Barcelona Tire Test Day 2: Viñales Smashes Record As Rabat Crashes

By David Emmett | Wed, 23/05/2018 - 17:49

Maverick Viñales has given an indication of just how much faster the new asphalt is at the Barcelona circuit. Despite the layout being nominally slower than the old layout, Viñales took over a second and a half of Aleix Espargaro's pole record.

The test was to check both the new surface and the new layout. The new chicane added after Luis Salom's tragic death has been removed, replaced by the original corner with added runoff. However, the old sweeping La Caixa corner at Turn 10 is still gone, MotoGP continuing to use the F1 layout of the tight hairpin at Turn 10 followed by kink left for Turn 11. This makes the orignal corner now Turn 13, instead of Turn 12 under the original MotoGP layout.

Johann Zarco was second fastest on the Tech3 Yamaha, finishing ahead of an eager Jorge Lorenzo, who was first out on track in the morning. Cal Crutchlow ended the day in Fourth, ahead of Andrea Dovizioso and Valentino Rossi. Most of the teams were focusing on tire testing and setup for the race in three weeks' time, though Jorge Lorenzo had said at Le Mans that he intended testing a new tank setup which would give him support in braking. KTM were busy once again, testing a new chassis and swingarm at Barcelona.

There were a fair few crashes on the day. Dani Pedrosa, Taka Nakagami, and Xavier Simeon all came away unhurt, but Tito Rabat had a much bigger crash which sent him to hospital for further checkups. Rabat escaped without any broken bones, but there may still be some ligament damage for the Reale Avintia rider.

Times at the end of Day 2:

Pos No Rider Bike Time Diff Prev
1 25 Maverick Viñales Yamaha M1 1:38.974    
2 5 Johann Zarco Yamaha M1 1:39.251 0.277 0.277
3 99 Jorge Lorenzo Ducati GP18 1:39.257 0.283 0.006
4 35 Cal Crutchlow Honda RC213V 1:39.521 0.547 0.264
5 4 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati GP18 1:39.657 0.683 0.136
6 46 Valentino Rossi Yamaha M1 1:39.708 0.734 0.051
7 93 Marc Marquez Honda RC213V 1:39.714 0.740 0.006
8 29 Andrea Iannone Suzuki GSX-RR 1:39.952 0.978 0.238
9 30 Takaaki Nakagami Honda RC213V 1:40.187 1.213 0.235
10 41 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia RS-GP 1:40.332 1.358 0.145
11 38 Bradley Smith KTM RC16 1:40.353 1.379 0.021
12 45 Scott Redding Aprilia RS-GP 1:40.385 1.411 0.032
13 26 Dani Pedrosa Honda RC213V 1:40.480 1.506 0.095
14 55 Hafizh Syahrin Yamaha M1 1:40.502 1.528 0.022
15 42 Alex Rins Suzuki GSX-RR 1:40.832 1.858 0.330
16 44 Pol Espargaro KTM RC16 1:41.046 2.072 0.214
17 50 Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki GSX-RR 1:41.419 2.445 0.373
18 36 Mika Kallio KTM RC16 1:41.712 2.738 0.293
19 10 Xavier Simeon Ducati GP16 1:41.722 2.748 0.010
20 53 Tito Rabat Ducati GP17      
 
Pole Lap: 2015 Aleix Espargaro Suzuki GSX-RR 1:40.546 169.2 Km/h  

Combined times after 2 days:

Pos No Rider Bike Time Diff Prev
1 25 Maverick Viñales Yamaha M1 1:38.974    
2 5 Johann Zarco Yamaha M1 1:39.251 0.277 0.277
3 99 Jorge Lorenzo Ducati GP18 1:39.257 0.283 0.006
4 35 Cal Crutchlow Honda RC213V 1:39.521 0.547 0.264
5 4 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati GP18 1:39.657 0.683 0.136
6 46 Valentino Rossi Yamaha M1 1:39.708 0.734 0.051
7 93 Marc Marquez Honda RC213V 1:39.714 0.740 0.006
8 29 Andrea Iannone Suzuki GSX-RR 1:39.952 0.978 0.238
9 30 Takaaki Nakagami Honda RC213V 1:40.187 1.213 0.235
10 41 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia RS-GP 1:40.332 1.358 0.145
11 38 Bradley Smith KTM RC16 1:40.353 1.379 0.021
12 45 Scott Redding Aprilia RS-GP 1:40.385 1.411 0.032
13 26 Dani Pedrosa Honda RC213V 1:40.480 1.506 0.095
14 55 Hafizh Syahrin Yamaha M1 1:40.502 1.528 0.022
15 44 Pol Espargaro KTM RC16 1:40.519 1.545 0.017
16 42 Alex Rins Suzuki GSX-RR 1:40.602 1.628 0.083
17 36 Mika Kallio KTM RC16 1:41.096 2.122 0.494
18 50 Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki GSX-RR 1:41.419 2.445 0.323
19 10 Xavier Simeon Ducati GP16 1:41.722 2.748 0.303
20 53 Tito Rabat Ducati GP17      
2018
0
MotoGP
Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain
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Comments

Thanks for the update David. I am very pleased to hear that the circuit has been restored (mostly) to it's former glory. Imho Catalunya retains it's position in the racing circuits pantheon.

The re-surfacing seems to have gone well to, excellent to see good laptimes being set. All the crashes are bit of a worry.

Looking forward to the race, I wont be there this year, maybe next year.

It was explained after Le Mans that high grip can cause more crashes.  There's a lot of grip right up to the point where there tyre lets go.  Lower grip surfaces seem to allow more squirming and a gradual loss of traction.  I suspect this is the same issue which they're seeing at Catalunya.

I don't recall seeing the same thing at PI after their aggressive resurface a few years ago, but PI is a bit of a unique track with few hard accelleration and braking areas.