New sponsor for Talmacsi

Aspar rider Gabor Talmacsi is one of the many people in the paddock who really felt the impact of the financial crisis after almost all of his sponsors weren't able to continue the sponsorship. Luckly the celebrity status in his Hungarian home country meant he was able to find new financial support quickly, among others in the form of the Hungarian circuit Balatonring which was set to make a first appearance in the MotoGP calendar this year. However, after the Hungarian race was cancelled for this year due to delays in the construction of the circuit, Gabor will no longer have the Balatonring as his main sponsor. Instead he had Logistic Land on his bike during the last test in Estoril. The final main sponsor however will be decided by Team Aspar and probably revealed in the coming IRTA test in Jerez, starting on March 25th.

Estoril Test, Day 2 - Quotes 250cc

Álvaro Bautista 1.41.119 (70 laps)
"I can conclude this test with a good taste, because I was able to improve my overall feeling compared to yesterday, the collarbone has bothered me less and I felt much better on the bike. Also the rhythm as well as the laptimes have been much better than yesterday, so I leave Estoril very satisfied. By all means I am still not completely recovered, but I took another small step forward and I regained my confidence with the bike, I hope to continue this in Jerez and arrive at full fitness. Since this morning I have been able to improve my laptimes compared to the first day and I have dedicated myself to test several modifications on the front suspension. When you are testing these things it's difficult to ride fast although I haven't been slow either riding in 41s, but to conclude this test I took what has worked the best for me today and did some final laps just to ride for myself without having to work on modifications."

Mike Di Meglio 1.41.704 (63 laps)
"I am happy with the work we’ve done today. I would have liked to go a few tenths faster, but I am satisfied. I think that we got a good rhythm relatively fast and that is helping us to gain experience. The rhythm is good, but I still have to improve my riding as far as braking and acceleration goes. I will try to put all these things together calmly at home, to be better the next time I sit on that bike. I leave Estoril very satisfied, because it is not a track I like very much and I believe that we’ve done a great job here. We have tested so many things that I think it would be good to have a little break and take everything in that I am learning. Despite the enormous amount of things I learned already, I still don’t have all the experience I’d like to have and that makes me do mistakes sometimes, but it has definitely become better already.

Estoril Test, Day 2 - Laptimes 125cc

The Estoril test ended for the 125cc class in what can now almost be called normal order with Bancaja Aspar rider Julian Simon leading the pack by over a second and almost breaking the lap record. Simon has been dominating every single test in the preseason so far and looks like a strong contender for the title this season. Fellow Aspar riders Bradley Smith and Sergio Gadea went down the order a bit compared to yesterday, but can now already prepare for the official IRTA test in Jerez next week.

1. Julián Simón (ESP/Aprilia) 1:45.046
2. Pol Espargaró (ESP/Derbi) 1:46.218
3. Andrea Iannone (ITA/Aprilia) 1:46.313
4. Bradley Smith (GBR/Aprilia) 1:46.328
5. Sandro Cortese (GER/Derbi) 1:46.358
6. Joan Olivé (ESP/Derbi) 1:46.703
7. Sergio Gadea (ESP/Aprilia) 1:46.765
8. Jonas Folger (GER/Aprilia) 1:47.195
9. Scott Redding (GBR/Aprilia) 1:47.272
10. Esteve Rabat (ESP/Aprilia) 1:47.415
11. Danny Webb (GBR/Aprilia) 1:47.679
12. Stefan Bradl (GER(Aprilia) 1:47.690
13. Lorenzo Savadori (ITA/Aprilia) 1:47.766
14. Takaaki Nakagami (JPN/Aprilia) 1:47.874
15. Randy Krummenacher (SWI/Aprilia) 1:48.131
16. Dominique Aegerter (SWI/Derbi) 1:48.383
17. Lorenzo Zanetti (ITA/Aprilia) 1:48.596
18. Efren Vasquez (ESP/Derbi) 1:49.675

