Submitted by David Emmett on
Toni Elias has topped the first day of testing at Jerez for the Moto2 class, leading an armada of Kalexes at the top of the timesheet. Testing took place under blue skies, in stark contrast to both the weather expected for Tuesday, and the previous fog- and rain-affected test at the Jerez track back in February.
Elias ended ahead of the Tuenti HP 40 pairing of Tito Rabat and Pol Espargaro, Rabat getting the better of his teammate for the first time in the dry this off-season, while Italtrans' Takaaki Nakagami and Julian Simon, and Marc VDS Racing's Mika Kallio followed close behind. Alex De Angelis was the first non-Kalex on the timesheet, the NGM Forward rider putting his Speed Up bike into 7th slot, ahead of a pair of Suters ridden by Nico Terol and Johann Zarco.
Times were a long way off ideal, though. Espargaro posted a time nearly a second faster at the track back in February, while Elias' best time is over half a second slower than Stefan Bradl's pole record from 2011. With Tuesday likely to be lost to rain, the last day and a half of testing on Wednesday and Thursday should provide a clearer picture of the Moto2 class.
This was also the first test the riders got to use the official 2013 Moto3 engines. Riders were allowed a maximum of 56 laps on the first day, before the Honda CBR600RR engines - prepared by the technical arm of the Motorland Aragon circuit, rather than Geo Tech, who had the contract until now - were crated up and shipped off to Qatar for the first race of the season on 7th April.
Results from Day 1:
| Pos | No. | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff | Prev |
| 1 | 24 | Toni Elias | KALEX | 1:43.365 | ||
| 2 | 80 | Esteve Rabat | PONS KALEX | 1:43.424 | 0.059 | 0.059 |
| 3 | 40 | Pol Espargaro | PONS KALEX | 1:43.651 | 0.286 | 0.227 |
| 4 | 30 | Takaaki Nakagami | KALEX | 1:43.664 | 0.299 | 0.013 |
| 5 | 60 | Julian Simon | KALEX | 1:43.747 | 0.382 | 0.083 |
| 6 | 36 | Mika Kallio | KALEX | 1:43.774 | 0.409 | 0.027 |
| 7 | 15 | Alex De Angelis | SPEED UP | 1:43.925 | 0.560 | 0.151 |
| 8 | 18 | Nicolas Terol | SUTER | 1:43.931 | 0.566 | 0.006 |
| 9 | 5 | Johann Zarco | SUTER | 1:43.996 | 0.631 | 0.065 |
| 10 | 19 | Xavier Simeon | KALEX | 1:44.029 | 0.664 | 0.033 |
| 11 | 45 | Scott Redding | KALEX | 1:44.062 | 0.697 | 0.033 |
| 12 | 95 | Anthony West | SPEED UP | 1:44.090 | 0.725 | 0.028 |
| 13 | 49 | Axel Pons | PONS KALEX | 1:44.273 | 0.908 | 0.183 |
| 14 | 77 | Dominique Aegerter | SUTER | 1:44.364 | 0.999 | 0.091 |
| 15 | 3 | Simone Corsi | SPEED UP | 1:44.455 | 1.090 | 0.091 |
| 16 | 14 | Ratthapark Wilairot | SUTER | 1:44.461 | 1.096 | 0.006 |
| 17 | 4 | Randy Krummenacher | SUTER | 1:44.466 | 1.101 | 0.005 |
| 18 | 88 | Ricky Cardus | SPEED UP | 1:44.572 | 1.207 | 0.106 |
| 19 | 52 | Danny Kent | TECH 3 | 1:44.894 | 1.529 | 0.322 |
| 20 | 11 | Sandro Cortese | KALEX | 1:44.933 | 1.568 | 0.039 |
| 21 | 54 | Mattia Pasini | SPEED UP | 1:45.101 | 1.736 | 0.168 |
| 22 | 72 | Yuki Takahashi | MORIWAKI | 1:45.101 | 1.736 | 0.000 |
| 23 | 81 | Jordi Torres | SUTER | 1:45.240 | 1.875 | 0.139 |
| 24 | 9 | Kyle Smith | KALEX | 1:45.314 | 1.949 | 0.074 |
| 25 | 44 | Steven Odendaal | SPEED UP | 1:45.656 | 2.291 | 0.342 |
| 26 | 23 | Marcel Schrotter | KALEX | 1:45.660 | 2.295 | 0.004 |
| 27 | 96 | Louis Rossi | TECH 3 | 1:45.808 | 2.443 | 0.148 |
| 28 | 63 | Mike Di Meglio | MOTOBI | 1:45.931 | 2.566 | 0.123 |
| 29 | 33 | Sergio Gadea | SUTER | 1:46.858 | 3.493 | 0.927 |
| 30 | 7 | Doni Tata Pradita | SUTER | 1:47.266 | 3.901 | 0.408 |
| 31 | 17 | Alberto Moncayo | SPEED UP | 1:47.360 | 3.995 | 0.094 |
| 32 | 97 | Rafid Topan Sucipto | SPEED UP | 1:47.682 | 4.317 | 0.322 |
Comments
Elias
He has got to be the most mercurial rider ever. Amazing. I sincerely hope he can keep this pace up. It would be super cool for the first Moto2 champion to come back and do it again, especially considering what went on in the interim.
-jim
kalex vs pons kalex?
how come sito pons gets a chassis manufaturer credit? is ther a difference between his tema's chassis and the 'standard' chassis?
Engine situation
What will be the engine situation for the teams now that the official engines have been shipped of the Qatar?