Three days of practice at the circuit of Jerez have come to an end for the riders in the 125cc category, Marc Márquez finished well-pleased with these test sessions and the way things developed. The team, just like the young rider, has the same opinion after seeing the results achieved by the squad`s lead rider in the World 125cc Championship. Over the three days Márquez and his team of technicians have carried out several tests on the suspension, chassis and engine.
The first challenge was to get a good level of stability and handling on the KTM, a motorbike with a marked racing character and one which needs a very precise setting on the chassis. A lot of good work was done regarding this on the first day and so the tests at the official KTM team turned to the suspension and engine. The constant series of tests that the engine on the KTM has been subjected to prevented Márquez from doing all the laps he would have liked, but summing up, every time he went out the results were very positive.
On this the third and definitive day of practice the young Repsol rider leaves the track in the province of Cadiz with a best time of 1:47.969, three tenths of a second slower than his fastest time yesterday. However, the objective of the KTM rider today was not to improve his times but to get a consistent, fast pace lap after lap.
His teammate in the official KTM squad, the young American Cameron Beaubier, continued with his learning process today, and in spite of being weak physically because he has the flu, did another 24 laps of the track.
Turning to the riders in the Blusens Aprilia team, the two Repsol riders ended the three days with different results. In spite of the progress shown by both Scott Redding and Esteve Rabat over the three days – the Briton has got better and better over the three days improving his lap time over and over again, something that Rabat did too – the Spanish rider fell on the corner entering the home straight at the start of the afternoon session and fortunately without any serious consequences. Redding was also suffering from the first symptoms of flu and this affected his performance today.
Marc Márquez, 1’47.969 secs, 39 laps, 172 Km. >> Audio
“Yesterday I did some good work and we set some good times, so today we carried on testing some things. It was a pity that this morning when we wanted to continue doing even more tests we developed an engine problem and we were only able to do about 20 laps. These things are normal in the pre-season. In the afternoon we tested a new fork, but with just an hour it is difficult to set it up right and it took a bit of time. I am satisfied with how things have gone in these practice sessions, I think that both the team and I have done some good work and we have got some very positive conclusions. We have a good base to work on and to get the best setup when we arrive at each circuit, and that is really handy. In Qatar we will try to stay at this good level.”
Esteve Rabat, 1’49.434 secs, 24 laps, 106 Km. >> Audio
“I did not do too many laps today, because I did not feel very well yesterday this morning I felt really weak. Whatever, the times I set were not too bad, so I am pleased. The bike was going well, both the chassis and the engine, and I just need to continue getting better everyday and not stop learning. On the first day I finished 12th, yesterday I managed to improve my times, and today I had a good pace; so overall I am pleased, mainly because I felt fine on the bike. I hope that we can carry on like this in Qatar.”
Scott Redding, 1’48.822 secs, 57 laps, 252 Km. >> Audio
“The morning went well, but this afternoon I fell and with just one hour left I did not get to feel as comfortable on the bike and so I was not able to improve my times. We were quite good overall, with a good setup we were just under a second behind the best times. We still have to refine my riding as well as some details on the chassis and engine, but I think I am convinced that when the first race starts, there will be no differences.”
Cameron Beaubier, 1’48. 498 secs, 54 laps, 238 Km. >> Audio
“Things did not go too bad, because in the end I think we got a good setup on the suspension. But this morning I did not feel too good, because when I woke up I noticed that my nose was blocked and that made it difficult to breathe with the nose completely covered. I was not at 100% but we did what we had planned, mainly work on the suspension, and we improved our times again; that is a good result. I am pleased with the developments we have made on these three days, because we are improving and there is less and less time left before we start racing.”