Circuit record: 2007, Gabor Talmacsi, Aprilia, 1'45.027

Estoril Test, Day 2 - Laptimes 250cc

The second day of testing at the Portuguese track saw a distinct shift of positions in the 250cc class. Mapfre Aspar rider Alvaro Bautista was only 10th fastest in the official rankings yesterday, still recovering from his collarbone fracture (although there was speculation that his transponder didn't work all the time and his actual laptime given out by Team Aspar would have placed him fourth). But today the Talaverano has shown again that he is one of the prime candidates for the title this year as he jumped into second position after leading the chart for much of the day and ending up only 6/1000 of a second slower than fastest man Hector Barbera. If the laptimes during the tests so far are any indication, we might look at a three-way battle for the championship this season.
The class rookies Gabor Talmacsi and Mike Di Meglio switched places with the Hungarian going faster today than his French teammate.
Team Aspar will not participate in the third of testing tomorrow but instead will be back on track in Jerez for the official IRTA test on March 25th.

Estoril Laptimes Day 2
1. Hector Barberá (Aprilia) 1.41,113
2. Álvaro Bautista (Aprilia) 1.41,119
3. Marco Simoncelli (Gilera) 1.41,139
4. Gabor Talmacsi (Aprilia) 1.41,636
5. Mike Di Meglio (Aprilia) 1.41,703
6. Alex Debon (Aprilia) 1.41,851
7. Ratthapark Wilairot (Honda) 1.41,980
8. Roberto Locatelli (Gilera) 1.42,000
9. Lukas Pesek (Aprilia) 1.42,027
10.Tom Luthi (Aprilia) 1.42,298
11.Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda) 1.42,310
12.Karel Abraham (Aprilia) 1.42,362
13.Hector Faubel (Honda) 1.42,491
14.Raffaele De Rosa (Honda) 1.43,432
15.Axel Pons (Aprilia) 1.46,141
16.Vladimir Leonov (Aprilia) 1.47,961

Circuit record: 2007, Alvaro Bautista, Aprilia, 1'40.521

Estoril Test, Day 1 - Quotes 125cc

Julian Simón 1.45.863 (70 laps):
"I am very happy with the kind of feeling we got at this track today which is new for me on this bike. I believe that the performance of the as bike as well as mine have been excellent and the team did sensational work, so we couldn't ask for more at the start of this test. At the beginning of the day we had some problems with the carburettor, but we solved it little by little. The laptimes showed that until we reached a very good laptime. I am satisfied, because I have improved my laptime compared to when I rode here with the KTM, but still there is some space for improvement to beat the record time. I believe that we can manage that, but will be necessary to improve a lot, mainly regarding the engine. In any case the main goal is to go to the first race with the best preparation possible."

Bradley Smith 1.46.623 (77 laps)
"This is a circuit that we had problems with in the last year, so I came here with the objective to work hard and to find some solutions as fast as possible. At the beginning of the day it seemed that this was gonna be complicated, but we have worked meticulously and progressively the time has gotten better. In the end I have been able to ride in the 46s, but the most important is than we have been able to understand every improvement we made. I think that we have found the best way to go with the suspension and engine efficiency, we have improved a lot in the acceleration. As a reward for the day we also did good laptimes, so I'm very satisfied. It is obvious that we are still far from the record and that tomorrow it will be necessary to continue improving, but at the moment I am satisfied with the day's conclusion."

Sergio Gadea 1.47.251 (68 laps)
“To be honest I am quite satisfied, because I've been faster than I expected. I have been close to Julito's time all day, but in the evening he has marked the difference. I like this test, because there are a lot of riders out who have a chance to be in front this season and it is good to see how we are doing and how they are doing. The mechanics are working very well, the performance of the bike is optimal, perhaps the only lack is me finding the right feeling. But I am really motivated, because I feel that little by little we are going faster. That means that we are progressing and that we can go to Jerez with a good rhythm. In this first session we didn't test anything specific, but rather some small variations and mainly we have tried to do as many laps as possible to get a good feel for the bike."

