#ThaiTest MotoGP Buriram J.3: New circuit record for Dani Pedrosa (afternoon news in detail)

It was in the very last minutes that Dani Pedrosa managed to set the best time of these three days of testing in 1'29.781, narrowly ahead of the very brilliant Johann Zarco by 0.086, and his teammate Marc Marquez by 0.188. Cal Crutchlow completed the Honda triumph with the fourth time, as did Takaaki Nakagami who finished tenth overall and well ahead of the rookies, ahead of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo.

Halfway through the third day of Thai tests (see the summary of the morning here), Johann zarco occupied the first position in front Marc Marquez. On this last day, the Frenchman had beaten the circuit record set the day before by the Spaniard.

#ThaiTest MotoGP Buriram	Chronos
Jonathan Rea 2017 (WSBK SP2)	1'32.957
D.1 tests (mid-day)	1'30.912 Marc Marquez
J.1 tests	1'30.797 Cal Crutchlow
J.2 tests	1'29.969 Marc Marquez
J.3 tests	1'29.781 Dani Pedrosa

General ranking at midday:

Johann zarco at the start of the afternoon was the only driver to have gone below 1.30 this Sunday. In 1'29.867, he topped the rankings for the day Cal Crutchlow in 1'30.064, Marc Marquez in 1'30.143 and Alex Rins in 1'30.178. Jack Miller followed in fifth position with a time of 1'30.190, although slowed down by a small fall a little earlier. The Australian had just set off for a 20-lap run, and everything had to start again. “ Now I will have to start from scratch as soon as the bike is repaired, he regretted, and this during the hottest hours of the day. »

Due to the intense heat that reigned on the circuit, only people were running around 13 p.m. Jack Miller, Alvaro Bautista, Cal Crutchlow and Alex Rins. Crutchlow set the second fastest time of the day in 1'30.064, 0.197 behind Johann Zarco. It was the third time in the classification combined for the three days, 0.095 behind the second time established the day before by Marc Marquez. Michelin specified that Johann Zarco's best lap was achieved with a medium front tire and a soft rear tire. His teammate Hafiz Syahrin was doing quite well with the twentieth time in 1'31.537 to 1.670 from Johann, which allowed him to be ahead of Jorge Lorenzo, then in 1'31.627 this Sunday afternoon.

One of the most impressive drivers on track on day three was Takaaki Nakagami, who occupied twelfth position in the general classification, 0.002 behind Valentino Rossi and 0.079 ahead Andrea Iannone. In 1'30.639, the Japanese totally dominated the other rookies, with Franco Morbidelli seventeenth in 1'31.101, Tom Luthi twenty-third in 1'31.994 and Xavier Simeon twenty-fourth in 1'32.019.

At 3 o'clock before the checkered flag, the track was completely deserted. The heat was one of the reasons, but several teams seemed to have finished their tests and were starting to put away their equipment, while several drivers took off their leathers and dressed in street clothes to head to the airport so as not to miss their plane.

Bradley Smith was the first to return to the track after the lunch break. He then occupied sixteenth position with his KTM in 1'30.921. The fight between the Austrian manufacturer and Aprilia was close, with Alex Espargaro 0.135 behind the British driver. Smith used a new, rather original aerodynamic device (below).

Danilo Petrucci only used his GP18 this Sunday. Ducati had collected its second motorcycle, a GP17, for Lorenzo the evening before. Petrucci noticed that he still had a lot of tires left, and wondered if he was going to try a fast lap in the last hour, “although there is no price for a good time today” he regretted. Danilo felt his race pace was about equal to Dovizioso's, " but it is a small circuit and times are very tight. We will see it more clearly on a big track like Qatar. »

Ducati announced two hours from the end thatAndrea Dovizioso had completed its tests. He then occupied seventh position in the provisional general classification with a time of 1'30.192, then 0.325 behind Johann Zarco.

Marc Marquez briefly returned to the track for a few laps, accompanied only by Scott Redding. His teammate Pedrosa followed him a few minutes later. Marquez joined him. The Hondas then occupied second place behind Zarco overall with Marquez at 0.102, third with Crutchlow at 0.197 and fourth with Pedrosa at 0.260. Marquez fell without gravity in turn 12 and quickly returned to his pit box.

Franco Morbidelli joined them, eager to improve his 18th place overall, and above all to get closer to Takaaki Nakagami who was then clearly ahead of him as best rookie. alex rins also came out of the stands, with Aleix Espargaro, Mika Kallio et Scott Redding. Others stopped their tests due to lack of fuel, having consumed more than expected by shooting in the hot hours of the middle of the day when this was not supposed to be possible. This was of no consequence as their testing programs were completed. At 1h30 from the end, Valentino Rossi left his box to improve his twelfth time.

The track really started to come alive with an hour to go, with Marc Marquez, Cal Crutchlow, Alex Rins, Maverick Vinales, Takaaki Nakagami, Andrea Iannone, Mika Kallio and Scott Redding. Meanwhile, Ruben Xaus, Xavier Siméon's current coach, was running indoors at the MCN Show.

Hafizh Syharin for his part was extremely satisfied with his discovery of the MotoGP category:

On the side of the official Movistar Yamaha team, Maverick Vinales (eighth) and Valentino Rossi (twelfth) turned diligently to at least try to get closer to the best time established by Johann Zarco on his Yamaha Tech3.

If the situation was difficult among the Blues, it was not much brighter among the Reds, with Andrea Dovizioso seventh behind Jack Miller sixth on his GP17 Pramac, and above all Jorge Lorenzo fourteenth behind Petrucci ninth. According to Lorenzo, “ I was faster today, but others like Marquez improved much more than me. I thought the new chassis would perform better today, but that wasn't the case. I agree with Dovi when he says that the new chassis is very similar to the old one. It will be better in Qatar, because here we don't have a good race pace, nor a good lap time ».

With 10 minutes to go, Dani Pedrosa jumped into second position with a time of 1'29.961, becoming the third driver under 1.30. He trailed Johann Zarco by 0.094 and preceded his teammate Marc Marquez by 0.008.

On the next lap, Pedrosa set a new circuit record in 1'29.781. He was ahead of Zarco by 0.086 and Marquez by 0.188. Zarco and Marquez did not rotate, only Cal Crutchlow, then fourth, was on track among the leading men.

Superb leader of the rookies ahead of Franco Morbidelli, Takaaki Nakagami, magnificent tenth overall, commented “ I'm really enjoying myself on this bike. I dedicate my time to Daijiro Kato who was a driver I admired a lot. My style is well suited to MotoGP, very flexible, which makes things much easier. »

For Guy Coulon (to whom we wish a happy birthday), “ We had three good days. We followed our program, then we stopped quite early because we had finished the tests concerning us as well as those of the new Michelin tires because it is the first time we have come to this circuit ».

According to Johann zarco « I attacked to try to keep the best time for Guy's birthday! I'm happy with these tests because it's the first time we're riding in Buriram. My time progressed regularly over the 3 days and I was able to push the bike to its limit this Sunday, with the same tire as yesterday. I feel good about the bike and I am confident for Qatar. And we will be ready, with good experience, for the Thai GP. I have nothing to say about Rossi and Vinales' times, I take care of myself and that's it. »

For Maverick Vinales, “It was very difficult, like in Sepang. We need to continue working, particularly on the front and braking. We're having trouble getting into the top 10. At the moment, we're not improving at all. We still have the same problems. It's been going on for 6 months. There are only 3 days of testing left in Qatar. It’s frustrating for me as a driver because I can’t give my best.”

Ranking of the third day:

Final ranking of the 3 days of testing: