Moto2, Jerez Test: Oliveira and KTM lead the way, Pasini third

The Andalusian sun shone bright as day one of official testing came to an end, with some surprises immediately emerging in Moto2. In a category that has lost some of those riders who were protagonists last season, the top spot (in a classification that sees 10 riders within less than one second from each other) is temporarily occupied by a debuting bike ridden by an upcoming talent.

We're talking about Miguel Oliveira, who has shown that he has already found feeling with the KTM, stopping the clocks on 1’42”316, already quicker than last year's pole time, a 1’42”408 set by Sam Lowes. Chasing the Portuguese rider is Takaaki Nakagami, clearly in form and just 0.187 behind the leader. In third place and representing Italy is Mattia Pasini (+0.526), followed by two more Italians, or rather Luca Marini (+0.724) and Franco Morbidelli, just 5 thousandths behind his friend/rival.

Sixth and seventh place go to the Swiss, with experienced rider Tom Luthi (+0.752) ahead of Dominique Aegerter and his Suter (+0.759). Eighth for the second Marc VDS rider Alex Marquez, almost eighth tenths from the front, while the Kalex bikes of rookie riders Pawi and Navarro round out the top ten. Moto3 champ Brad Binder closes just outside the top ten, still recovering from injury. 

In terms of the rest of the Italian contingent, Simone Corsi is sixteenth, 1.260 seconds from Oliveira, while Andrea Locatelli continues to get to grips with the Kalex, closing in twentieth place (+1.316). With Stefano Manzi still in the garage, the only Sky Racing rider on track was Francesco Bagnaia, who is for now down in 26th place (+1.692). The Speed Up of former Supersport European champion Axel Bassani rounds off the standings, 2.397 seconds from the front.