Estoril Test, Day 1 - Quotes 250cc

Mike Di Meglio 1.42.011 (58 laps)
"I was able to get a good a good laptime very quickly, 42,5. We then started to test a lot of things, but we didn't find any improvements and little by little I became slower. So I sat down with the mechanics and we came to the conclusion that we were going in the wrong direction. I decided go out again in the evening to do some final test laps with a new configuration and in the first lap I already did 42.0. I felt really good on the bike and we still had some time to make an adjustment that improved the stability of the bike. I am very satisfied with the laptime of today, because this is a circuit that I don't like so much and I believe that we are progressing considerably. Our work been has focused on the frame and I think that at the end of the day we found a pretty good setting that we can finalize tomorrow."

Alvaro Bautista 1.42.056 (65 laps):
"I believe that since the operation I had enough time to recover, although you can't train the position on the motorcycle at home or the tension of the brakings. The goal of this test was to return to ride the bike and to get a good rhythm with the Aprilia. Today we tried several solutions for the electronics of both bikes and it seems that we have found what we've been looking for. It had my doubts, but as the session went on, I have been better every time I was out although slowly but surely my collarbone got very tired. Our aim is to be one hundred percent fit for the first race and this test is simply to take small steps. I am not completely fit as I would like, but it is necessary to have patience and not to want to do more than is possible. In any case, we still have tomorrow to continue getting some confidence and also there is the Jerez test coming up where we have good references from this winter."

Estoril Test, Day 1 - Results 125cc

Pos. Rider Bike Time

1 Julian Simon Aprilia 1'45.864
2 Sandro Cortese Derbi 1'46.341
3 Bradley Smith Aprilia 1'46.624
4 Pol Espargaro Derbi 1'47.251
5 Sergio Gadea Aprilia 1'47.252
6 Stefan Bradl Aprilia 1'47.651
7 Joan Olive Derbi 1'47.697
8 Danny Webb Aprilia 1'48.379
9 Lorenzo Savadori Aprilia 1'48.560
10 Scott Redding Aprilia 1'48.884
11 Esteve Rabat Aprilia 1'48.918
12 Dominique Aegerter Derbi 1'49.089
13 Randy Krummenacher Aprilia 1'50.774
14 Efren Vasquez Derbi 1'55.896

Estoril Test, Day 1 - Results 250cc

The first day of testing in Estoril held different impressions for Team Aspar's 250cc riders. While Rookies Mike Di Meglio and Gabor Talmacsi continued to make good progress in the new class, title candidate Álvaro Bautista seemed to struggle with the repercussions of his recent collarbone fracture.
We hope that he can nontheless improve tomorrow and be fit and ready for the next two tests.

Rider / Bike / Laptime
1. Marco Simoncelli (Gilera), 1.41,282
2. Hector Barbera (Aprilia), + 0,017
3. Mike Di Meglio (Aprilia), + 0,730
4. Alex Debon (Aprilia), + 1,387
5. Gabor Talmacsi (Aprilia), + 1,522
6. Roberto Locatelli (Gilera), + 1,526
7. Lucas Pesek (Aprilia), + 1,669
8. Thomas Lüthi (Aprilia), + 1,697
9. Karel Abraham (Aprilia), + 2,084
10. Álvaro Bautista (Aprilia), + 2,405

Entry list - Estoril test

The last unofficial test before the IRTA test in Jerez will see most of the 125cc and 250cc contenders together for the first time this year. Along with all Aspar riders most of the big names of the small classes will be present at the Estoril circuit this weekend. However, the majority of the teams will only test for two of the three days.

125cc

Team Aspar
Julian Simon
Bradley Smith
Sergio Gadea
Viessmann Kiefer Racing
Stefan Bradl
Pons WRB Jack&Jones
Simone Corsi
Nico Terol
Bainet Derbi
Pol Espargaro
Joan Olive
Ajo Interwetten
Sandro Cortese
Dominique Aegerter
Molenaar Racing
Danny Webb
Randy Krummenacher
Haojue Racing
Matthew Hoyle
Michael Ranseder
WWC
Lorenzo Zanetti
Andrea Iannone
Takaaki Nakagami
Jonas Folger

