Moto2: Marquez Tops Day 3 Valencia Test

Moto2 News

On the third and final day of Moto2 testing, Repsol’s Marc Marquez showed his championship-winning ways by topping the sheets at Valencia Saturday.

The reigning 125cc MotoGP champion posted a 1:35.6, which was also posted by his rival Scott Redding. These lap times set a new circuit record for the Moto2 class. The 2010 Moto2 Championship runner-up and Friday’s quickest Valencia rider, Julian Simon, was third quickest on Saturday.

As Marquez contined to adapt to the Moto2 machine, going through the test step-by-step, learning about the reactions and behavior of the Sutter Moto2 machine.

Repsol says Marquez and his team focused on fine-tuning his bike with five-lap runs, to try and find the most adequate set-up.

Then Marquez completed seven-lap runs. During these laps, after running the whole time under 1:36, he was able to set an impressive 1:35.6, smashing the pole position time set by Toni Elias last November (1:36.141) en route to the Moto2 Championship.

Marquez will continue testing at Estoril, Portugal, on Tuesday, Feb. 15.

Marc Marquez (Repsol Moto2) says: "It is a very positive outcome for these three days of test. We set a time one second and a half faster than the first day and we have been constantly progressing, so we leave Valencia very satisfied.

"(Saturday) we tested some more things on the set-up, but we still have a lot to try, so we must keep focused and work step by step.

"The time we set was really good, but that was not our main objective, as the most important thing is to keep getting familiar with the team and test different configurations for the bike. We were very consistent and I hope that we are able to do the same in the next tests in Portugal. The adaptation to the class is going well, but we still have a lot to do before the first race of the season."

Moto2 Test: Valencia, Day 3 Unofficial Results (from teams):
1. Marc Márquez (Suter): 1:35.6
2. Scott Redding (Suter): 1:35.6
3. Julián Simón (Suter): 1:35.9
4. Yuki Takahashi (Moriwaki): 1:36.0
5. Thomas Luthi (Suter): 1:36.0
6. Stefan Bradl (Kalex): 1:36.0
7. Andrea Iannone (Suter): 1:36.1
8. Aleix Espargaró (Kalex Pons): 1:36.1
9. Alex De Angelis (Motobi): 1:36.3
10. Michele Pirro (Moriwaki): 1:36.4
11. Claudio Corti (Suter): 1:36.4
12. Simone Corsi (Ioda): 1:36.6
13. Axel Pons (Kalex Pons): 1:36.6
14. Jules Cluzel (Suter): 1:36.8
15. Mike DiMeglio (Tech 3): 1:36.8