Submitted by David Emmett on
Times are starting to drop as the track cleans up after last night's rain at Qatar, and as the MotoGP riders get back up to speed. Andrea Dovizioso leads his Ducati teammate Danilo Petrucci, both men well into the mid 1'55s, pretty close to race pace. Alex Rins is currently third quickest, the Suzuki Ecstar rider having tested a new exhaust, with two tailpipe emerging from the fairing lower.
Maverick Viñales is fourth quickest on the Monster Energy Yamaha, while Taka Nakagami is the fastest Honda on the 2018 RC213V, the riders on the latest spec working on development. Pol Espargaro put the KTM into sixth place, just faster than Joan Mir on the second Suzuki.
There have been a few crashes already, with Marc Marquez going down at the last corner, but coming away unscathed, and both Aleix Espargaro and Andrea Iannone crashing almost simultaneously at opposite ends of the track.
Some extra track markings have appeared, the basis of a new penalty system. Race Direction has proposed that instead of being forced to drop a place, the riders will have to take a wide line on the outside of a corner, through the runoff, and lose time that way. Feedback from the riders is expected on that tonight and over the remainder of the test.
Times at 8pm local time:
Pos | No | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff | Prev |
1 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati GP19 | 1:55.550 | ||
2 | 9 | Danilo Petrucci | Ducati GP19 | 1:55.594 | 0.044 | 0.044 |
3 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki GSX-RR | 1:55.707 | 0.157 | 0.113 |
4 | 12 | Maverick Vinales | Yamaha M1 | 1:55.832 | 0.282 | 0.125 |
5 | 30 | Takaaki Nakagami | Honda RC213V | 1:55.943 | 0.393 | 0.111 |
6 | 44 | Pol Espargaro | KTM RC16 | 1:56.286 | 0.736 | 0.343 |
7 | 36 | Joan Mir | Suzuki GSX-RR | 1:56.314 | 0.764 | 0.028 |
8 | 53 | Tito Rabat | Ducati GP18 | 1:56.321 | 0.771 | 0.007 |
9 | 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia RS-GP | 1:56.358 | 0.808 | 0.037 |
10 | 21 | Franco Morbidelli | Yamaha M1 | 1:56.511 | 0.961 | 0.153 |
11 | 20 | Fabio Quartararo | Yamaha M1 | 1:56.567 | 1.017 | 0.056 |
12 | 46 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha M1 | 1:56.594 | 1.044 | 0.027 |
13 | 63 | Francesco Bagnaia | Ducati GP18 | 1:56.738 | 1.188 | 0.144 |
14 | 5 | Johann Zarco | KTM RC16 | 1:56.770 | 1.220 | 0.032 |
15 | 88 | Miguel Oliveira | KTM RC16 | 1:56.891 | 1.341 | 0.121 |
16 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda RC213V | 1:56.921 | 1.371 | 0.030 |
17 | 43 | Jack Miller | Ducati GP19 | 1:56.932 | 1.382 | 0.011 |
18 | 93 | Marc Marquez | Honda RC213V | 1:56.943 | 1.393 | 0.011 |
19 | 17 | Karel Abraham | Ducati GP18 | 1:57.053 | 1.503 | 0.110 |
20 | 38 | Bradley Smith | Aprilia RS-GP | 1:57.137 | 1.587 | 0.084 |
21 | 29 | Andrea Iannone | Aprilia RS-GP | 1:57.362 | 1.812 | 0.225 |
22 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Honda RC213V | 1:57.405 | 1.855 | 0.043 |
23 | 55 | Hafizh Syahrin | KTM RC16 | 1:57.459 | 1.909 | 0.054 |
Circuit records and best time in testing:
Year | No | Rider | Bike | Time | Event |
2018 | 5 | Johann Zarco | Yamaha M1 | 1:54.029 | Qatar Test |
2018 | 5 | Johann Zarco | Yamaha M1 | 1:53.680 | Qualifying |
2016 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha M1 | 1:54.927 | Race |
Comments
That penalty proposal seems weird...
Forcing riders onto the dirty part of the track at race pace?
Seems Reasonable...
I'd expect that slowing down from race pace and assessing the runoff area grip levels would be part of the penalty.
Seems Reasonable...
I'd expect that slowing down from race pace and assessing the runoff area grip levels would be part of the penalty.