Moto2 pre-season favourite Pol Espargaro retained the top spot during the second official winter test, at
Jerez this week.
Bad weather marred days one and three, with Wednesday offering the only chance for dry action.
Espargaro worked on wet set-up for his Pons Kalex on day one, claiming the fourth fastest time, then set the best lap of the test on day two - 0.299s clear of Takaaki Nakagami (Kalex).
Espargaro, like team-mates Tito Rabat and Axel Pons, then sat out the cold and wet final day.
Despite the reduced track time, Espargaro - whose best lap of 1m 42.332s was 0.4s under the official pole record - left
Jerez a happy man.
"I am very happy with this second test of 2013, which continued the positive start made at Valencia and we can look ahead to the new season with optimism,” said Espargaro, runner-up to Marc Marquez in Moto2 last year.
“At
Jerez I have improved a lot in the wet, we found the best set-up by the end of the first day and I hope this configuration will serve us well at any wet tracks this year.
“I am slowly picking up the pace and I'm pleased to see that lap times have dropped rapidly since last year. Now I will continue my physical training ahead of the third and final test before Qatar.”
Fellow Spaniard Nico Terol (Aspar) was fastest on the two wet days at Jerez.
The final Moto2 pre-season test, and first this year to feature the official race engines, will be held back at
Jerez from March 18-21.