Movistar Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales topped a tight final day of running at the Sepang International Circuit with the best lap of the week.
The Spaniard made headlines in Valencia last year when he topped the two-day test on his Yamaha debut. Having looked strong all week on the YZR-M1, perhaps it is no surprise to see him setting the timing screens ablaze once again.
Vinales, along with team-mate Valentino Rossi, continued to compare the M1’s new chassis and radical fairing with the older versions, while also conducting race simulations. The 2013 Moto3 champion completed 72 laps today, posting a best time of 1m59.368s to go just over a tenth clear of the pack. Rossi ended the test fourth fastest on a 1m59.589s, managing 62 laps of the 5.5km Malaysian circuit.
Honda seemed to be in something of a crisis this week, their new engine still proving problematic. While only some of their issues were able to be resolved after yesterday’s action, both Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa still showed a big upturn in pace.
Still trying different engine maps and a new exhaust, Marquez was second quickest at the chequered flag having sat top of the pile briefly on a 1m59.506s. The Spaniard also completed a whopping 85 laps today, while Pedrosa managed 67 on his way to fourth in the standings.
Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso completed the top three with a 1m59.553s, with Jorge Lorenzo a couple of tenths behind in ninth as he continues to adapt his riding style to suit the Desmosedici GP17. Test rider Casey Stoner was seventh fastest.
Aspar’s Alvaro Bautista once again put in some astonishingly fast laptimes on the GP16, the former 125cc world champion guiding his Ducati to a 1m59.628s to go sixth overall. LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow continued to test the latest RC213V on his way to eighth, with Tech 3 Yamaha’s Johann Zarco impressively rounding out the top 10 with a 1m59.772s.
Tuesday’s fastest man Andrea Iannone focussed more on long runs today, completing 49 laps on his Suzuki GSX-RR. Opting against a late flying lap, the Italian ends today’s running down in 11th. A few hundredths behind him in 12th was team-mate Alex Rins who, after spending this week getting used to the bike again, went for several qualifying runs, improving on his Tuesday time by eight tenths of a second.
Aleix Espargaro suffered a late fall at the final corner, but otherwise enjoyed a decent a day on his Aprilia RS-GP in 13th and just over seven tenths away from former team-mate Vinales’ time. Pramac’s Danilo Petrucci’s Wednesday was a frustrating one fraught with mechanical problems. The Italian, desperate for miles on the brand new Desmosedici GP, only managed 53 laps today as a result and was 14th on the time sheets. Jonas Folger completed the top 15 on the second of the Tech 3 bikes having spent the day concentrating his efforts on long runs.
The MotoGP field will be back in action in two weeks’ time at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia for three more days of testing from February 15.
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