ANTONIO BANDERSAS RACING TEAM:

After official confirmation of two starting slots in the new and innovative Moto2 World Championship during the Grand Prix of the Valencian Community, the Antonio Banderas Racing Team made its first on track appearance by taking part in the three-day combined Moto2 and MotoGP training sessions at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in preparation for the 2010 season.

The team tested with the both its official riders: Spaniard Joan Olivé, who has some outstanding Grand Prix results to his credit and is an experienced campaigner at World Championship level and American Kenny Noyes, currently a top 1000cc Formula Extreme rider in the Spanish National Championship, winner of the most recent round of the series and undoubtedly a contender to watch due to his experience with four stroke machines.

Both riders had their first outings on the Promo Harris with times of:

First day: Kenny Noyes 1:38.6 and Joan Olivé 1:41.9

Second day: Kenny Noyes 1:37.7 and Joan Olivé 1:39.3

Third day: Kenny Noyes 1:38.3 and Joan Olivé 1:39.1

The fastest Moto2 rider over the three days of testing was Toni Elías. The young Catalan rider registered a best time on the official timing transponder of 1:37.2 and will certainly be one of the top competitors in the new championship.

Joan Olivé: “I am very pleased to have had such an early opportunity to begin testing for the 2010 season. I am confident of my possibilities with my new team. For the moment I need to be cautious during this adaptation period. The bike seemed very good and I think this is going to be a hotly-contested category. In the next two weekends I will take part in the final two races of the Spanish Championship in the Moto2 class and that should take us into the winter break with a good base before we start our pre-season testing program.”

Kenny Noyes: “I was happily surprised by the precision of this new chassis and I think we are going to go very fast on these new bikes. I am very grateful for the opportunity that the team has given me and I spent these three days getting to understand the tires and carefully adapting my style because, unlike the bikes I have ridden until now, this bike is built to produce very high mid-corner speeds.”

At Valencia the team was fitted out for the first time in the livery of 2010 principal sponsor JACK & JONES, the clothing brand that was already present in the Grand Prix Championship this year and which has decided to support the Antonio Banderas Racing Team with the clear objective of being a front-runner in this inaugural year of Moto2.

Dani Devahive (Team Director): “I am very happy with the three days of testing. Joan’s adaptation to the new bike has been surprisingly quick and he has shown his high potential. With regards to Kenny, I knew he was very fast and I think the combination of these two riders, combining their experience from very different racing backgrounds, will be the key to our success next year.”

The team will continue the evolution of the bike this weekend in the Spanish Nationals at Jerez, giving Joan Olivé the opportunity to continue his adaptation to this new machine.