All the drivers present this weekend had an appointment this morning for a test day, with a second this Tuesday for some, and they were all there (except Team Aspar), joined by Sylvain Guintoli replacing Alex Rins at Suzuki and Mika Kallio as a tester for KTM.
One of the aims of these tests was to evaluate the new Michelin front tire with a stiffer construction, and with this in mind each driver had the same tires as during the weekend, plus two new fronts in medium compound and two in compound hard.
This type of tire was evaluated during the Valencia tests at the end of last season, but put aside because it caused too much chatter for some. At Sepang, most drivers preferred the softer construction. Then finally Valentino Rossi, Andrea Iannone and Honda drivers Marc Marquez, Dani Pedrosa and Cal Crutchlow wondered if the stiffer version was not better on certain circuits. The current two days of testing should provide some answer to this question.
For effective results, the riders performed consecutive series of runs, without changing the bike's settings, to have a healthy basis for comparison.
The Ducatis carried out these tests with a classic fairing, the replacement for the “anvil head” model currently being studied in the wind tunnel.
On the side of Maverick Vinales, we wondered within his team if the problems experienced during the race could not have been caused by the high temperature. From his third lap this hand, he turned in 1'38.878, while during the Grand Prix his best time was 1'40.706. During the warm up on Sunday morning, Maverick recorded a time of 1'39.433.
An hour after the start of the session, Vinales was in the lead with this 1'38.878, 0.121 ahead Alex Espargaro, 0.163 ahead Marc Marquez and 0.246 ahead Jorge Lorenzo. Valentino Rossi, Johann Zarco and Jonas Folger were the only ones who had not yet ridden. Sylvain Guintoli was planned only for Tuesday, with perhaps a few rounds of getting used to this Monday afternoon.
Vinales progressed in 1'38.635, 0.002 ahead of Marc Marquez. Johann zarco started and 22 drivers took to the track. Valentino Rossi joined them at 11:53 a.m.
Time at noon:
1 VIÑALES, Maverick Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1:38.635 23 / 30
2 MARQUEZ, Marc Repsol Honda Team 1:38.637 0.002 0.002 26 / 26
3 ESPARGARO, Aleix Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1:38.999 0.364 0.362 12 / 26
4 PEDROSA, Dani Repsol Honda Team 1:39.018 0.383 0.019 16 / 16
5 DOVIZIOSO, Andrea Ducati Team 1:39.030 0.395 0.012 27 / 27
6 LORENZO, Jorge Ducati Team 1:39.124 0.489 0.094 4 / 13
7 CRUTCHLOW, Cal LCR Honda 1:39.319 0.684 0.195 19 / 23
8 ZARCO, Johann Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1:39.528 0.893 0.209 5 / 8
9 MILLER, Jack EG 0,0 Marc VDS 1:39.548 0.913 0.020 29 / 32
10 RABAT, Tito EG 0,0 Marc VDS 1:39.576 0.941 0.028 28 / 29
11 REDDING, Scott OCTO Pramac Racing 1:39.721 1.086 0.145 4 / 17
12 IANNONE, Andrea Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1:39.774 1.139 0.053 3 / 26
13 PETRUCCI, Danilo OCTO Pramac Racing 1:39.879 1.244 0.105 8 / 19
14 ESPARGARO, Pol Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1:39.959 1.324 0.080 7 / 16
15 SMITH, Bradley Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1:40.111 1.476 0.152 4 / 10
16 BARBERA, Hector Reale Avintia Racing 1:40.122 1.487 0.011 2 / 12
17 KALLIO, Mika Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1:40.382 1.747 0.260 18 / 19
18 ROSSI, Valentino Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1:40.703 2.068 0.321 5 / 6
19 LOWES, Sam Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1:40.784 2.149 0.081 3 / 25
20 TSUDA, Takuya Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1:40.798 2.163 0.014 21 / 31
21 BAZ, Loris Reale Avintia Racing 1:40.862 2.227 0.064 5 / 16
22 FOLGER, Jonas Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1:41.795 3.160 0.933 2 / 2
NC GUINTOLI, Sylvain Team SUZUKI ECSTAR
Basis of comparison: each driver's best lap during the Grand Prix (28° air, 41° runway):
1 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1'40.243
2 Johann ZARCO FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 1'40.298
3 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR LCR Honda HONDA 1'40.437
4 Jorge LORENZO SPA Ducati Team DUCATI 1'40.539
5 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1'40.560
6 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team DUCATI 1'40.630
7 Maverick VIÑALES SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YAMAHA 1'40.706
8 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YAMAHA 1'40.726
9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA OCTO Pramac Racing DUCATI 1'40.744
10 Jack MILLER AUS EG 0,0 Marc VDS HONDA 1'40.837
11 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Pull&Bear Aspar Team DUCATI 1'40.865
12 Jonas FOLGER GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 1'40.873
13 Andrea IANNONE ITA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR SUZUKI 1'40.947
14 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini APRILIA 1'41.197
15 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 1'41.407
16 Loris BAZ FRA Reale Avintia Racing DUCATI 1'41.471
17 Hector BARBERA SPA Reale Avintia Racing DUCATI 1'41.482
18 Bradley SMITH GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 1'41.541
19 Tito RABAT SPA EG 0,0 Marc VDS HONDA 1'41.550
20 Scott REDDING GBR OCTO Pramac Racing DUCATI 1'41.560
21 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Pull&Bear Aspar Team DUCATI 1'41.5640.004
22 Sam LOWES GBR Aprilia Racing Team Gresini APRILIA 1'42.018
23 Takuya TSUDA JPN Team SUZUKI ECSTAR SUZUKI 1'42.735 3
Photo © Jerez Circuit
