The last official Moto GP testing started at Qatar today with Spanish Movistar Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo finished fastest at the Losail International Circuit.
As the humidity set in, the seven-hour floodlit session drew to a close after an eventful day. Moto GP 2015 Champion Lorenzo finished fastest with a time of 1:55.452 after completing 36 laps; his fastest time was over 0.4 seconds faster than anyone else on the day.
Only three riders were able to break the 1:56 minute barrier, Team Suzuki Ecstar Spanish rider Maverick Viñales finished second after completing 44 laps with a time of 1:55.880. Viñales did top the time sheets at one point. He is still running the ‘cassette’ style gearbox; Suzuki test rider Takuya Tsuda lapped at just over two minutes with the new seamless gearbox. Team boss Davide Brivio has announced the Suzuki Moto GP riders are likely to use the full up and down seamless gearbox tomorrow on day two of testing; it will be interesting to see how effective it will be for Vinales.
Nine times winning Moto GP Champion Valentino Rossi was the other rider to finish within the barrier. Italian rider Rossi, teammate of Lorenzo, completed 33 laps at Qatar today finishing with the fastest time of 1:55.894. Rossi finished 0.442 seconds behind teammate and Championship rival Lorenzo despite being the first to fall off during testing at Turn 10, he was thankfully uninjured.
Next on the leader board came many of the Ducatis. Italian rider Andrea Iannone finished fourth for the Ducati Team after briefly leading, ahead of British rider Scott Redding who has made a great start since switching to the Octo Pramac Yakhnich Ducati from EG 0,0 Marc VDS. Avintia Racing Team rider Hector Barbera finished sixth on his 14.2GP Ducati ahead of Ducati team rider Andrea Dovizioso.
Following on from the Italian came two British riders Cal Crutchlow on his LCR Honda in its new 2016 livery launched on day one, and Bradley Smith on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3. Both Brits finished ahead of the first of the Repsol Honda rider and former Moto GP Champion Marc Marquez.
It seems the Repsol Honda Team and Movistar Yamaha Team appear to be following in the tyre tracks of the Ducati team by introducing wings to the machines. Although the Yamaha did not exceed the amount of wings the Ducati has, they seemed to be bigger in size. The wings on the Honda RC213 seem minuscule in comparison to those on their rivals, only time will tell whether this is what is prohibiting their times. In the meantime we will watch on in fascination as these appear, wondering how long it will be before officials step in with concerns over health and safety issues to other riders during race situations.
Despite crashing and causing a red flag situation on Turn 14 towards the end of the session, Suzuki Ecstar rider Aleix Espagaro finished faster than his brother Pol on his Monster Yamaha Tech 3. Aleix was uninjured and able to continue, but debris had o be cleared from the track. The two Spaniards along with Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa were the last of those who were able to beat the 1:57.00 barrier. Yonny Hernandez was the fastest Aspar Moto GP Team rider who just missed out with a time of 1:57.021; his British teammate Laverty finished 20th.
Twitter: Speed trap at #qatartest https://t.co/BpEH4exUDC (@SUZUKIECSTAR)
New to Moto GP this year the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini bikes were over 2.5 seconds off the pace. Stefan Bradl and Alvaro Bautista rolled out on the Aprilia in its new livery launched on day one of testing. Despite being new, they are not far from the leader on day one and have two more days of testing in Qatar to catch up with the rest of the pack, before the first race on March 20th.
