Kent thrilled with pace in opening Moto2 test

Danny Kent’s adaptation to Moto2 didn’t take long with the newly crowned Moto3 champion ending his first test on the bike just three tenths off the pace. The test Jerez drew to a close with Kent able to show that he is quickly up to speed on the Kalex.

“This is a great start to the new chapter in Moto2,” said a smiling Kent. “Of course I had my year in Moto2 with Tech3 in the back of my mind. That was a really bad year but I’ve already gone two seconds faster around Jerez than I ever did with that bike. We were only 0.2s off Sam and he’s a Grand Prix winner so to only be that behind Sam and three tenths behind Rins is very positive. We were faster than this year’s pole time so it’s been a great start for the move to Moto2.”

The switch from a Moto3 machine is difficult. The contrasting fortunes of the last two Moto3 champions attests to how big a challenge it is to adapt to the intermediate class. Maverick Vinales won his second race and was immensely impressive as a rookie whereas Alex Marquez had a quiet year with flashes of his potential shining through on occasion.

Being able to adapt will be key for Kent but it was only in the last days that he started to think about the challenge presented in Moto2 and what he needs to improve on.

“It’s a very different bike compared to Moto3 and you need to ride it differently to get the most from it but I just got on the bike yesterday and rode it. It was the first time since Japan 2013 that I have ridden a 600cc bike and it went well. Everything that I’ve ridden since then has been focussed on Moto3 and winning the title and I’ve not really thought about Moto2 or anything else. We came here and as far as I’m concerned 2016 started this week and I feel great.”

Kent will now be able to take a well deserved break with no Moto2 testing until February.