Lowes and Lecuona dominate Day 2 in Jerez

Swiss Innovative Inverstors riders under the lap record to head the times

It was another rain affected day of testing for the Moto2™ paddock but that didn’t stop Sam Lowes and Iker Lecuona lapping at record pace to make it a Swiss Innovative Inverstors team 1-2 at the close of play.

Lowes announced his return to the intermediate class by dropping below the 1:42 mark, going under the lap record of Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) in the process. The Brit's teammate Lecuona was hot on his heels as he too broke into the 1:41’s on a fine day for the Swiss based KTM set up.

Former Moto3™ World Champion Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) continued the KTM dominance in third place to complete a strong showing from the Austrian manufacturer on Day 2. However, the South African’s time was matched identically by the fastest man on the opening day, Francesco Bagnaia (SKY Racing Team VR46), with the times bumping the Italian down to fourth due to Binder’s second fastest time being quicker than that of the 2017 Moto2™ Rookie of the Year.

Xavi Vierge (Dynavolt Intact GP) looks to have settled in well on his Kalex machine after a number of season on the Tech3 machine, and the Spaniard’s quickest time was good enough for fifth. Alex Marquez followed closely behind in sixth as the lone rider in the EG 0,0 Marc VDS box with reigning Moto3™ Joan Mir sitting out the test due to a training accident.

Romano Fenati (Marinelli Sniper Team) put in another impressive display on a track where he has won twice before in the Moto3™ class to finish seventh on combined times. One of the pre-season title favourites Miguel Oliveira was next along on his Red Bull KTM Ajo machine, just ahead of veteran Italian Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team). SKY Racing Team VR46 secured two riders in the top 10 with Luca Marini rounding out the first third of the 30 strong field.

The resurfaced circuit has seen lap times tumbling compared to recent Grand Prix’s and the entire top 13 riders were under the 2017 circuit record of Moto2™ World Champion Franco Morbidelli (EG 0,0 Marc VDS), including 2018 rookie Bo Bendsneyder (Tech 3 Racing) in 13th.

Hector Barbera continued his return to the intermediate class in 21st, three places ahead of current European Moto2™ Champion Eric Granado (Forward Racing Team).

The middleweight class will hit the track again tomorrow for one last outing before the pack head to the QatarGP.

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