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Tag: Qatar Test

  • Quartararo and Miller split by just 0.077 on Day 2: Qatar Test

    Quartararo and Miller split by just 0.077 on Day 2: Qatar Test

    Yamaha and Ducati depose Aprilia as testing continues in the desert

    Doha, 7 March 2021: Day 2 is done and dusted at the Official MotoGP Qatar Test and it’s Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Fabio Quartararo back in a familiar position: the top. The Frenchman was the first and so far only rider to dip into the 1:53s, but it was mighty close as Ducati Lenovo Team’s Jack Miller ended the day less than a tenth off. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) was up at the sharp end on the brand-new RS-GP once again, this time in third but just 0.212 off Quartararo.

    Sunday ushered in the best conditions the riders have enjoyed since pitlane opened at Losail International Circuit on Friday afternoon, with a bit of wind swirling across the track but nowhere near as much as the previous two days of track action. The improvements came quite early too as by the midway point, HRC test rider Stefan Bradl had beaten Aleix Espargaro’s Day 1 pace. It only got faster from there.

    By just over half an hour to play, Quartararo struck in the first 1:53 lap time of the test as the pace intensified under the lights, with Miller slicing up into P2 not long after. That was all Day 2 wrote at the top.

    Jack Miller in action on Day 2 of Qatar test posting top times on Sunday. A Ducati image

    So what was on the agenda barring simple speed? Fastest man Quartararo confirmed late on Saturday evening that Yamaha have a new chassis to try in Qatar, and the Frenchman was trying a carbon swingarm although he said he wasn’t using it when he set his best lap. After struggling to get the feeling on his YZR-M1 in the first “30 or 40 laps”, Quartararo was happy by the end of 59, but said that he needs a little bit more time compared to teammate Maverick Viñales to set that quick lap time from the off on new tyres, and it’s difficult to say whether the new chassis is better or not.

    Viñales also confirmed that Yamaha have been trying plenty of things and his main focus so far has been rear grip. Judging from the timesheets, it’s going pretty well for the Iwata factory. Both riders seem to be very pleased with their progress so far with Viñales ending Day 2 in P7, 0.455s from his teammate. It wasn’t a totally slick day for Viñales though as both he and test rider Cal Crutchlow crashed at Qatar’s notorious Turn 2 – both were perfectly ok.

    Both Petronas Yamaha SRT men also felt great after Day 1 and although Valentino Rossi’s was in P20 the day after, The Doctor seemed upbeat as he and Yamaha go through plenty of different things to try. After a “great first day at the office”, Morbidelli’s second day at the office also looked to have gone well after finishing up in P4 – a couple of tenths shy of former teammate Quartararo.

    Ever the innovators, Ducati were seen with some more new toys on Day 2 in addition to the new aero we’ve seen Michele Pirro, Miller and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) riding wth. A new rear wheel that they’re using to monitor the forces going on at the rear end was seen, but this could just be for testing purposes and it remains to be seen whether this will be something the Bologna brand race with…

    Their front-end holeshot device was confirmed today, however, and this is something that Aprilia, Honda, KTM and Suzuki have at their disposal too. The second fastest Ducati on track was Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) in P6, with Bagnaia ending the day P9 on the timesheets. Chatting at the end of Day 2, Miller confirmed that he’s enjoying himself on the bike and was able to push a little for a time attack towards the end, and the Australian also ran with the new aero for pretty much the whole day – but hinted that something more is coming soon in classic Ducati preseason style.

    Ducati’s trio of rookies were once again out on track finding their feet on the fire breathing Desmosedicis too, and it was reigning Moto2™ World Champion Enea Bastianini (Avintia Esponsorama Racing) who was the fastest of the three on Day 2. The Italian took it by just over a tenth to teammate Luca Marini (SKY VR46 Avintia) as the Italians claimed P16 and P18 respectively, a good day for both. Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martin, meanwhile, suffered his third crash in three days and completed the least amount of laps of any full-time MotoGP™ rider on the second Official Test day. Martin was perfectly fine after the Turn 16 tumble though and was able to claim P19, only  0.027s behind Marini. All three rookies have impressed so far to finish one and a half seconds off Quartararo’s pace.

    Over at Aprilia, the Noale factory tried to play down their Day 1 success but on the evidence that Aleix Espargaro was third fastest on Day 2, there’s plenty of reason to be excited. The entire new package seems to be going well as Aleix Espargaro put 69 more laps on the clock, with teammate Lorenzo Savadori adding 41 to his tally. The latter finished P17, 1.630 seconds away from top spot.

    Aleix Espargaro explained that he did a long run to understand what the bike is going to be like over race distance, and he had good reports but said he and Aprilia need to find a way to enable him to ride it more relaxed as the new bike is more physical than last year. The number 41 improved by half a second though and as expected, they’ve been trying lots of different things. Overall, it was a happy Aleix Espargaro with three days of pre-season testing left.

