The significant improvement in the weather conditions today, with the sun coming out and a slight increase in temperature, allowed the 125cc and Moto2 riders and teams to get more out of the second test day at the Circuit de Catalunya. The maximum air temperature of 15ºC and track temperature of 23ºC today were much higher than the air temperature of just 12ºC registered yesterday, when the track temperature reached a maximum of just 13ºC, ten below today’s maximum.
Marc Márquez, who in his second test day at the Circuit de Catalunya completed 31 laps of the track, had a small fall this morning on the right turn 4 -Repsol turn- after Julián Simón’s fall seconds earlier left the water on the track from the puddles surrounding it, after the rain that fell yesterday. When Márquez reached the point where Simón was, the front wheel of his Derbi lost grip when breaking on the wet area, ending up on the floor, although fortunately the fall was not serious.
The incident caused the most damage to the Repsol rider’s new machine, which had to go to the garage to be repaired, meaning that Márquez lost the two most productive hours of the day, just when the air temperature and track reached their peak.
Back on the track after 3.00 pm, Emilio Alzamora’s pupil continued to focus on getting to grips with his new machine and on the basic work of tuning the suspension and chassis set-up, in order to gradually get know, along with his team, how the Derbi RSA 125 performs.
Tomorrow, Friday, the scheduled tests at the Circuit de Catalunya will end; a circuit that the World Championship riders will not return to until the weekend of the Catalunya Grand Prix, which will be held on 4 July.
Marc Márquez, 1’54.04 sec, 31 Laps, 147 km
“It has been a bit of a strange day because we have had a little bad luck and could not make the most the sunniest part of the day and when the track temperature was at its highest. This morning, Julián Simón fell just in front of me, he splashed the track with water from a puddle and I fell just behind him. After we fixed the bike, in the afternoon, I was able to ride a little more and quickly got into normal times, but the circuit was not very fast. It was cold, a little slippery and that stops you from riding faster, so today has been a just day of making contact. However, the important thing us that we got back out on the bike on a dry track and I’m feeling really good. We will continue to work patiently, step by step, and the team is helping me a lot. I hope that we can have a good sunny day tomorrow, but it looks like it is going to rain”.
Track conditions:
Weather: Clear
Temperature: 13º-15ºC
Humidity level: 59%
Asphalt conditions: Dry
Track temperature: 17º-23ºC
Wind speed: 3 km/h.
