Just a second covered the top fifteen Moto2 riders at the end of the first day of free practice at Le Mans although Scott Redding seems to have the edge at the moment, the British rider ending both sessions on top of the timesheets and inside the circuit record from 2011. With rain forecast for the rest of the weekend, however, it promises to be another unpredictable round of Moto2 action.
The MAPFRE Aspar Team made a strong start to the weekend with both riders satisfied with their performances. Each rider clocked up 44 laps, with Nico Terol fast and consistent throughout and Jordi Torres adapting quickly to a new circuit for him. Terol was fifth fastest this morning and sixth this afternoon, comfortably maintaing a position in the higher reaches of the timing screens. Torres has enjoyed his first outing here at Le Mans and he did a great job to lap within a second of pacesetter Redding and clock the fifteenth fastest time overall.
6º Nico Terol 1.38.907 (44 vueltas): “We set a good consistent pace today and were constantly in touch with the top guys. I am happy about that and also about my feeling for the bike here. We still have some corners to improve but that is what the second day is for and we can be satisfied so far. Redding is the only guy who seems to have a bit more pace than the rest but otherwise it is extremely close. I have changed my riding style a little today to try and improve in certain areas compared to last year but there are still some places where I need to improve more. We are on the right lines though and tomorrow we will work hard to find what we are missing. We need some more grip and there are two corners in particular where we need to find the right gear ratio.”
15th Jordi Torres 1.39.271 (44 laps): “After seeing the track so many times on television it was different to how I expected it. It is quite unusual and a lot of fun and it was quite easy to learn. Our pace is good but we need to get a better understanding of some of the linked corners and then we will be a few tenths quicker still. This morning was a good shakedown and then this afternoon we made some important changes to the set-up and pushed from there. We have worked on improving the response from the rear shock and I think this is the way for us to go, although we need to confirm it tomorrow. The lap times are close here, you only have to look at the fact that I am a second off the top even though I am in fifteenth. It will be a tough battle tomorrow but I am happy and I know we can be even more competitive.”
Mapfre Aspar Moto2 Press Release
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