2016 Jerez IRTA Test Moto2 Thursday Times: Pons Imposes His Will

Submitted by David Emmett on Thu, 2016-03-03 18:34

Axel Pons posted a blistering time on Thursday morning to top the timesheets of the second day of Moto2 testing at Jerez, scorching to a lap of 1:41.730, over a second under the pole record set at the Spanish circuit by Stefan Bradl in 2011. Though times during testing are always considerably quicker than during the race weekend, owing to much lower track temperatures creating more grip, Pons' time remains deeply impressive. All the more so because it is nearly half a second quicker than the best time of Alex Rins, hot favorite for the 2016 Moto2 title.

Dominique Aegerter ended the day in third, apparently fully recovered from the horrific crash he suffered at Aragon, where he damaged several vertebrae. Lorenzo Baldassari continues to impress on the Forward Kalex, taking fourth spot just a couple of thousandths behind Aegerter, while Axel Pons' teammate Jonas Folger ended the day in 5th.

Combined times for Thursday's Moto3 sessions:

Pos	No	Rider	Bike	Time	Diff	Prev
1	49	Axel Pons	Kalex	1:41.730
2	40	Alex Rins	Kalex	1:42.224	0.494	0.494
3	77	Domi Aegerter	Kalex	1:42.323	0.593	0.099
4	7	Lorenzo Baldassari	Kalex	1:42.325	0.595	0.002
5	94	Jonas Folger	Kalex	1:42.388	0.658	0.063
6	23	Marcel Schrotter	Kalex	1:42.530	0.800	0.142
7	22	Sam Lowes	Kalex	1:42.547	0.817	0.017
8	12	Tom Luthi	Kalex	1:42.589	0.859	0.042
9	30	Takaaki Nakagami	Kalex	1:42.604	0.874	0.015
10	52	Danny Kent	Kalex	1:42.789	1.059	0.185
11	24	Simone Corsi	Speed Up	1:42.943	1.213	0.154
12	11	Sandro Cortese	Kalex	1:43.055	1.325	0.112
13	19	Xavier Simeon	Speed Up	1:43.116	1.386	0.061
14	57	Edgar Pons	Kalex	1:43.132	1.402	0.016
15	21	Franco Morbidelli	Kalex	1:43.155	1.425	0.023
16	5	Johann Zarco	Kalex	1:43.217	1.487	0.062
17	10	Luca Marini	Kalex	1:43.238	1.508	0.021
18	97	Xavi Vierge	Tech 3	1:43.329	1.599	0.091
19	73	Alex Márquez	Kalex	1:43.474	1.744	0.145
20	14	Ratthapark Wilairot	Kalex	1:43.497	1.767	0.023
21	39	Luis Salom	Kalex	1:43.702	1.972	0.205
22	60	Julian Simon	Speed Up	1:43.731	2.001	0.029
23	2	Jesko Raffin	Kalex	1:43.924	2.194	0.193
24	54	Mattia Pasini	Kalex	1:44.015	2.285	0.091
25	44	Miguel Oliveira	Kalex	1:44.076	2.346	0.061
26	32	Isaac Viñales	Tech 3	1:44.261	2.531	0.185
27	55	Hafizh Syahrin	Kalex	1:44.345	2.615	0.084
28	70	Robin Mulhauser	Kalex	1:44.812	3.082	0.467
29	33	Alessandro Tonucci	Kalex	1:45.714	3.984	0.902
30	8	Efren Vazquez	Suter	1:46.790	5.060	1.076