Qatar MotoGP Test Saturday Final Times: Rins Leads Suzuki Clean Sweep

By David Emmett | Sat, 22/02/2020 - 17:16

Alex Rins has topped the timesheets at the end of the first day of the MotoGP test at Qatar, the Suzuki Ecstar rider getting half a second under the race lap record, and within two tenths of the best time set at the test here last year. But Rins was over a tenth of a second quicker than his fastest lap of the 2019 test, showing solid improvement.

Rins' advantage was small, however: the Spaniard was just two thousandths of a second quicker than his Suzuki teammate Joan Mir, who ended the day in second spot. Monster Energy Yamaha's Maverick Viñales followed close behind, the Spaniard just three hundredths of a second off the time of Rins, and nearly two tenths quicker than Danilo Petrucci on the factory Ducati.

Franco Morbidelli was the second Yamaha home, the Petronas Yamaha rider fifth on the A-Spec Yamaha, less than a quarter of a second behind Rins. Reigning champion Marc Marquez ended the day as sixth fastest, the Repsol Honda rider a tenth of a second behind Morbidelli. Marquez led the other brace of Yamahas, Valentino Rossi fractionally ahead of Fabio Quartararo.

Pecco Bagnaia was the second fastest Ducat on the day, three quarters of a second behind Alex Rins, and a few hundredths head of Aleix Espargaro on the Aprilia RS-GP.

Times at the end of the first day of the test:

Pos No Rider Bike Time Diff Prev
1 42 Alex Rins Suzuki GSX-RR 1:54.462    
2 36 Joan Mir Suzuki GSX-RR 1:54.464 0.002 0.002
3 12 Maverick Viñales Yamaha M1 1:54.494 0.032 0.030
4 9 Danilo Petrucci Ducati GP20 1:54.634 0.172 0.140
5 21 Franco Morbidelli Yamaha M1 1:54.700 0.238 0.066
6 93 Marc Márquez Honda RC213V 1:54.823 0.361 0.123
7 46 Valentino Rossi Yamaha M1 1:54.876 0.414 0.053
8 20 Fabio Quartararo Yamaha M1 1:55.074 0.612 0.198
9 63 Francesco Bagnaia Ducati GP20 1:55.204 0.742 0.130
10 41 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia RS-GP 1:55.268 0.806 0.064
11 4 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati GP20 1:55.308 0.846 0.040
12 5 Johann Zarco Ducati GP19 1:55.360 0.898 0.052
13 43 Jack Miller Ducati GP20 1:55.430 0.968 0.070
14 44 Pol Espargaro KTM RC16 1:55.449 0.987 0.019
15 30 Takaaki Nakagami Honda RC213V 1:55.627 1.165 0.178
16 33 Brad Binder KTM RC16 1:55.644 1.182 0.017
17 53 Tito Rabat Ducati GP19 1:55.707 1.245 0.063
18 88 Miguel Oliveira KTM RC16 1:55.737 1.275 0.030
19 35 Cal Crutchlow Honda RC213V 1:55.757 1.295 0.020
20 27 Iker Lecuona KTM RC16 1:56.135 1.673 0.378
21 73 Alex Márquez Honda RC213V 1:56.552 2.090 0.417
22 38 Bradley Smith Aprilia RS-GP 1:57.027 2.565 0.475

Records and best times set in Qatar:

Pole Lap: 2019 Maverick Viñales 1:53.546
Fastest Lap: 2019 Fabio Quartararo 1:55.039
Best Race Lap.: 2016 Jorge Lorenzo 1:54.927
All Time Lap Record: 2019 Marc Marquez 1:53.380
       
MotoGP 2019 Maverick Viñales 1:54.208
2020
0
MotoGP
Losail, Qatar
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Comments

"Just testing," yes, but there is much to see (increasingly so?). Aside from the newborn Aprilia, the only bike question mark left is over the Ducati, to be seen in the race at Qatar.

Most of the riders too have displayed much. Testing is up at a much higher bar.

Anyone have trap speeds to paste here? Curious. Thanks!

David, can you explain the fastest lap numbers? Pole and all time lap record are straightforward, but how is the fastest lap time higher than the best race lap? What is the MotoGP time?