AGT REA Racing complete pre-season testing at Jerez
March 16th, 2014
AGT REA Racing rider Gino Rea has concluded the pre-season testing at Jerez with a positive final day. After breaking his left foot at the Valencia Moto2 test 4 weeks ago, Rea was forced to sit out the first Jerez test but returned to the track for the final Jerez test last week. After riding through more pain on the first day in Jerez, Gino had his foot x-rayed to find that the metatarsal bone in his left foot was still broken, causing him aggravating pain on a circuit that has many left corners. Walking on a crutch and riding through pain, Gino and the AGT REA Racing team continued to work hard to develop the Suter bike, adapting it to Gino’s riding style and the Jerez circuit. Making significant progress on the final day, Gino finished the final session just 1.2 seconds behind the fastest rider. Having missed 3 days testing at Jerez and riding with a broken foot, Gino and the team were very happy with the progress made and now look forward to riding in the night at Round 1 of the Moto2 World Championship in Qatar.
“Jerez was a positive test for us. It was like our first proper test because we were very limited at Valencia once I broke my foot and we missed out in Jerez. Everything is still new for us, including the whole team and the bike but it’s been really positive, everyone is getting to know each other and myself and crew chief Alessandro made good progress with the bike. I can’t say I’m too happy with my foot being broken still, I was having to compensate for it in a lot of areas so now it’s rest time until Qatar. It won’t be fully recovered in time but I’m hoping it will be a bit easier on it than Jerez, with less left corners at Qatar. I’m really looking forward to getting there and getting out on track, it’s been a long winter so I can’t wait to go and represent American Green Technology and the LIVESTRONG Foundation.”
The first round of MotoGP will take place this weekend at Qatar, with free practice starting on Thursday night.
