Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Moto2 riders, Álex Márquez and Joan Mir, both declared themselves happy with the progress made after two days of testing at the Jerez circuit in southern Spain.

Márquez, who will contest his fourth season in the intermediate class next year, spent the two-day test working on the development of the 2018 Moto machine together with chassis manufacturer Kalex and suspension supplier Öhlins. 

The 21-year-old Spaniard ran two bikes during the test to maximise testing time and completed more than 140 laps over the course of the two days, as he worked primarily to improve traction and drive through and out of the turns.

Despite a heavy test program, Márquez finished third on the timesheet with a best lap of 1'41.719.

While Márquez concentrated on development his Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS teammate, Joan Mir, was testing a Moto2 machine for the first time in Jerez. The reigning Moto3 World Champion quickly established a rapport with his new crew and thoroughly enjoyed his first two days aboard the Kalex Moto2 machine.

Mir improved both his feeling with the bike and his lap time with every exit, as he worked together with his crew to find a good base set up with which to start next week's two-day test in Valencia. A best lap of 1'42.741 saw Mir finish 16th on the timesheet and just 1.223s off the fastest time of Miguel Oliveira. 

Álex Márquez: 3rd – 1'41.719
“I'm happy with these two days and the test was really positive. We've done a lot of testing for Kalex and for Öhlins, working our way through a pretty intensive test program, and many of the things we've tried brought improvements. We focused mainly on improving traction here, with positive results, but there is still more work to be done in this area. But now we have a clear development direction and I think we will see continue to see improvements next week in Valencia and again during the preseason tests in February. Overall a very positive test, during which we amassed the data that both Kalex and Öhlins need to continue development over the winter break.”

Joan Mir: 16th – 1'42.725
“I enjoyed riding the Moto2 bike a lot during these two days. I'm also happy to be working with my new crew; we created a great atmosphere in only two days and this is very important. With the bike we just tried a few things with the chassis and suspension to see which is going to be my way to go fast on the Moto2 and the direction we need to take is pretty clear. I improved my lap time every time I went on track and I hope to continue like this next week in Valencia.”

Pete Benson: Joan Mir Chief Engineer
“Joan's approach to this test, his first on a Moto2 bike, has been really positive. He knows that adapting to this bike is going to take time and that it needs to be done step-by-step, but he's already made some of those steps here. We tried a few things on the bike; some he liked and we saw an improvement in his lap time while some he didn't like and this was backed up by the data, so his feedback has been good. Given that this was his first time on the bike he was very fast through the first three sectors but lost a little time in the final split, but this will come with more time on the bike. Overall a very positive first test and we're looking forward to making more steps next week in Valencia.”