Movistar Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales put the nightmare of yesterday’s Jerez MotoGP race behind him to top today’s session, outpacing reigning champion Marc Marquez by 0.002s with winner Dani Pedrosa in third and only a further 0.0079s back.But it was more disaster for Valentino Rossi who ended 1.8s off the pace in 18th place with only Sam Lowes and Alex Rins stand-in Sylvain Guintoli behind him. The Yamaha men spent their time on chassis development as well as trying the new front tyre.
Michelin made one with a stiffer construction in and medium compounds available for the grid to try, andurther discussions about putting this into the permanent allocation will be had at Le Mans.
Vinales set a 1’38.635 - four-tenths off Pedrosa’s pole pace from Saturday - with Marquez on a 1’38.637 and Pedrosa putting in a 1’38.716 while Aleix Espargaro was also on fire, sitting in fourth on a 1’38.999, almost half a second quicker than his qualifying time.
Monster Yamaha men Johann Zarco and Jonas Folger ended the day in P9 and P14 with bests of 1’39.528 and 1’39.797 respectively, with the Frenchman putting in 42 laps and the German 39. Folger focused on setting, and working with the front.
Marquez tested a new exhaust used by LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow throughout the Spanish GP, with tyres also a key point of interest.
Crutchlow focused on the exhaust, electronics and rear suspension over his day of 70 laps, and the Brit posted the seventh quickest time of the day – a 1’39.319. Estrella Galicia riders also had some small parts to try from Honda, with Jack Miller ending the day in P11 with a 1’39.548 and Tito Rabat just behind with a 1:39.576.
The Ducati Team of Andrea Dovizioso and Spanish GP podium finisher Jorge Lorenzo ended the day in fifth and sixth respectively, with best laps of 1’39.030 and 1’39.124. The Borgo Panigale factory brought no new parts, focusing on the rubber.
Octo Pramac Ducati riders Scott Redding and Danilo Petrucci had two distinct days of testing, with the Brit in P10 as a later improver and the Italian in P15. Redding focused on early race pace with a full tank and new tyres, with Petrucci trying a new front fork to improve turning on his GP17.
Reale Avintia Racing’s Hector Barbera was another improver in the afternoon up to P8. The Spaniard raised the seat and footpeg height on his GP16 in the test, trying to find more front feeling, as teammate Loris Baz worked on the front end to get more comfortable on his GP15.
Aleix Espargaro was one of those with the most additions to test, including a new swingarm and internal cooling ducts for the fuel tank – as well working on electronics and testing a new fairing. Teammate Sam Lowes did over 60 laps as he continues his progression, ending the day in P22.
Ecstar Suzuki brought no new parts, but focused on front-end feeling – especially given the new front tyre to evaluate. Andrea Iannone was P12 with a 1'39.654, with test rider Takuya Tsuda in P18. Le Mans replacement rider for injured Alex Rins, Sylvain Guintoli, rode in the afternoon as he gets back in the GP groove – and will remain at Jerez on Tuesday alongside Andrea Iannone for another day of track action after 37 initial laps on first contact and finishing onlu 2/6s off the pace.
Red Bull KTM had Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith at the test, as well as test rider Mika Kallio. Espargaro focused on reconfirming results so far for the Austrian factory, checking previous data was correct after racking up a lot of miles since the last chance the teams had the chance to test outside of a race weekend. The three men were P16, P17 and P20 respectively, with Espargaro’s 1'39.959 the best lap of the day from the team and a combined total of more than 150 laps for the riders present.
