As we saw this morning, and for the first time since the start of these IRTA Moto2 and Moto3 tests in Valencia, the third session of the day allowed the Moto3 riders to put on slick tires and start to express themselves, which their Moto2 colleagues did not They did not fail to do in the following minutes with the appearance of the Valencian sun.
Consequently, the 1'48.175 achieved by Stefano manzi this morning was immediately shattered during the fourth session during which no less than 26 drivers on track, that is to say the entire field in the absence of the Estrella Galicia teams 0,0 Marc VDS (Álex Márquez , Joan Mir), Swiss Innovative Investors.com KTM (Sam Lowes, Iker Lecuona) and Sky Racing Team VR46 (Francesco Bagnaia, Luca Marini).
With a time of 1:36.493 to compare to the record of Johann zarco in 1'34.879, Mattia Pasini (Kalex, Italtrans Racing Team) was the fastest in front of Simone Courses (Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2) and Lorenzo Baldassarri (Pons HP40). Note the fifth place of Fabio Quartararo (Beta Tools Speed Up Racing) 3 tenths from the hot Italian.
In the last session of the day, the pace picked up again a little and this time it was Lorenzo Baldassarri (Kalex, Pons HP40) which took the lead in 1'36.149, ahead of the KTM of Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and the Kalex of Simone Corsi (Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2). At the end of the day, fabio quartararo is in ninth position, 8/10 behind the driver who replaces him in the Pons team while Jules Danilo (Kalex, Nashi Argan SAG Team) made his debut in 24th, more than three seconds behind the fastest.
Obviously, with a track temperature below 10°, the conditions were far from ideal and explain his still somewhat modest times.
First day ✅/ First laps ✅
📸 x @rafa_marrodan pic.twitter.com/E4GrJZhAlQ- Fabio Quartararo (@ FabioQ20) February 7, 2018
En Moto3, the drivers took advantage of their third and final session of the day to lower the time to around 1'40, under the leadership of Gabriel Rodrigo (KTM, RBA BOE Skull Rider Team), Jorge Martin (Honda, Del Conca Gresini Moto3), Marco Bezzecchi (KTM, Prüstel GP), Niccolo Antonelli (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse) and Enea Bastianini (Honda, Leopard Racing), these five drivers appearing in less than 3/10 while the track conditions did not allow them to get closer to the 1'38.428 constituting the record for the Valencia track for this category.
