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.

Jerez Test, Day 3 - Pictures

Team Aspar at IFEMA Fair in Madrid

Several riders of Team Aspar and Jorge Martinez will be present at the IFEMA Tourism Fair in Madrid today where they visit the stands of their sponsors Diputacion Valencia, Comunidad Valencia and Sol-Mar. Aspar, Sergio Gadea, Bradley Smith and Alvaro Bautista will start at the Diputacion Valencia stand on 10am and conclude their visit about 12pm on the Sol-Mar stand. On all stands they'll be signing autographs for everyone attending.

Jerez Test, Day 3 - Quotes 125cc

Julian Simón 1'47.125 (66 laps)
"Today we played a lot with the carburettor and have adjusted the bike to the maximum so that at the end of the day we were able to be very fast. I wasn't limited, but all day I lacked a little power. Later we tested some tires and with the last solution of the engine I think that I did a pretty good laptime. As a consequence of the many laps I did, I eventually got to the point where I was able to get the best out of the bike. I think that I would've been able to rider faster, because in my fastest lap I made some mistakes. But I am very satisfied with the result and I have to thank the mechanics and Aprilia for the fantastic work they have done."

Bradley Smith 1'47.807 (67)
"I am very content, because we have been over a second faster than yesterday. From the first day to the second we were a bit stuck and that cost us time to progress, but in the last two days we made a big step that makes me satisfied enough. We were able to ride consistently with all types of tires which shows that we are on a good way. I tested several settings for the suspension and with all of them we understood the performance of the bike. It seems that we have found a good way of work for the future. It is clear that our work isn't finish here and we have to continue improving, but the conclusion of these three days is very positive. I am very happy being able to return to racing and I hope that the time in Valencia will help us to continue with our work."

Sergio Gadea 1'48.929 (58)
"I finished the day more satisfied regarding the laptimes, but I'm not totally satisfied, because we still need to get on a little higher level. I think that we improved every day and the evolution has been remarkable. I was able to ride fast although I hope that in Valencia we can continue with this progression. We didn't make any great changes and focused more on riding to get a better feeling. The last session of today has been good although a mechanical failure of a connecting rod has prevented us from going a bit faster. The general feeling of the three days is satisfying, but now I only think about Valencia."

Jerez Test, Day 3 - Quotes 250cc

Álvaro Bautista 1'43.488 (53 laps)
"To be honest I didn't think that we would be so fast in these temperatures, but we have done a great job. Yesterday I was already satisfied to be within the 1'43 and today we just tested some small details to try and progress. We have discarded some things and the most important is than I feel very good on the bike, just as the previous days. I can also leave Jerez with a good feeling, because I was able to do laptimes under 1'44 all day and riding in record pace. These three days served the purpose of reunion and adaptation after two months without riding. We made full use of it and apart from that we have established some solutions for when the championship arrives, knowledge that can serve us every moment. I hope that this weekend in Valencia the good feeling will continue as it is now."

Mike Di Meglio 1'44.021 (40 laps)
I am really content, because I rode very well. I began this morning and in the sixth lap I was already as fast as yesterday. I felt very comfortable on the bike and quickly we got down to work to continue progressing. I did a 1'44.0, but soon I saw on the telemetry that it was a 1'43.9. I am very satisfied with the result and simultaneously disappointed, because in the end I thought I could go a little faster, but with the colder temperatures it wasn't possible. In any case I am convinced that with a little higher temperatures we would have continued riding fast. Now it is necessary to focus on Valencia and to build upon this good work we did."

Jerez Test, Day 3 - Laptimes

Once more the Team Aspar riders were the dominating force on the final day of the Jerez test. Both Alvaro Bautista and Julian Simon continued their strong form and finished on top in their classes, both also breaking the respective laprecord.
Testing continues for Team Aspar in Valencia later this week.