250cc

Team Aspar
Alvaro Bautista
Mike Di Meglio
Gabor Talmacsi
Emmi Caffe Latte / Auto Kelly
Tom Lüthi
Lukas Pesek
Scot Honda
Hiroshi Aoyama
Raffaele de Rosa
Aprilia Madrid
Stevie Bonsey
Metis Gilera
Roberto Locatelli
Marco Simoncelli
Pepe World Pons WRB
Hector Barbera
Axel Pons
Thai Honda
Ratthapark Wilairot
Hector Faubel
Viessmann Kiefer Racing
Vladimir Leonov

Team Aspar back on track in Estoril

Team Aspar will be testing again this weekend in Estoril. The unofficial test at the Portuguese circuit will take place from Sunday, March 15th, to Tuesday, March 17th.
However, the Aspar riders will only test on Sunday and Monday with the first official IRTA test in Jerez following just a week later from March 25th until March 27th.

Bad news for Talmacsi

The Budapest Times report that Aspar rider and former 125cc world champion Gábor Talmácsi has lost all but one of his sponsors, forcing the team to restructure the budget for the current year. "We are mostly trying to save money on travel costs", Talmácsi’s manager Stefano Favaro told Inforádio last Thursday, adding that smaller companies were revoking their earlier promises one after another because of the global financial crisis. Favaro said that the only remaining sponsor for the motorcyclist is Hungarian oil corporation MOL, but Talmácsi’s team is in negotiations, so his circle of supporters could grow before the season starts in Qatar on 12 April.

We hope for the best for Talma and wish him successful negotiations with his sponsors, so we'll see him again at the start of the season.

Gabor Talmacsi in Valencia

Although the Aspar Team was not officially at the second two-day test in Valencia this week, Gabor Talmacsi was present nontheless to help out Rookie Johann Zarco who will start his first full 125cc season with the WTR San Marino Team on Aprilia.
Balatonring Aspar rider Talmacsi said that he was there to support Frenchman Zarco who's very quick and that whenever he needs advice with the set-up, Gabor helps him out and can use his good contacts with the Aprilia engineers.

Asked by journalists, Gabor also said that one has to maintain optimistic about the Hungarian GP this year. There have been rumours lately that the race in Hungary could be cancelled, because the track will not be ready in time. The former world champion admitted that there's a very tight schedule to build the Balatonring circuit, but at the same time noted that the F1 track in Valencia was built in only three months. Reminded by the interviewer that this circuit had already part of the infrastructure built beforehand, Talmacsi answered that this is right, but "my fans and I need this Hungarian GP!".
We hope for Gabor and the Hungarian fans as well as MotoGP fans worldwide that the new circuit can be finished in time and that we can see a new country added to the MotoGP calendar this year.

Team Aspar in Spanish Supermoto Championship

Team Aspar is also a well-known brand outside MotoGP and therefore there will be an Aspar School of Supermoto taking place this year. It is an opportunity for riders under 18 to get more experience and compete with other riders in a professional surrounding. They will have eight races total which are part of the race weekends of the Spanish Championship and get an Aprilia SX 125cc plus equipment and support. The first signed riders are Rubén Retuerta, Jordi Poveda and Francisco Cortijo.

More information: www.supermotos1.es

Successful surgery for Alvaro Bautista

Today Mapfre Aspar rider Alvaro Bautista left the hospital in Madrid and is now back at home to rest for a week. The surgery on his right collarbone went very well and Alvaro already has full mobility of the arm again, only with some pain caused by swelling of the scar. He has now a special titanium plate with ten nails in his body which stabilizes the multiple fractured parts of his right collarbone.
Alvaro won't be able to do anything this week except carefully moving his right arm from time to time to prevent the muscles becoming atrophic. But from next Monday on Alvaro will already start with physiotherapy and after two more check-ups at the hospital he will pick up normal training again in about ten days.

Alvaro Bautista: "I am very content, because everything went fantastic. I can already move the arm easily, it only hurts a little because the scar is still swolen and I feel that. Practically I now have to continue with my normal life, stretching the arm a little to recover complete mobility and to avoid that the musculature becomes atrophied. After the surgery I felt a little pain, but they gave me a few tranquilizers and I slept perfectly all night. Thanks to the excellent work of doctor Villamor I will be training again in about one week."

