IRTA Test Qatar - Day 2, Results

1. Bradley SMITH APRILIA 2:06.908
2. Andrea IANNONE APRILIA 2:07.021
3. Sandro CORTESE DERBI 2:07.090
4. Scott REDDING APRILIA 2:07.464
5. Marc MARQUEZ KTM 2:07.751
6. Jonas FOLGER APRILIA 2:07.856
7. Lorenzo ZANETTI APRILIA 2:08.034
8. Takaaki NAKAGAMI APRILIA 2:08.108
9. Sergio GADEA APRILIA 2:08.250
10. Pol ESPARGARO DERBI 2:08.296
11. Danny WEBB APRILIA 2:08.424
...
26. Matthew HOYLE HAOJUE 2:14.758

IRTA Test Qatar - Day 1, Results

125cc

1. Bradley SMITH APRILIA 2:06.568
2. Andrea IANNONE APRILIA 2:06.708
3. Julian SIMON APRILIA 2:07.042
4. Sergio GADEA APRILIA 2:07.843
5. Joan OLIVE DERBI 2:08.062
6. Jonas FOLGER APRILIA 2:08.391
7. Sandro CORTESE DERBI 2:08.502
8. Pol ESPARGARO DERBI 2:08.531
9. Esteve RABAT APRILIA 2:08.617
10. Randy KRUMMENACHER APRILIA 2:08.783
11. Scott REDDING APRILIA 2:08.985
23. Matthew HOYLE HAOJUE 2:17.277

Smith goes Back to Basics in Simon chase

Only the smallest of margins has separated Bradley Smith and Bancaja Aspar teammate Julián Simón in 125cc preseason testing, with the latter having had the lion’s share of the bragging rights since his return to the class.
Smith was once again close to knocking his rival from the head of the timesheet at last week’s Official Test in Jerez, although in the end the Briton had to settle for second place and a positive feeling with the setup of his Aprilia RSA.

Bradley comments:

“It’s been a long process. We tried lots of things, but in the end we arrived back at what we are most comfortable using, which is what we were riding last year,” revealed Smith, who already has a year of experience with the factory bike under his belt from his time with the Polaris World squad. “The base setting is the same, just with a few changes from what we’ve tested.

“We’re only .1 away from the fastest time in Jerez, which is enough at the moment, and now it’s just a case of putting it all together. I’ve been riding on my own, trying to improve everything, and in Qatar we will hopefully be there with Simon, who is the one to catch at the moment.”

Bradley Smith challenges Lewis Hamilton

British 125gp world title hopeful Bradley Smith has tried to challenge Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton to a motocross battle.
The Aspar Aprilia rider met the McLaren driver during a recent pre-season f1 test in Barcelona while he was training at randy mamola’s house.

The 18-year-old told MCN: "He is such a nice guy. He’s a big motocrosser, that’s where he started from too.
"Me being from motocross as well I was trying to get him to sign up for a day on the bikes! He was a really nice guy and really down to earth."
Smith said he also used the experience to change his perception of Formula One having got the chance to observe Hamilton from trackside at the Catalunya circuit.

"I could go round the circuit slip road and have a look at those cars. It’s amazing because you think they are just flat-out and turn it. But those cars move around so much without traction control and you can see which cars are set up for the slow corners and which for the fast corners
"To see that side of F1, I’ve taken back my first impressions of it being really boring. Those guys are putting in a lot of effort and the speed they carry is something else."
Smith finished second during last weekend’s Jerez test session while Hamilton started the defence of his F1 title with third place in Australia.

IRTA Test Jerez Day 2

Session 1

1 Julian SIMON (APRILIA) 1:47.520
2 Marc MARQUEZ (KTM) 1:47.625
3 Bradley SMITH (APRILIA) 125cc 1:47.692
4 Pol ESPARGARO (DERBI) 1:47.920
5 Andrea IANNONE (APRILIA) 1:47.929
6 Takaaki NAKAGAMI (APRILIA) 1:47.983
7 Sandro CORTESE (DERBI) 1:48.023
8 Efren VAZQUEZ (DERBI) 1:48.322
9 Joan OLIVE (DERBI) 1:48.364
10 Sergio GADEA (APRILIA) 1:48.532
12 Scott REDDING (APRILIA) 1:48.590
14 Danny WEBB (APRILIA) 1:48.744

