Alex Marquez admits he is still struggling to feel comfortable on his Kalex Moto2 machine after a rain-affected test at Valencia this week. The reigning Moto3 champion has moved up to the intermediate class with Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS but a crash in private testing at Almeria last week hurt his preparations.
The 18 year old was a lowly 26th on the solitary dry day, three seconds down on Johann Zarco, and is now crossing his fingers that Jerez will bring a breakthrough in his attempts to adjust to four-stroke machinery next week.
“At the beginning of my first year in Moto2 I need as much track time as possible, especially as my feeling with the bike wasn’t so good after crashing during a shakedown test in Almeria last week. I need to start enjoying myself on the bike again, because this is when the lap times come, and I need to recover again the good feeling. Unfortunately the weather here at Valencia meant I didn’t get a chance to do that, as I only really had one day on the bike. Now we head for three more days of testing at Jerez where, with better weather forecast, we should be able to make up for the lost track time here.”
There were no such problems for Marquez’s teammate Esteve Rabat who established himself amongst the pacesetters immediately. The defending champion was third quickest overall and was pleased with his week despite the frustration brought by the weather.
“The first day was very positive for me, despite the cold conditions, because I was so fast and consistent from the start and, on the hard tyre, I was able to match the pole time from last year in only the second session. The second day was half dry, half wet and very cold, so there was no sense to take a big risk and ride. Today we had full wet conditions and we were ready to test, but then one of the Moto3 riders dropped oil on the track so, once again, we were left sitting in the pit box. Now I want to get back into my routine before heading next week to Jerez, where I hope we have better weather.”