Alvaro Bautista in hospital after surgery

Following his crash at the last day of testing in Valencia which resulted in a fractured right collarbone, Alvaro Bautista had surgery at the USP hospital San José de Madrid today and will stay there overnight. If everything goes as planned, he'll be able to leave the hospital tomorrow morning and with check-ups and rehabilitation he should be able to get back to training within the next few weeks.
The surgery became necessary as the fracture seemed to be more complex than initially assumed and this way he will also have full mobility of the arm immediately.


Doctor Ángel Villamor: "During the surgery for which it was necessary to do a local anesthesia, the comminuted complex fracture has been fixed, stabilized and equipped with an anatomical special titanium plate. In the center of the fracture we inserted rich plasma to support the growth, produced with blood of the patient - with the goal to accelerate the process of bone healing and practically reducing it to half of the time it would require with the conventional procedure."

Valencia Test - Quotes 250cc

Alvaro Bautista 1.38.170 (40 laps)
"Despite the weather conditions I was enjoying this test a lot. We came from Jerez very motivated, because things went very well when we left there. The truth is that I absolutely did not expect to crash, because I was riding very confident, but with the track so cold everything is possible. It happened when it began to rain, we also just put a new back tire on and I think that it was still cold. It is a pity, because it has stopped our excellent work so far. In any case, it is necessary to hope that the consequences are not too bad and that I can recover soon, so that I arrive at Estoril at 100%."

Mike Di Meglio 1.38.342 (30 laps)
"This test has been very positive, because in the few laps at the beginning I've always bee as fast as I've been during the last test at Valencia. Considering the condition of the track this is a very good thing. Little by little I felt better on the bike and most important is that I get used to the proper way of riding a 250. I hope that at the next test in Portugal we have more luck, because in Valencia was very cold and it was far from easy to ride fast. I am a little disappointed about the crash of Alvaro right at the moment when it began to rain, I wish him a quick recovery. Personally when I saw raindrops I preferred to stop riding, because I am in the process of getting more confidence with the bike and a serious crash would only put us a step behind."

Valencia Test - Alvaro Bautista breaks collarbone

Bad weather conditions made it difficult again for the 125cc and 250cc riders in Valencia to test properly. Several riders decided to go out without a transponder.
Of the 250cc riders Alvaro Bautista was fastest for much of the day until Gabor Talmacsi went 0.081 seconds faster shortly before it started to rain again. In worsening conditions Bautista went fast and tried to top Talmacsi's laptime, but highsided in the second corner and unfortunately broke his right collarbone. We sincerly hope that Alvaro will be able to recover from this injury as fast as possible and will be fit again until the first race in Qatar on April 12th. Buena suerte, Alvaro!

Laptimes Valencia Test, Day 2:

250 ccm
1. Gabór Talmacsi (H), Aprilia, 1:38,089
2. Alvaro Bautista (E), Aprilia, 1:38,171
3. Mike di Meglio (F), Aprilia, 1:38,374
4. Alex Baldolini (I), Aprilia, 1:39,247
5. Héctor Faubel (E), Honda, 1:39,452
6. Ratthapark Wilairot (THA), 1:39,726
7. Raffaele De Rosa (I), Honda, 1:40,315

125 ccm
1. Julian Simon (E), Aprilia, 1:41, 839
2. Sergio Gadea (E), Aprilia, 1:41,968
3. Bradley Smith (GB), 1:42,258
4. Scott Redding (GB), 1:42,290
5. Marc Marquez (E), KTM, 1:42,409
6. Cameron Beaubier (USA), KTM, 1:43,580
7. Esteve Rabat (E), Aprilia 1:44,593
8. Johan Zarco (F), Aprilia, 1:45,844

