Spanish Team Suzuki Ecstar rider Maverick Viñales topped the timesheets in Qatar today after the second day of testing at Losail International Circuit.
Viñales is continuing to impress as he lapped fastest with a time of 1:55.436 which was 0.372 seconds faster than his time on day one. He just managed to beat Movistar Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo’s time on day one by 0.016 seconds.
Suzuki have been testing the new seamless up and down gearbox at Qatar but Viñales is yet to run with it (unlike teammate Aleix Espagaro who ran with it for the first time to test its reliability). The focus for Viñales was on race preparation and bike configurations, he completed his lap with the 2015 chassis. It is possible he may test the new gearbox on day three, however the team plan to run a full race simulation and they may not be able to schedule it into testing time in Qatar.
Second on the timesheets was Ducati Team rider Andrea Iannone after he completed 41 laps. He remains the top Ducati with a time of 1:55.508. His time was 0.072 seconds slower than Viñales but over half a second than his fastest time on day one.
2015 MotoGP Champion Lorenzo who led on day one of testing in Qatar, slipped to third fastest by the end of the session. He was unable to beat his time set previously finishing less than a tenth of a second slower with a time of 1:55.535.
British rider Scott Redding was next on the timesheets with a time of 1:55.677, over half a second faster than his time on day one. Redding recently made the switch from Marc VDS Honda and is trying to build his confidence whilst having fun with the bike. He has worked a lot with the rear tyre and is hoping to resolve the issues he is experiencing due to less grip on the front of the bike.
Redding was followed by two more Ducati riders, Avintia Racing Team rider Hector Barbera and Ducati Team Andrea Dovizioso. Dani Pedrosa was seventh fastest on his Repsol Honda, improving his overall position from thirteenth to seventh after managing to reduce his time from day one by just over one second.
Valentino Rossi finished eighth on his Movistar Yamaha despite taking the lead earlier on in the session. Slipping from third fastest, Rossi was unable to improve on his time from day one.
Spanish Repsol Honda rider Marc Marquez had a speedy crash at turn one. He was uninjured and able to continue however the crash seemed to knock his confidence. Previous to the crash he managed to take just under half a second off his time from day one, he was unable to improve following the crash finishing 9th fastest with a time of 1:56.046.
The top Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Pol Espargaro also crashed out at turn 15 of the circuit. He was also uninjured and able to continue with testing where he improved by two positions finishing tenth after improving his previous fastest lap by over half a second.
British rider Cal Crutchlow dropped from 8th to 13th on his LCR Honda as he was unable to beat his previous time. He is ahead of Bradley Smith who struggled to get back to his pace from day one lapping just under one-second slower, this left Smith in 16th overall.
Rookie Tito Rabat has gained three places on the EG 0,0 Marc VDS previously ridden by Redding. He finished in 15th after reducing his time by 0.753 seconds. Injured teammate Jack Miller was unable to significantly improve.
Some testing took place with the new tyre options from Michelin, some riders were able to simulate race runs including Jorge Lorenzo (who struggled with grip on the Thursday test) and Avintia Racing Team rider Loriz Baz.
March 4 will be the last day of official pre-season testing for the MotoGP bikes at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar, an important and tense day for all involved before the season opener at the circuit on March 20.