250cc

1. Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia) 1.43.488 (53 laps)
2. Mike Di Meglio (Aprilia) 1.44.021 (40)
3. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda) 1.44.264 (85)
4. GaborTalmacsi (Aprilia) 1.44.266 (48)
5. Tom Luthi (Aprilia) 1.44.418 (62)
6. Ratthapark Wilairot (Honda) 1.44.524 (70)
7. Lukas Pesek (Aprilia) 1.44.705 (33)
8. Raffaele De Rosa (Honda) 1.44.736 (51)
9. Hector Faubel (Honda) 1.45.252

125cc

1. Julián Simón (Aprilia) 1.47.125 (66 laps)
2. Bradley Smith (Aprilia) 1.47.807 (67)
3. Sandro Cortese (Derbi) 1.48.687 (61)
4. Marc Márquez (KTM) 1.48.895 (61)
5. Sergio Gadea (Aprilia) 1.48.929 (58)
6. Esteve Rabat (Aprilia) 1.49.143 (60)
7. Scott Redding (Aprilia) 1.49.170 (71)
8. Cameron Beaubier (KTM) 1.50.205 (68)
9. Dominique Aegerter (Derbi) 1.50.232 (55)

Jerez Test, Day 2 - Pictures

Jerez Test, Day 2 - Quotes 125cc

Julian Simón 1.47.908 (50 laps)
"It was a pretty positive day. We have continued adjusting the settings of the bike and tested many modifications on the front. We even tested two different forks. Dunlop has given us the opportunity to prove new tires, rear and front, and the result was very good, because I have lowerd my time from yesterday by almost a second. This is still far from the record, but considering that was quite cold, I am satisfied with the laptimes. The mechanics are working really well, so we enjoy a good moment of adaptation: them to me and me to them. Our goal is to continue this way to enjoy more and more racing."

Bradley Smith 1.48.863 (58 laps)
"Today has been a little more complicated. We worked with a lot of different setups for suspension as well as for the engine. And this work goes rather slow, you must take small steps to find the right direction. As far as the frame goes we are satisfied, but we can still improve slightly. I am content with the laptimes, because we improved enough compared to the first day, but we still have that big step left that we will surely find tomorrow. We know which direction to follow to understand everything. The conditions of the track have been quite similar to those of yesterday, but I think that tomorrow the laptimes will be a little better and we will be able to continue improving."

Sergio Gadea 1.49.976 (42 laps)
“To be honest I am way more satisfied than yesterday. We are still not at the maximum, but I lowered my laptime from 1'51 to 1'49. And the main thing is that it was important to find some answers to progress from. It is necessary to continue working, but it is very positive that we are now progressing with our work. It has been a long time for me where I didn't go very fast and consequently it takes me a while to get the right feeling back. In any case my goal is to work gradually, advancing slowly but surely getting stronger and certainly the results will come. We made a rather radical change concerning the chassis almost at the end of the session which worked very well for us. I want to do as good as possible during the time in Jerez and I know that we are here to test, so at the moment I'm not too obsessed with laptimes."

Jerez Test, Day 2 - Quotes 250cc

Alvaro Bautista 1.43.673 (54 laps)
"Today we tried to continue progressing with the front suspension. We tested several things, some we dropped and some we can use. I think that we did some good work and we have several options now to be used in the future. The most important thing of the day is that we progressed in terms of the feeling on the bike, because I felt very comfortable riding the bike. The main thing now is to get a good rythm and to continue enjoying riding the bike. The second day of testing we mainly worked with the frame, more than with the engine. With the work we've done today we have a good number of setup options that we can use during the championship, depending on the circuit."

Mike Di Meglio 1.44.468 (49 laps)
"I think today things have gone far better for us. I tried to go little by little, understanding the characteristics of the bike. And so we finished very well and I have improved my laptime over two seconds compared to yesterday. I felt very comfortable on the bike and I believe that this is really important in these moments of adaptation. I hope that tomorrow the conditions will improve and that I can continue to get a better feeling. At the beginning of the session I have did some laps to get an impression of the bike and when the laptimes were getting faster, we began working on the front. We need to improve the setting of the rear suspension a little, but the conclusion of the day is very positive. A day where we worked hard and always kept our focus in spite of not having experience with 250cc."

