For this last day of the first official test of 2016, the Moto3 riders were affected by the thick fog which fell on the Jerez circuit this morning.
The young rookie and protégé of Valentino Rossi, Nicolo Bulega, led the ranking of this last day. The KTM rider sets his best time in 1'46.539. Bulega was one of nine drivers who were able to improve their time today, “I feel confident before the next test in Qatar,” explains the Italian. “The objective will be to adapt as quickly as possible to this track which I do not know. Today, despite the wind, I had my best time and I am convinced that we can still take another step in Qatar. »
Although leader today, Bulega sets the 3rd time in the combined ranking, it is his teammate Roman Fenati who rose to the top of the three-day timesheet. The SKY VR46 driver set the best time in this test in 1'46.445. For comparison, that's still three tenths slower than Jack Miller's best lap in 2014, 1'46.173.
Note that at the end of this first test, the SKY VR46 team placed its three drivers in the Top 10.
A Top 10 of which only 4 Honda drivers are part. The first Honda rider is Jorge Navarro. The best Rookie of 2015 signs the 2nd time in this test, less than a tenth behind Fenati, “We decided not to ride this morning due to fog and lack of grip,”
explains the Spanish pilot. “In the afternoon it was difficult to improve due to the wind. It wasn't that strong, but quite annoying for a Moto3. This test was very productive and we were able to perfect certain details. I am confident for the next test next week. »
The Honda driver has always completed more than 15 laps in each session and is focusing on race pace.
The second Honda rider is another VR46 Riders Academy rider. Niccolo Antonelli finished this test with the 4th time. Remember that the Italian driver, more experienced than Bulega or Navarro, won his first victory last season in Japan. After the departure of Danny Kent and Miguel Oliveira, he logically places himself as one of the contenders for the title against his compatriot Romano Fenati.
Enea Bastianini ended the day with the 6th time ahead of the first rookie in the ranking Joan mir who places his KTM from the Leopard team ahead of Livio Loi, Jorge Martin, first Mahinda rider, and Andrea Migno.
The Leopard driver also climbed into 3rd position in the standings in the second session today, “I am delighted with how these three days in Jerez went,” explains Mir. “We found some solutions. I fell in the last moments, but nothing very serious, just some pain in my arm. I'm going to rest to get back in shape. Above all, I improved the time in our last test in Jerez and we have a good base for Qatar. »The best tricolor representative of this test is Fabio Quartararo. The Frenchman who is discovering the KTM finished this test with 12th just 0.8s behind the KTM of Romano Fenati, “It was a good test. The second day was a little trickier for us, but I managed to maintain a good pace today. I completed my best lap while being hampered by traffic. I am sure we will improve in Qatar. »
Jules Danilo, for his part, places his Honda in 17th, just over a second behind the reference time. The Frenchman is delighted by this first test, “The test was positive overall. We are not far. »
For these first laps on the Peugeot, Alexis Masbou recorded the 28th time in the ranking.
Note that during this test, Mahindra and Peugeot released spoilers. If their interests have not yet been revealed, they have still had the merit of causing a lot of ink to flow.