    At Honda, there was some new aero to try on Day 2 and all four riders were seen sporting the new fairing during Sunday’s action. Repsol-liveried duo Stefan Bradl and Pol Espargaro were sitting pretty at the top of the timesheets at the halfway point as the latter’s adaption from KTM to Honda continues to be smooth. Eventually, Espargaro finished the Day in P12 after another 62 laps under his belt on the RC213V, with Bradl continuing to mix it with the top times to finish P5 and impress once again.

    LCR Honda Castrol’s Alex Marquez crashed unhurt twice on Day 2, one at Turn 16 and one at Turn 2. Teammate Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) also went down, the Japanese rider suffering his second crash of the Test – also at Turn 2 – but he too was ok. The duo were seen on Honda’s new fairing and finished together on the timesheets, P12 for Nakagami and P13 for Alex Marquez. Nakagami confirmed that some areas of the new fairings were good, others less so, with more testing needed to understand them better. 

    As aforementioned, Team Suzuki Ecstar were one of five teams to bring a front-end holeshot device to the Qatar Test. World Champion Joan Mir and teammate Alex Rins were both comfortably sitting inside the top 10 heading into the final hour of the day, with test riders Sylvain Guintoli and Takuya Tsuda out lapping as well. A new chassis is on the agenda for the Hamamatsu factory as well as some other as yet unconfirmed parts, but so far it looks like all is well in the silver and blue ranks as they packed up early on Day 2.

    Mir confirmed that he enjoyed his second day on track, rediscovering his feeling from 2020 was on the agenda and the number 36 did exactly that. One of Mir’s main aims is to improve his qualifying pace, but the Spaniard said today wasn’t the day to properly delve into that. Rins confirmed he tried a new swingarm which made the bike a little more stable, and the number 42 also tried the 2022 engine that Guintoli has been testing. Great reviews, especially on top speed, were given.

    KTM were another manufacturer that debuted a new fairing today in Doha. This was narrower than the previous one and it was pictured on Miguel Oliveira’s Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machine, with initial feelings seeming positive. However, with the wind, the word was that it’s difficult to properly tell how useful it is. Oliveira was the fastest RC16 rider on circuit though, claiming P11, 0.726s from Quartararo.

    Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), meanwhile, described his day as a “little bit challenging” and suffered two crashes towards the end of the day. The South African was fine and although P24 on the timesheets, he confirmed everything is running pretty smoothly. The number 33 also ran with the updated fairing. Danilo Petrucci and Tech3 KTM Factory Racing teammate Iker Lecuona were P21 and P23 respectively, a quiet day for the orange men as Petrucci settles in and Lecuona starts only his second MotoGP season.

    That’s it for now! There are now two days of downtime before the action returns on the 10th of March in Qatar.

  • Espargaro tops timesheets on Day 1 of Qatar test

    Espargaro tops timesheets on Day 1 of Qatar test

    The full grid roars back into action in the desert, with Aprilia leading the way as 2021 gets in gear

    Doha, 6 March 2021: After the first day of action for the full grid at the Official MotoGP Qatar Test, it’s safe to say 2021 has started pretty well for Aleix Espargaro and Aprilia Racing Team Gresini as they finish top of the timesheets. The Spaniard set a 1:54.687 to beat Stefan Bradl (Honda Test Team) by 0.256s, with reigning World Champion Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) completing the top three as the new MotoGP season officially got underway. 

    The wind played a key role on Saturday after also proving bothersome at the Shakedown Test, but all 29 riders on the ground in Doha enjoyed some valuable track time despite another blustery day at Losail International Circuit. And this time, having sat out the Shakedown, that included Aleix Espargaro on his near brand-new RS-GP he ended the day just a couple of tenths shy of Aprilia’s best time at 2020’s Qatar Test and put in 57 laps. Updates have been made to the engine, chassis and exhaust and there’s a new carbon swingarm at the Noale factory, as well as two new aero designs that the riders are putting through their paces. Aprilia also have a holeshot device on the front and rear – along with Honda and Ducati. Lorenzo Savadori, on the other side of the garage, completed 42 laps, ending with 1:56.511 as a best time.

    Meanwhile, it was a huge day over at the Repsol Honda Team as Pol Espargaro made his eagerly awaited debut for the Japanese giants. A hefty 68 laps were rattled off by the Spaniard on his HRC debut as he, Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) and Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) all headed out on 2020 Hondas, with each rider’s two bikes having different exhausts. Alex Marquez’ day didn’t get off to the best of starts after destroying his RC213V in a final corner crash, but the double World Champion was soon back out to spin some more laps. Marquez was the second quickest Honda on Day 1, behind the aforementioned Bradl, and finished P10 just ahead of Nakagami.

    Bradl was again donning the famous Repsol livery on track and for a lot of opening day, the German was at the summit of the timesheets. He has three chassis to try in Qatar: the ‘standard’ 2020 chassis, the chassis he ended the 2020 campaign on which has carbon bonded to the main beam, as well as an entirely new chassis that we saw the number 6 testing in Jerez a few weeks ago. Bradl was very pleased with his and the team’s progress so far, looking for more of the same over the remaining four days.

