRA | 1:46.2 | 5.3 | 0.1 | 37 |
| 21 | IVAN MORENO | TEAM MACHADO | FTR HONDA | 1:46.2 | 5.3 | 0.0 | 25 |
| 3 | LUIGI MORCIANO | IODA TEAM ITALIA | IODA | 1:49.3 | 8.4 | 3.1 | 10 |
| 30 | GIULIAN PEDONE | AMBROGIO NEXT RACING | ORAL | 1:50.0 | 9.1 | 0.7 | 16 |
| 88 | RICCARDO MORETTI | MAHINDRA RACING | MAHINDRA | no time provided | |||
| 53 | JASPER IWEMA | MOTO FGR | FGR HONDA | no time provided | |||
| 32 | ISAAC VINALES | ONGETTA-CENTRO SETA | HONDA | no time provided | |||
| 84 | JAKUB KORNFEIL | REDOX-ONGETTA-CENTRO SETA | HONDA | no time provided | |||
| 19 | ALESSANDRO TONUCCI | TEAM ITALIA FMI | IODA | no time provided | |||
125cc Lap Record: Hector FAUBEL 1'39.38 - 2007
Comments
Mahindra rider missing
Where is Sarath Kumar? He was supposed to be the first Indian rider ever this year in moto3.
Eurocentric lineup
I don't know all these riders but I can only see a few Japanese, an Australian (no Cudlin listed), a Malaysian and a Thai, with the rest being from various parts of Europe. No Americans either north or south, no Africans (unless I missed someone)
This underlines how hard it is for non europeans to be involved in the MotoGP support classes and how they have to take alternative routes usually involving production based classes.
Brad Binder
South African and team mate to Luis Salom. He made some waves in Red Bull Rookies last year and filled in a few times in 125 last year. 16 years old at last count.
I wish him all the best for 2012.
I'm looking forward to this Moto 3 class. Particularly because they are unlike Moto 2 not governed by a single engine supplier. Would that Ducati ressurected the 250 Desmo single to join the battle.
Moto 3 times
Wow, I can't believe the 250 4 strokes are only a second or so off of the 125's.
I would have thought it would be hard (espesially with the cost restrictions in place) to get the kind of horsepower needed to do that.