#MotoGP @EugeneLaverty & @AsparTeam Test Ever Evolving @Michelin_Sport #JerezTest
With the dust barely settled at the Jerez Circuit following yesterday’s Spanish Grand Prix the MotoGP riders were back on track for a day of tests today. Race winner Valentino Rossi was the last out on to the track, appearing after lunch, but still finishing fourth fastest with just 0.319 seconds separating him from the day’s pacesetter Marc Márquez, who clocked a 1’39.313. Jorge Lorenzo was just 0.020 seconds behind Márquez, with fellow Spaniard Maverick Viñales completing the top three. Rookie rider Tito Rabat completed the most laps (94) as nineteen riders took part in the post-Grand Prix session.
Yonny Hernández enjoyed a positive day, improving his best lap times from the race here at Jerez by a second. The Aspar Team rider clocked up a total of 83 laps as he searched for a better feeling with the bike, which came partly thanks to the new tyres on offer from Michelin, giving himself a platform to work from at the next round of the season, the French Grand Prix. For Eugene Laverty the focus was on the front-end set-up of his Ducati and finding a better position on the bike. After his ninth position in the race yesterday, Laverty was able to work without worrying about a fast time as he racked up 85 laps.
12th Yonny Hernández 1.40.351 (83 laps): “Overall it has been a positive test because we have improved our pace compared to the race and taken a second off the lap time. We have found an improvement that we will work from ahead of the next race in France. The improved lap times came on the hard rear tyre. I tried some new fronts from Michelin and liked them, the tyres are clearly making positive improvements. Now we need to see how they perform over long distances like in a race.”
19th Eugene Laverty 1.41.462 (85 laps): “This is our first real test because our season only started in Qatar at round one. During the racing season you can’t test many things over a Grand Prix weekend so this is an important opportunity for us. We’ve tried a few things to get a better feeling for the front tyre but like all the riders we have had a lot of variations to try, the Michelins are constantly evolving and we are getting through our programme now. We also needed to make some minor changes to the chassis geometry settings and evaluate the results. We had a good race here and completed a lot of competitive laps so now is the ideal time to test these kinds of things.”
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