After an obligatory two month stop, today Thursday, the young riders in the Repsol KTM teams have gone back to work to start preparing for the 2008 season. Julián Simón in 250cc and Rabat and Marc Márquez in 125cc were out on the track this morning at the circuit of Jerez on their Austrian KTM motorbikes, aiming to find some form before the 2008 World Championship gets under way.
For Julián Simón it was the second time that he has ridden a KTM 250cc, although this time he was able to try the 2008 version, the bike he will ride this year. The Spaniard started to set up the bike to his taste, and also worked on the sensations he was getting from the front end, this is the section of the KTM that is creating the most problems at the moment. The Repsol rider was not able to find a comfortable position when taking curves and that is the reason why he concentrated on getting a good riding position in this session – riding without being tense – without having to think of how the bike reacts – concentrating on the ride.
Referring to the youngest riders in 125cc, Rabat and Márquez still have not been able to ride the motorbikes they will use in this year`s championship, as they will not arrive until next week, for the practice that is scheduled for the Circuito Ricardo Tormo de Cheste. So, today was taken as a session to find a good pace and at the same time recover the automatic sensations of braking at the last minute, speed through a curve and so be in a state of mind to tackle the new bikes in good form next week. Esteve Rabat was back on a KTM today and he was able to get used to the handling on his new bike. Marc Márquez, his new teammate, showed that he has his own ideas in spite of his tender years and took things calmly – his overriding objective now is to learn as much as he can. Aware of how difficult this task is he concentrated on taking things step by step, and even so he set some decent times, finding out his bike reacts without getting nervous and being careful at all times.
There are more practice sessions tomorrow at the Circuito de Jerez and they continue until Saturday afternoon.
Julián Simón, 1’44.9 secs. 68 laps, 301 Km.
“During the winter we worked on the physical aspect. Apart from a physical tests we had a training plan which we alternated with several activities like riding a bicycle, swimming, a little motocross and even some cross-country skiing. The normal things that are done in winter, carrying on with the physical side of things and staying active. Today things were a little complicated. We tried out the new bike, and we had some difficulties, above all at the front end. It is a bike that is difficult to find a good position on at the moment, but as I said in November, I think it has a lot of potential, sooner or later it will bring me faster times. Today I would say we set a forgettable time, although being the first day we had a good pace, the same as we had back in November. Looking to tomorrow we are going to try different handlebars, and that is something quite interesting, since the steering angle is much more closed than on the Honda and that means in a curve you do not have a comfortable riding relaxed position. For the time being it is like the bike is taking me where it wants and not where I want it to go. But we are going to work on this and I am sure that the mechanics and I are going to do great things this year”.
Esteve Rabat, 1’51.1 secs. 52 laps, 230 Km.
“Today I took things quite calmly. I had not been on a racing bike for two months, since the last practice session, so today I simply tried to get to know the bike. I did not do too many laps since we have three days and I prefer to go faster bit by bit. For the time being I think I did OK, but as I say I only did a few laps just to get back my riding sensations, because the last two months I have only worked on the physical side of things, riding a bicycle, doing motocross and some cross-country skiing”.
Marc Márquez, 1’51.1 secs. 58 laps, 257 Km.
“I was dying to get back on a bike and from the start I went out to enjoy myself. I had not ridden a racing bike since my last race in the CEV, so this morning I wanted to get a bit of speed up after being away from a bike for so long. At the beginning I found it difficult since the suspension was not to my liking, but in the end I felt more comfortable. I did not do a lot of laps – we started a little late – and I did sets of four and five laps and then stopped to try different things out. There were quite a few riders out on the track, but this is not the right time to start battling with them, that is for the future. The bike I had today was exactly the same that I had last year since the new one will not be here until next week”.
