With the rain falling in the morning at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the only teams to head out on track were Aprilia Racing Team Gresini, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Team Suzuki Ecstar at the Montmelo test, with concessions allowing them to have unlimited test days throughout the season - and other teams not wanting to use their allocation.
On the unofficial timesheets, Alex Rins’ (Team Suzuki Ecstar) time of 1:52.469 was the benchmark in the damp conditions, with Suzuki test rider Sylvain Guintoli, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pol Espargaro and test rider Mika Kallio also heading out.
The conditions dried up as the team headed for lunch, and in the afternoon Andrea Iannone (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini), teammate Scott Redding and Bradley Smith (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) all took to the track for the first time. With just under an hour remaining, Iannone was fastest after setting a lap time of 1:40.422.
On the agenda for Aprilia was working on the management of the engine, improving their corner exit and the bikes cycle. For KTM, a new chassis and a new swingarm is on their to-do list.
Testing now resumes at Montmelo on Wednesday, where every team apart from Alma Pramac Racing, EG 0,0 Marc VDS and Angel Nieto Team will be on track to test the asphalt and layout - hopefully without the rain.