Second day of testing for Viñales, Oliveira and Márquez onboard Moto3 bikes at Ricardo Tormo circuit
Low temperatures once again hit testing in Valencia on Thursday, as Repsol riders Maverick Viñales, Miguel Oliveira and Álex Márquez took to their Moto3 bikes slightly later than planned due to the lack of track heat. Despite this delay, all three riders put in plenty of kilometres and continued their adaptation to their 2012 machinery.
After a first encounter with said new bikes yesterday, the trio were ready for progress on day two. Maverick Viñales’ work focused on chassis and suspension set-up and he was pleased with his findings. Miguel Oliveira’s primary workload revolved around fine-tuning the engine and chassis of his Moto3 machine —he also expressed satisfaction with the results.
Álex Márquez suffered a small crash on turn 5 in the morning session, but was unhurt in the incident and managed to complete some 44 laps of the Valencian circuit over the course of the day. He gained valuable experience and improved on his lap times from yesterday —as did Oliveira.
Tomorrow sees the third and final day of the test for the Repsol riders, who Hill be looking to take further steps forward and end the visit to Ricardo Tormo on a high note. Weather forecasts are positive for day three.
Maverick Viñales
“We made progress today in both the chassis set-up and the lap times. We are very happy with the chassis that we have, which has given us a good base and no problems so far. The suspension is working very well and this is spurring us on to continue working as we have been doing. What we do have to improve is the engine; We hope that Honda do a good job in addressing the development of this. My pace has been progressively improving from yesterday and my fastest laps were the fruits of our labour. We rode 35 laps yesterday and today we added another 45 to that, despite having to stop in the garage for a couple of hours with an engine issue. We will continue to move forward in our final day at Valencia tomorrow”.
Miguel Oliveira
1:41.8, 62 vueltas, 248 km.
“It was a good day of testing; I felt better on the bike and was adapting to it a little bit better every time I went out. This is the time to be trying different set-ups for the engine and also to modify the chassis setting. I am satisfied, because there was a big improvement compared to yesterday, so I am really expecting a positive final day of testing tomorrow. We will keep on trying things, especially with engine braking and our electronic delivery system, in order to go to Jerez with our homework done”.
Álex Márquez
1:44.5, 44 vueltas, 176 km.
“I am satisfied with the day, even though I had a small crash. I’m not hurt at all. I took a step forward today and continue to put more kilometres on the clock —despite only having a standard bike available. Track time is the most important thing to have before the season starts, in order to get things underway in the best shape possible. I am really excited about things and I want to thank the entire team for the support that they are giving me”.
