Kallio jumps ahead to top Jerez test

Mika Kallio posted the fastest time as the Jerez Moto2™ test drew to a close on Thursday - in the process registering the best lap of the week

The Marc VDS Racing Team rider – who during the day was focusing on clutch settings - went ahead with his leading time of 1’42.169, edging out team-mate Tito Rabat by just 64 thousandths of a second. However, this only happened once thick fog had lifted from the Andalucian venue, which in the morning had witnessed extremely poor visibility and for that reason little track action.
In the case of Rabat, the Spaniard was unable to complete a race simulation as he struggling with direction change at the 4.4-kilometre circuit. Third was the consistent Tom Luthi, with the Interwetten Paddock Moto2 rider only a further 21 thousandths adrift as less than one tenth of a second covered the top three, promising for a tightly-contested World Championship season once again. The Swiss was not completely happy either, though, suffering from a lack of grip and therefore confidence.
The top five was rounded out by Idemitsu Honda Team Asia’s Takaaki Nakagami and Tasca Racing Moto2’s Alex de Angelis, who was left to regret a crash on the previous day which had destroyed his Suter; as a result, this limited his running time today. 2012 Moto3™ World Champion Sandro Cortese completed a strong week in sixth place, ahead of British rookie Sam Lowes who continued to impress with Speed Up. The rest of the top ten consisted of Gresini Moto2’s Lorenzo Baldassarri, Federal Oil Gresini Moto2’s Xavier Simeon and NGM Forward Racing’s Simone Corsi.
There was less optimism on this particular occasion for the Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 riders, with Nico Terol and Jordi Torres ending the test in the unfamiliar territory of 17^th and 23^rd positions, with Torres in particular not helped by a Wednesday crash caused by a problem with an electrical sensor; furthermore, this left the Spaniard in pain when it came to attempting a long run. At Caterham Moto Racing, Johann Zarco and Josh Herrin ended the week in respective 18^th and 28^th spots.
26^th overall was Pons HP 40’s Maverick Viñales, the reigning Moto3™ World Champion. However the Spaniard came under fire on Thursday, having crashed and destroyed his Kalex despite red flags having been flying around the track for over one minute.
The final pre-season test for Moto2™ will take place at the same Jerez circuit between Tuesday 11 and Thursday 13 March.