Axel Pons was the unlikely pacesetter at the end of the opening official Moto2 test, leading Britain’s Sam Lowes at Jerez. The Spaniard was the only rider to drop under the 1m41 barrier, setting his quickest time on day two, with Lowes three tenths adrift after topping the final day’s running.
Much like the Moto3 test taking place here, conditions were more conducive to fast times on the second day and Pons took full advantage, clocking a 1:41.730 in the morning session to chop half a second off Thomas Luthi’s Wednesday benchmark. Unfortunately for Pons, his test would end on a sour note with a crash soon after his flying lap ruling him out of the final day through injury.
In Pons’ absence, Lowes took up the running on the final day, setting a 1:42.075 in the afternoon to edge out Lorenzo Baldassarri. The Italian’s time was still good enough for third ahead of Alex Rins with Luthi tumbling to fifth overall after failing to better the time he had set on the very first day.
Dominique Aegerter was sixth ahead of Takaaki Nakagami with Jonas Folger outpacing Dynavolt Intact GP teammate Sandro Cortese to finish eighth. Reigning Moto3 champion Danny Kent continues to make a bright start on his return to the intermediate class, taking twelfth spot on his Leopard Kalex, while defending Moto2 champion Johann Zarco was conspicuous by his absence from the top of the leaderboard, ending the week in fourteenth.
Moto2 Official Test – Jerez (Combined Classification)
[table id=829 /]
