Nothing left but the racing, now. Qatar hosted a three-day MotoGP test … the last before the season opens at the same venue in two weeks. Just as he has in prior tests, Yamaha’s Maverick Viñales posted the fastest lap time. Andrea Dovizioso was second quickest, followed by Honda’s Dani Pedrosa.
Jorge Lorenzo has appeared to begin to find a rhythm on his new Ducati, and he left the test with the fourth quickest time. Defending champ Marc Marquez (Honda), on the other hand, crashed several times over the course of the three day test, and was credited with the 11th quickest lap. Several riders were very competitive, however, with less than a second separating the first 13 positions on the time sheet. Here are the combined results for the test.
QATAR TEST – Combined classification after Day 3:
1. Maverick VIÑALES, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – 1:54.330 in session 3
2. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Ducati Team – 1:54.401 +0.071 in session 3
3. Dani PEDROSA, Repsol Honda Team – 1:54.469 +0.139 in session 3
4. Jorge LORENZO, Ducati Team – 1:54.519 +0.189 in session 3
5. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Pull&Bear Aspar Team – 1:54.714 +0.384 in session 3
6. Valentino ROSSI, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – 1:54.732 +0.402 in session 2
7. Scott REDDING, Octo Pramac Racing – 1:54.750 +0.420 in session 3
8. Jonas FOLGER, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – 1:54.807 +0.477 in session 3
9. Cal CRUTCHLOW, LCR Honda – 1:54.821 +0.491 in session 3
10. Johann ZARCO, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – 1:54.900 +0.570 in session 3
11. Marc MARQUEZ, Repsol Honda Team – 1:54.990 +0.660 in session 3
12. Aleix ESPARGARO, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – 1:55.121 +0.791 in session 2
13. Andrea IANNONE, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – 1:55.284 +0.954 in session 3
14. Karel ABRAHAM, Pull&Bear Aspar Team – 1:55.333 +1.003 in session 3
15. Alex RINS, Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – 1:55.362 +1.032 in session 3
16. Jack MILLER, Marc VDS Racing Team – 1:55.455 +1.125 in session 3
17. Loris BAZ, Reale Avintia Racing – 1:55.539 +1.209 in session 3
18. Danilo PETRUCCI, Octo Pramac Racing – 1:55.556 +1.226 in session 3
19. Sam LOWES, Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – 1:56.167 +1.837 in session 3
20. Tito RABAT, EG 0,0 Marc VDS – 1:56.214 +1.884 in session 2
21. Bradley SMITH, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – 1:56.351 +2.021 in session 3
22. Pol ESPARGARO, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – 1:56.471 +2.141 in session 3
23. Mika KALLIO, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – 1:56.891 +2.561 in session 3
See more of MD’s great photography:
re: “Qatar MotoGP Test Ends With Viñales on Top”
aero free and “error” free.
Nice to see Dani show Marquez, fuming because he couldn’t follow Lorenzo around the track, his rear wheel. Jonas Folger’s finish is impressive, I’ll bet it burns Cal Crutchlow up to see a rookie on his old bike beat him.
Nice to see new blood at the top or the time sheet. Please consider including the bike make for all the teams, if possible. I’d hate to see MotoGP go the same way as Formula 1, with team sponsors getting the only limelight and no mind paid to who builds the machine. For example, “Octo Pramac Racing.” A fine sponsor, I’m sure … but who built the bike?
Well once again Vinales has demonstrated he is the real deal. Can’t wait for the 26 th to see if he can do it for real.
Nice to see Dani finish well in the last 2 tests. Unfortunately he is competing against some fast and talented competition. It would be asking a lot to expect many if any GP wins this year.
The new Ducati fairing that was introduced at Qatar was indeed not a thing of beauty, but Dovi said it works.
Anyhow just waiting impatiently for the big show to come back to town.
I think we can bet on Dani being near the top of the order. Testing isn’t racing and while these results look like a more level playing field, I expect we’ll see Honda and Yamaha up front, like normal, even if they have to work a little harder for it.
re: “The new Ducati fairing that was introduced at Qatar was indeed not a thing of beauty, but Dovi said it works”
see entry for “hammerhead” as named by Norm BEFORE it actually debuted and was given a name. not too shabby.