MotoGP Tests Phillip Island J1: Score by one breath ahead of Rossi

An hour from the end of this first day, only two drivers had managed to go under 1'30: Marc Marquez in 1'29.497 and Maverick Vinales 0.492 behind his fellow reigning World Champion. Here we had an image of the duel which will perhaps pit the two leaders of Honda and Yamaha this year for the world title. But Valentino Rossi then fifth and Jorge Lorenzo eighth certainly did not hear it that way.

Vinales was the first to go under 1'30, achieving 1'29.990 during the first quarter of the session. Then at midday, Marquez took the lead ahead of Viñales, Cal Crutchlow, Dani Pedrosa, Andrea Dovizioso, Jonas Folger, Jorge Lorenzo, Jack Miller, Alvaro Bautista and Hector Barbera. Zarco was seventeenth and Loris Baz twentieth. With 3 bikes among the top four, Honda dominated.

Sam Lowes and Alvaro Bautista fell in the Siberia bend, and Scott Redding a little further on, without seriousness. It was time for the lunch break and the red flag raised allowed the circuit protection to be repaired. Pol Espargaro then fell, without his KTM being badly damaged.

At Yamaha, Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales were doing comparative tests with two different chassis, both equipped with the new fairing. At Ducati, Jorge Lorenzo, Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci each had two GP17s, one with a box under the saddle, and the other not. Dovizioso was more in charge of development, while Lorenzo worked on the settings to try to improve his position and comfort.

Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa were testing an engine configuration for their Honda (after trying two in Malaysia), while at Suzuki Iannone and Rins had the 2017 version of the GSX-RR after making comparisons with the 2016 at Sepang. They will have new parts to try tomorrow, after having validated the choices made in Malaysia on this first day. At Aprilia, Aleix Espargaro rode the 2017 Moto and Sam Lowes on the 2016. Within the Tech 3 team, Jonas Folger achieved a good tenth time, while Johann Zarco fifteenth focused on the use of worn tires in the race . The drivers were in fact driving with the rear tires used during the last Australian Grand Prix, i.e. one medium and one hard. For the front, 2016 rubber surrounded the profile and carcass recently tested at Sepang. Other tests will be carried out in parallel specifically for Michelin, outside of the allocation allocated to each driver. The rear casing tested in Malaysia will be tested with three different compounds, of which only two will be selected for the next Australian Grand Prix.

In the very last minutes, Andrea Iannone brilliantly lifted his Suzuki into second position, 0.429 behind Marquez's best time, relegating Vinales to third place. Then Valentino Rossi in turn placed his attack three minutes from the checkered flag, taking second place, 0.187 behind Marquez. Marc Marquez finally finished this first day in the lead, ahead of Rossi, Iannone and Vinales, all four under 1.30. Zarco was fifteenth and Baz eighteenth.

Results of the first day

Pos		Pile	Team	Chrono	difference	Laps
1		MARCHEZ, Marc	Repsol Honda Team	1:29.497		53 / 68
2		Rossi, Valentine	Yamaha Motor Racing	1:29.683	0.186	76 / 77
3	P	IANNON, Andrew	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	1:29.926	0.429	68 / 70
4	P	VIÑALES, Maverick	Yamaha Motor Racing	1:29.989	0.492	26 / 64
5	P	CRUTCHLOW, Cal	Honda LCR	1:30.065	0.568	61 / 61
6	P	PETRUCCI, Danilo	Octo Pramac Racing	1:30.262	0.765	87 / 87
7	P	PEDROSA, Dani	Repsol Honda Team	1:30.281	0.784	13 / 55
8		DOVIZIOSO, Andrew	Ducati Team	1:30.410	0.913	16 / 64
9		MILLER, Jack	Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS	1:30.426	0.929	80 / 82
10	P	Folger, Jonas	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	1:30.578	1.081	30 / 62
11	P	LORENZO, Jorge	Ducati Team	1:30.631	1.134	33 / 61
12	P	BAUTISTA, Alvaro	Pull&Bear Aspar Team	1:30.770	1.273	24 / 68
13		BARBERA, Hector	Royal Esponsorama Racing	1:30.771	1.274	7 / 51
14	P	Espargaro, Aleix	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	1:30.802	1.305	26 / 28
15	P	ZARCO, Johann	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	1:30.867	1.370	77 / 80
16		ABRAHAM, Karel	Pull&Bear Aspar Team	1:31.179	1.682	17 / 61
17		ESPARGARÓ, Pol	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	1:31.200	1.703	54 / 59
18	P	BAZ, Loris	Royal Esponsorama Racing	1:31.249	1.752	56 / 60
19	P	Rins, Alex	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	1:31.432	1.935	66 / 66
20		REDDING, Scott	Octo Pramac Racing	1:31.755	2.258	33 / 59
21		LOWES, Sam	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	1:32.307	2.810	15 / 35
22	P	SMITH, Bradley	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	1:32.690	3.193	43 / 57