MotoGP tests Phillip Island: The report of the third day

Maverick Vinales started the day in 1'28.549, four tenths off Marc Marquez's lap record. He was second in 1'28.844, 0.295 ahead of the astonishing Jonas Folger in 1'29.042, 0.493 behind Vinales. Valentino Rossi was ninth at mid-session, Jorge Lorenzo twelfth ahead of Johann Zarco, and Loris Baz twentieth.

At lunch time, we could make a first point on the technical level.
At Yamaha , Vinales and Rossi essentially compared the old and new chassis in order to definitively choose which one to use this season. Vinales and Rossi were happy with the engine.
At Honda, the all-new 2017 engine suited Marquez with its power “normal, but nothing more”. There was still some adaptation work to be done in terms of electronics. Marquez's impressive series of fast laps the day before seemed to prove that consistency was good, although according to Cal Crutchlow the RC213V was no easier to drive than with the old engine.
At Suzuki the most visible development was the new fairing, which seemed to reduce the pitch up a bit.
At Ducati, Lorenzo always found the engine too brutal, not allowing him to use his strong point, his speed in cornering. He found the engine too nervous when going around and couldn't adapt his driving style. Andrea Dovizioso had a similar problem mid-corner, somewhat alleviated by the use of the new Öhlins fork.
At Aprilia, Aleix Espargaro developed the 2017 while Sam Lowes got used to the 2016. Espargaro, however, stopped using the new engine, with problems in the delivery of power. Despite this, the Catalan was satisfied with the new fairing, with less wheelie, but also less maneuverability when cornering.
At KTM, we tried many parts and solutions, the major problem being being able to correctly pass the power to the ground.

To Ramón Forcada, chief technician of Vinales at Yamaha, “ It is difficult to choose between the two chassis because they are very close. We hope to make a decision here, but we may have to wait for the Qatar tests to do so. The difference is small, so we have to compare the two chassis in multiple conditions, full or almost empty tank, new or worn tires, etc. We are already going to do two long runs which should help us. Otherwise, we hope the weather will be nice in Qatar. We must also take into account the evolution of Michelin tires. »

According to Silvano Galbussera, chief technician of Rossi, “ We tried yesterday to compare the two chassis, but we went in the wrong direction. We are testing new tires for Michelin, but when we compare the two chassis we use the same standard tires. The goal is to have less aggressiveness on the rear tire so as not to have the problems of the second half of 2016 at the end of the race. The plan for this last day is to first do a quick ride, and then, if there is time, to do a long ride. »

As the second part of the session was about to begin, Cal Crutchlow estimated that if the race took place here today, victory would be between him (editor's note: first in 2016), Marquez, Vinales and probably Rossi. He clarified that Honda still had room to spare. He also felt that doing a long distance run today was almost impossible because the front tire was too soft compared to the heat of the track. This was a bit what a few good laps from Marquez seemed to indicate in 1'29, but less consecutive than yesterday.

Maverick Vinales, two hours from the end, did not seem to have this problem and aligned the laps in 1'29.4 to 1'29.7 with metronome regularity. He was not bothered because only four drivers were racing, including Rossi in 1'30. Valentino, then ninth, seemed to be struggling to progress at that time.

An interesting moment a little less than two hours from the end saw the meeting on track of Vinales (in his series in 1'29) and Marquez who came to stick to his rear wheel. Vinales cut (1'37) and Marquez returned to his stand. Maverick then imperturbably resumed his pace, without having stopped, in 1'29. Once Vinales returned to his pit, Marquez began his own series of laps in 1'29, which was also the case – more surprisingly – for Jonas Folger. But the German fell without seriousness. Pol Espargaro brilliantly brought his KTM to fifteenth position in 1'29.857, two tenths behind Lorenzo. Alex Rins jumped to fourth position in 1'29.102. Cal Crutchlow snatched this fourth place from him by 0.001. It was clearly time for the final sprint.

All four Hondas were well placed, with Marquez second, Crutchlow fourth, Pedrosa sixth and Miller eighth. Lorenzo moved up to eighth in 1'29.342, while Rossi stagnated in twelfth position and Iannone in thirteenth. Aleix Espargaro tenth preceded them on his Aprilia. Alex Rins (then fifth) fell without seriousness with his Suzuki in the second corner. He will then leave on his second GSX-RR. With about twenty minutes remaining, everyone returned to the stands. Dani Pedrosa was the first to make significant progress by moving into third position in 1'29.033, 0.4 behind Vinales. Danilo Petrucci went from seventeenth place in 1'29.9 to fourteenth in 1'29.6. He didn't look his best on the 2017 Desmosedici either.

Vinales clocked 1'28.6, slower than his best time of the morning, but still the second performance of the day. He ultimately kept the best time ahead of Marquez, Pedrosa and Folger. The first Ducati was seventh with Dovizioso, just ahead of Lorenzo. Rossi was eleventh ahead of Iannone, while Zarco was fourteenth and Baz seventeenth.

Results of the third day:

Pos	Pile	Team	Chrono	Difference	Tours
1	VIÑALES, Maverick	Yamaha Motor Racing	1:28.549		13 / 101
2	MARCHEZ, Marc	Repsol Honda Team	1:28.843	0.294	14 / 96
3	PEDROSA, Dani	Repsol Honda Team	1:29.033	0.484	61 / 65
4	Folger, Jonas	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	1:29.042	0.493	12 / 63
5	CRUTCHLOW, Cal	Honda LCR	1:29.101	0.552	72 / 85
6	Rins, Alex	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	1:29.103	0.554	60 / 66
7	DOVIZIOSO, Andrew	Ducati Team	1:29.248	0.699	9 / 73
8	LORENZO, Jorge	Ducati Team	1:29.342	0.793	61 / 75
9	MILLER, Jack	Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS	1:29.358	0.809	18 / 93
10	Espargaro, Aleix	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	1:29.361	0.812	61 / 65
11	Rossi, Valentine	Yamaha Motor Racing	1:29.470	0.921	13 / 52
12	IANNON, Andrew	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	1:29.547	0.998	63 / 77
13	PETRUCCI, Danilo	Octo Pramac Racing	1:29.615	1.066	50 / 57
14	ZARCO, Johann	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	1:29.670	1.121	10 / 87
15	BARBERA, Hector	Royal Esponsorama Racing	1:29.791	1.242	82 / 83
16	ESPARGARÓ, Pol	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	1:29.857	1.308	62 / 62
17	BAZ, Loris	Royal Esponsorama Racing	1:29.977	1.428	64 / 71
18	SMITH, Bradley	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	1:29.978	1.429	73 / 73
19	BAUTISTA, Alvaro	Pull&Bear Aspar Team	1:29.984	1.435	7 / 74
20	REDDING, Scott	Octo Pramac Racing	1:30.005	1.456	47 / 74
21	LOWES, Sam	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	1:30.200	1.651	29 / 57
22	ABRAHAM, Karel	Pull&Bear Aspar Team	1:30.452	1.903	24 / 61