Submitted by David Emmett on
Bradley Smith leaves Barcelona as the fastest of the MotoGP riders, after heavy rain disrupted testing shortly before midday, and left the track wet for the rest of the day. The weather meant that some teams were forced to change their plans. Yamaha's original plan to go riding in the afternoon was scrapped, the factory heading straight to Aragon for two more days of testing. There, they will be joined by Suzuki, as well as a number of Moto2 teams.
Marc Marquez tested a 2014 chassis for the Repsol Honda team, combining last year's frame with this year's swingarm and engine. He was generally positive about the results, but as he had only done five laps on the chassis, said it was too short to be sure about it. He met with his team to draw up a plan to try it again at Assen, but with the weather at Assen looking unstable, they were unsure of having the time to do it. Dani Pedrosa did not try the chassis, as he is already using a different chassis to the one used by his teammate.
The satellite riders spent the limited time they had working on set up. Bradley Smith tried a few solutions for front end feel, three of which worked but in different conditions, giving him some confidence in braking. His teammate Pol Espargaro also found one improvement, but the Spaniard was uncertain those lessons would transfer to another track. With different grip levels and different types of corners, Espargaro feared that the better feel in the front end would change.
Scott Redding did some laps to continue working on his riding style, rather than trying any new parts. He gained confidence once again, and was one of the few riders to go out in the rain, to get a feel for riding in the wet.
Aleix Espargaro was a faller earlier in the day, the Suzuki rider damaging the new parts the factory had brought for the test. Espargaro was uncertain whether they would have replacements for the parts ready for Aragon.
The rain mainly left a lot of riders feeling frustrated. The Repsol Honda riders had a lot of work to do which they were forced to leave undone. Pol Espargaro had a major program of testing set up which he too had been forced to abandon. Eugene Laverty was due to test a new swingarm on his Open class Honda, but the rain prevented it.
The Factory Ducati team were absent, having elected to skip this test. Only Michele Pirro was circulating for Ducati, testing the bike with the Michelin tires.
Results:
| Pos | No | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff | Prev |
| 1 | 38 | Bradley Smith | Yamaha | 1:42.018 | ||
| 2 | 25 | Maverick Viñales | Suzuki | 1:42.069 | 0.051 | 0.051 |
| 3 | 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Suzuki | 1:42.127 | 0.109 | 0.058 |
| 4 | 93 | Marc Márquez | Honda | 1:42.197 | 0.179 | 0.070 |
| 5 | 68 | Yonny Hernandez | Ducati | 1:42.332 | 0.314 | 0.135 |
| 6 | 26 | Dani Pedrosa | Honda | 1:42.386 | 0.368 | 0.054 |
| 7 | 43 | Jack Miller | Honda | 1:42.512 | 0.494 | 0.126 |
| 8 | 44 | Pol Espargaro | Yamaha | 1:42.673 | 0.655 | 0.161 |
| 9 | 6 | Stefan Bradl | Forward Yamaha | 1:42.747 | 0.729 | 0.074 |
| 10 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | 1:42.857 | 0.839 | 0.110 |
| 11 | 69 | Nicky Hayden | Honda | 1:42.949 | 0.931 | 0.092 |
| 12 | 45 | Scott Redding | Honda | 1:43.134 | 1.116 | 0.185 |
| 13 | 9 | Danilo Petrucci | Ducati | 1:43.143 | 1.125 | 0.009 |
| 14 | 19 | Alvaro Bautista | Aprilia | 1:43.219 | 1.201 | 0.076 |
| 15 | 63 | Mike Di Meglio | Ducati | 1:44.054 | 2.036 | 0.835 |
| 16 | 76 | Loris Baz | Forward Yamaha | 1:44.249 | 2.231 | 0.195 |
| 17 | 50 | Eugene Laverty | Honda | 1:44.517 | 2.499 | 0.268 |
| 18 | 33 | Marco Melandri | Aprilia | 1:45.107 | 3.089 | 0.590 |
Comments
Jack..
..is fast I see... He is a great talent however.
