After an intriguing first day of 2017 pre-season testing from the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia yesterday, the MotoGP paddock was back in action for their final official running of the season.
There were a number of front-page-worthy stories from yesterday, and one of them was the performance of Maverick Vinales on his maiden Yamaha outing. The British Grand Prix winner ended the day top of the time sheets by two hundredths of a second from teammate Valentino Rossi. The Spaniard was on blistering form today, going fastest on the 2016 M1 with a 1m29.975s, which was only four tenths of a second down on the pole time from last weekend.
Vinales didn’t try any of the 2017 parts, Yamaha instead leaving that to Rossi. The Italian was quite critical of the new engine, saying after yesterday’s running the he expected more from it. The Italian spent the day doing back-to-back comparisons with the new and old chassis and engine, ending the day seventh on the time sheets with a 1m30.709s having completed 63 laps.
Honda’s Marc Marquez was second fastest, and he too expected a little more from his new motor. HRC have brought a new engine to Valencia with a ‘big bang’ firing order, and Marquez tested both this year’s and next year’s today in the old-style chassis. The Spaniard suffered an embarrassing crash when he ran wide at Turn 2. Marquez was sent into the gravel when his RC213V snapped under braking, and as he tried to navigate his way out of the kitty litter he grabbed a bit too much throttle and dropped his bike. Teammate Dani Pedrosa rounded out the top five, seven tenths of a second off the pace.
Twitter:
Whoopsie! #MM93 wasn’t able to save that one.
Fortunately bike & rider OK
https://t.co/xGVUXt4gPb (@MotoGP)
Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso was third quickest on the GP17 with a 1m30.443s. Interestingly, the Italian set his best time (as did Vinales) on the new-style Michelin front tyre. Jorge Lorenzo stole some of the limelight yesterday after putting the GP16 third on the time sheets. Today he got to know the 2017 Desmosedici and was eighth fastest after 58 laps of the Valencia circuit. The Spaniard won’t see the GP17 again until next January at the Sepang test, as Yamaha have blocked him from riding it next week in Jerez.
Suzuki suffered another expensive day after both of their factory riders fell off in quick succession at Turn 12 early in the session. Alex Rins went down 45 minutes in and destroyed his GSX-RR. The MotoGP debutante was taken to a local hospital where he was diagnosed with fractures to his T8 and T12 vertebra. He’ll miss next week’s test in Jerez and will be out of action for at least a month.
Just 15 minutes after Rins went down, Andrea Iannone ruined his GSX-RR and caused a red flag. The Italian was thankfully unharmed, but there was quite a lengthy stoppage to allow the damaged barriers to repaired and an air fence put in place. Iannone returned to track eventually and was a respectable fourth quickest.
LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow was sixth today, setting a 1m30.709s on his 45th lap of 63. The Briton, like the factory riders, compared the current and new RC213V, setting his best lap on the 2016 engine. The Marc VDS Honda team carried on their evaluation of the chassis Crutchlow used from the British Grand Prix onwards, with Jack Miller in particular happy with its performance. The Aussie rider ended the day 12th on a 1m31.069s after 57 laps, with Tito Rabat 18th once again.
Aleix Espargaro was the only Gresini Aprilia rider on track today after Sam Lowes decided to sit the session out. The Briton came off his RS-GP at the fast Turn 12 late yesterday and bashed himself about. Luckily not suffering any major injuries, the Briton was just a bit too stiff to ride today. Incidentally, Espargaro was an impressive ninth on a 1m30.895s and just under a second off of Vinales’ time.
Tech 3 Yamaha’s Jonas Folger completed the top 10 in what has been a strong debut for the German rider. Many questioned his promotion to the premier class following a woeful end to his Moto2 campaign, but he ends his first encounter with the M1 just a second off the pace and ahead of his double world champion teammate Johann Zarco, albeit by just half a tenth. The other new face for 2017, Karel Abraham, rode the GP15 Ducati for the first time today but was forced to park up early after his motorcycle suffered a major electrical problem. The Czech rider was 22nd with a 1m32.699s.
Pramac Ducati’s Scott Redding was 13th as he continued his education of the GP16. The Briton was very complimentary of the bike after yesterday’s running and looked pretty comfortable on it again today, despite a small off at midday. Redding improved on his time by a tenth to a 1m31.118s, with fellow GP16 runners Alvaro Bautista, who also had a small tumble, and Hector Barbera just a few hundredths adrift in 14th and 15th respectively.
The KTM duo of Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith improved slightly on the RC16 after a decent debut with the Austrian manufacturer on Tuesday. Espargaro upped his pace by eight tenths to a 1m31.853s, putting him 17th, whilst Smith dropped his time by three tenths to a 1m32.538s. The British rider had a light tip off at the final corner in the final hour of the session and was perfectly fine.
Most of the teams will be in action at private tests next week in Jerez and Sepang before the testing ban kicks in on December 1. The next official IRTA pre-season outing will be in Malaysia on January 30.
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