In the last winter tests for the 125 teamsLots of work for the Aprilia teams engaged in the 125 class during the first day of Irta testing on the circuit of Jerez de la Frontera, on Monday. The twenty-two motorcycles in the list of participants raced for a long time during these tests, taking advantage of the definitively favourable meteorological conditions.
The temperature, more than 13 degrees Celsius when they got started at 11 on Monday morning, allowed the riders to get a lot of work done with the first race of the season in sight (taking place on the Andalusian circuit on March 26th). The best on the track among the Aprilia riders was Alvaro Bautista of Team Master Aspar, who closed out his testing with the fourth best time of this first day, a 1`47”794.
Bautista`s time was only seven tenths from Lukas Pesek (of Derbi) who was amongst the fastest with a time of 1`48”038. Close to Bautista was Mattia Pasini who was also in the seat of a Master Aspar RS 125. The rider from Romagna had his best time of a 1`47”797, quite close to his Iberian teammate.
In sixth was another rider from Master Aspar, Sergio Gadea, with a 1`47”952. The first of the Italians atop an Aprilia was Lorenzo Zanetti, eleventh, who was separated from the top riders by 1”270`s. Lorenzo used the whole day of testing and raced for more than 81 laps, equivalent to around 358 km. Tenth was Angel Rodriguez from 3C Racing, on the track for only twenty laps.
Of note is Michele Pirro`s ugly fall. The rider from team WTR Blauer USA lost control on the circuit and is believed to have fractured his tibia and suffered a heavy sprain to the ligaments in his right ankle upon impact. Pirro went back to Italy on Monday evening.
After the second day of tests, Mattia Pasini left Jerez de la Frontera at the top of the 125 class. The rider from Romagna cleaned up with a solid 1`46”816, better than the track record of 1`46”938 set by Daniel Pedrosa in 2003.
Pasini, atop an RS 125 of Team Master Aspar, completed 62 laps, has he concentrated on the material at his disposition so that he could arrive at the first race of the year with clear ideas as to what to use. At the end, they found an ideal setting that allowed Mattia to command the behaviour of the 2006 engine.
The 125 has always been one of the most competitive classes internationally with the presence of six production houses battling for the title. Aprilia confirmed itself to be a definite competitor as five bikes were in the final classification`s top ten for the Irta testing at Jerez.
Beyond Pasini, the others present in the top ten were Hector Faubel from Master Aspar (8th, 1`47”677), Joan Olive from team SSM Racing (9th, 1`47”683), and Sergio Gadea, also from Master Aspar (10th, 1`47”743).
Also Tuesday, there were a few falls that forced some teams to stop working early. Amongst these were Pasini`s inconsequential falls in the final and Lorenzo Zanetti`s (Skilled I.S.P.A.) two falls.
Worse was the fall of Angel Rodriguez from 3C Racing Totti Top Sport. The Iberian rider suffered a lesion to his left thumb and contusions to his right shoulder, foot, and left leg.
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