Repsol’s Álex Márquez, Miguel Oliveira and Maverick Viñales undertake first test of the year
After a long winter break, the Repsol Moto3 riders —Álex Márquez, Miguel Oliveira and Maverick Viñales— today had the opportunity to ride their new bikes for the first time in 2012. They did so at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia, where low temperatures greeted the riders for the first of three days of fine-tuning and analysis.
Track temperatures barely reached 12ºC, but that did not impede the riders too much on Wednesday. Márquez, Oliveira and Viñales were mainly looking to get a feel for their Moto3 machines and learnt much about the characteristics of their bikes on day one.
After a final afternoon run, the riders called it a day with positive reactions to their first testing session of the year —despite Márquez and Viñales— both suffering small crashes caused by the cold track surface.
Testing at the Ricardo Tormo track continues on Thursday for the Repsol riders and their Moto3 bikes.
Álex Márquez >> 1:45.1, 28 laps, 112 km.
“It was a positive opening day. Despite spending the winter off the bike, the feeling today was not bad at all. I started calmly in the morning and built from there. I had a crash on a right hander towards the end of the morning, but there was no damage done and I am fine now. I went out again in the afternoon and was once again able to get a fast pace going. I can say that we are feeling good after day one”.
Miguel Oliveira >> 1:43.2, 34 laps, 136 km.
“I felt really good on this first day and was really keen to get started. It was a positive first time back after two months without swinging my leg over a bike. Although I went out slightly late because of the early cold, I was still able to record a good time. The track was cold, but at least today was useful for seeing where I am in relation to other riders”.
Maverick Viñales
“After going so much time without riding, we decided to use this first day to shake off the cobwebs and get my feel for the bike back. It was cold out there and the asphalt barely got up to temperature. I am happy with the initial feeling with the new bike; we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, the whole team has. I had a small crash at the end of the day, but it was no big deal. I am already raring to get back on the bike tomorrow to continue this first stage of my adaptation”.
