MotoGP Test Jerez FP1 LIVE: Finally!

Article updated until 11:30 p.m.!

Finally ! After two months of off-season then four and a half months since the official tests in Qatar, the entire MotoGP field meets today on the Jerez circuit for a two-time warm-up an hour and a half before the weekend. “normal” end of the race at the end of the week.

“Normal” is a way of speaking, because nothing will really be normal for this first round of the 2020 MotoGP world championship, the paddock restricted to 1200 people instead of the usual 3000, extremely strict health procedures (teams and drivers received a written reminder from the IRTA yesterday, after having noted some violations of the health protocol), even the performance of the motorcycles sincea temperature of 61° was recorded on the track yesterday afternoon.

But hey, there's no question of being choosy and, on the contrary, it's time to watch the 22 drivers start to work, remembering that Jerez saw last year, certainly at the beginning of May, the first pole position of fabio quartararo in front of his teammate, and that the Yamaha M1s have also dominated all the test sessions since the last Valencia Grand Prix, Maverick Vinales in Valencia, Jerez and Losail, fabio quartararo in Sepang.

Finally, we will keep in mind the benchmark of the Andalusian track, a time of 1'36.880 which constitutes both the pole position achieved by Fabio Quartararo and the circuit record.

Even if the weather in southern Spain is expected to be as clear as summer until this weekend, and will undoubtedly offer a more “greasy” track than in May in Jerez de la Frontera, the new construction of asymmetrical rear tires (harder on the right) provided by Michelin could compensate, at least in part, for the anticipated drop in performance: “This new Michelin tire has a construction designed to improve grip and performance, while increasing longevity for all riders and machines. »

Other novelty that we had spotted since last year in our “Spy Attitude” section during tests in Valencia, new Brembo GP4 4-piston radial calipers. These stirrups differ from those used until last season thanks to new fins on the external body of the stirrup. A solution that ensures better and faster cooling of the caliper itself and, therefore, of the entire braking system. At the same time, the amount of fluid inside the braking system has been reduced, allowing for greater consistency and a reduction in the elasticity of the lever. Although Brembo equips 100% of MotoGP bikes, these new calipers are not obligatory, but simply offered to teams with, combined with various improvements on the other braking components (discs and master cylinders), an attractive expected increase of 10% in the braking torque…

 

At the opening of the session, Alex Marquez, Iker Lecuona and Pol Espargaró are the most eager to take to the track, immediately joined by the vast majority of the MotoGP field.

Among the latecomers, we note (as usual) Valentino Rossi, But also Aleix I will espargaro .

However, the latter did not take long to get on his Aprilia RS-GP and he was even the first to set a first provisional benchmark in 1'41.169 ahead of his brother Pol.

On the next pass, the Noale representative recorded 1'40.089 while Miguel Oliveira returned to his box without having recorded a time.

In his third flying lap, Marc Márquez increases the pace and achieves a 1'39.211 which then relegates the plateau to half a second, before Maverick Vinales and Pol I will espargaro come within 2 tenths.

Here is the hierarchy at the end of the first quarter of an hour, with a track at 38°, while the vast majority of drivers returned to their box for a first debriefing:

Anecdote: Valentino Rossi missed his box by stopping after his first run, and had to return there on foot, while one of his mechanics brought the M1 back...

https://twitter.com/SkySportMotoGP/status/1283327988822618113

fabio quartararo climbed into third position, in 1'39.442 before joining the other drivers in the pit lane.

On resumption, Marc Márquez improves his time to 1'39.099 then 1'38.985. All the drivers expect the track to be slower this afternoon and it is therefore this morning that we will attempt a time performance while the second session will be more devoted to studying the durability of the tires Michelin in conditions similar to those of Sunday's race.

With just an hour left in this first session, Jack Miller hoists his Ducati GP20 to second position, in 1'39.157 and with a top speed of 292,6 km/h.

This is also the time when Franco Morbidelli comes to show the tip of his nose, first by achieving the third time, then the second in 1'39.061.

Conversely, Andrea Dovizioso appears in last position, with only six laps completed…

Our colleagues from Sky Sports spotted a “Red Vader” in the latter’s box!

Andrea Dovizioso, he seems to have a microphone in his box to communicate with his engineer. His Ducati is equipped with a slightly more direct exhaust.
Davide Tardozzi explains that Dovizioso is fine but that he was asked to start calmly, just like Petrucci, while Miller attacked straight away.

 

Cal Crutchlow, whose future in 2021 we do not yet know, provisionally enters the top 5 before Maverick Vinales does not expel him by positioning himself third. The Yamaha rider also continued his momentum by seizing the leadership in 1'38.873, just ahead Aleix I will espargaro who skillfully took advantage of the wake of Marc Márquez to climb to second place and even first position, in 1'38.873! Regardless, the Aprilia 2020 seems to have progressed well, even if Marc Márquez immediately restored the situation by slamming a 1'38.838

...

Here is the situation as the drivers return to the box again after this second run:

 

Finally, almost all drivers, since Jack Miller take advantage of the relatively deserted track to lower the provisional reference to 1'38.775 then 1'38.348! We are certainly still far from the 1 achieved by Fabio Quartararo last year, but it’s a recovery and we’re making progress…

Start of fire at Tito Rabat...

Franco Morbidelli positions himself second at the start of the last half hour while Joan Mir places the first Suzuki (decorated in honor of the brand's 100th anniversary) in sixth position.

10 minutes later, fabio quartararo increases his pace and obtains 3rd position, just in front Joan Mir.

Protections at Yamaha…

Ranking at the start of the last quarter of an hour:

Seven minutes before the track closes, Marc Marquez produces his effort and lights the first three sectors in red, which brings him to second provisional position... which the Honda driver improves again in the fourth sector on the following lap rises to the top of the ranking, in 1'37.941 in his 26th lap spear.

Things are getting crazy and Aleix I will espargaro, this time all alone, achieves a superb performance by positioning his Aprilia, with a message to the unfortunate Alex Zanardi, in second place.

Cal Crutchlow then jumped to 3rd position before Álex Rins placed his GSX-RR in second place.

fabio quartararo improves 2 minutes from the end of the session while, at the last minute, the old lion Valentino Rossi wakes up and places his M1 on the third step of the virtual podium.

It will also be noted that it is Jack Miller who leads the Ducati troops, like Miguel Oliveira with the KTMs…

Final ranking of this first MotoGP Test session in Jerez:

See you at 14 p.m./15:30 p.m. for FP2!

Credit rankings: MotoGP.com