Until the last minute of the last free practice session of this Qatar Grand Prix, we did not give much of the skin ofAndrea Iannone on the Suzuki. Lacking confidence with the front of his GSX-RR for a week, since the tests on the same Losail track, the former Ducati official was languishing in an anonymous seventeenth place, 1s7 behind the leader. Casa Particular in Viñales. One last lap just before the checkered flag of FP3 later, he took second, 0.532 seconds behind the same man. A miracle ?
Andrea Iannone is definitely a case. And he is unpredictable. There are few drivers who can remember jumping from seventeenth position to second at the end of the session, gaining in one lap by more than a second. Joe the Maniac will be able to tell that one. He emerged from nothing and was remembered fondly by all. A flash in the pan? We do not know !
The teammate ofalex rins who remained fifteenth explains: “ We still lack pace in race conditions, but Friday evening we managed to improve the bike. Things are getting better and better and that's the main thing. If we continue like this tomorrow Saturday, then I can further reduce my delay by 0.532 sec ».
« Until then our main problem was the front of the bike. Now we can focus on the rear ". Can he do better than this 1'54.848 min tomorrow? “ I can't say that this time means my limit. I continue to attack and progress so I cannot say what is still possible to do. Viñales is for the moment all alone on his planet. At least until we go racing. We'll see ».
The ease of the Yamaha official is therefore annoying. Incidentally, the GSX-RR released its new fairing in Qatar: “ This moderates the wheelie phenomenon, but the bike is less agile in sequences. We have more important things to take care of. I haven't yet decided on which fairing to take for the race. ».
FP3 ranking compiled by our friends at crash.net:
1. Maverick Viñales ESP Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 54.834s [Lap 17/17] 340km/h (Top Speed)
2. Andrea Iannone ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 54.848s +0.014s [16/17] 338km/h
3. Johann Zarco FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 55.008s +0.174s [15/17] 341km/h
4. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 55.042s +0.208s [13/15] 348km/h
5. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 55.113s +0.279s [15/16] 344km/h
6. Cal Crutchlow GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 1m 55.211s +0.377s [15/16] 340km/h
7. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 55.296s +0.462s [14/15] 343km/h
8. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 55.435s +0.601s [15/16] 345km/h
9. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP17) 1m 55.461s +0.627s [14/15] 349km/h
10. Aleix Espargaro ESP Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1m 55.634s +0.800s [16/16] 345km/h
11. Alvaro Bautista ESP Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 55.676s +0.842s [17/17] 347km/h
12. Jonas Folger GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)* 1m 55.713s +0.879s [13/14] 338km/h
13. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 55.790s +0.956s [15/15] 343km/h
14. Karel Abraham CZE Aspar MotoGP Team (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 56.095s +1.261s [14/16] 346km/h
15. Alex Rins ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)* 1m 56.249s +1.415s [16/17] 341km/h
16. Tito Rabat ESP Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 56.617s +1.783s [14/15] 340km/h
17. Scott Redding GBR Octo Pramac Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 56.662s +1.828s [9/14] 343km/h
18. Jack Miller AUS Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 56.692s +1.858s [14/17] 342km/h
19. Sam Lowes GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* 1m 56.854s +2.020s [11/13] 336km/h
20. Loris Baz FRA Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 56.935s +2.101s [4/15] 338km/h
21. Hector Barbera ESP Reale Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 57.005s +2.171s [12/12] 346km/h
22. Pol Espargaro ESP Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 57.630s +2.796s [15/17] 340km/h
23. Bradley Smith GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 57.654s +2.820s [10/18] 337km/h
