Moto2/Moto3 tests in Jerez J.3: Mid-day update! Already a tenth from the new records...

Like yesterday, a magnificent sun bathed the Jerez circuit for this last day of Moto2 Moto3 testing.

And like yesterday, the thermometer showing 7° in the air and 10° on the track encouraged the competitors in the intermediate category to stay in their box when it opened.

Moto2	Jerez Tests 2018
Official record (Grand Prix) → 2017	1'42.019 Alex Marquez 2017
Absolute record (GP + Tests) → 2017	1'41.989 Alex Marquez 2017
Day 1 Session 1	1'42.662 Francesco Bagnaia
Day 1 Session 2	1'54.409 Hector Barbera
Day 1 Session 3	1'42.330 Francesco Bagnaia
Day 2 Session 1	1'41.848 Alex Marquez (New record)
Day 2 Session 2	1'41.638 Francesco Bagnaia (New record)
Day 2 Session 3	1'41.818 Francesco Bagnaia
Day 3 Session 1	1'41.793 Alex Marquez
Day 3 Session 2
Day 3 Session 3

After more than half an hour of silence, Tetsuta nagashima (Kalex, Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) was the first to test the asphalt, his time of 1'43.729 proving that grip was returning, thus kicking off a session that was as brief as it was competitive.

A quarter of an hour from the checkered flag, Isaac Viñales (Kalex, SAG Team) carried the torch in 1'42.587 ahead of Mattia Pasini, but all that was swept away when Alex Marquez (Kalex, Estrella Galicia at 0,0 Marc VDS) crossed the 1'42 mark in 1'41.793, three minutes before the track closed.

What followed was a battle of ragpickers for the place of dauphin between Miguel Oliveira (KTM, Red Bull KTL Ajo), Mattia Pasini (Kalex, Italtrans Racing Team), the new record holder Francesco Bagnaia (Kalex, Sky Racing Team VR46) and Brad Binder (KTM, Red Bull KTL Ajo), a battle from which the Portuguese rider emerged victorious by joining Alex Márquez under 1'42.

On the French side, while we didn't drive much on the Tech3 Racing Team side, fabio quartararo (Speed Up, Beta Tools Speed Up Racing) is positioned 17th, Jules Danilo (Kalex, SAG Team) 29th.

With 2 KTMs in the Top 4, the men of the Austrian manufacturer seem to be regaining ground in the development of their machines…

In Moto3, it only took three laps to Aron canet (Honda, Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) to achieve a very correct 1'48.419 ahead Jorge Martin (Honda, Del Conca Gresini) and Gabriel Rodrigo (KTM, RBA BOE Skull Rider).

Moto3	Jerez Tests 2018
Official record (Grand Prix) → 2017	1'46.004 Jorge Martin 2017
Absolute record (GP + Tests) → 2017	1'46.004 Jorge Martin 2017
Day 1 Session 1	1'46.985 Jorge Martin
Day 1 Session 2	1'51.607 Andrea Migno
Day 1 Session 3	1'46.857 Jorge Martin
Day 2 Session 1	1'46.367 Philipp Öettl
Day 2 Session 2	1'45.630 Enea Bastianini (New record)
Day 2 Session 3	1'46.078 Jorge Martin
Day 3 Session 1	1'45.715 Enea Bastianini
Day 3 Session 2
Day 3 Session 3

However, the pace picked up a little before mid-session under the leadership of Tatsuki suzuki (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse), then the new track record holder Enea Bastianini (Honda, Leopard Racing Team) which came close to 1'45, in 1'46.041.

20 minutes from the checkered flag, George Martin made the powder speak and slammed a 1'45.884 just 2 tenths from the new record, and we thought that things were going to stay there when, 3 minutes from the end of the session, Enea Bastianini regained command in 1'45.715.

Dennis Foggia (KTM, Sky Racing Team VR46), rather disappointing since the start of these tests in Andalusia, then took a very good 3rd position while the session ended with a red flag a few seconds before the scheduled end.