Repsol riders begin final preseason test with Rins second fastest. Marquez places ninth.
Alex Rins and Alex Marquez are present at this week’s final Moto3 preseason test, running from today until Thursday at the Jerez Circuit in Spain. The four days of action, in preparation for the April 7th season start, began with the Repsol riders concluding amongst the top ten. Rins was second quickest, whilst Marquez was ninth.
Sun and warm temperatures welcomed 2012’s Rookie of the Year and his CEV Moto3 Champion teammate to Jerez. On their first hour of track time, dedicated exclusively to Moto3, Alex Rins clocked the fastest time. He put in a 1’48.15 from 19 laps of the circuit, while Alex Marquez undertook 20 laps and had the ninth quickest time, 1.968 seconds slower than his teammate.
After an hour of Moto2-only testing, at 3:40pm Rins and Marquez were back on track to continue setting up their 2013 KTM machines. The former dropped more than half a second off his best time, once again placing amongst the top riders in the class. Rins was second overall on the timesheets, 0.252s off Jonas Folger’s speediest lap.
Marquez improved by almost two seconds on his time from the opening session, closing the day with a 1’48.182 best that gave him ninth overall.
Tomorrow sees the second day of official test action, which concludes midday Thursday.
Álex Rins >> Audio
1:47.401, 49 laps, 217 km.
“We are working very well. KTM have brought various parts to Jerez for us to try out. One of those was used today, but it didn’t work quite as well as we had hoped. In the morning we were amongst the fastest riders, with a good pace. In the afternoon we improved on that. This is what counts; having a good pace and keeping amongst the top riders. Rain is forecast for tomorrow, but we will still be riding because we have things to test.”
Álex Márquez >> Audio
1:48.182, 48 laps, 212 km.
“The weather was kind to us today; it was a very nice day. From the start of the test we worked very well as a team, trying out a lot of things. Every time that I go out on track I feel more comfortable, and I am happy because in the afternoon we took another step forward. We finished a second off the top time, which is very important for me. We will see if the weather holds out in the next few days and if we can make further improvements, in order to get to Qatar as well prepared as possible.”
