2018 Buriram MotoGP FP4 Result: Dovizioso There When It Matters

By Zara Daniela | Sat, 06/10/2018 - 07:13

Yamaha got a taste for some headlines after stealing the spotlight on Friday and Maverick Viñales seemed to forget that his bike used to suffer in hot slippery conditions and set camp at the front of the pack straight out the gates – only to be quickly demoted by teammate Valentino Rossi once the Spaniard took to the pits. The Yamaha charge was stopped by Andrea Iannone of all people once the Italian picked the pocket of his compatriot. Ultimately it was a pointless exercise once the title rivals swapped rubber and attacked the top of the charts.

Andrea Dovizioso found some speed once he put on new hard tyres and secured top spot by almost three tenths of a second, while doing a solid job on race pace as well. Marc Marquez had started his afternoon riding consistently on used hard rubber before testing an unusual used medium front-soft rear combination that pushed him towards the sharp end of the timesheets. After a cancelled fastest lap, the world champion had to settle for second and set his sights on Q1. Rossi dropped to third but showed very impressive rhythm to claim his share in the stakes for Sunday’s race.

Viñales was not too far off his teammate’s pace and ended the session as the last man within half as second of Dovizioso. Italians Iannone and Danilo Petrucci were followed by the Honda duo of Cal Crutchlow and Dani Pedrosa, the HRC bikes almost nine tenths down on the leader. Jack Miller and Alvaro Bautista completed the top ten, with Johann Zarco, Franco Morbidelli and Alex Rins knocking on the doors.

Results:

Pos. Num. Rider Bike Time Gap 1st Prev.
1 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati 1'30.693    
2 93 Marc MARQUEZ Honda 1'30.976 0.283 0.283
3 46 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 1'31.104 0.411 0.128
4 25 Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 1'31.165 0.472 0.061
5 29 Andrea IANNONE Suzuki 1'31.242 0.549 0.077
6 9 Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati 1'31.341 0.648 0.099
7 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda 1'31.522 0.829 0.181
8 26 Dani PEDROSA Honda 1'31.586 0.893 0.064
9 43 Jack MILLER Ducati 1'31.591 0.898 0.005
10 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA Ducati 1'31.623 0.930 0.032
11 5 Johann ZARCO Yamaha 1'31.635 0.942 0.012
12 21 Franco MORBIDELLI Honda 1'31.733 1.040 0.098
13 42 Alex RINS Suzuki 1'31.754 1.061 0.021
14 38 Bradley SMITH KTM 1'32.050 1.357 0.296
15 30 Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 1'32.099 1.406 0.049
16 41 Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 1'32.171 1.478 0.072
17 12 Thomas LUTHI Honda 1'32.257 1.564 0.086
18 55 Hafizh SYAHRIN Yamaha 1'32.459 1.766 0.202
19 10 Xavier SIMEON Ducati 1'32.527 1.834 0.068
20 17 Karel ABRAHAM Ducati 1'32.554 1.861 0.027
21 44 Pol ESPARGARO KTM 1'32.706 2.013 0.152
22 45 Scott REDDING Aprilia 1'32.719 2.026 0.013
23 81 Jordi TORRES Ducati 1'33.157 2.464 0.438
2018
15
MotoGP
Buriram, Thailand
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Comments

Zara, you have me breathing heavily! Can you please proffer basic editing services to our friend Jared? If you don't I will, since I do it in my head anyway while reading.

That the Yamaha has bested stories of tire strategy is a blessing. But this bike has waltzed its way into a bogey track. That's right, I am saying that a bogey track for Yamaha now is one at which their bike works...and they have no idea why! That is what is most fun. Look, a brand new track, and our bike works here!! Holy baby nino. That is still the best chassis on the grid, perhaps it had a happy accident.

In pursuit of a one star, I include this from FP2:

The real question is how Marquez was able to get Lorenzo's engine to cut out entering a corner. Obviously, due to being block passed at turn entry the 99 bike's electronics have now been changed to Dovi's salad box - to cut out just at the time that Marquez dives inside. But Lorenzo is too fast for these settings, no? If it happens once, there is not a problem. But if Marquez makes his bike crash by itself again, there will be a problem.
;)

I was more proud of this post when it had *

Apical, getting garage access? Where on the track are you spectating? Keep us filled in friend!