Ajo Motorsport Moto2 rider Johann Zarco debuts with new team and Kalex chassis, on wet three days of testing at Jerez circuit.

Rain played a big part in the premiere of the Ajo Motorsport Moto2 project with rider Johann Zarco. Three days of testing at the Jerez circuit were hit by poor weather and the team –featuring the competitive collaboration of Kalex and WP Suspension, altered their workplan accordingly. Rain did not stop the Frenchman from putting in his first laps with a Kalex chassis.

The new Ajo Motorsport project in the intermediate category began its adventure on Wednesday afternoon in the dry, with very good results. Although in this type of testing  lap times are not especially important, Zarco set one faster than the quickest of 2014: 1:42.858. Yesterday he sat out the day due to poor conditions on track, whilst on Friday he began to learn the behaviour of the bike on completely wet asphalt.

Before the winter break in December and January, Johann Zarco will get onboard his Kalex for a final two days of testing next Monday and Tuesday. For this test, he returns to the Valencia circuit which held the season finale last weekend.

Aki Ajo – Team Manager
“It has been a great start to our new challenge in Moto2 with Johann Zarco. The weather was not perfect during these three days at Jerez, but luckily we have more days to come in Valencia next week. It was a very good start, with a dry session on Wednesday afternoon in which Johann surprised us very much with his quick adaptation to the new bike. He has worked hard and very consistently, so we were happy to finish the first day as close to the circuit record. However, we must not forget that for us the most important thing is to learn how things are in the new category, to work with our new partners and get a good coordination between the rider and the crew.”

Johann Zarco

“These first three days of testing at Jerez have gone really well. The first day we were able to complete some laps in the dry and finished with the best time. I’m happy about that because it was my first time with the Kalex and I had a good feeling. It is very easy to ride, so we were able to work well with the team and start testing with different setups.

We chose not to ride on Thursday because we were waiting for the conditions to be either completely wet or completely dry, and it made no sense to go out when that didn’t happen.

Today we were able to ride in wet conditions and found a good setup. It has been very useful for the team to understand how the bike works in these conditions.

So the conclusions we draw from this first test are completely positive. I’m happy with the team because they have done a great job and we understand each other very well. We have to enjoy these first days with Ajo Motorsport, because we have been fast, but we also have to be focused for the next test in Valencia.”