2009 Jerez Irta Test Day 3 - 250 Afternoon Session - Simoncelli Dives Under Pole Record

Marco Simoncelli ended the three-day IRTA test on the top of the 50 timesheets, smashing the pole lap record by over 0.4 seconds. The Italian Gilera rider was nearly two tenths quicker than his Spanish title rival Alvaro Bautista, but both men were well under Dani Pedrosa's pole record at the Andalucian track which dates back to 2005. 

Big surprise of the afternoon was Jules Cluzel, who took his Matteoni Racing Aprilia to the third fastest time of the day, and the fourth fastest time of the three-day test, an impressive performance from the young Frenchman, all the more so because he set the time on an LE spec Aprilia, rather than a full fat factory spec RSA bike. Clusel is the second LE rider to get among the top 250 tier, after Lukas Pesek was fourth fastest on Thursday on a similar bike. It certainly looks as if the difference in performance between the million euro RSA and the 250,000 euro LE is a lot less than it was in previous years, though whether this is down to Aprilia easing up on the development of the RSA bike as the 2011 demise of the class approaches.

Full times from both sessions will follow as soon as they are available.

Session 2 times (afternoon session)

Session 1 times (morning session)