Fabio Quartararo fastest in MotoGP Brno test as Yamaha shows pace – MotoGP

Fabio Quartararo ended the post-Czech Grand Prix MotoGP test at Brno fastest of all by 0.012 seconds from Yamaha stablemate Maverick Vinales.

The Petronas SRT rider set the early pace, as he evaluated different suspension components, and Quartararo fired in a 1m56.225s lap in the opening hour of the test.

Brno race winner and current championship leader Marc Marquez was his nearest challenger for some time after guiding his Honda to a lap just 0.012s shy of the SRT rider’s benchmark.

With three hours remaining, Quartararo had extended his advantage at the top of the timesheets with a 1m55.986s tour, before improving to the best time of the Brno weekend with a 1m55.648s benchmark.

Quartararo’s final improvement came with just over an hour to go, and his 1m55.616s lap ensured he would finish his 78-lap test programme on top.

Vinales – who briefly tested Yamaha’s 2020 bike which it brought to the test – threatened Quartararo late on, but came up just short with his 1m55.628s best.

Team-mate Valentino Rossi did run the new engine and a late surge moved him up to sixth, the same position in which he finished the race on Sunday.

Franco Morbidelli on the sister SRT M1 made sure all four Yamahas would occupy positions inside the top six after going third quickest with a 1m55.755s lap in the closing stages.

Suzuki’s Alex Rins and Cal Crutchlow (LCR) on the first of the Hondas rounded out the top five, while Joan Mir was seventh despite a crash at Turn 1 in the final hour.

The Suzuki rider went off in the first sector and brought out the red flags while he was attended to by medical staff.

He is thought to have escaped major injury.

Mir would beat Marquez by 0.073s and the Honda rider tried a new aerodynamic fairing, which he may homologate and race this week in Austria.

Marquez also tested a new chassis, aimed at curing the Honda’s main issue of difficulty in turning.

Pramac’s Francesco Bagnaia and the works Ducati of Danilo Petrucci rounded out the top 10, with Takaaki Nakagami 0.025s outside in 11th on the year-old LCR-run Honda.

Brno podium finishers Andrea Dovizioso and Jack Miller (Pramac) flew under the radar in 12th and 13th on their Ducatis, with the former comparing aero packages while also testing a new swingarm.

Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro crashed at Turn 8 earlier in the day but returned to the circuit on his Aprilia to end the session 1.4s off the pace in 16th.

Honda test rider Stefan Bradl sat out the test, having deputised for the injured Jorge Lorenzo last weekend.

Bradl will remain in place of Lorenzo this week in Spielberg.

KTM will remain at Brno on Tuesday and Wednesday for a private outing with test riders Dani Pedrosa and Mika Kallio ahead of its home race.

Pol Espargaro was the top RC16 runner on Monday in 14th ahead of Tech3’s Miguel Oliveira, while his team-mate Hafizh Syahrin headed Johann Zarco in 19th.

Test times