Nico Terol fastest on Day 1 of Moto2 testing at Valencia

Moto2 official pre-season testing kicked off today at the Valencia circuit with 30 riders taking to track with the Honda CBR engines now prepared by MEF (Fundación Moto Engineering) instead of Geo Technologies, and with the 215kg new weight limit rules for a combined weight between bike and rider.

The fastest rider of the day was Aspar’s Nicol Terol who stopped the clock with his Suter in 1’35″926 and just 0.025s ahead of Italtrans Racing Team’s Julian Simon, who suffered a harmless crash during one of the three sessions that the Moto2 teams have at their disposal as they are also sharing the track with the Moto3 teams.

This year’s title favourite and last year’s runner-up Pol Espargaro was third fastest rider of the day - but the best in the afternoon session - with his 1’36″106 lap and followed by other Kalex riders like Scott Redding - who will be one of the heavier riders that will benefit from the new weight rules - and Japanese rider Takaaki Nakagami who is in his second consecutive year with Italtrans Racing Team, with lap times from the fourth to the ninth position covered by a little more than three tenths of second.

Simone Corsi was sixth and little more than half a second from Terol with one of the four Speed Up machines that NGM Forward Racing will be fielding in Moto2 this year. Corsi managed only seven laps after a crash took him out the rest of the day. Reigning CEV Moto2 champion Jordi Torres took 7th, while Tito Rabat who was the fastest rider in session 1 ended up 8th, followed by Interwetten’s Thomas Luthi in 9th.

Toni Elias who will be riding this season for Blusens Avintia was 10th and Alex De Angelis 11th on the second NGM Forward bikes - while team mates Mattia Pasini was 16th and Jorge Lorenzo’s BFF Ricky Cardus was 20th.

The Valencia test also saw the debut of reigning Moto3 champion Sandro Cortese and the Dynavolt Intact GP who finished the day 24th and continuing his learning process of the KTM bike.

Idemitsu Honda Team Asia run by Tadayuki Okada is fielding Yuki Takahashi, while Johann Zarco suffered three separate crashes with his Suter branded Iodaracing Project, and new QMMF Racing Team rider Rafid Topan Sucipto, who replaced Anthony West at Valencia after the Australian received a ban for doping, also crashed twice.

Moto2 Valencia test - Day 1 results:

01- Nico Terol – MAPFRE Aspar Team Moto2 – 1’35.926
02- Julian Simon – Italtrans Racing Team + 0.025
03- Pol Espargaro – Tuenti HP 40 + 0.180
04- Scott Redding – Marc VDS Racing Team + 0.411
05- Takaaki Nakagami – Italtrans Racing Team + 0.517
06- Simone Corsi – NGM Mobile Racing + 0.518
07- Jordi Torres – MAPFRE Aspar Team Moto2 + 0.531
08- Tito Rabat – Tuenti HP 40 + 0.605
09- Thomas Luthi – Interwetten Paddock + 0.703
10- Toni Elias – Blusens Avintia + 0.926
from Twowheelsblog

Maverick Vinales dominates day one of Moto3 testing at Valencia

After reportedly being the the fastest rider during KTM’s private test at Almeria, Maverick Vinales arrived at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia for the first official Moto3 test of the 2013 season to top the time sheets in all three sessions that were held today.

Maverick Vinales is now riding a KTM for JHK T-shirt LaGlisse and he posted a best time of 1’40″715 - the only rider to break the 1,41 barrier - and he was also under Jonas Folger’s qualifying pole position lap in last season’s Valencia round.

Following Vinales was Luis Salom who suffered a small crash, Alex Rins and Zulfahmi Khairuddin, which put four official factory KTM’s in the top four spots with a fifth thanks to Aspar’s Jonas Folger, who is running a Kalex chassis.

Last year’s Italian revelation Romano Fenati was sixth riding a FTR Honda for San Carlo Team Italia, while Jakub Kornfeil took 7th ahead of Efren Vazquez, who is debuting the new Mahindra by Suter Racing. Arthur Sissis and Alex Marquez who are also riding KTM’s were 9th and 10th respectively while Maverick Vinales’ cousin Issac was 11th.

Sixteen year- old Ana Carrasco - the first female in Moto3 - and Vinales team mate made an impressive day 1 debut as she finished 12th and ahead of several more experienced Moto3 GP riders.

