Viñales & Rins top MotoGP Qatar Test Day 1

Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy MotoGP) topped the first day of the Qatar Test, putting in a 1:55.051 to head the grid after a late charge for supremacy. It was close though, with the Suzuki of Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) just 0.108 back – and the two set those laps close together on track.

As always when action returns to Qatar, track conditions need to improve throughout the day and it was therefore fairly late on that a lot of the action took place – and the latter part of the day when Viñales blasted to the top.

Jack Miller – 2019 MotoGP Qatar Test Day 1

Australian Jack Miller meanwhile worked exclusively on the setup and the feeling with the tyres provided by Michelin after a strong testing result in Sepang, without attempting the time attack, scheduled for tomorrow, and was 19th on the timesheets.

Jack Miller saying, “We’ve done a lot of work trying out a lot of technical solutions on the bike. It was a really intense day and in the end, we didn’t have time to put on the tyre to try out a time attack. We also worked on the race pace trying to save especially the front tyre and the indications are positive. There is still a lot to do in terms of set up but we still have two days to improve our speed”.

Maverick Vinales

The 1:55.051 that put Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP on top was one of 50 laps completed by Viñales on Day 1, and the signs look good for the factory – with teammate Valentino Rossi not far back as he completed the top five after 47 laps. Team Director Massimo Meregalli confirmed the engine had already been decided and that focus was first on comparing data with that from Sepang. Aero, however, remains up in the air – with more to try for the Iwata marque at Losail.

Petronas Yamaha SRT, meanwhile, had more positives – first for rookie Fabio Quartararo. Quickest debutant by a stretch on Saturday, the Frenchman was a stunning seventh overall and less than two tenths off Rossi after 49 laps. Franco Morbidelli was a little further down after the first session, ending the day seven tenths further back in P14.

Alex Rins – 2019 MotoGP Qatar Test Day 1

Alex Rins put in a similar lap count: 48. The Spaniard showed more good form for Hamamatsu factory Suzuki after threatening the top on the first days of the Sepang test too, and this time rookie teammate Joan Mir began the test further up the timesheets as he ended the day in P11.

Suzuki had a new exhaust on show and Team Manager Davide Brivio confirmed that the chassis is defined, the engine spec is decided and said that focus was now on fine tuning and the details – including some final aero checks and work on the suspension and settings.

Andrea Dovizioso – 2019 MotoGP Qatar Test Day 1

So behind the duo at the top, who came next? Both Mission Winnow Ducatis, with Andrea Dovizioso leading teammate Danilo Petrucci by a mere 0.044 – although they were half a second back. Both put in less laps than some of their competitors, with Dovi doing 29 and Petrucci 37.

Andrea Dovizioso saying, “I’m happy with our progress on this opening day. We immediately found a good feeling with the track, which didn’t have much rubber on it but was quite clean, and we managed to post competitive lap times right from the start. We’re all quite close, so the rankings should not be taken into too much account, but what matters is that the feeling with the bike is good. We ticked all the boxes in our program, trying a couple of new solutions and giving a clear feedback to our engineers. Tomorrow we’ll evaluate different things, but in the meantime we can be happy with the work done today.”

Danilo Petrucci – 2019 MotoGP Qatar Test Day 1

Danilo Petrucci adding, “For sure we faced different conditions compared with the ones we had found in Malaysia. Here the humidity peaked after sundown, so we decided not to put on a new tyre for our last stints out on track. We focused on the medium compound, with which we found good pace. The track is still not in perfect conditions, but I felt comfortable riding the bike. We tried a few setup changes and we managed to be fast both with new and used tyres. I’m happy, we need to keep working in this direction and tomorrow we’ll try the soft tyre to improve also in terms of pure performance.”

The latter was only just ahead of Rossi, but 0.010 can make the difference in MotoGP. Team Manager Davide Tardozzi says, like many up and down pitlane, focus is now on the details – but the Borgo Panigale factory plan to make their final aero decision on Sunday.

