Aleix Espargaró did not, a priori, come out so badly from this first evening spent on the track of losail. Twelfth, he can look forward to the rest of these last tests of the off-season with ambition. But the RS-GP driver was only 0,089 seconds ahead of his teammate Iannone and, above all, he is 1,307 seconds behind the best time of Casa Particular in Viñales made on the Yamaha. So there is still work to do. Meanwhile, Noale's men have revealed a new fairing on Bradley Smith's machine...
Aleix Espargaró wasn't really happy with the first day of MotoGP testing in Qatar. “ We still cannot assess the potential of our new bike” regrets the one who also fell at turn 4. “We weren't very good, but we're not far behind ».
« It was a normal first day of testing but I had some issues at first. Unfortunately, the six hours of testing cannot be used completely. First the track was too dirty, and at the end of the last hour it became too cold. That's what happened, so we didn't have such a good day ».
« We need to know the 2019 bike better. It is also important to prepare a good setup for the Grand Prix in two weeks. For me it is significant that we can go fast in the second half of the race. Therefore, we will work on electronics and with worn tires. We also have a racing simulation planned. I hope we will be better after three days than today » insists Pol's older brother, KTM official... And ranked ahead of him.
He ends on speedweek : “ the new RS-GP 19 is definitely much better than last year's model. This machine is very similar to the 2017 version. But we have to wait for the first races and real comparisons with rivals. Tests are tests. The whole truth is only revealed at the Grand Prix. So far it is difficult to estimate how close or not we are to the adversaries ».
From his side Bradley Smith was testing a new aerodynamic configuration intended for fast tracks requiring more downforce… (Photo GPone)
MotoGP, Qatar J1 Test: times
| Pos | No | Pile | Motorcycle | HIGHLIGHTS | Diff | |
| 1 | 12 | Maverick Vinales | Yamaha M1 | 1:55.051 | ||
| 2 | 42 | alex rins | Suzuki GSX-RR | 1:55.159 | 0.108 | |
| 3 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati GP19 | 1:55.550 | 0.499 | |
| 4 | 9 | Danilo Petrucci | Ducati GP19 | 1:55.594 | 0.543 | |
| 5 | 46 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha M1 | 1:55.604 | 0.553 | |
| 6 | 53 | Tito Rabat | Ducati GP18 | 1:55.694 | 0.643 | |
| 7 | 20 | fabio quartararo | Yamaha M1 | 1:55.772 | 0.721 | |
| 8 | 30 | Takaaki Nakagami | Honda RC213V | 1:55.943 | 0.892 | |
| 9 | 44 | Espargaro Pol | KTM RC16 | 1:56.040 | 0.989 | |
| 10 | 93 | Marc Marquez | Honda RC213V | 1:56.167 | 1.116 | |
| 11 | 36 | Joan mir | Suzuki GSX-RR | 1:56.264 | 1.213 | |
| 12 | 41 | Alex Espargaro | Aprilia RS-GP | 1:56.358 | 1.307 | |
| 13 | 29 | Andrea Iannone | Aprilia RS-GP | 1:56.447 | 1.396 | |
| 14 | 21 | Franco Morbidelli | Yamaha M1 | 1:56.511 | 1.460 | |
| 15 | 63 | Francis Bagnaia | Ducati GP18 | 1:56.738 | 1.687 | |
| 16 | 5 | Johann zarco | KTM RC16 | 1:56.770 | 1.719 | |
| 17 | 88 | Miguel Oliveira | KTM RC16 | 1:56.891 | 1.840 | |
| 18 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda RC213V | 1:56.921 | 1.870 | |
| 19 | 43 | Jack Miller | Ducati GP19 | 1:56.932 | 1.881 | |
| 20 | 17 | Karel Abraham | Ducati GP18 | 1:57.053 | 2.002 | |
| 21 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Honda RC213V | 1:57.090 | 2.039 | |
| 22 | 38 | Bradley Smith | Aprilia RS-GP | 1:57.137 | 2.086 | |
| 23 | 55 | Hafiz Syahrin | KTM RC16 | 1:57.459 | 2.408 |
