Three days of testing at Qatar ended earlier today with Maverick Viñales (Yamaha) consistently strong and ending with the quickest lap time. Rookie Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) surprised with the second quickest time, as well as consistent speed shown over the three-day test. Alex Rins (Suzuki), Marc Marquez (Honda) and Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) rounded out the top five quickest lap times.
In his first test this year, after undergoing wrist surgery, Jorge Lorenzo slowly made progress over the three days, and ended with the sixth quickest lap time aboard his new Repsol Honda. For a list of all of the quickest times during the test, follow this link. The first race of the 2019 series will be held at the same Qatar track in two weeks.
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Don’t be shocked if Yamaha again get dusted by a faster motorcycle most of the time ! After all so far it has just been preseason testing and as such it is nearly impossible to read much accurate info from it.
Good eye Hot Dog, that’s pretty interesting. Kind of reminds me of the last-gen Demo 8 downhill bike from Specialized with two ‘extra’ chainstays.
Ducati has also been running their mass-dampers on the rear of their bike for a couple years now. Maybe they’re all finding that more mass behind the rider leads to better balance. Makes sense when you consider how much weight is in front of the rider.
Check out the rear swingarm on the Yamaha. It’s got an additional brace/arm, running under the chain to each side of the swingarm, right in front of the axle. Was that there last year?
That is not uncommon (the part with the Michelin logo?). There have been many bikes with their swing arms braced in this fashion.
Great to see 4 manufacturers all looking very competitive. It’s important to remember this is not a Honda friendly track so don’t read to much into MM lap time. Ducati were fastest in testing last year if memory serves me correctly. Good to see it looks like Yamaha have found some decent pace and Suzuki continue to improve. Can’t wait for the first race, BRING IT ON!
It still looks to be shaping up to a great year of racing ahead. Both Maverick and Fabio have shown flashes of brilliance from time to time, but each seemed to lose their way for a while. I expect both of them to have a number of good races this year.
It was interesting to see Marc, Vale, and Jorge close on the times. Two injured riders, and one old one, but talent still rises to the top. I’ve never liked Rossi, but am impressed with his willingness to work hard and compete even though he is no longer top dog.
Suzuki appears to be truly back in the game. Rins is coming around, and I expect Mir to show well, especially as the year wears on.
Pol is showing that the KTM has potential. Zarco is a better rider that this test’s time differences indicate.
Hard to tell what is going on with Ducati. IMHO, they will miss Lorenzo even more before the year is out. I wouldn’t be surprised if the B-team riders wind up doing better than the A-team. I’m hoping that Tito heals up completely and starts scoring higher point finishes. I will be surprised if Dovi outscores Petrucci for the season.
Aprilia is looking better, but there just doesn’t seem to be a lot of room left at the top.