Maverick Viñales Leads Thursday’s MotoGP Test in Qatar

Photo courtesy MotoGP.com

Suzuki factory rider Maverick Viñales is showing his outstanding performance in last month’s MotoGP test in Phillip Island, Australia, was no fluke. Viñales raced his Team Suzuki Ecstar GSX-RR to the top time in cool conditions on day two of the three-day MotoGP test at the Losail Circuit.

Viñales clocked a time of 1:55.436. That time was better than the best time (1:55.452) turned on Wednesday by Jorge Lorenzo.

Coming in behind Viñales on Thursday was Andrea Iannone on the factory Ducati and then Jorge Lorenzo on the factory Yamaha.

Honda again was a bit surprisingly off the pace Thursday. Dani Pedrosa was the leading Honda rider and he ended the day in seventh. His Repsol Honda teammate Marc Marquez suffered a high-speed crash in turn one early in the session. He appeared to be unhurt, actually helping corner workers pick up the bike, but he did no better than ninth in the Thursday night session.

Valentino Rossi was a bit off the pace as well, finishing eighth.

Scott Redding turned in a strong performance in fourth as did Hector Barbera in fifth.

Completing the top ten was Aleix Espargaro who was able to sample the fully seamless gearbox on his Team Suzuki Ecstar machine for the first time. This was mostly a shakedown test and to ensure that the gearbox is reliable as he and the team aim to implement it for the first race.

There was disappointment for Cal Crutchlow who ended the second day in 13th and unable to improve his time from the Wednesday. The LCR Honda rider managed 50 laps on the second day, the third most of any rider.

Testing continues on Friday.

Qatar MotoGP Test Results Thursday from the Losail Circuit