Jerez Test, Day 2 - Laptimes

Day 2 at the test in Jerez once again saw the Aspar riders dominating the field.
Mapfre Aspar rider Alvaro Bautista went considerably faster around the track than yesterday and came close to the lap record of the 2008 race. He was also the only rider to lap under 1'44 minutes and almost 0.6 seconds faster than Hiroshi Aoyama on the Scot Honda. 250cc rookies Gabor Talmacsi and Mike Di Meglio also improved their laptimes a lot - Di Meglio going about 2 seconds faster - and clocked the third and fourth fastest laptimes.

The 125cc field was lead again by Aspar riders Julian Simon and Bradley Smith while team veteran Sergio Gadea did good progress and finished fifth fastest of the day.

The test at Jerez will conclude tomorrow.

250cc

1. Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia) 1.43.673 (54 laps)
2. H. Aoyama (Honda) 1.44.201 (54)
3. Gabor Talmacsi (Aprilia) 1.44.387 (49)
4. Mike Di Meglio (Aprilia) 1.44.468 (49)
5. Thomas Luthi (Aprilia) 1.44.733 (79)
6. Raffaele De Rosa (Honda) 1.44.792 (51)
7. Ratthapark Wilairot (Honda) 1.45.112 (46)
8. Lukas Pesek (Aprilia) 1.45.135 (51)
9. Héctor Faubel (Honda) 1.48.083 (40)

125cc

1. Julián Simón (Aprilia) 1.47.908 (50 laps)
2. Bradley Smith (Aprilia) 1.48.863 (58)
3. Sandro Cortese (Derbi) 1.49.401 (18)
4. Marc Márquez (KTM) 1.49.491 (62)
5. Sergio Gadea (Aprilia) 1.49.976 (42)
6. Scott Redding (Aprilia) 1.50.219 (56)
7. Esteve Rabat (Aprilia) 1.50.429 (60)
8. Dominique Aegerter (Derbi) 1.50.559 (56)
9. Cameron Beaubier (KTM) 1.51.477

Jerez Test, Day 1 - Quotes 125cc

Julian Simón:
"After the last test in Valencia where we had very positive feelings, we can prove again that our readjustment to 125cc goes good. The work with the team is really good and generally the motorcycle works as it should. The laptimes are still far from the circuit record. But we have to consider that the temperature of the asphalt is not the best. This morning we tested some tires that we already had a chance to test in Valencia and this proves our progress. Looking at the work ahead, the idea is to continue progressing throughout the test and we hope that tomorrow the weather conditions will improve, so that the laptimes will be faster. Personally I think that the new asphalt has a lot of grip and also eliminated all the waves of the track."

Bradley Smith:
"It was fantastic to ride a bike again. The first few laps have been incredible although after this long testing ban it felt a bit strange at the beginning. You have to readapt your body and your mind to the feeling of speed. But it was a very positive day and we have progressed step by step. The idea was to get the feeling back and lay out a work plan for the rest of the test, to assure that these days are productive. Without the waves the track seems way better and I suppose that with more and more laps the grip will increase. The wind made me cautious, mainly in the fast corners. In general the conditions of our first day have been very good."

Sergio Gadea:
"After two months I got back to action very motivated, but the laptimes weren't as good as we hoped. We have tested many things on the bike and I finished with a setup that I like much, but on the other hand we are very slow at the entry of the corners. The bike gives me a feeling of slowness and I can't take it where I like. It has been a long time without riding, but this winter I'm preparing and training more than ever, so that the physical condition doesn't limit me when it's time to improve. The tests are for working, so at the moment we focus on progressing from the start to be ready at the beginning of the championship. In general the power of the bike has been very regular and I am very satisfied."