With an honest time of 1'42.975 achieved during the first day, the official Yamaha rider ranked rather well among the men having ridden on hard tyres, but he fell behind the next day by not being able to obtain better than seventh place in 1 '41.679. He nonetheless remained confident for the race itself.
The third time achieved by Tom Sykes could only confirm his choice to race for BMW in 2021. Michael van der Mark and his team decided to seek the best settings for their R1 over the entire race, including with worn tires at the end. of trial, rather than provoking a duel Jonathan Rhea et Scott Redding in the middle of a fight for first position. Especially since “Mickey” first had to get back to his habits.
“The last time I came to Barcelona was ten years ago, I had to get used to the track and the bike again. And I can't remember the last time I didn't ride a motorcycle for so long." van der Mark explained to Ivo Schützbach from Speedweek.com.
“Over the last four months the guys have worked a lot on the bike, and we mainly focused on development during the test. I see a lot of positive things about the R1, even if you don't really see it if you only look at the result. »
“We are ready for the next race. If we weren't, it would be too late. »
Why not try to achieve a good time on Thursday morning, when it wasn't too hot yet?
“Because we had a lot to try and we weren’t ready,” Van der Mark explained. “We knew the track would be very good for the first hour, but we preferred to stick to our plan. It was a test and it was more important to gather information and be ready for the races. Now we need to evaluate the data. »
Who do you see ahead in the next race at Jerez on the first weekend of August?
“I think Rea and Redding can be faster than the others in the first laps, but then everyone is very close. I'm ready to fight! With the different track temperatures and grip levels in Barcelona, it is very difficult to make comparisons between drivers. »
“The conditions were constantly changing over the two days, you only saw brief moments, snapshots. It's usually very hot in Jerez at this time of year, so you have to watch the tires. But I don't think it will be as extreme as Phillip Island. »
Combined results of the 2 days:
| 1 | 1 | Jonathan Rhea | Kawasaki | 1'41.910 | 1'40.450 |
| 2 | 45 | Scott Redding | Ducati | 1'41.727 | 1'40.606 |
| 3 | 66 | Tom Sykes | BMW | 1'42.455 | 1'40.956 |
| 4 | 22 | alex lowes | Kawasaki | 1'42.318 | 1'41.137 |
| 5 | 54 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | Yamaha | 1'42.771 | 1'41.218 |
| 6 | 50 | Eugene Laverty | BMW | 1'42.832 | 1'41.494 |
| 7 | 60 | Michael van der Mark | Yamaha | 1'42.975 | 1'41.679 |
| 8 | 76 | Loris Baz | Yamaha | 1'41.980 | 1'41.881 |
| 9 | 7 | Chaz Davies | Ducati | 1'42.641 |
1'41.903 |
| 10 | 36 | Leander Market | Ducati | 1'42.997 |
1'42.024 |
| 11 | 31 | Garrett gerloff | Yamaha | 1'43.119 | 1'42.121 |
| 12 | 91 | Leon Haslam | Honda | 1'42.996 |
1'42.126 |
| 13 | 11 | Sandra Cortese | Kawasaki | 1'42.573 |
1'42.187 |
| 14 | 19 | Alvaro Bautista | Honda | 1'42.320 | 1'43.261 |
| 15 | 64 | Federico Caricasulo | Yamaha | 1'43.535 | 1'42.333 |
| 16 | 77 | Maximilian Scheib | Kawasaki | 1'43.568 |
1'42.436 |
| 17 | 20 | Sylvain Barrier | Ducati | 1'44.430 | 1'44.323 |
Photos © Yamaha
