Ducati test rider Casey Stoner ended the opening day of pre-season test at the Sepang International Circuit on top of the time sheets ahead of team-mate Andrea Dovizioso.
The first day of pre-season testing was hampered by the weather, with rain fall in the final few hours stopping play for all but a few.
The 2007 and 2011 MotoGP World Champion was hard at work during the middle of last year putting the miles on the new Desmosedici GP17, and has been called up by the team to carry out further running on it this week.
The GP17, though running 2016 fairings, does feature a new exhaust positioning and a mystery box at the rear which the team has been coy to comment on. Stoner ended the day a tenth clear of team-mate Dovizioso on a 1m59.681s, while Jorge Lorenzo began life as an official Ducati rider down in 17th having spent the day just getting comfortable on the new bike.
Yamaha’s new boy Maverick Vinales impressed at the post-race Valencia test in November last year, and was once again setting the timing screens alight on the YZR-M1. Sporting a new chassis and engine, Vinales put 55 laps on the new bike, setting the third best time of 2m00.128s. Valentino Rossi took things easy today due to a migraine, the Italian completing just 28 laps on the bike down in eighth.
Alvaro Bautista reacquainted himself with the Ducati GP16 as he prepares for his Aspar return in 2017. The Spaniard made a strong start to the three-day test, guiding his bike to a 2m00.134s to go fourth fastest ahead of Suzuki’s Andrea Iannone and LCR’s Cal Crutchlow, who spent the day evaluating several things for HRC including a new version of the ‘big bang’ engine. Moto2 graduate Jonas Folger quietly went about his business in a respectable seventh on his Tech 3 Yamaha.
Reigning world champion Marc Marquez put 48 laps on his Repsol RC213V today and was ninth fastest ahead of Avintia Racing’s Hector Barbera on the GP16. Danilo Petrucci got to grips with the Desmosedici GP17 he’ll ride this season after winning an inter-team battle with Scott Redding last year. The Italian was 11th fastest at the end of day one, with Redding just a couple of thousandths shy in 12th on the GP16.
Dani Pedrosa eased himself back into the swing of things in 13th on the second of the factory Honda’s, while Tech 3’s Johann Zarco put 48 laps on his satellite M1 as the reigning Moto2 champion continues his preparation for his MotoGP debut.
Aleix Espargaro rounded out the top 15 on the Aprilia RS-GP, which comes to Sepang armed with a new engine aimed at improving acceleration and top speed. Sam Lowes completed 51 laps of the Sepang International Circuit on the sister RS-GP and ended the day 26th.
KTM riders Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro will likely have the busiest pre-season of anyone as they spearhead the Austrian marque’s first full factory MotoGP effort. Smith, still not at 100% fitness from his leg injury sustained last year in a crash at Oschersleben, was 27th on the opening day and completed 50 laps. Espargaro managed a similarly hefty lap count with 58 tours of the Malaysian circuit.
Comments.
Loading comments…