Valencia Moto2 Tests: Redding Leads Day 1

2012 Moto2 Testing

The first day out for the Moto2 riders concluded after a slow start had many team waiting in their boxes for the track temperatures to rise.

The second part of the day allowed all the Moto2 riders to get to work preparing for the start of the 2012 season, with Briton Scott Redding topping the unofficial reported times with a 1:.36.5 aboard his Marc VDS Racing Team Kalex bike.

Pol Espargaró (Pons Racing) completed the day in second, half a second behind Redding, with Italtrans Racing Team rider Claudio Corti in third with a reported time of 1:37.4. Max Neukirchner of Kiefer Racing and Pons Racing’s Tito Rabat completed the top five times, with all five riding Kalex machinery.

The 2010 Moto2 World Champion Toni Elias finished the day in the eleventh place out of 31 riders on track, at the controls of Mapfre Aspar Team’s Suter. The Spaniard reported that he took the day easy after not riding for two months, saying "we took it easy because it’s easy to make mistakes and crash, after two months it was important to get back on the bike with confidence."

Elias was a tenth of a second behind last year’s 125cc runner up, Johann Zarco, who was the fastest newcomer of the day, ranking 9 places ahead of rival and 125cc World Champion Nico Terol.

Season favorite and 2011 runner up, Marc Marquez is recovering from eye surgery and was not present at the test.

Valencia Moto2 Times: Wednesday (unofficial, recorded by teams):

1. SCOTT REDDING, MARC VDS RACING TEAM 1’36.5 53 laps
2. POL ESPARGARO, PONS RACING 1’37.0 47 laps
3. CLAUDIO CORTI, ITALTRANS RACING TEAM 1’37.4 52 laps
4. MAX NEUKIRCHNER, KIEFER RACING 1’37.5 38 laps
5. ESTEVE RABAT, PONS RACING 1’37.5 43 laps
6. THOMAS LUTHI, INTERWETTEN PADDOCK 1’37.9 24 laps
7. ANDREA IANNONE, SPEED MASTER 1’37.9 27 laps
8. SIMONE CORSI, IODARACING PROJECT 1’38.0 43 laps
9. MIKA KALLIO, MARC VDS RACING TEAM 1’38.1 26 laps
10. JOHANN ZARCO, JIR Moto2 1’38.2 22 laps
11. TONI ELIAS, ASPAR TEAM Moto2 1’38.3 47 laps
12. ALEX DE ANGELIS, NGM MOBILE FORWARD RACING 1’38.7 20 laps
13. ANGEL RODRIGUEZ, SAG TEAM 1’38.7 27 laps
14. BRADLEY SMITH, TECH 3 RACING 1’38.8 36 laps
15. DOMINIQUE AEGERTER, TECHNOMAG-CIP 1’39.0 68 laps
16. AXEL PONS, PONS RACING 1’39.1 45 laps
17. TAKAAKI NAKAGAMI, ITALTRANS RACING TEAM 1’39.2 40 laps
18. MIKE DI MEGLIO, SPEED UP 1’39.2 21 laps
19. NICOLAS TEROL, ASPAR TEAM Moto2 1’39.6 30 laps
20. RANDY KRUMMENACHER, GP TEAM SWITZERLAND 1’39.7 36 laps
21. ALEXANDER LUNDH, MZ RACING TEAM 1’39.7 29 laps
22. XAVIER SIMEON, TECH 3 RACING 1’40.1 36 laps
23. DAMIAN CUDLIN, QMMF RACING TEAM 1’40.9 45 laps
24. ROBERTO ROLFO, TECHNOMAG-CIP 1’41.4 46 laps
25. ERIC GRANADO, JIR Moto2 1’41.5 30 laps
26. ELENA ROSELL, QMMF RACING TEAM 1’41.7 57 laps
27. YUKI TAKAHASHI, NGM MOBILE FORWARD RACING 1’42.7 3 laps
28. MARCO COLANDREA, SAG TEAM 1’44.0 35 laps
29. GINO REA, GRESINI RACING Moto2 No times provided
30. RATTHAPARK WILAIROT, THAI HONDA GRESINI Moto2 No times provided
31. JULIAN SIMON, AVINTIA RACING Moto2 No times provided