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.”

Blusens Aprilia team relishing chance to fight at front..

Blusens Aprilia Team Manager Ricard Jové has recruited Spanish youngster Esteve Rabat to ride alongside Scott Redding this year and the team’s preparations for the 2009 World Championship are going well.

After another successful preseason test at Estoril earlier this week the team move on to the forthcoming Jerez and Qatar dates in good spirits, with both of their riders quickly adapting well to their new Aprilia RSA machines.

Summarising the preseason to date Jové comments, “We listen to what the riders say and we can look at the timesheets, but we will only really know how competitive we are when we get to the first race at Qatar. Thanks to the good preseason conditions we have had we have been able to work hard to prepare for the start of the championship.”

He added, “The boys are amongst the group of riders pushing towards the top, although there are a couple of standout riders out in front who have set themselves apart so far this year. This is BQR’s first season with factory 125cc bikes and the riders and their technical teams are adjusting to them really well. Scott and Tito (Esteve) both have a real chance to fight at the front now.”

Scott Redding comments:

“I feel more and more comfortable every time I ride the RSA. We are working really hard to find a good set-up before the start of the season and it is getting close. We still aren't 100% sorted, but we are getting there. What I really like about the bike is how powerful it is in the low revs, but what I’m finding hardest is to get a good setting with the chassis. At the last test in Estoril we started with quite a few problems but we worked our way through them and I think we will get to the Official Test at Jerez in good shape.”

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

Confirmation Of 125cc Entry List For 2009

Now finally confirmed by the FIM:

5. ALEXIS MASBOU, LONCIN RACING
6. JOAN OLIVE, DERBI RACING TEAM
7. EFREN VAZQUEZ, DERBI RACING TEAM
8. LORENZO ZANETTI, ONGETTA TEAM I.S.P.A.
10. LUCA VITALI, CBC CORSE
11. SANDRO CORTESE, AJO INTERWETTEN
12. ESTEVE RABAT, BLUSENS APRILIA
14. JOHANN ZARCO, WTR SAN MARINO TEAM
16. CAMERON BEAUBIER, RED BULL KTM MOTOSPORT
17. STEFAN BRADL, VIESSMANN KIEFER RACING
18. NICOLAS TEROL, JACK & JONES TEAM
24. SIMONE CORSI, JACK & JONES TEAM
29. ANDREA IANNONE, ONGETTA TEAM I.S.P.A.
32. LORENZO SAVADORI, FONTANA RACING
33. SERGIO GADEA, BANCAJA ASPAR TEAM 125cc
35. RANDY KRUMMENACHER, DEGRAAF GRAND PRIX
38. BRADLEY SMITH, BANCAJA ASPAR TEAM 125cc
44. POL ESPARGARO, DERBI RACING TEAM
45. SCOTT REDDING, BLUSENS APRILIA
53. JASPER IWEMA, RACING TEAM GERMANY
60. JULIAN SIMON, BANCAJA ASPAR TEAM 125cc
66. MATTHEW HOYLE, HAOJUE TEAM
69. LUKAS SEMBERA, MATTEONI RACING
71. TOMOYOSHI KOYAMA, LONCIN RACING
73. TAKAAKI NAKAGAMI, ONGETTA TEAM I.S.P.A.
77. DOMINIQUE AEGERTER, AJO INTERWETTEN
87. LUCA MARCONI, CBC CORSE
88. MICHAEL RANSEDER, HAOJUE TEAM
93. MARC MARQUEZ, RED BULL KTM MOTOSPORT
94. JONAS FOLGER, ONGETTA TEAM I.S.P.A.
99. DANNY WEBB, DEGRAAF GRAND PRIX

Webb Unhurt in Estoril Crash

Danny Webb survived a pre-season scare when he crashed his new 2009 Aprilia 125GP machine on the second day of testing in Estoril yesterday (Monday).
The British rider, who claimed a career best result of fifth at last year’s Estoril race, crashed his DeGraaf Aprilia at Turn Four but luckily escaped injury with just a month to go before the first race in Qatar.

Webb ended the second day in 11th position on the timesheets as he clocked a best time of 1.47.679. That was 0.7s faster than his best on the opening day.