The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team spent an extra day in Jerez today, after yesterday’s Gran Premio de España, to take part in a one-day Official IRTA Test. Maverick Viñales was the 4th fastest rider, whilst Valentino Rossi wrapped up the testing session in 10th position.
After a difficult race weekend, the teammates returned to the track after 11AM to evaluate various settings and testing items.
Viñales briefly topped the rankings with his fastest time of the day – a 1’38.139s, set on lap 19 – before he took the opportunity to assess various settings. He ended a full day of testing in fourth place, 0.409s from the top of the timesheets, and completed 64 laps in total. He looks forward to putting the new data to use at the next Grand Prix of France, held in two weeks’ time.
Teammate Rossi was also motivated to get back to work at the Jerez track, where he completed his 40,075th km of Grand Prix racing (the equivalent of a lap around the world) on lap 15 during yesterday’s race. He put his vast experience to good use today when he compared solutions for his YZR-M1 and tried some new Michelin tyres. He rode 69 laps and took tenth place in the timesheets with a best lap time of 1’38.673s, 0.943s from the fastest rider.
Maverick Viñales
Position: 4th – Time: 1’38.139 – Laps: 64
“Monday tests are always positive for us, but we need to be strong on Sundays. We have to see in the next few days if we can improve further. Today I enjoyed riding the bike again, but we still have work to do. I finally found a good rhythm, it was nothing special, but a good consistent rhythm all the same. I think the track was much better today, more grippy, especially in the morning. At the next test in Mugello we’ll try to get more answers.”
Valentino Rossi
Position: 10th – Time: 1’38.673 – Laps: 69
“We had a lot of things to do and it was a good test. We tried some different solutions, some were better, some less so, but it was important and we improved a bit. For me, at the next test we’ll have something more important to try. The new Michelin tyres are very good, they improved a lot, they gave a lot more grip and you can go faster, so they gave a good feeling.”
Massimo Meregalli
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – Team Director
“Our main objective for us today was to find a solution to the problems we faced during the weekend. Unfortunately the weather conditions weren’t quite as hot and sunny as they were yesterday, but we were still able to successfully compare set-ups by doing back-to-back runs. We also tried some new testing items and it was positive that we noticed a benefit. Now we’ll leave the last few days behind us. The new data has lifted the team’s mood, and from here we’ll fully focus on the future as we prepare for the next Grand Prix in Le Mans.”
Zarco Tops the Testing Time Sheets in Jerez – Syahrin Sits Out
Just one day after his fantastic second place finish at the Spanish Grand Prix, Johann Zarco was back on track today to go through some different settings aboard his Yamaha YZR-M1. Following some intense working hours and 63 laps at the Jerez Circuit, the French star concluded the official test superbly in first position and was even 0.226 seconds faster than during Qualifying last Saturday.
Meanwhile, Hafizh Syahrin decided, together with his experienced Monster Yamaha Tech3 crew, to skip the test in order to fully recover after struggling the entire weekend with pain from a bicycle accident. However, the Malaysian rookie used his time perfectly to gain more MotoGP experience.
Johann Zarco
Position: 1st – Time: 1’37.730 – Laps: 63
“The test today was good for me and I’m pretty happy that I was that fast. All the weekend in Jerez I was feeling good, so the target was to keep trying things with the setup and keep enjoying riding the bike. I think I understood many things during the race. Anyway, the target was to find more grip and use the bike well and at the moment it’s going quite good. I didn’t try any new parts, because I wanted to keep my work simple, so we were just working and trying things personally to improve ourselves. I did the 1’37.7 in the afternoon, which means the new tyre from Michelin was working well. You never have the same mind like in Qualifying, so I’m very happy, because I’m faster than Saturday.”
Hafizh Syahrin
Did Not Test
“Although I feel better today, we decided to skip the test in order to give my body some rest. Anyway, I used this day quite good, I went out on track to watch, I tried to learn a bit more about the electronic on the computer with my crew chief, we went through this weekend again, because I tried to understand everything to be able to make a really big step in Le Mans. The French Grand Prix is very important, it’s the home race for my team and I want to deliver a great weekend there.”