Jack is the real deal
I thought he'd have crashed his brains out by now. But instead he steadily improves every session and is keeping the bike on two wheels. Is he ready to take over as the top Open class Honda? Unabashed Hayden fan is starting to get worried.
fastest rookie
it is a pleasant surprise as how fast Maverik V is going,
I know Honda are having issues,but Jack M is not in the same league yet,
hopefully both will progress
Michelin times
I assume you didn't list any times for Pirro because of the Michelin "blackout". Was anybody out there with a stopwatch to compare his times to Yonny's? Or maybe to race times (I know that isn't fair).
Jack Miller?
I want Jack to succeed - hell, we Aussies need something in the post-Stoner era! But to be honest, Jack is beginning to disappoint me a little. Is it just me (possible!) or is the shortcut to MotoGP beginning to look a little less rosy? Hope I'm wrong. . . but shouldn't he be the fastest open Honda in virtually every session by now if he is going on to greater things?
Look at Doohan
Of course we now know that Doohan was an exceptional talent but it was only in his forth year that everything clicked for him and he started regularly winning, and that was on top level equipment.
Jack's not set the world on fire as yet, but it does not appear the machine is top 10 material in any case, so in that light he's doing ok aside from the 3 DNF's. I was happy to see him keep it upright for a good finish in Barcelona, top open Honda and 2nd open bike. Give him some time and lets see how he turns out.
about Stoner
Don't forget that Stoner too wasn't so sensational as a rookie. Sure he was getting one pole and one podium, but overall he have too many non-finishes. At least Miller is staying on his bike more, and he's on a lesser bike too, so don't be too hard on him.
Bradley Smith - Doubter to Believer?
I have to admit that maybe I was wrong about Bradley. That's a tough pill to swallow because even as late as 2015, I never rated him at all. Not one little bit.
Never thought he had proved himself, never set the world on fire, occupied a seat that should have gone to Aleix or a number of others BUT I think I owe him an apology.
Sorry Bradley, I might not quite be a believer yet but I'm rooting for you!
Smith looking good.
I guess most of us Americans who were around when King Kenny came over a year after Steve Baker and two after Pat Hennen, still believe that dirt track is a valuable indicator of roadrace potential. Rossi has also become a believer in the old time religion and Marc, until he hit this bad patch, was the posterboy for getting it right by turning left. The difficult thing to do, after a background in other disciplines, is to become a good dirt tracker without being raised on the ovals the way Americans and Australians are.
I was impressed last December by how good Brad has gotten on short tracks. He was third in the Roadrace division of the Superprestigio and made the Superfinal. He has tremendous a work ethic and is a thinker (and also has quite a lot to say), so now, with his contract running out and Lorenzo and Rossi installed on the A-team, which way is up for him?
Stay at Tech3 maybe along with Pol? Suzuki are happy with Aleix and Maverick. Ducati are set, I think, with the two Andreas. Nakamoto said publicly that he is "a little disappointed" with Scott. Jack is not ready yet to move up. Although this last crash was caused by Aleix, Cal needs a few finishes to solidify his place.
But, if you are Bradley´s management, is it better to stay at Yamaha and wait for Rossi to tire (good luck on that one, especially if he wins the title) or for Jorge to move away (not likely if he wins the title)?
Honda have their eyes on Alex Rins now. They have Cal and Scott on the satellite bikes and Nakamoto has taken Miller on as a three-year project.
So, which way Bradley if he continues his present storming season?
Aprilia need to do something about that Melandri slot and then there is KTM in the wings, but not immediately.
My guess is that Lin Jarvis, who took a big chance bringing Lorenzo straight into the factory team in 08 over Vale´s objections, is trying to decide which of his Tech3 boys to sing hope and promise music to. There is a lot of season left, but over the first seven races Bradley has gained an edge over his Moto2 World Champion team mate and managed a podium in Australia last year as well.
Bradley was racing Pol and Rabat in 125 from 2005 until he made the move to Moto2 (and on less than the best Moto2) and usually had a slight edge over them until Moto2. So he has been developing his talent over the last 11 seasons in GPs. There is more to come now.