Lorenzo leads during final Qatar test

A crash-filled final day in Qatar as the MotoGP World Championship conclude their pre-season testing, Lorenzo on top again.

MotoGP riders were given one last test session before the 2016 season begins on the 20th of March in Qatar. For many riders it was a difficult final day as they pushed for a fast lap, a number of falls occurring as a result. After a slow start to the session with only Stefan Bradl venturing out in the opening hours, Valentino Rossi suffered his second fall at Turn 10 midway through the session. The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider was unhurt and was able to return to his box and resume testing.

Soon after Tito Rabat suffered a fall at Turn 6, the rider unhurt. Later in the evening the Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS man suffered another fall, again unhurt. Both Aleix Espargaro and Loris Baz fell with over two hours remaining, Espargaro’s a fast off at Turn 3. Neither rider was injured. There were further falls for Hector Barbera and Cal Crutchlow, the latter heading to the Clinca Mobile for checks and was deemed fit.

But it was Jorge Lorenzo who led the field on the final day with a 1’54.810, easily the fastest lap of the test. The current MotoGP™ World Champion was the lone rider down into the 1’54s at the end of the three-day test and over half a second faster than his closest rivals. Not only was Lorenzo’s one lap pace near untouchable, his race simulation was demonic with the majority of laps in the low 1’56s and several in the 1’55s, even towards the end. Few other riders managed a run of 22 consecutive laps, none able to touch Lorenzo’s pace.

0.516s behind Lorenzo on the second day, and in the overall times, was Scott Redding. The satellite Ducati rider was able to produce a great lap of 1’55.326 aboard his Octo Pramac Yakhnich GP15, the year old machine still proving competitive at the Qatar circuit. Aside from being the leading satellite bike, Redding was also the leading Ducati with a comfortable 0.2s margin over Andrea Iannone at the end of the third day.

Improving his Thursday best by 0.103s, Maverick Viñales continued to shine under the desert floodlights. A 1’55.333 saw the Team Suzuki Ecstar man third on Friday and third overall. As with the previous days, Viñales continued to focus on shorter runs.

With under half an hour of the test to go, Marc Marquez set his best time of the test with a 1’55.402. As on Thursday, the Repsol Honda Team rider had left the pits early and began to push from the start of the session, suffering a fall at the last corner as a result. After this crash it was a matter of rebuilding his confidence until a final flying lap dragged him to fourth, Honda riders having struggled outside the top five for much of the test.

In fifth on the final day was Valentino Rossi with a 1’55.429 completed on his 36th lap of 55. All of the top five were able to go faster than Viñales’ best time from Thursday. The Qatar Test has seen Rossi focus on gathering data, putting in a total of 144 laps across the three days in the desert. Frustratingly once again Rossi was over half a second behind his teammate, though no doubt his hard work testing settings will assist him in the long run.

Sixth on both the final day and overall, Andrea Iannone was one of only a handful of riders who did not improve their time on the final day. The Italian’s 1’55.508 stood as his best single lap of the test, but like Lorenzo he turned his attention to a longer run on the final day.

Under a tenth back on Iannone was Cal Crutchlow who was able to improve his Thursday best time by over half a second to end the day and concluded the test in seventh. With Dani Pedrosa again having a difficult time on the factory bike, Crutchlow was the second fastest Honda rider. Crutchlow was 0.108s ahead of Andrea Dovizioso who set his fastest lap on lap 47, his last lap of testing.

Suffering two falls on the final day, Hector Barbera still managed to end as the fourth fastest Ducati in ninth with a 1’55.733. The Spaniard was only able to manage 23 laps on the closing day. After three successful tests, Barbera heads into the first round of the championship confident of battling for the top ten. All of the top nine were within a second of Lorenzo’s lap.

After a difficult pre-season, Dani Pedrosa concluded the final test as the tenth fastest rider due to his 1’55.857 from Thursday. The Repsol Honda rider was visibly frustrated when talking to the media after the Qatar Test and will need a significant change of fortune before the season starts.

Pol Espargaro ended the test in 11th and ahead of teammate Bradley Smith. Espargaro was just 0.025s behind a finish inside the top ten. 0.012s back on Espargaro was Yonny Hernandez in 12th. After an initially difficult start, the Colombian has found his feet with the Aspar MotoGP Team and was able to finish ahead of Bradley Smith.

Smith, who had been saving his tyres for the final day, completed 62 laps. This was just one lap less than Michele Pirro and the most of any full time Grand Prix rider. Unfortunately Smith was not able to get above 13th place but having consistently done the most laps of any rider across all three tests, the Brit has ample data to work with. Friday also saw Smith test a set of winglets on his satellite Yamaha.

Loris Baz ended the test in 14th and ahead of Aleix Espargaro on the Suzuki, Espargaro was once again unable to match the pace of his teammate.

It was a strong day for Michele Pirro, replacing the injured Danilo Petrucci, after his crash on Thursday as the Ducati test rider managed 16th and completed a staggering 63 laps. Pirro’s time was 0.436s better than the best of Tito Rabat, who leaves Qatar as the 17th fastest rider.

Alvaro Bautista continued to progress well on the Aprilia, just 2.233s back on Lorenzo’s best time and ahead of Australia’s Jack Miller in 19th.

Eugene Laverty ended the test in 20th, now feeling much more at ease with his GP14.2. Stefan Bradl was the last of the full time MotoGP™ riders, ending ahead of Hiroshi Aoyama and Takuya Tsuda.

The MotoGP™ World Championship now have several days off before practice for the first Grand Prix of the year begins on the 17th of March. 2016 is almost here and with four different manufacturers in the top four, it looks set to be another incredible season.

The first official Moto2 test drew to a close in Jerez, Sam Lowes leading the final day but unable to catch Axel Pons’ incredible lap.

