MotoGP testing: Vinales tops final day of post-season Valencia running – MotoGP

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Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales ended MotoGP’s post-season test at Valencia on top, eclipsing Andrea Dovizioso and Marc Marquez in the final hour of the second day.

Vinales, who set the pace on the opening day, had a rare crash in the middle of Wednesday’s running but went on to set the best time of the test – a 1m30.757s.

Just like on Tuesday, the track was cold and damp to start the session, and remained empty for the first two hours before KTM’s Johann Zarco again kicked off the proceedings.

Aprilia’s Andrea Iannone soon eclipsed him as the pacesetter, while Zarco’s team-mate Pol Espargaro and Ducati’s new works rider Danilo Petrucci then lowered the benchmark.

But reigning champion Marquez, venturing out on track on a 2019 prototype Honda, was much quicker straight away, taking a lead of over nine tenths with four hours left on the clock.

The rest of the pack gradually worked their way towards Marquez’s 1m31.019s, and in the penultimate hour he was finally dethroned by Dovizioso.

Marquez, who had spent the day switching between two black-liveried prototype RC213Vs, joined Dovizioso in the sub-1m31s range in the final hour, but couldn’t topple the Ducati rider, coming up 0.021s short.

A few minutes later, Vinales overhauled both, finding two tenths on Dovizioso’s effort in the final sector to complete a clean sweep of the two-day test.

Pramac Ducati’s Jack Miller followed Marquez on his fastest lap to end up fourth, while his former team-mate Petrucci slotted into fifth place in the closing minutes.

Franco Morbidelli, impressive again on the Petronas SRT-run Yamaha, was the final rider below 1m31s in sixth, ahead of Suzuki’s Alex Rins, LCR Honda rider Takaaki Nakagami and Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi.

Aleix Espargaro was the lead Aprilia in 10th, seven tenths up on new team-mate Andrea Iannone, who crashed twice during the day.

Also crashing twice was Zarco, who ended the day 20th, nine tenths slower than the fellow works RC16 of Pol Espargaro.

Ducati tester Michele Pirro took a tumble for the second time in two days, while Yamaha’s new test rider Jonas Folger left his prototype M1 a mangled wreck when he fell off at Turn 10 and the bike clattered against the barrier at speed.

Tech3’s Hafizh Syahrin crashed his new KTM at the same corner in the final minutes of the day, while shortly thereafter Bradley Smith ended his first outing as an Aprilia tester by falling at Turn 1.

Francesco Bagnaia was the highest-placed rookie for Pramac Ducati in 11th, while Honda’s marquee new signing Jorge Lorenzo was 12th, just over eighth tenths off the pace.

MotoGP post-season testing will conclude next week with two days of running at another Spanish venue, Jerez.

Day two times

Pos Rider Team Time Gap Laps
1 Maverick Vinales Yamaha 1m30.757s 57
2 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 1m30.890s 0.133s 57
3 Marc Marquez Honda 1m30.911s 0.154s 53
4 Jack Miller Pramac Ducati 1m30.939s 0.182s 66
5 Danilo Petrucci Ducati 1m30.959s 0.202s 60
6 Franco Morbidelli Petronas Yamaha 1m30.974s 0.217s 58
7 Alex Rins Suzuki 1m31.254s 0.497s 69
8 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda 1m31.304s 0.547s 70
9 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m31.371s 0.614s 63
10 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 1m31.400s 0.643s 55
11 Francesco Bagnaia Pramac Ducati 1m31.405s 0.648s 49
12 Jorge Lorenzo Honda 1m31.584s 0.827s 46
13 Pol Espargaro KTM 1m31.628s 0.871s 47
14 Joan Mir Suzuki 1m31.714s 0.957s 56
15 Tito Rabat Avintia Ducati 1m31.940s 1.183s 59
16 Fabio Quartararo Petronas Yamaha 1m32.091s 1.334s 63
17 Andrea Iannone Aprilia 1m32.124s 1.367s 32
18 Jonas Folger Yamaha 1m32.265s 1.508s 47
19 Michele Pirro Ducati 1m32.376s 1.619s 14
20 Johann Zarco KTM 1m32.509s 1.752s 50
21 Karel Abraham Avintia Ducati 1m32.906s 2.149s 52
22 Hafizh Syahrin Tech3 KTM 1m33.008s 2.251s 43
23 Bradley Smith Aprilia 1m33.028s 2.271s 58
24 Miguel Oliveira Tech3 KTM 1m33.798s 3.041s 46



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