Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder hampered by intermittent rain as they begin final preseason test.

Rainfall on Tuesday at Jerez Circuit might not have been as heavy as predicted, but its intermittent nature over the course of the day prevented the Red Bull KTM Moto2 riders from making the most of their track time. Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder started the final preseason test by putting in fewer than 40 laps each, all on slicks, concluding the day 8th and 17th, respectively.

The intermediate class riders were first out in this week’s test. In overcast conditions, Oliveira and Binder quickly left the pits to take full advantage of the window of dry track time. However, the appearance of light rain meant that they completed fewer than 15 laps.

In the second hour, temperatures on track were up to 20ºC. With the slight improvements in the conditions they continued to try out new setups, albeit with lap times of 1:42.972 and 1:43.552 well down on their personal bests at Jerez. Further intermittent rain later on meant that the Red Bull KTM Ajo riders stayed in the box during the third session.

The test will continue tomorrow, with weather conditions forecast to improve and allow for progress with the workload planned for this last week of preseason.

Combined Standings Day1
1. Francesco Bagnaia (Kalex) 1:42.443
2. Iker Lecuona (KTM) 1:42.691 +0.248
3. Romano Fenati (Kalex) 1:42.775 +0.332
4. Alex Marquez (Kalex) 1:42.790 +0.347
5. Lorenzo Baldassari (Kalex) 1:42.830 +0.387
8. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:42.972 +0.529
17. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:43.552 +1.109

44 MIGUEL OLIVEIRA
“To tell the truth, it really hasn’t been a totally negative day, since in theory the weather forecast was much worse. We have been able to put in some laps and pick up from where we finished off at the last test. We have not been testing anything of note, but we will try to do that tomorrow –when in theory it will be the best day to test things out and continue improving the bike. If it keeps raining over the next few days, we plan to go out when the track is completely wet, albeit without putting in too many laps. We have to ride in a wet session because it will certainly help us in the future.”

 

41 BRAD BINDER
“Today we have not been able to ride much. Considering how the weather was and how we thought it would be, we had a good day. The forecast was for it to be raining throughout the day, but even so we were able to take part in two sessions, so it was not bad at all. We have been testing several things, especially with the rear shock. Unfortunately we have not been able to do many laps. We have to continue working as we have to explore different avenues for the setup still. Tomorrow the weather forecast is better, so we’ll see. In the event that the conditions are unfavourable, we will try the wet setup -but only if it’s completely wet. If not, we will stay in the box.”