Movistar Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales has taken charge of the Sepang MotoGP test timesheets today, putting in a short time attack with a few minutes left which saw the soft-tyred YZR-M1 lap at 1’59.355 which was enough to knock team-mate Valentino Rossi from top spot.
Rossi put in a 1’59.390 on his penultimate lap to take the lead away from Britain’s Cal Crutchlow and it looked like The Doctor would be king of today’s hill but Vinales had other ideas. It was a little unexpected as crew chief Ramon Forcada said earlier in the day he didn’t have a time attack in the schedule.
Forcada revealed two different engine specs are available to both his rider and Rossi, and at least one has improvements in all areas. Rossi’s chief Silvano Galbusera says the M1 has more top speed and the factory have made the engine less aggressive, which will help the tyre life problems both he and Maverick Vinales experienced last year.
Crutchlow has the use of three RC213Vs, two in 2018 spec, and his fastest lap was just 0.088 slower than Vinales. As with yesterday, Jorge Lorenzo shot into a top-five spot late on as the factory Ducati team work on a new fork from Ohlins, engine parts and some aerodynamic aspects.
Jack Miller put his satellite Elmo Ducati in fifth place with a 1’59.509, just ahead of Johann Zarco on the Monster Yamaha. The Fremchman continues to use the 2017-spec M1 he first tested at Valencia last year.
Reigning champion Marc Marquez was top of the tree on a 1’59.730 with an hour left but he slipped back to seventh place. Marquez has stuck to the 2018 bike today with new engine specs which are looking for extra top speed and more connection from the throttle, according to crew chief Santi Hernandez.
Andrea Dovizioso put his GP18 eighth place but didn’t go for an outright lap at session end, setting his best of 1’59.732 on lap 20 of 32. Dovzioso’s track eingeer Alberto Giribuola says Ducati have found some of the corner speed they were looking for but they also have some instability issues but he is confident that can be removed with setup changes.
Danilo Petrucci finished in ninth place and only 0.015s behind his factory counterpart while Andrea Iannone completed the top ten despite mangling a GSX-RR motor early doors.
Yesterday’s fastest man Dani Pedrosa ended in 12th, one behind Aleix Espargaro’s Aprilia, after concentrating on a newer engine spec, a different map and aero parts. He was trailed by Alex Rins, Pol Espargaro and Tito Rabat. Bradley Smith’s KTM was next along and only 1.165s off the pace with Franco Morbidelli in 17th. Scott Redding finished in 23rd.
