Tom Lüthi unavailable due to his leg injury following his fall during practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix, it was HRC test rider and Japanese Superbike champion Takumi Takahashi who used his bike during the recent tests from Valencia. He will be joined next week in Andalusia by the brother of Marc Marquez.
He had been considered for a moment that Alex moved to MotoGP in 2018 when the departure of Jack Miller to Pramac Racing was confirmed. But this did not satisfy the Spaniard who first wanted to be titled in Moto2 before moving up a category, nor his Belgian boss Michael Bartholémy for whom Moto2 represents the majority of the team's income.
World Champion with Tito Rabat and Franco Morbidelli, the Marc VDS team is one of the pillars of the intermediate class, even if the strong arrival of KTM shakes things up somewhat.
In the absence of Tom Lüthi on the bike in Valencia, the Takahashi team led by Gilles Bigot tried different chassis geometry and suspension settings to help the 27-year-old Japanese rider feel more comfortable on a machine that he will ride again on November 23 and 24 on the Jerez circuit.
To Takumi Takahashi, « I tried to improve today but my crash yesterday made me lose a bit of confidence and I struggled to ride as fast today. We worked on the settings to make me feel more comfortable on the bike and I began to feel myself at the end of the day. We are going to go to Jerez for another test, on a circuit where I have already raced in Superbike. I will be better than in Valencia on a circuit that I did not know. It will be different with a MotoGP but at least I won't be starting from scratch. This should help me progress. »
According to the team manager Michael Bartholémy, “Having Takumi Takahashi to replace Tom was very useful to us because it allowed the new members of the team to get their bearings without delay by working with an experienced driver. I would like to thank HRC for this and Takumi for his work during these two days. »
Test results:
1 MARQUEZ, Marc Repsol Honda Team 1:30.033
2 PEDROSA, Dani Repsol Honda Team 1:30.436 0.403
3 ZARCO, Johann Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1:30.439 0.406
4 LORENZO, Jorge Ducati Team 1:30.534 0.501
5 VIÑALES, Maverick Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1:30.640 0.607
6 CRUTCHLOW, Cal LCR Honda CASTROL 1:30.654 0.621
7 ROSSI, Valentino Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1:30.724 0.691
8 MILLER, Jack OCTO Pramac Racing 1:30.860 0.827
9 IANNONE, Andrea Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1:30.877 0.844
10 ESPARGARO, Aleix Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1:30.889 0.856
11 ESPARGARO, Pol Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1:31.100 1.067
12 SMITH, Bradley Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1:31.202 1.169
13 RABAT, Tito Reale Avintia Racing 1:31.386 1.353
14 RINS, Alex Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1:31.516 1.483
15 DOVIZIOSO, Andrea Ducati Team 1:31.758 1.725
16 MORBIDELLI, Franco EG 0,0 Marc VDS 1:31.786 1.753
17 NAKAGAMI, Takaaki LCR Honda IDEMITSU 1:31.867 1.834
18 PETRUCCI, Danilo OCTO Pramac Racing 1:31.874 1.841
19 REDDING, Scott Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1:32.358 2.325
20 SIMEON, Xavier Reale Avintia Racing 1:32.698 2.665
21 TAKAHASHI, Takumi EG 0,0 Marc VDS 1:33.870 3.837
Reference times:
Test record: 1'29.401 by Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) in 2016
Lap record: 1'31.171 by Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) in 2016
Best top speed: 335,9 km/h for Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) in 2015
Final ranking of the World Championship:
1 MARQUEZ Marc SPA 298 points
2 DOVIZIOSO Andrea ITA 261
3 VIÑALES Maverick SPA 230
4 PEDROSA Dani SPA 210
5 ROSSI Valentino ITA 208
6 ZARCO Johann FRA 174
7 LORENZO Jorge SPA 137
8 PETRUCCI Danilo ITA 124
9 CRUTCHLOW Cal GBR 112
10 FOLGER Jonas GER 84
11 MILLER Jack AUS 82
12 BAUTISTA Alvaro SPA 75
13 IANNONE Andrea ITA 70
14 REDDING Scott GBR 64
15 ESPARGARO Aleix SPA 62
16 RINS Alex SPA 59
17 ESPARGARO Pol SPA 55
18 BAZ Loris FRA 45 253
19 RABAT Tito SPA 35
20 ABRAHAM Karel CZE 32
21 SMITH Bradley GBR 29
22 BARBERA Hector SPA 28
23 PIRRO Michele ITA 25
24 KALLIO Mika END 11
25 LOWES Sam GBR 5
26 NAKASUGA Katsuyuki JPN 4
Ranking of independent drivers:
1 ZARCO Johann FRA 174 points
2 PETRUCCI Danilo ITA 124
3 CRUTCHLOW Cal GBR 112
4 FOLGER Jonas GER 84
5 MILLER Jack AUS 82
Ranking of the best rookie (beginner):
1 ZARCO Johann FRA 174 points
2 FOLGER Jonas GER 84
3 RINS Alex SPA 59
4 LOWES Sam GBR 5
Classification by manufacturers:
1 HONDA 357 points
2 YAMAHA 321
3 DUCATI 310
4 SUZUKI 100
5 KTM 69
6 APRILIA 64
Team ranking:
1 REPSOL HONDA TEAM 508 points
2 MOVISTAR YAMAHA MOTOGP 438
3 DUCATI TEAM 398
4 MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3 258
5 OCTO PRAMAC RACING 188
6 TEAM SUZUKI ECSTAR 130
7 EG 0,0 MARC VDS 117
8 LCR HONDA 112
9 PULL&BEAR ASPAR TEAM 107
10 RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING 84
11 REALE AVINTIA RACING 73
12 APRILIA RACING TEAM GRESINI 67
Photo: The Marquez brothers in Valencia in November 2014 (© Repsol Media)
