Johann Zarco laid down an early marker by dominating the opening day of pre-season testing ahead of the 2015 Moto2 season. The Frenchman was quickest in two of today’s three sessions and the only rider to break into the 1:34s bracket, giving him three tenths in hand over Sam Lowes who impressed on the Speed Up machine.
Lowes made a sensational start to the day, clocking a 1:35.876 to top the morning session but despite a seven tenth improvement in the second session, the British rider was usurped by Zarco who eased ahead by a quarter of a second. The Ajo Motorsport rider found even more speed on his final run of the day, extending his lead over the rest, but Lowes’ performance stood out especially with Kalex motorcycles making up the rest of today’s top ten.
Esteve Rabat was the next of them in third but the world champion endured a problematic first day back on board his machine, now sporting the no.1 plate. The Spaniard crashed on three separate occasions, keeping the Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS team busy, but Rabat still managed to close the day in third spot despite a cut to his arm.
Thomas Luthi wasted no time adapting to Kalex machinery, finishing a competitive fourth ahead of Gresini’s Xavier Simeon, while Alex Rins made a terrific start to preparations for his rookie Moto2 season by pipping his teammate Luis Salom to sixth. Franco Morbidelli outpaced his new partner Mika Kallio in eighth, seven places ahead of last year’s title runner-up, while Jonas Folger and Simone Corsi rounded out the top ten.
2015 Moto2 Testing: Valencia – February 10
| 1 | Johann Zarco | Kalex | Ajo Motorsport | 1:34.754 |
| 2 | Sam Lowes | Speed Up | Speed Up Racing | 1:35.106 |
| 3 | Esteve Rabat | Kalex | Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS | 1:35.145 |
| 4 | Thomas Luthi | Kalex | Derendinger Racing Interwetten | 1:35.194 |
| 5 | Xavier Simeon | Kalex | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | 1:35.264 |
| 6 | Alex Rins | Kalex | Paginas Amarillas HP 40 | 1:35.630 |
| 7 | Luis Salom | Kalex | Paginas Amarillas HP 40 | 1:35.687 |
| 8 | Franco Morbidelli | Kalex | Italtrans Racing Team | 1:35.813 |
| 9 | Jonas Folger | Kalex | AGR Team | 1:35.871 |
| 10 | Simone Corsi | Kalex | Forward Racing | 1:35.895 |
| 11 | Marcel Schrotter | Tech 3 | Tech 3 | 1:35.920 |
| 12 | Anthony West | Speed Up | QMMF Racing Team | 1:36.017 |
| 13 | Julian Simon | Speed Up | QMMF Racing Team | 1:36.130 |
| 14 | Dominique Aegerter | Kalex | Technomag Racing Interwetten | 1:36.209 |
| 15 | Mika Kallio | Kalex | Italtrans Racing Team | 1:36.409 |
| 16 | Hafizh Syahrin | Kalex | Petronas Raceline Malaysia | 1:36.411 |
| 17 | Lorenzo Baldassarri | Kalex | Forward Racing | 1:36.435 |
| 18 | Takaaki Nakagami | Kalex | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | 1:36.456 |
| 19 | Sandro Cortese | Kalex | Dynavolt Intact GP | 1:36.496 |
| 20 | Azlan Shah | Kalex | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | 1:36.743 |
| 21 | Axel Pons | Kalex | AGR Team | 1:36.791 |
| 22 | Thitipong Warokorn | Kalex | APH PTT The Pizza SAG | 1:37.302 |
| 23 | Louis Rossi | Tech 3 | Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2 | 1:37.430 |
| 24 | Robin Mulhauser | Kalex | Technomag Racing Interwetten | 1:37.469 |
| 25 | Ricard Cardus | Tech 3 | Tech 3 | 1:37.492 |
| 26 | Alex Marquez | Kalex | Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS | 1:37.773 |
| 27 | Randy Krummenacher | Kalex | JIR Moto2 | 1:38.121 |
| 28 | Jesko Raffin | Kalex | EMWE SAG Team | 1:38.252 |
| 29 | Florian Alt | Suter | Octo IodaRacing Team | 1:39.518 |
