A NEW BEGINNING IN JEREZ FOR TEAM FEDERAL OIL GRESINI
It feels like a lifetime ago since the Qatar Grand Prix, and in fact it took plenty of days to see Team Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 riders back in action, with the team returning to the track yesterday for a one-day official test that was mainly focused on regaining confidence and the right feeling aboard their Triumph-powered Kalex machines #57 and #11.
Both Edgar Pons and Niccolò Bulega are extremely motivated to do well in this ‘second’ start of the season and from tomorrow they will dive into the racing weekend itself with the first free practice sessions of the Spanish Grand Prix. With an excellent fitness condition on their side and good results from the IRTA test performed a few months ago, both riders managed to get up to speed despite the heat (with air temperatures close to 40°C).
After a full day of action which was heavily affected by the aforementioned weather conditions, Bulega turned out to be the quicker of the two as he set the 14th fastest time (with Pons only half a second away from his teammate). Now it is already time to focus on day one, with the opening free practice session getting underway at 10:55 local time (GMT +2), while Saturday’s qualifying and Sunday’s race will take place from 15:10 and 12:20, respectively.
NICOLÒ BULEGA #11 (test pos.14 1’43.033 – 24 laps)
“It was about time! To be joining the team again, to be working together, plus the smell of the asphalt… I missed it all! Obviously, to perform a Covid-19 test beforehand and using masks at all times makes it all a bit strange – and we’re not really used to it. Today’s test was really important, although we lost almost half a session this morning due to an electronic issue, but I’m confident because the feeling in the afternoon was already good. Without the crowd it will be really strange; from one side it can actually help, because there’ll be less stress, but on the other hand the passion of the crowd is something hard to live without. I trained hard and I’m fit, so I think Jerez will be a good starting point.”
EDGAR PONS #57 (test pos.24 1’43.551 – 17 laps)
“Motivation is over the roof, and we’ll go from a long break to a very intense season. Jerez will be important and strange at the same time, but we did some excellent IRTA tests and we’re aiming at picking up from where we left off. I missed the team, and to be seeing them as motivated as I am was key. Today we did a good job: there’s still a lot of work to do set-up wise due to the heat. These two weeks at Jerez will be hard, we felt the high temperatures and surely we’re going to feel them during the race, but I worked hard during the lockdown and I cannot wait for FP1 to begin. It will be crucial to manage the tyre consumption during the race, but one thing at the time – right not we’re only thinking about Friday!”
