The last Italian Grand Prix left a bitter taste for the Tech3 driver Jonas Folger. The German therefore has revenge to take and he has started his Grand Prix of Catalonia to arrive at his ends. Here he is third and first Yamaha rider at the end of a Friday finished just over half a second behind leader Marc Márquez. Something to look forward to with optimism. But the teammate of Johann zarco warns: there are complaints about the new chicane on the Montmélo route.
The Catalan circuit was reviewed and corrected after the fatal fall a year ago of louis salom. To guard against any further drama in this sector of the route, a new design has been drawn up. Which is not unanimous. Those who were able to discover it early during tests had warned and the fears were confirmed by some of those who became acquainted with this famous chicane this Friday.
Among them, precisely, Jonas Folger. Who develops on speedweek : “ it's difficult. It's actually the same chicane as last year but placed fifty meters before. She is tortured and she is very slow. I think Baz and Bautista fell there. We take a lot of angles, there is only one line possible. For me, it is not without danger. We will talk about it to the safety commission with the other pilots ».
Jonas Folger thinks that the solution would be to use the Formula 1 type chicane, taken last year, but which posed a problem because of its vibrators placed quite high for motorcycles. This point would need to be checked in the event of a change of heart. But the German specifies that one of their number probably already has an opinion on the question: “ we can ask for the lighting from Jack Miller who has already been there five times » … A little reminder about the stubbornness of the Australian to make mistakes, during FP1, on the way while doing his laps…
Otherwise, the third man of the day explains his working method validated for Montmelo: “ we started by using two bikes with completely different settings. Then we took the bike that suited me best. We did a series of laps with worn tires that were much older than a Grand Prix. Afterwards, we put on the new tires and adjusted the front a little. I had four laps with the fresh tires and the grip was satisfactory. I was pleasantly surprised ».
Overall, a time of 1:44.839 min, 0.544 seconds behind the fastest performance.
#CatalanGP J.1: MotoGP Chronos
| 1 | 93 | Marc Márquez | Honda | 1'44.295 | ||
| 2 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Ducati | 1'44.700 | 0.405 | 0.405 |
| 3 | 94 | Jonas Folger | Yamaha | 1'44.839 | 0.544 | 0.139 |
| 4 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | 1'44.883 | 0.588 | 0.044 |
| 5 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | 1'44.890 | 0.595 | 0.007 |
| 6 | 53 | Tito RABAT | Honda | 1'44.922 | 0.627 | 0.032 |
| 7 | 5 | johann zarco | Yamaha | 1'45.063 | 0.768 | 0.141 |
| 8 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | 1'45.098 | 0.803 | 0.035 |
| 9 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Ducati | 1'45.116 | 0.821 | 0.018 |
| 10 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | 1'45.118 | 0.823 | 0.002 |
| 11 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | Ducati | 1'45.311 | 1.016 | 0.193 |
| 12 | 45 | Scott REDDING | Ducati | 1'45.375 | 1.080 | 0.064 |
| 13 | 29 | Andrea Iannone | Suzuki | 1'45.465 | 1.170 | 0.090 |
| 14 | 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | 1'45.554 | 1.259 | 0.089 |
| 15 | 76 | Loris BAZ | Ducati | 1'45.755 | 1.460 | 0.201 |
| 16 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | 1'45.810 | 1.515 | 0.055 |
| 17 | 43 | Jack Miller | Honda | 1'45.868 | 1.573 | 0.058 |
| 18 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | 1'45.932 | 1.637 | 0.064 |
| 19 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | 1'45.967 | 1.672 | 0.035 |
| 20 | 22 | Sam LOWES | Aprilia | 1'46.682 | 2.387 | 0.715 |
| 21 | 44 | Pol Espargaró | KTM | 1'46.946 | 2.651 | 0.264 |
| 22 | 50 | Sylvain GUINTOLI | Suzuki | 1'47.002 | 2.707 | 0.056 |
| 23 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | KTM | 1'47.892 | 3.597 | 0.890 |
