THE RIDERS OF BLUSENS-STX DO A GREAT FIRST TEST IN VALENCIA
Cheste, 3rd March 2010. From the first of March until today the first IRTA tests of the MotoGP World Championship 2010 has taken place in the circuit Ricardo Tormo of Valencia. The bad weather has not allowed the riders of BLUSENS-STX to do practice today; rain and wind has stopped them from testing their motorbikes. But the two days that Yonny Hernández and Mashel Al Naimi have been able to try out their BQR Honda-M2 they have progressed a lot.
The most important difference of this practice and the private practice the team did two weeks ago in Montmeló is that this was the first time every Moto2 was using the official Honda engines the organizers provide. The Colombian rider has been in the top 10 during the whole practice, which says a lot of the potential he has. His team mate, the Qatari Mashel Al Naimi, has improved his times, so he is clearly adapting well to the 600cc bikes. He had spent the last two years with 1000cc motorbikes and doing endurance championships.
In 125cc, Tito Rabat also has had two days of intense work and his performance has fulfilled the team expectations, being in every session (Q1 and Q2) of Monday and Tuesday in the top six and finishing with the fifth best time. The only problem the Catalan has faced in this practice was a crash on Tuesday that had no further consequences.
Ricard Jové, team Manager of BLUSENS-STX, thinks the outcome of this practice session is very positive and he is already looking forward to the IRTA Jerez test (5th, 6th and 7th March) to continue to do the setting of the motorbikes and go on with the riders progression.
68 YONNY HERNÁNDEZ (11º.1’38.336, +1.180): “I think these two days of official tests have gone real well. I managed to be all the time in the top ten and this is very important to me. Especially if I think the best riders of the world championship were here. Every time I ride the motorbike I feel better with it, which is very positive too. Maybe the times were not that great, but the important thing is to improve the feeling and become more confident with the bike. The only defect has been a small chattering problem in the front. This made me lose confidence in the curves, but David (mechanic) found the problem and it will be fixed in Jerez. We have worked in the setup of the bike, trying out different settings, and we have raced with the race tyre which is slower than the SSP we were used to, but I am sure we will adapt. These days we have used the official engines we will be using during the season and I believe they have more acceleration than the one we had before and that it is more progressive. In general, I am satisfied because every day I am more familiar with the team, we have improved the setup and things are just going well.”
95 MASHEL AL NAIMI (28º. 1’39.212, +2.056): “It has been two days of intense work and I leave happy with the performance me and the team have done. It is the first time I am working with a team of this level and I honestly think it is going real well. Clearly, I need some time to adapt to these motorbikes, but I am getting better at it and I am faster every time, understanding the BQR Honda-M2 a bit more each day. It is still difficult for me to run alone and get a good time, but I am sure this is a matter of gaining in experience. We have been trying different settings, springs and tyres and in some cases I felt more comfortable than in others, so every time it is becoming clearer to me what I prefer and need in order to understand the bike. In these two days we have done like 120 laps and the feeling is good. Thus, I believe in Jerez I will do better than in Valencia and Barcelona.”
12 TITO RABAT (5º. 1’41.910, +0.935): “The best was to be able to practice two days in dry weather. This way we could try out a few changes in the engine which let us make some improvements. These days I brought back the good sensations with the bike and the positive feeling. Maybe the times were not as good as we expected, but I was faster than in the GP of last year and this is important. So I am leaving Cheste feeling more confident. I think that both the motorbike and myself can give a little more and I hope this will happen in Jerez. I am excited to go there and be one of the first riders again, but with better times."
