Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi had two new frames to try at today’s Barcelona MotoGP test and agreed there were plenty of positives - so much so that the team have elected to remain at the Catalan track to further evaluate the chassis.
The two struggled in yesterday’s race where low grip and high temperatures conspired against them whereas Jonas Folger and Johann Zarco - both riding the 2016 M1 - had no such issues. Vinales set a best of 1’44.437 while Rossi was more than a second slower.
“After the challenging Catalan Grand Prix, it was good to have the opportunity today to test in similar conditions and we are satisfied with the amount of work that we got done. Today’s main goal was to evaluate two new frames that we brought here to test,” said team boss Maio Meregalli.
“Maverick tried some different settings and a different frame compared to yesterday’s race bike. He could ride comfortably with a good pace, even on used tyres throughout the whole day. Valentino’s focus has been mainly on testing the new frame, which gave him more confidence in the areas where he wanted to improve. Both new frames had some positive aspects confirmed by the riders and tomorrow they will switch frames between them.”