Valencia Test, Day 1

With rain, strong winds and cold temperatures, the first day of testing at the Valencian Circuit had far from perfect conditions and therefore many riders decided not to go out on track. Only 11 regular riders from the 125cc and 250cc class left their warm boxes with a transponder on their bike and joined the 14 riders from the Italian and Spanish national championships. Some riders like Stefan Bradl, Dominique Aegerter and Bastien Chesaux went out on track, but without a transponder.
With only four 250cc riders testing with a transponder Mapfre Aspar rider Alvaro Bautista posted once again the fastest laptimes of the day, over 1,3 seconds ahead of second placed Hector Faubel on the Thai Honda. But with the bad weather condidtions Bautista's 1:48.269 was still a good 15 seconds slower than the record lap from last year's race.

Fastest regular 125cc contestant was again Bancaja Aspar rider Julian Simon, but ahead of him CEV rider Alberto Moncayo put in a few fast laps at the end and with a 1:52.064 he finished as the fastest overall 125cc rider of the day.

Results Live Timing:

250cc
1. Alvaro Bautista 1:48.269
2. Hector Faubel 1:49.624
3. Gabor Talmacsi 1:49.788
4. Alex Baldolini 1:50.981

125cc
1. Julian Simon 1:53.081
2. Tito Rabat 1:53.695
3. Scott Redding 1:54.217
4. Johan Zarco 1:57.105
5. Marc Marquez 2:01.195
6. Cameron Beaubier 2:01.841
7. Sergio Gadea 2:05.808

Screenshot Live Timing Result

Team Aspar at FITUR

As reported earlier, several members of Team Aspar visited the FITUR tourism fair in Madrid yesterday. Jorge Martinez, Sergio Gadea, Bradley Smith and Alvaro Bautista started their visit at the stand of sponsor Comunidad Valenciana where they met a few other sport stars. Alvaro Bautistaand tennis star David Ferrer fought a match of Wii tennis while Sergio Gadea and Bradley Smith enjoyed a round of virtual golf.
Afterwards the team spent some time at the stand of rental car sponsor Sol-Mar and signed autographs for all attending fans.


Jorge Martinez: "It is always an honor for and for the equipment to be able to thank our sponsors in some way for all the support. Due to schedules and travels it is often difficult for us to go to many events, so to be here today was a great idea."

Alvaro Bautista: “What better way to thank our sponsors for all the support than passing some of our free time with them. I believe that it is worth the trouble from time to time to make place for this type of events. And additionally I had a lot of playing with the Wii.”

Sergio Gadea: “It has been a very peculiar visit, I didn't expect to see so many people at such an event. This week is a little busy, because we come from the test in Jerez and this weekend we will be riding in Cheste, but it is always a pleasure to be able to share this type of event with our sponsors. I had fun playing the computer games and hope I'll be able to repeat the experience soon.”

Bradley Smith: “It has been very interesting to go to an event of this magnitude. It is totally new for me to attend something that big. Due to our work we travel much and we see a lot of things, but to see so many events at a fair like this one is really amazing. It is interesting to see how the world of tourism attracts a great market.”

Valencia Test - Entry List

With the preseason test in Jerez barely over and several members of Team Aspar being at the IFEMA Tourism Fair in Madrid yesterday, they have only little time to relax before the next test in Valencia this weekend.
The entry list confirms all Team Aspar riders to take part in the test plus several other riders who were also in Jerez or will test in Valencia for the first time this year. So far the following teams and riders are confirmed.

Team Aspar
Alvaro Bautista
Mike Di Meglio
Gabor Talmacsi
Julian Simon
Bradley Smith
Sergio Gadea
Adrian Martin (CEV)

Thai Honda
Ratthapark Wilairot
Hector Faubel

WTR
Alex Baldolini
Johann Zarco

Racing Team Germany
Bastien Chesaux

Scot Racing Honda
Hiroshi Aoyama
Raffaele De Rosa

Blusens Aprilia
Scott Redding
Tito Rabat
Maverick Viñales (CEV)
Johnny Rosell (CEV)
Manuel Oliveira (CEV)

Red Bull KTM
Marc Marquez
Cameron Beaubier

More riders are expected to be confirmed until the start of the test.