Pull&Bear Aspar Mahindra riders Albert Arenas and Lorenzo Dalla Porta have completed their last three days of testing at the Circuito de Jerez, ahead of the first Official Moto2™ and Moto3™ Test of the season at the same venue from March 8th.
Expectations are high after the Indian manufacturer joined the illustrious list of Grand Prix winners – the first ever Indian constructor to do so – and Arenas and Dalla Porta both got through a good program of work on setup as they prepare for 2017. The Spaniard completed 153 laps with a best of 1:47.8, with reigning FIM CEV Repsol Moto3™ Junior World Champion Dalla Porta completing 138 and completing the sessions two tenths ahead of his new teammate.
Lorenzo Dalla Porta: “We have had three very good days, adapting to the new bike and finding a more comfortable feeling. It has been interesting to try different things, we have worked out some changes that we will use again at the test next week to try and be in the strongest possible shape in Qatar. I am happy with the team and the bike, I think we have worked well over the last three days and next week we will be able to take another step forward. Compared with the test at Valencia, I felt here that I was able to go fast from the start whereas before it was taking me a little longer. That means I am more comfortable with the Mahindra, which is positive. Next week we will try to improve our race pace and take another step with the bike and with my riding to be in good shape in Qatar”.
Albert Arenas: “It has been three intense days here at Jerez, working hard and improving the bike ahead of the official test next week. We have tried a lot of things, we had a good programme in place. In general I am happy with the work we have done but there are still some areas to polish next week. We have a good base set-up and a lot of information to work from as we improve our race pace. One of our objectives for the test next week is to do some longer runs because up to know we have done short runs to test different things. Once we find the optimum set-up, everything will come more easily.”