Xavier Siméon and the Team Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 raced today for the first time on the new Termas de Rio Hondo circuit, home of this weekend's Grand Prix of Argentina. After finding difficulties with regard to tyre wear during the morning practice session, the team was able to make the most of the second practice session in the afternoon, working a lot on the Suter of the Belgian rider and finding a good balance. Siméon finished the day with the 11th fastest time, 1’45”689, just over 0.6 seconds off the fastest time, using the same hard tyre throughout the entire second session.
In the Team Gresini Moto2 garage, Lorenzo Baldassarri brought his Suter machine in 17th place with a best time of 1’45”853, with very limited gap from the top, less than 0.8 seconds. The young Italian lost a bit of confidence with the rear end between the first and second practice session, so he will try to overcome this problem tomorrow, working on the bike set-up.
Xavier Simeon (11th - 1'45"689)
“This morning, after the first free practice session, I was very worried about tyre wear: actually, it was raelly impossible to make a few laps to learn the track and improve. In the afternoon, the track conditions improved, but especially we have improved a lot the bike set-up: we changed many things and now I am quite satisfied, because I was able to use the same tyre for the entire second session, also lowering my lap times in the final stages. The track, however, is a nice surprise: yesterday when I made a walk around it, didn’t seem to me so hard; but today, riding, I realized just how technical is, with several places where you can make the difference. I like it a lot”.
Lorenzo Baldassarri (17th - 1'45"853)
“The outcome of this first day is positive, even if I’m not completely satisfied. Although I have improved my time in the afternoon, compared to this morning my feeling with the bike is worse, especially with the rear end: it’s trange, but I found myself more comfortable in the morning, when the track was still very dirty. Tomorrow we will try to solve these problems by working on bike set-up”.
Federal Oil Gresini Press Release