30 Matthew HOYLE (HAOJUE) 1:53.117

Session 2

1 Julian SIMON (APRILIA) 1:47.465
2 Andrea IANNONE (APRILIA) 1:47.530
3 Bradley SMITH (APRILIA) 1:48.301
4 Marc MARQUEZ (KTM) 1:48.394
5 Sandro CORTESE (DERBI) 1:48.401
6 Scott REDDING (APRILIA) 1:48.418
7 Danny WEBB (APRILIA) 1:48.665

8 Sergio GADEA (APRILIA) 125cc 1:48.748
9 Joan OLIVE (DERBI) 1:49.123
10 Takaaki NAKAGAMI (APRILIA) 1:49.254

26 Matthew HOYLE (HAOJUE) 1:53.355

Bradley Smith after Day 1 at Jerez

"Basically today we have only one round of production, because we had an incident with the bike. At first we did not know what it was, so the mechanics have had a hard day's work, frankly, doing and undoing in finding the solution . The problems have come from the gearbox, was not able to change gears either. Anyway, thanks to the good work we have spare equipment to keep working, but it was too late and I've only been able to give a couple good lap. The positive is that we have solved our problem and we still have two full days of work. We're still a little behind in normal time but they will be ready tomorrow to climb records in both positions. "

IRTA Test Jerez Day 1

Session 1

1 Andrea IANNONE (APRILIA) 1:48.134

2 Julian SIMON (APRILIA)1:48.294

3 Marc MARQUEZ (KTM) 1:48.621

4 Pol ESPARGARO (DERBI) 1:48.898

5 Sergio GADEA (APRILIA) 1:49.142

6 Dominique AEGERTER (DERBI) 1:49.144

7 Joan OLIVE (DERBI) 1:49.202

8 Sandro CORTESE (DERBI) 1:49.230

9 Scott REDDING (APRILIA) 1:49.359

10 Efren VAZQUEZ (DERBI) 1:49.464

11 Bradley SMITH (APRILIA) 1:49.519

20 Danny WEBB (APRILIA) 1:51.345

27 Matthew HOYLE (HAOJUE) 1:56.323

Session 2

1 Julian SIMON (APRILIA) 1:47.345

2 Efren VAZQUEZ (DERBI) 1:48.023

3 Andrea IANNONE (APRILIA) 1:48.368

4 Marc MARQUEZ (KTM) 1:48.534

5 Pol ESPARGARO (DERBI) 1:48.713

6 Sergio GADEA (APRILIA) 1:48.756

7 Bradley SMITH (APRILIA) 1:48.828

8 Jonas FOLGER (APRILIA) 1:48.921

9 Sandro CORTESE (DERBI) 1:48.930

10 Scott REDDING (APRILIA) 1:49.014

18 Danny WEBB (APRILIA) 1:50.244

29 Matthew HOYLE (HAOJUE) 2:15.588

Haojue Team in new design

Matthew Hoyle made his first appearance in the newly designed Haojue outfit today after his team had to change its name from Maxtra and therefore renew all previously produced livery.

Bradley Smith happy with engine performance tweaks

Bradley Smith reckons engine performance tweaks have significantly improved his Aspar Aprilia 125GP machine after a successful test in Estoril this week.

His Spanish team ran different engine configurations during the Portugal test as the British teenager ended fourth quickest overall.

And despite finishing a massive 1.3s adrift of dominant Aspar Aprilia team-mate Julian Simon, Smith was satisfied with his own display with just five days of testing remaining before the first race in Qatar on April 12.

Smith enjoyed his best world championship campaign in 2008 with four podium finishes.

“I was able to consistently ride in the 46s and I was happy with the work I was doing with the bike. It was another 160 laps on another completely different circuit and I think testing in Estoril was necessary.

"We normally always ride in Valencia and Jerez and you can get into a bit of a rut and you don’t end up trying too much. We improved the engine a lot in Estoril. The team has been working very hard since the first couple of tests and they came up with some new configurations. The engine was really on song and felt really powerful. The acceleration was much better.

