The list of MotoGP riders admitted to this first test session of the year, the shakedown, includes 13 names.
Enea Bastianini (Avintia Esponsorama), just like Luca marini (Sky Racing Team VR46) and George Martin (Pramac Racing), can participate in the shakedown as rookies, just like official test drivers Stefan bradl (Sling), Cal Crutchlow, Katsuyuki Nakasuga et Kohta Nozane (Yamaha Test Team), Michele Pirro (Dozens), Dani Pedrosa (KTM), Sylvain Guintoli et Takuya Tsuda (Team Suzuki Ecstar) as well asAleix Espargaró et Lorenzo Savadori, titular drivers of the only manufacturer still benefiting from concessions, Aprilia.
To Enea Bastianini, we know that an inconclusive PCR test forced him to delay his flight and there was little chance that Carlo Pernat's protégé would be able to ride today, forced to wait for yet another PCR test result confined in his room at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Doha.
However, it already seems on the circuit, ready to ride…
For the others, and therefore undoubtedly also for himself, he will have to face the wind which reigns on the Losail circuit and which will not facilitate the cleaning of the track, always a little "dirty" from the sand of the Qatari desert.
It is open from 12:00 p.m. to 19:00 p.m. French time, and it is Takuya Tsuda (Team Suzuki Ecstar) who completed the first lap, barely the lights turned green. A lap “to see” before returning to the box without recording a time, followed later by Michele Pirro on his Ducati prototype.
🎬 Action is 🔛 The 2021 @MotoGP season is officially underway! 🤩 First time out for the Desmosedici GP and @PirroRider for the Shakedown Test at @losailcircuit ✊🏼#QatarTest #MotoGP #ForzaDucati pic.twitter.com/XA9M1MqTDt
- Ducati Corse (@ducaticorse) March 5, 2021
Suzuki also moved Sylvain Guintoli but it was Yamaha that came in force, with its team of three full test riders. Unlike Suzuki, KTM, Honda, Aprilia, and to a lesser extent Ducati, Yamaha puts two different motorcycles on the track, on one side for Maverick Vinales, Fabio Quartararo and Valentino Rossi, on the other for Franco Morbidelli. The Iwata firm was notably handicapped last year by the lack of tests due to the difficulties encountered by Japanese technicians in traveling outside Japan.
In this regard, it should be noted that the latter will stay a full month in Qatar and will later be based in Andorra for limited-time Schengen visa issues. At Honda, we are even considering several teams succeeding one another in Europe…
Test days, shakedown or official, are always long periods spent in the box interspersed with short runs. This is why they are generally not retransmitted. A Live Timing is however available on the official website MotoGP.com, for those who don't want to miss a beat of the action on the track.
For our part, we will provide a summary this evening (or before if necessary) with all the information available.
Official record: 1'53.380 Marc Márquez 2019
