Veijer, Holgado, Alonso even matched on Moto2 debut

The top three in this year’s Moto3 World Championship were separated by less than a tenth of a season at the end of their Moto2 debuts in a private Jerez test.

But the trio were ranked in reverse Moto3 title order.

New Red Bull KTM Ajo rider Collin Veijer was fifth overall on the timesheets, but a fraction ahead of Dani Holgado. New Aspar rider Holgado was in turn 0.022s clear of new team-mate and record-breaking Moto3 champion David Alonso.

All three Kalex riders were 0.9s behind the best lap by Veijer’s team-mate Deniz Oncu.

"I think we had a productive two days,” said Veijer. “We improved a lot on many things. [The first] morning was a bit difficult, because it is a new bike, so we need to get used to it, but during the day we made a lot of progress.

“I'm very happy with the team and with the people I'm working with. We did a great job and we started to create a good base for next year."

Holgado, a distant second to Alonso in Moto3 this season, completed 149 laps.

“We have made a great job,” said the Spaniard. “I have had a very good feeling in my debut in Moto2, I have gradually gained confidence with the bike. I am very happy with all the work we have done, and I am going home wanting for more.

“This bike is very fun, but I will have to wait a couple of months to try it again. I am sure they will go by quickly because we are going to start preparing right away. I want to thank the team for how they have welcomed me and how hard they have worked; I hope they can rest this winter.”

Alonso, who broke Valentino Rossi’s record with 14 wins this year, plans to work on his strength for the bigger 765cc Triumph-powered machine.

“It has been a very positive test, we are going into the winter break happy because we now know what Moto2 is,” Alonso said after 145 laps. “We have seen that it is not an easy category, we will have to work and be consistent. We have also detected that I must work on my strength during this winter.

“I was happy to be faster on my first day with the Moto2 than I had been with the Moto3. With this bike you have fun, you must look for things that you didn’t look for on the Moto3 and that makes riding more fun.”

Meanwhile, Oncu, 20th with one podium in his rookie Moto2 campaign, wrapped up this year’s Moto2 activities on a high.

"It was a very positive test, we did a lot of work today and we tried a lot of different things. We have a good base for next year and we were really fast as well,” said the Turkish rider.

“It will be a long winter break and entering it feeling good is really nice. We are happy with these results, so thanks to the team for all of their energy this year."

World Supersport champion Adrian Huertas was second fastest (+0.3s) of the riders testing, with new Pramac riders Izan Guevara and Tony Arbolino third and fourth on the Boscoscuro chassis.