Pedro Acosta up to speed in private Jerez Moto2 test

Rookie Moto3 world champion Pedro Acosta looks to have taken very little time to adapt to the much bigger 765cc Moto2 machine.

The young Spaniard finished a private Jerez test on top of the day two timesheets and a very close second overall, to Ai Ogura, on combined times.

Remaining with the same Red Bull KTM Ajo team with which he won last year's Moto3 title, Acosta was taking part in only his second test on the Triumph-powered Kalex.

Completing 149 laps over the two days at Jerez, Acosta was 0.207s behind Ogura's test best of 1m 41.351s set on the opening day.

While the Japanese was among those to lap slower on day two, Acosta upped his pace further with a 1m 41.354s to lead the timesheets by 0.122s over Ogura and finish just 0.003s adrift of the Honda Team Asia (Kalex) rider overall.

Almost 40 Moto2 and Moto3 riders attended the private test. The official Jerez Moto2 race lap record is a 1m 41.313s set by Sam Lowes last season, although cooler winter temperatures mean testing times are often faster.

"It's been a good day and, in general, a great test," Acosta said. "We made lots of laps because it was important to understand in what I was improving or not.

"The change to the Moto2 bike has been very positive, I had lots of fun and I can feel the change in the tyre, bike size and, more importantly, the speed.

"This year we are not setting any objective, so in Portimao we will continue with our philosophy of having fun each time we go out on track."

Team-mate Augusto Fernandez completed 120 laps despite discomfort from recent surgery for a fracture to his left thumb. Fernandez was sixth on combined times with a best lap 0.657s from Ogura.

"I am happy because I could do more than I expected before arriving here," said Fernandez, joining Ajo after two years with Marc VDS. "Nevertheless, with more hours passing, I felt uncomfortable in my finger.

"Anyway, I'm satisfied because we did a good job, although I would have liked to try out a few more things. We were calm in this first test because I wasn't 100% physically and we made important steps.

"I hope I can be better in Portimao and keep working to arrive in the best condition at Qatar."

Team manager Aki Ajo, who oversaw last year's Moto2 one-two for Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez, added:

"Riding again in this test after a long winter break has been positive. It's been a good start, we're still waiting to see how everything will go, but despite the injuries, such as Augusto's case, we completed a good job.

"Pedro is very focused and that will help him gain confidence for this season. Both riders have completed many laps and have accumulated important kilometres, so this will be positive before arriving at the official test in Portimao."

Acosta and Fernandez will face the full line-up of their 2022 rivals when official Moto2 (and Moto3) testing begins at Portimao on Saturday.