FRUITFUL TEST FOR TEAM KÖMMERLING AT JEREZ
The European part of the Moto3 preseason has drawn to a close for Team Kömmerling Gresini Moto3,with Gabriel Rodrigo and Riccardo Rossi 12thand 28th, respectively, in the combined times of the three days of practice. The test was marked by favourable weather despite the strong wind – especially yesterday. The two standard bearers of Gresini Racing in the quarter-litre class of MotoGP managed to work without halts aboard their Honda NSF250RW machines.
Gabriel Rodrigo tried different settings and mappings, without pushing for a quick lap-time. The idea was to work on the longer runs and the results were quite positive. There are still areas to improve, especially on corner entry, but there’s also big room for improvement ahead of the Qatar GP. Generically speaking, in any case, the Argentine was able to make another step forward in his first season with the Japanese manufacturer.
Riccardo Rossi had a different testing programme: the Italian managed to gather some very useful data, which will help his growth. In the end the test turned out to be an encouraging one, despite a crash in the last session of the opening day – at turn nine.
No time for resting: after the usual post-test debrief it’s time to pack for Qatar, where the last test of the preseason will be held (1-3 March) just ahead of the season opener.
GABRI RODRIGO #19
“I’m very happy with this test. We worked a lot on the race pace. The first two days were very positive, although yesterday things got a little bit more complicated because of the wind. Today we were back on the pace. During today’s last session, with used tyres and on my own, I was able to ride at a good pace, which I think it’s another step forward. We only had one outing with the softer tyre, but I had a little issue and could not improve my lap-time Overall I’m happy and ready for Qatar.”
RICCARDO ROSSI #54
“It’s been a very useful test: we understood a lot of things about the bike and the track. The first day went well, despite a small mistake which led to a crash, while yesterday the wind was a bit too strong, so we chose not to take any unnecessary risk. Today we rode consistently and focused on braking, especially when I’m on my own as I’m a little too sideways on corner entry. Now it’s time for Qatar and hopefully we’ll continue this way.”