"I was able to come out of corners and the bike felt much pokier and it seemed to drive really hard and that is really important in 125s. It’s more important that top speed. Acceleration and mid-range is where you need to work and we made another big step. The moment you get on the throttle it powers through the rpm and picks up a lot quicker with a lot more power.”

Estoril Test: Quotes Scott Redding & Danny Webb

Concluding the 3-day test in Estoril, Danny Webb and now red-haired Scott Redding gave their thoughts on the test and their preseason process.

Danny Webb:
"This wasn’t the best day of the test here at Estoril. We struggled in the morning with the set-up of the engine but at the end of the morning we had a good set-up. Unfortunaly the weather changed compare to the two days before. Their was a lot of wind today and it is hard to improve your lap time. In the afternoon it went better and we worked a lot on the suspension set-up. Two hours before the end of the day we had small engine problem and decided to call it the day. I’m quite happy with this test. The bike has a lot of potential. We still have five more days of testing and I can’t wait for next week to ride again during the official IRTA test at Jerez."


Scott Redding
"I am more and more comfortable on the RSA and I am getting better sensations from it. We are working very hard to get a good setup for the beginning of the season but we have not got it quite right yet though, but we are getting closer. What I most like about the RSA is the low rev power, but what is most difficult for me is to get a good setup on the chassis. At the start of these three days in Estoril we had a lot of problems, but as the time passed we found the right solutions and I think that we will go to the IRTA in Jerez in good conditions."

Estoril testing 125cc Day 3 17/03/09

Aspar having finished a day early, left only 2 brits left on track.

1. Andrea Iannone (Aprilia) 1:45,969
2. Sandro Cortese (Derbi) 1:46,474
3. Pol Espargaro (Derbi) 1:46,846
4. Esteve Rabat (Aprilia) 1:47,231
5. Joan Olive (Derbi) 1:47,244
6. Scott Redding (Aprilia) 1:47,520
7. Randy Krummenacher (Aprilia) 1:47,618
8. Takaaki Nakagami (Aprilia) 1:47,647
9. Efren Vasquez (Aprilia) 1:47,705
10. Jonas Folger (Aprilia) 1:47,881
11. Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) 1:48,168
12. Stefan Brandl (Aprilia) 1:48,278
13. Dominique Aegerter (Aprilia)1:48,517
14. Danny Webb (Aprilia) 1:48,680
15. Lorenzo Zanetti (Aprilia) 1:48,719
16. Miguel Oliveira (Aprilia) 1:48,982
17. Johnny Rosell (Aprilia)1:49,615

Estoril Test - Day Two - 16/03/09

1. Julian Simon (E), Aprilia, 1:45,925
2. Sandro Cortese (D), Derbi, 1:46,357
3. Bradley Smith (GB), Aprilia, 1:46,559
4. Sergio Gadea (E), Aprilia), 1:46,913
5. Pol Espargaro (E), Derbi, 1:46,925
6. Joan Olivé (E), Derbi, 1:47,360

Estoril Test - Results Day 1

Great weather conditions welcomed the biggest part of this season's 125cc and 250cc field at the Estoril track yesterday. Bradley Smith, Danny Webb and Scott Redding all finished the first day of testing among the 10 fastest riders and started the "real" preseason in good fashion.

1° Simon (Aprilia) 1'45”864;
2° Cortese (Derbi) 1'46”341;
3° Smith (Aprilia) 1'46”624;
4° Espargaro (Derbi) 1'47”251;
5° Gadea (Aprilia) 1'47”252;
6° Bradl (Aprilia) 1'47”651
7° Olive (Derbi) 1'47”697
8° Webb (Aprilia) 1'48”379
9° Savadori (Aprilia) 1'48”560
10° Redding (Aprilia) 1'48”884
11° Rabat (Aprilia) 1'48”918
12° Aegerter (Derbi) 1'49”089
13° Krummenacher (Aprilia) 1'50”774
14° Vazquez (Derbi) 1'55”896

Webb awaiting first test with all-new Aprilia RSA

DeGraaf Grand Prix Aprilia’s Danny Webb is raring to go ahead of his first test of 2009, which takes place from this Sunday in Portugal. The Briton has a new version of the factory Aprilia RSA at his disposal and, after a handful of laps at the official team presentation at Assen, has high hopes for the machine.

