Valencia MotoGP Test Tuesday Final Times: Quartararo Leads Yamaha Charge

By David Emmett | Tue, 19/11/2019 - 16:08

Fabio Quartararo has ended the first day of the 2020 MotoGP test at Valencia as fastest, despite a big crash in the late afternoon. The Petronas Yamaha rider was a few thousandths faster than the factory Yamaha of Maverick Viñales, and a few hundredths faster than teammate Franco Morbidelli. 

Andrea Dovizioso ended the test in fourth, ahead of Marc Marquez and Joan Mir. Alex Rins was seventh quickest, a fraction behind his Suzuki teammate, and just ahead of Pol Espargaro. With Espargaro in eighth, that puts five of the six manufacturers in the top eight. 

Final times at the end of Tuesday:

Pos No Rider Bike Time Diff Prev
1 20 Fabio Quartararo Yamaha M1 1:30.163    
2 12 Maverick Vinales Yamaha M1 1:30.327 0.164 0.006
3 21 Franco Morbidelli Yamaha M1 1:30.650 0.487 0.051
4 4 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati GP20 1:30.665 0.502 0.142
5 93 Marc Marquez Honda RC213V 1:30.698 0.535 0.166
6 36 Joan Mir Suzuki GSX-RR 1:30.811 0.648 0.016
7 42 Alex Rins Suzuki GSX-RR 1:30.958 0.795 0.066
8 44 Pol Espargaro KTM RC16 1:30.974 0.811 0.090
9 46 Valentino Rossi Yamaha M1 1:31.012 0.849 0.013
10 43 Jack Miller Ducati GP20 1:31.130 0.967 0.207
11 35 Cal Crutchlow Honda RC213V 1:31.183 1.020 0.083
12 9 Danilo Petrucci Ducati GP20 1:31.433 1.270 0.171
13 27 Iker Lecuona KTM RC16 1:31.645 1.482 0.070
14 29 Andrea Iannone Aprilia RS-GP 1:31.674 1.511 0.141
15 53 Tito Rabat Ducati GP19 1:31.775 1.612 0.337
16 41 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia RS-GP 1:31.815 1.652 0.020
17 26 Dani Pedrosa KTM RC16 1:31.863 1.700 0.248
18 51 Michele Pirro Ducati GP20 1:32.016 1.853 0.159
19 17 Karel Abraham Ducati GP19 1:32.034 1.871 0.004
20 38 Bradley Smith Aprilia RS-GP 1:32.090 1.927 0.250
21 33 Brad Binder KTM RC16 1:32.645 2.482 0.160
22 6 Stefan Bradl Honda RC213V 1:32.833 2.670 0.258
23 73 Alex Márquez Honda RC213V 1:32.873 2.710 2.171
2020
0
MotoGP
Valencia, Spain
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Comments

The Yamaha motor looks like one small step forward, as far as can be seen so far. Not two solid steps. They love the new chassis though, and riders are saying it is "a little bit better." Cautious/mild comments re engine and power, and "we have more to come" etc. Hmm.

Re rookies, Iker is doing great! Not just re today's performance of course, but general reflection, won't it be fun to see a rookie of the year race if it is tight and between HRC and Orange? Cheering the underdog, Binder/S Africa/KTM beating A.Marquez/Spain/Honda on track would be satisfying to see.

Man, has Vale become the weak link at Yamaha?  Would they have swept the top 4 spots on the opening day of testing had Zarco or even Lorenzo been riding?

And, the younger Marquez is over 4 seconds off the pace on the first day; did he not get any more laps after the crash?  He may get faster, but you really want to be within 2 seconds on the first outing, even on unfamiliar machinery and/or track. 

Radically new frame from KTM! For sure the biggest news so far re bike development. They are saying things to indicate it is "KTM DNA" etc, but it is a revolution.

I don't think we can call that "tubes," it is a more conventional twin spar frame they made. I believe it is steel. It looks weird!

Pedrosa asked for and has been guiding the changes. The 2020 bike is much lighter, stiffer in general, getting traction down better, and turning more easily/controlled/settled. Already favored and doing best times out of the box. Engine has more outright power, and more usable torque.

YES! Reeling in the front bikes? Delicious. Very exciting.

For me the times are meaningless unless you know what the teams were trying to achieve and what bikes they were set on.

Quarteraro and Morbidelli were presumably on 2019 bikes very similar to what they are familiar with and with not much to test, so easier for them to be fast?

Did the factory riders (all manufacturers) only use their 20 model bikes or did they have 19s as well for back to back comparisons?

What has been changed on the Suzukis and Aprilias?

Testing always provides more questions than answers!

So far, able to gather this: Petronas team is on their 2019 bike w new carbon swingarm, and new fairings/aero package. Drive grip worse w swingarm, but feel is a tad up until it spins on exit.

Factory Yamaha has multiple bikes, most of the time being spent on one new 2020. Unclear what the 2nd one is/has, may be a hybrid trying specific parts? It isn't coming out much. The new motor looks like it isn't more than 1/4 of the step they need in power, so far. But they have a new chassis and bodywork/aero that they really like.

Marquez has just a 2019 bike with different evolutions of the same motor to sort out and choose, and perhaps other small changes. Cal is trying other things out, again a hybrid bike. They are evolving their current bike, have a new frame they aren't using today. Alex is on the old Taka LCR bike to just adapt to a big bike on.

Aprilia has brought frightfully little to this test. The KTM is a revolution, huge changes. Wow! Contrast these two programs. Pol and Aleix are going to have weird dinner discussions, pissing Aleix off to no end until Aprilia brings updates.

Tomorrow we should get more news from Ducati and Suzuki.