Moto2 Final Test
With the start of the 2010 MotoGP season now less than two weeks away the on-track preparations of the Moto2 racers and teams were finished at the Jerez race circuit on Monday – the third and final day of the last official pre-season test.
There were significant developments in the new Moto2 ‘intermediate’ class, the main one of which was Claudio Corti’s arrival in the leading group of contenders. The Italian of the Forward Racing team, who had already performed well in the two previous Tests at Valencia and Jerez, took a major step forward in his progress throughout the three days at the circuit and surpassed Tony Elias as the quickest rider on the Honda spec-engined 600cc bikes.
Limited in his ability to register a competitive time on the first day by a problem with his front fork (he was 18th on the sheet with a time of 1’45.741), Corti went just under the 1’45" mark on day two before posting a blistering time of 1’44.044 on Monday to set the fastest time of the entire Test. All this was achieved despite a lingering injury to his left ankle.
Toni Elías, the quickest rider of the opening day, was unable to improve in the following sessions but his best time was still only 0.033s off the reference point set by Corti and placed him second overall.
The Gresini Racing Moto2 rider ended the Test on a slightly less happy note however with a fall, as he hit the asphalt when trying to avoid a slower moving rider.
The Spaniard returned immediately to Barcelona to undergo a medical assessment of injuries to his left hand and foot, and he does expect to be fit for the start of the season.
Third place in the overall times for the Test went to Karel Abraham, who also made a vast improvement across the three days. The Cardion AB Motoracing rider bettered his lap time by more than two seconds from day one. Abraham placed ahead of Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing) and Kenny Noyes (Jack&Jones by Antonio Banderas), who were fourth and fifth fastest respectively.
Julián Simón’s work on his RSV paid off as the Mapfre Aspar man finished the Test in sixth spot, at 0.406s off Corti’s marker. Yonny Hernández (Blusens-STX) was seventh with his time from day one, and Jules Cluzel (Forward Racing), Anthony West (MZ Racing) and Yuki Takahashi (Tech3 Racing) completed the top ten times in the combined classification.
The Moto2 riders will next meet for the opening practice session of the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar – the start of the FIM 2010 MotoGP World Championship which takes place from April 9-11.