    Over at World Champions Team Suzuki Ecstar, who officially unveiled their 2021 livery ahead of the test, Joan Mir and Alex Rins were the last riders to head out on track. Similar to most teams, we didn’t see many changes to the bike, but we also didn’t see much change to their impressive pace. Third for Mir is a solid start to his title defence, with Rins also inside the top 10 in P8. The duo recorded a combined 91 laps, with test rider Sylvain Guintoli adding another 50 and Takuya Tsuda another 26. Tsuda was the first rider out on track for the Hamamatsu factory.

    The World Champion is back on track! Mir heads out under the spotlights. MotoGP images

    Further down pitlane, both Jack Miller and Francesco Bagnaia suited up and headed out in Ducati Lenovo Team red for the first time to begin a new era for both riders and team. Miller was fourth fastest at the end of the day, completing 54 laps in total and glowing that it felt “unreal” to be back. Both riders were on 2020 Ducatis as they got back into the swing of things but did try the new aero, with Miller saying he couldn’t find any faults. Bagnaia finished P13 but was only 0.8s off the top despite a crash at Turn 3.

    Ducati test rider Michele Pirro was also circulating with new aero on the front of his GP21; a third extra aero vane was seen fitted lower down on the fairing. In addition, Ducati have a ‘salad box’ that looks slightly different to last year’s. Simon Crafar also reported that the Bologna factory are experimenting with a holeshot device at the front of the bike, along with Aprilia and Honda, so look out for that over the coming days…

    Johann Zarco, meanwhile, was in Pramac Racing colours for the first time and from the outside, it looked like the Frenchman enjoyed his first day in his new office. The number 5 was atop the standings at stages in the afternoon, eventually ending Saturday sixth overall with less than half a second splitting him from Aleix Espargaro at the top. Zarco’s teammate Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) was back on track for his second day as a MotoGP rider, albeit with a sore leg after his Turn 3 crash during the Shakedown Test. Despite this though, Martin was the fastest rookie in P18 after setting a 1:56.147 – just a couple of tenths slower than Pol Espargaro ahead of him.

    Rossi starts a new era at Petronas Yamaha SRT

    The other two Moto2 graduate rookies also got plenty more valuable laps under their belts. Enea Bastianini (Avintia Esponsorama Racing) was less than a tenth away from Martin in P20 while Luca Marini (Sky VR46 Avintia) finished P24 on the times. It’s a huge learning curve for all three riders in Qatar and there’s no doubt even more improvements will be coming over the next few days.

    Over at Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira were both sitting near the summit in the early stages of the test. By the end of the day, Oliveira was the fastest RC16 rider on track, the Portuguese rider setting a 1:55.084 to finish fifth overall on his first day as a factory rider. Binder fell at Turn 2 but was perfectly ok to head out, ending the day in P12 after 52 laps.

    New KTM rider on the block Danilo Petrucci struck a bright figure out on track alongside teammate Iker Lecuona as the Tech3 KTM Factory Racing pairing lapped on their new orange RC16s too. Like the factory riders, there weren’t too many differences with the bikes they were riding compared to the 2020 model, and Lecuona and Petrucci finished P22 and P23 respectively.

    Test rider Dani Pedrosa, however, was trying out some innovations for KTM. As Simon Crafar reported from pitlane, Pedrosa was riding an RC16 kitted out with a new chassis, a whole new tail section and a new exhaust inside that tail unit. The famous number 26 was 26th on the timesheets and completed 48 laps, obviously not focusing on outright speed.

    Over in the Yamaha ranks, there was a headline stealer as Valentino Rossi headed out on a familiar bike but in unfamiliar colours. The new Petronas Yamaha SRT rider began his new adventure with the Malaysian team and was seen trying two different tank covers, likely for ergonomics, as he did more than 50 laps. It was teammate Franco Morbidelli who was the quickest YZR-M1 rider on Day 1, however, as the Italian finished P7 and 0.487s adrift. Rossi was P14.

    It was a big day for Fabio Quartararo too, who officially began life as a factory MotoGP rider at Losail International Circuit. The Frenchman was the busiest rider out there on Saturday after completing 69 laps on his new Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP machine, and was just over a second off the pace in P15 – one place behind Rossi. Maverick Viñales was the fastest Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP man on Day 1 though, notching up 51 laps and taking P9.

    There doesn’t seem to be too much different to what we saw last season on the Yamahas so far, but there was plenty of data gathering going on. Test riders Cal Crutchlow, Katsuyuki Nakasuga and Kohta Nozane were once more sharing bikes, so it’s very hard to tell who set the fastest times on each of the bikes labelled ‘Yamaha Test 1’, ‘Yamaha Test 2’ and ‘Yamaha Test 3’ on the timing screens, but the Iwata marque have a wealth of information at their fingertips.