"You can't ride these big bikes like a Moto3" - Arbolino

Ahead of his rookie year in the Moto2™ World Championship, the Italian explains how he's adapting to life with a bigger bike

There’s one thing at the centre of Tony Arbolino’s pre-season training plan ahead of his debut year in the Moto2™ World Championship: muscle. It’s been an eye-opening week or so for the young Italian as his adaption to a bigger bike ramps up.

Fresh from riding a Triumph 675 machine around Cartagena and Almeria, the former Moto3™ front-runner spoke exclusively to motogp.com about what he’s doing to be as ready as he can be for the intermediate class.

"I’m just trying every day to increase my fitness," started the Moto2™ rookie. "With the restrictions, it’s a bit more difficult to train because the gyms are closed but, anyway, I’m just trying to train as best as I can in this situation. I’m trying to add a little bit of muscle to be ready for Moto2 because my first impression with the big bikes is that it’s difficult to manage the weight. So, I need to improve in this area to be fully ready for the first races. It’s great to be training here in Spain, most importantly with the sun. Hopefully, with all of this, I can have a perfect rookie season."

The 20-year-old admits one of the most challenging aspects of riding a Moto2 machine is that he’s unable to “do what you want” with the bike to be fast, unlike in Moto3. Known for his all-action style in the lightweight class, the Italian seems to admit that the same riding style might not be as effective on his Liqui Moly Intact GP Moto2™ machine this year.

"The first impression is that you can’t jump onto the big bike and expect to ride it like a Moto3, it just doesn’t work. The time will never come like that, so I’m trying to improve and feel more comfortable with it. If I do that, I think the speed will come. It’s just knowing that if I do this, I can go faster or if I do this, I will be slower. It’s working well, though.

"The weight and the power is the biggest difference, managing this is tough. In Moto3, you can, more or less, do what you want with the bike. But in Moto2, you cannot do this. You have to do this, this and this to be fast, which at first is hard to understand. I’m arriving, though, and learning what the best way is for these big bikes."

Photos by: @cyrilmacg

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