Heavy fog during the morning session on Friday saw only Efren Vazquez (JPMoto Malaysia) venture out on track, the Spanish rider not setting a lap time. The second session saw the sun return, Moto2 riders able to continue their testing work.

Although it was Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) who set a 1’42.075 to lead the final day of testing, Axel Pons’ 1’41.730 from Thursday sees the AGR Team rider leave the Jerez Test as the fastest rider in the intermediate class. It was not a perfect test for Pons who did not venture out on track after a heavy fall on Thursday after setting his fast lap.

The fastest Moto2™ lap during a Grand Prix weekend still stands at 1’42.706, set by Stefan Bradl in 2011. Pons’ time was almost a second faster, but Lowes was also under the record lap by over half a second. The final session of the test not only saw Lowes improve, but Lorenzo Baldassarri (Forward Team) was also able to set his fastest lap of the test, a 1’42.174 again well under Bradl’s record.

Fourth fastest overall was Paginas Amarillas HP 40’s Alex Rins with a 1’42.186s set on his 17th lap of 23 in the last session of Friday. Having had very limited private testing before Jerez, Rins focused primarily on getting comfortable on his 2016 Kalex with longer runs. Tom Luthi’s (Garage Plus Interwetten) 1’42.271 from the first day stood as the Swiss rider’s best time, seeing him complete a competitive top five.

With all of the top 11 riders under Bradl’s circuit record, the 2016 Moto2™ season looks set to be an exciting battle with riders already flying at the first pre-season test. The Jerez Test also allowed Dunlop to test several new tyre options for the 2016 season, include a hard tyre options for circuits such as Argentina, Australia and Sepang with newer surfaces.

Dominique Aegerter (CarXpert Interwetten), Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia), Jonas Folger (Dynavolt Intact GP), Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP) and Marcel Schrotter (AGR Team) formed the remainder of the top ten on combined times, all within 0.8s.

Reigning Moto2™ World Champion Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) was 14th and 1.222 seconds back on Pons’ fastest time. Meanwhile Danny Kent’s (Leopard Racing) return to the middle class continues to progress well, the Moto3™ Champion ending 12th on combined times.

Simone Corsi (Speed Up) led the charge of Speed Up mounted riders with a 1’42.943s, placing in 13th and as the leading non-Kalex machine. Xavi Vierge (Tech 3) racing had a vigorous testing schedule aboard the new Mistral 610, testing a variety of parts for the French team. Having only recently ensured his future in Moto2™, Efren Vazquez was able to run on the Suter for the first time and made steady improvements to get within five seconds of the fastest rider.

The intermediate class will have one final test at Qatar from the 11th to 13th of March before the 2016 season begins at the same circuit just a few days later.

Romano Fenati rules the roost in the lightweight class as the top ten are split by a meager half a second after three days at Jerez.

Weather once again delayed proceedings in Jerez for the Moto3™ World Championship on their final day of testing. The morning session had just seven riders set a time, none within a second of the fastest laps of the test. Fortunately the weather cleared and allowed all to continue their work programmes. Sun and warm temperatures across the final two sessions saw Nicolo Bulega (SKY Racing Team VR46) on top once again. The rookie set a 1’46.539, his fastest time of the test so far. Bulega was one of just nine riders to improve their times on the final day. It has overall been an incredibly encouraging test for the Moto3™ Junior World Champion who has demonstrated his high level.

Bulega’s SKY Racing Team VR46 teammate, Romano Fenati, managed to maintain his position on top of the time screens thanks to his 1’46.445 from the third session of the second day. The time was still 0.3s off Jack Miller’s best lap at the Jerez circuit, but 0.060s clear of his rivals. With all three of the SKY Racing Team VR46 riders inside the top ten, it appears the Valentino Rossi backed team have hit the ground running in 2016. Of the top ten, five were KTM machines, the Austrian manufacturer aiming to reclaim the rider’s championship in the lightweight class after losing to Honda in 2014 and 2015.

Second overall and third on the final day, Jorge Navarro (Estrella Galicia 0,0) was the leading Honda rider on combined times and 0.060s behind Romano Fenati. In all but one session Navarro completed more than 15 laps, the Spaniard focusing more on race pace than a single flying lap across the three days.

Thanks to his time on the final day, Bulega slotted into third on the combined times and finished 0.011s ahead of his fellow VR46 Academy Rider Niccolo Antonelli (Ongetta-Rivacold). As one of the more experienced riders in the class, Antonelli has his sights set on the championship in 2016 and was towards the top of all the sessions at the Jerez test.

Along with Bulega, Brad Binder was another to improve his time on the final day. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider led the second session on Friday, his 1’46.618 0.008s faster than his best time from Thursday and good enough for fifth on combined times. Binder is still hunting his first win in the lightweight class after coming tantalisingly close on multiple occasions in previous years.

Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing Moto3), Joan Mir (Leopard Racing), Livio Loi (RW Racing GP), Jorge Martin (Aspar Mahindra Team) and Andrea Migno (Sky Racing Team VR46) rounded out the top ten as the first official test ended in Jerez.

Joan Mir (Leopard Racing) was another rookie who impressed on the final day, putting his KTM third on Friday and seventh on the combined times.

Both Mahindra and Peugeot have been experimenting with winglets throughout the three-day test. While they are a popular addition to bikes in the premiere class, Mahindra and Peugeot are the first to implement them in Moto3™. As 2016 sees Mahindra introduce a heavily revised MGP3O, it is near impossible to tell if the winglets have had a drastic effect on the bike’s performance.

There will be one final pre-season test for the Moto3™ test from the 11th to 13th of March in Qatar before the 2016 season curtain raiser at the same circuit on the 20th of March.