MotoGP Test Qatar 2 J1: Wednesday LIVE is here! Miller breaks the record!

After two days of testing at Losail last weekend, plus, for some, a consummate Shakedown on Friday, it is the return of the MotoGP category riders to the track which will open the season at the end of March with the Qatar Grand Prix . This Wednesday begins the last three days of testing before the start of the championship, scheduled for March 28. Suffice to say that we will not have to make a mistake in the major technical decisions which will then condition the rest of the 2021 campaign...

Last week's testing ended with the Yamaha fabio quartararo in the lead ahead of the Ducati of Jack Miller, the Aprilia ofAleix Espargarò, the Yamaha of Franco Morbidelli and the tester's Honda Stefan bradl. Sixth, Johann zarco was solid for his debut on the Ducati of Team Pramac ahead of the Yamaha of Maverick Vinales, the Suzuki of the 2020 world champion Joan Mir, the Ducati of Francis Bagnaia and the Suzuki ofalex rins.

Enea Bastianini riding the Ducati of Team Avintia was the best rookie, while Valentino Rossi did not exceed the 20th time, due to lack of grip on the rear of his Yamaha. Danilo Petrucci tried to find complicity with his new KTM from Tech3, a motorcycle with different characteristics from the Ducati that the rider from Terni had ridden until last year.

You can follow the three days of testing live MotoGP from our site. The day will open as usual at 12:00 p.m. and end at 19:00 p.m.…

Before starting this little reminder on the decoration of the helmet of Johann zarco ...

At VR46, we polish our weapons with Luca Marini who will be keen to climb the rookie hierarchy…

At the start of these test days, we keep in memory the best time of Maverick Vinales during last year's tests (1'53.858), the absolute track record of 1'53.380 (Marc Marquez 2019), as well as the times achieved last Sunday...

For these three days, the drivers have 10 front tires to choose from 7 soft/7 med/5 hard, and 10 rear tires to choose from 7 soft/7 med/4 hard.

Given the temperatures, and especially the wind which cooled the tires, most of the drivers favored the softs, the mediums having caused falls. We're not even talking about the tough guys...

The session was launched by Takuya Tsuda on his Suzuki, followed by Cal Crutchlow on his Yamaha and Michele Pirro on his Ducati. Alex Rins is the first driver to return to the track, achieving 1'56.606 before returning to the box.

Cal Crutchlow and the Yamaha test team are using a special decoration for these three days: magnificent!

alex rins returns to the track and lowers the day's benchmark to 1'55.791 at the end of this first hour.

The Suzukis continue to lead the way, this time with Joan mir in 1'55.722.

The Aprilias enter the track. Alex Espargaro revealed real potential during the first tests. There is no reason for him not to confirm during these three days…

fabio quartararo is on the track and immediately positions himself behind the two Suzukis.

The official Yamaha rider is followed by Iker Lecuona which makes a good start to the session. At KTM, which remains the last MotoGP winner to date, we are however convinced that the Qatari track is not suitable for RC 16s and we expect to suffer...

Espargaro Pol enters the track... and clocks 1'55.065 in his 3rd flying lap! The wolf suits him well...

A little before the end of the second hour, Alex Espargaro confirms the good performance of the Aprilia by first achieving the second best time, a tenth behind its brother, then by proving to be the fastest for the moment, in 1'55.049.

This is the moment when Valentino Rossi takes the track and joins the 15 other drivers already present.

Doctor is provisionally positioned 4th at the start of the third hour, while John Zarco rushes and Miguel Oliveira joins the top 3.

In the wake, Franco Morbidelli took command in 1'54.859 then 1'54.714.

Things continue to move with Stefan Bradl second, Francis Bagnaia 5th, Johann zarco 6e.

After two and a half hours since the red lights went out, George Martin is the last to hit the track.

For the time being, Michele Pirro is the most diligent, with 29 laps, ahead Takuya Tsuda (27) Joan mir (23) et Cal Crutchlow (23): test pilot, it's worth it!

Johann zarco moves back to 5th position, provisionally best Ducati rider ahead Pecco Bagnaia et Jack Miller. Gigi Dall'Igna will still have to travel...

If we get excited about the performances of the tenors and the rookies, he is a driver who appears very discreet for the moment: Alex Marquez, now at LCR Honda. Marc's brother impressed last year and even came close to winning a Grand Prix, but appears more behind so far. 14th among the first, 18th currently… “que pasa?” »

10 minutes before the end of the 3rd hour, Maverick Vinales places his M1 in provisional 2nd place, establishing a Yamaha double for the moment.

