It's always interesting to look at the race simulation graphics. Indeed, more than the times achieved on a lap, they can provide a first overview of the real hierarchy in racing conditions.
Besides, if Maverick Vinales appears to be the fastest man at the moment despite the three small “spikes” made during his race simulation. These are supposed to be due to overtaking by laggards (source David Emmett), so they do not prejudge the future, even if, to date, Maverick Vinales has rarely been relentless in his overtaking attempts. .
However, victory in the first Grand Prix will undoubtedly not be as easy as winter testing might suggest. Indeed, if some do not appear on this table, due to not being able to carry out a race simulation, let us have no doubt that they will be there on the day of the Grand Prix. We obviously think first of all Marc Marquez et Dani Pedrosa, But also Valentino Rossi, all three delayed by problems during this last day of testing.
First surprise shown by this table is the excellent racing simulation ofAlvaro Bautista. The Aspar driver not only finished these tests in fifth position, he also simply achieved the best time during the race simulations, all drivers combined. What's more, its curve is of exemplary stability and the Spanish driver lined up his 20 laps without making the slightest error even if, visibly, the performances were decreasing slightly over time, undoubtedly because of the tires .
Second surprise, the excellent performance of Danilo Petrucci. Particularly shy during all these tests (he finished in 18th position), the friendly Italian shows that the Ducati officials will have to reckon with him, who they call themselves Andrea Dovizioso, solid and constant, where even more Jorge Lorenzo, for the moment less convincing.
Jonas Folger once again showed his consistency and speed during a 21-lap run, while his teammate Johann zarco revealed himself yesterday to be both slower and more bumpy in race pace, even if his “spike” in the graph comes from a relaxation following a temporary vibration that occurred on his bike and confirmed by the data. But, as you will discover in our debriefing carried out with Hervé Poncharal, all this could well at least stabilize on race day...
For completeness, let us add that Scott Redding, Jack Miller et Espargaro Pol also carried out a racing simulation, but that would have overloaded an already busy graph. All the other drivers not mentioned did not do a simulation on the last day.
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