“The new RSA is totally different. My team had said as much but I didn’t believe it, but the first time that we started the engine it just sounded a million times better,” enthuses Webb. “We did a few laps on it at Assen, but it was windy so we will really have to wait until the test in Portugal to see what it’s like.”

It won’t just be the bike that is brand new either, as Webb is joined by Swiss rider Randy Krummenacher in the Dutch team. He notes that he and Krummenacher get on well, also saying that he is a ‘different character’ to former colleague Stevie Bonsey –who moves on from the team for 2009.

“I think that we can pick up the pace despite not having tested much,” continues Webb. “We’ve got Portugal, then Jerez and then Qatar to work on things, and to be honest the people who have done testing already haven’t been able to ride so much because of the weather. We’ll just have to get learning the bike as soon as possible, and then see where we are.

“We’ve got a bike that can win races, so that has to be our aim. We’re looking at fighting for the top five and podiums at every race, making a title challenge.”

Brits back on track

All our 125cc Brits will be back on track this Sunday in Estoril. The Portuguese track will see most of the 125cc and 250cc big names together for the first time in 2009. Weather forecasts promise perfect conditions with three sunny days and warm temperatures around 25°C.

Taylor Happy With Valencia Test

Maxtra team boss Garry Taylor has declared himself happy with the Valencia test...

"This was a good shakedown test for the whole team," he said. "This is the first time Michael and Matt have ridden since November last year and it was good to see them both so fit and keen to get on with the development programme.
"It was also the first time out for the complete Maxtra 125 GP team and even the new truck worked out well on its maiden voyage! We have a clear direction where we need to make improvements and the whole project is on track for its debut race at Qatar in April."

Matt Hoyle at Valencia Test

British 125GP rookie escaped injury in a crash on the final day of testing in Valencia as he on the new Maxtra machine.
The 17-year-old former Red Bull Rookie star knocked a massive three seconds off his previous best time as he ended with a best time of 1.45.5 as he completed 55 laps.
Despite the huge improvement though, Hoyle was still four seconds adrift of the fastest pace, set by Lorenzo Savadori.
Hoyle’s big improvement though did see him lap to within 0.5s of Austrian team-mate Michael Ranseder.
The new Chinese Maxtra machine, spearheaded by British motorsport legend John Surtees, will make its debut in Qatar on April 12.

Lap Times Valencia Test 125cc

1 Lorenzo Savadori Aprilia 1.41.5

2 Pol Espargaró Derbi 1.41.8

3 Efrén Vázquez Derbi 1.42.7

4 Johann Zarco Aprilia- 1.43.1

5 Marco Ravaioli Aprilia 1.43.8

6 Luca Vitali Aprilia 1.44.2

7 Jordi Dalmau Honda 1.44.8

8 Glenn Scott Honda 1.44.9

9 Michael Ranseder Maxtra 1.45.0

10 Matthew Hoyle Maxtra 1.45.5

Valencia 125cc Test, January 31st - February 1st

Times - Day 1 (*rain)
1 Julian Simon Aprilia  1.53.082
2 Esteve Rabat  Aprilia  1.53.696
3 Scott Redding Aprilia 1.54.217
4 Luca Vitali Aprila 1.55.535
5 Joan Zarco Aprilia 1.57.106
6 Marc Marquez KTM 2.01.194
7 Cameron Beaubier KTM 2.01.841


Times - Day 2
1 Julian Simon Aprilia 1.41.839
2 Sergio Gadea Aprilia1.41.968
3 Bradley Smith Aprilia 1.42.258
4 Scott Redding Aprilia  1.42.290
5 Marc Marquez KTM 1.42.409
6 Cameron Beaubier KTM 1.43.580
7 Esteve Rabat Aprilia 1.44.593
8 Johan Zarco Aprilia  1.45.844
9 Luca Vitali Aprilia 1.46.615

Bradley Smith - Pics From Aspar Testing

Here's a couple of pics of Bradley Smith on his initial outing with the Aspar Team in last November's tests at Valencia...