Moto3 Valencia test day 1 results:

01- Maverick Vinales – JHK T-Shirt LaGlisse 1’40.715
02- Luis Salom – Red Bull KTM Ajo Factory Team + 0.156
03- Alex Rins – Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 + 0.589
04- Zulfahmi Khairuddin – Red Bull KTM Ajo Factory Team + 1.073
05- Jonas Folger – MAPFRE Aspar Team Moto3 + 1.378
06- Romano Fenati – San Carlo Team Italia + 1.717
07- Jakub Kornfeil – Redox RW Racing GP + 1.745
08- Efren Vazquez – Mahindra Racing – Mahindra 1.872
09- Arthur Sissis – Red Bull KTM Ajo Factory Team + 1.975
10- Alex Marquez – Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 + 2.252

Photo source | Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo.facebook.com

from twowheelsblog

WAITING OUT WINTER

As a southern hemispherian, I have a strange relationship with winters. And I'm not talking about the kind we get down here. In fact, calling those ‘winter’ is akin to calling Nicki Minaj an ‘artist’. But just like any other westerners, we grew up with images of Frosty the Snowman, sleigh rides and ice skating on frozen lakes. What the picture books and stop motion Christmas specials conveniently avoid, though, is the nastier aspects of la saison d'hiver. Like the heating bills, shovelling snow, and worst of all - the fact that your bike stays put for what seems like an eternity (hello North Eastern America if you are reading this.) But is that really a negative, or is it a customiser's blessing in disguise?

WAITING OUT WINTER from Andrew David Watson on Vimeo.

Hold that thought while you watch the latest video from long-time Pipeburn contributor and good mate Andrew David Watson. It's a piece he's done with Cast & Salvage, a very cool-looking Philly bike shop. As Andrew puts it, ‘winter is in full force up here, and we still have another month or two to go, so hopefully everyone watching has a winter project to keep themselves busy with until it's riding time!’ Enjoy.

Building the New Carrozzeria Touring Disco Volante: Part 3

Classic Driver has been granted full access by Carrozzeria Touring to the stages in the construction of the first production Disco Volante, prior to its launch at the 2013 Geneva Show. Part 2 was all about finishing the body and its component parts. Now, it’s time to create the interior panelling and carefully paint the new car. 

Yes, it looks almost like the finished car, but the unpainted ‘body in white’ still needs further checking for alignment. Plus, the panel gaps need to be carefully regulated for both distance and consistency. This is a hand-made car, after all, by one of the world’s great coachbuilders. 

Meanwhile, the interior parts are cut to shape, then formed, and welded or bonded to the body/chassis unit. The glass is trial-fitted again and many of the main systems (lighting, dashboard, etc.) are temporarily assembled and their location is verified for alignment. 



The car is now ready to be painted. First, all panelwork is meticulously filled, smoothed and given a coat of primer. 

In parallel, all interior and exterior trim will have been finished, to be ready for painting, too – if appropriate. 


It’s now time for the Geneva Show car’s special 'Flame Red - Touring Superleggera' paint to be formulated and applied to the now primered bodyshell. For this colour, first gold is sprayed, then red, then clear lacquer. The gold layer gives the shade a lustrous 'flame' effect. 

Final painting is as much the ‘coachbuilder’s art’ as hand-beating aluminium and steel. The quality of Carrozzeria Touring’s paint shop is recognised the world over, and is often used by major motor manufacturers for low production run work. 


Painting completed, the next process is to reassemble the stripped-down components of the car, together with all the bespoke interior trim. 


The result will be the very first production Alfa Romeo 8C Disco Volante by Carrozzeria Touring – and we’ll show you what that looks like in the next instalment. 

For further information on the 2013 Carrozzeria Touring Disco Volante visitwww.touringsuperleggera.eu, or email info@touringsuperleggera.eu. 

Related Links The website of Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera www.touringsuperleggera.eu 'Building the New Carrozzeria Touring Disco Volante: Part 1' in the Classic Driver Magazine 'Building the New Carrozzeria Touring Disco Volante: Part 2' in the Classic Driver Magazine 'Five questions to Louis de Fabribeckers, Head of Design Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera' in the Classic Driver Magazine 'Geneva 2012: Disco Volante 2012 by Touring Superleggera' in the Classic Driver Magazine

Text: Steve Wakefield(ClassicDriver)
Photos: Carrozzeria Touring