BOOM! To celebrate the start of the fourth hour, fabio quartararo imposes a 1'54.588, establishing a Yamaha trio at the top of the rankings.

Unfortunately for Iwata, Espargaro Pol, as a good pack leader, took the lead a few moments later, thanks to a 1'54.272. It will be recalled that the best of the first tests signed on Sunday is 1'53.940. The time of Bradl is on the other hand stopped in the first sector. This smells like a fall...

Valentino Rossi comes out of the depths of the ranking and climbs to eighth. On the other hand, Alex Marquez always plays anonymous. The top 10 looks like this at 03:00 a.m. from the goal: P. Espargaró, Morbidelli, Quartararo, Viñales, Bradl, Miller, Espargaró, Rossi, Zarco, Binder.

Red has been racking up laps on his personal meter for a long time and, having come within seven tenths of the fastest time, he is now quite efficient lap by lap. The Italian runs around 1:55 low/medium and is one of the more competitive paces.

At snack time, Alex Marquez wakes up and approaches the top 10. Thirteenth, Marini takes the lead among the rookies. The World Champion Joan Mir moves into the top 5.

 

A new fairing for Bradl, but the latter fell…

Maverick Vinales has already completed 40 laps and the Yamaha rider is riding with the new chassis that the Iwata brand has prepared for this season, with the aim of minimizing the problems related to an engine that will maintain the performance of 2020. During the previous days, this novelty has been tested by Quarterly et Rossi

Miller signs the best provisional time of the entire pre-season. The Australian stopped the clock at 1'53.826 to take first place and lead Pol Espargaro by almost half a second. The Ducati rider was checked at 348,3 km/h on his GP21. Nakagami is third. Ducatis ride fast, note the top speed of Johann zarco ...

It's the Ducati moment, bagnaia inviting himself to the party... Olive tree keeps KTM in top 10 closed by Johann zarco. George Martin is the best of the rookies. Red is 16th.

Aleix I will espargaro whip her again Aprilia is installed in second position. Bad news for Aleix Marquez : his time is stopped at the first partial. A new fall for the LCR pilot? it will be his fourth since the start of the tests at Losail... Casa Particular in Viñales is third. Joan mir also attacks with Suzuki. The Spaniard progressed to fourth position thanks to a time of 1'54,663. This mark makes him the sixth driver to go under 1'55.

Here is the ranking at 17:00 p.m. :

The day is over for Stefan bradl. After an accident, the pilot Honda complained of pain, the Repsol Honda team announced. Tomorrow, however, he should be back in action, so at first glance the accident does not appear to have resulted in any serious injuries.

Johann zarco goes second and therefore secures what is for the moment a Ducati double. For Valentino Rossi, it's always complicated, he is 16th at 1s2 and ahead of a Alex Marquez who has not returned to the track since his fall. But Pol Espargaro looks after Honda's interests. In a whole attack, he dislodges zarco from second place and close to the leader Miller of only 73 thousandths.

Here's an idea of ​​top speeds:

Ducati	Johann zarco	352,9 km / h
Esponsorama Ducati *	Enea Bastianini	343,9 km / h
Honda	Alex Marquez	342,8 km / h
Yamaha	Franco Morbidelli	338,5 km / h
KTM	Danilo Petrucci	338,5 km / h
Aprilia	Alex Espargaro	337,5 km / h
Suzuki	Mir / Rins / Guintoli	337,5 km / h

One hour from the goal, here is the ranking:

 

At Yamaha, Red tried a new fairing:

fabio quartararo sets a record time 30 minutes from the goal! The official lap record at Losail is 1:53,380.

An aero subtlety of Yamaha ...

We thought the day was over with Fabio Quartararo but Jack Miller slams a 1'53.183 which gives him an advantage of 80 thousandths. Will the Frenchman respond?

No… We’ll leave it there with one Miller which therefore put its opponents in the red. On a tour, Fabio Quartararo showed his speed and that of the Yamaha. Casa Particular in Viñales is in the top three and ahead Johann zarco. The top 5 is closed by Pol I will espargaro which is the Honda leader which means that he adapts very quickly to his new mount. He is also the only one of the four RC213V riders not to have crashed, while he is discovering the bike… Aleix Espargaro and his Aprilia is sixth, ahead of the World Champion Joan mir. Rins, Bagnaia, Nakagami complete the top 10.

Red is 13th and still last of the Yamahas. He is preceded by Olive tree which barely saves a hard day for KTM, marked by falls. bastianini 14th is the first of three rookies. It will be recalled that Bradl left the stage in pain after falling but he is expected to return tomorrow.

Chronos :

 

 

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