Tito Rabat (Reale Avintia Racing) kept the good news rolling for Ducati machinery as he ended the day in P6 after 44 laps, happy there’s more room to improve, too.

Pecco Bagnaia – 2019 MotoGP Qatar Test Day 1

Alma Pramac Racing, who starred in the Sepang test, were a little further back on Day 1 in Qatar. Francesco Bagnaia was P15 after a 1:56.738, with teammate Jack Miller in P19. Miller said, however, he spent the session doing six to eight lap runs, testing different parts – and lacking the time to be able to put in a tyre to push for a hot lap.

Pecco Bagnaia saying, “The day started very well but then I lost a bit of feeling because of a soft tyre that didn’t work at its best. In terms of set-up, we’re not in a bad way and we have to start tomorrow from the good things we did today in the first part of the test. I’m improving in braking phase and this is a positive aspect. This is a very different track from Sepang so we just have to adapt our set up”.

Takaaki Nakagami – 2019 MotoGP Qatar Test Day 1

Another surprise on Saturday came from the fastest Honda: Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu). The Japanese rider showed more top pace and put in 45 laps. Teammate Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) spent some time testing parts for HRC and finished the session in P18.

Marc Marquez – 2019 MotoGP Qatar Test Day 1

Reigning Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team), whose shoulder remains less than 100% after surgery, ended the day in tenth and, like in Sepang, put in only 34 laps. But he was positive and said he’s now back to riding in his more natural style, and he had his first crash of the season with no consequence.

Marc Marquez – 2019 MotoGP Qatar Test Day 1

Marc Marquez was upbeat, “Honestly today I’m happy with my physical condition compared to Malaysia, we’ve improved a lot. The power is there and I can ride more like myself now. Also, we still have two weeks until the first race and this is the focus. During the night the track got better but we need to keep trying to be closer to the other riders. Now we’ll go analyse everything because during the test here there is not much time.”

On the other side of the garage, the return of Jorge Lorenzo saw the ‘Spartan’ struggle in braking as he comes back from a broken scaphoid, and he focused on continuing to understand the bike. Despite not so many laps and not too many new things to try as yet, the five-time World Champion did mention his desire to modify the seat in an effort to make his new machine a little more ergonomic.

Jorge Lorenzo – 2019 MotoGP Qatar Test Day 1

Jorge Lorenzo explaining, “The wrist is OK, obviously I’m struggling under braking but I am able to understand the bike. Time is the big limit, we only have maybe three hours each day because after nine the temperature drops a lot and it’s hard to learn when it’s like this. We didn’t try too many changes on the bike and focused mostly on the ergonomics. Tomorrow we will be closer, it’s still the first day.”

Repsol Honda Team Manager Alberto Puig said work on engine and aero is continuing until the last moment for the team – because every possibility is something worth trying – and a new exhaust was one thing spotted.

Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) – 2019 MotoGP Qatar Test Day 1

Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) impressed on Day 1. The Spaniard, who took the Austrian factory’s first premier class podium at Valencia last season, was the trailblazer once again as he finished up Saturday’s action in P9 after 47 laps. Teammate Johann Zarco put in 53 laps and was P16, around eight tenths back, and he was just 0.121 ahead of rookie KTM rider Miguel Oliveira on the Red Bull KTM Tech3.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager Mike Leitner specified they’re working on confirming chassis and aerodynamic modifications, and said the goal was to first finish off the test program from Sepang and then find a base setting for the race – as you’d expect. He also added that the items on the agenda are now less, something that speaks of the scale of KTM’s development program given the amount of track time already gone in preseason.

Aprilia, meanwhile, slotted into P12 and P13 with Aleix Espargaro and Andrea Iannone respectively – despite crashes for both. Espargaro did 34 laps and confirmed the bike is a definite improvement on last year’s, and Iannone catapulted himself up the timesheets after struggling with illness and missing much of the Sepang test. The Italian managed 30 laps and was only 0.089 off Espargaro by the end of the day. One key thing the Noale factory were spotted trying was an aero fairing.

Valentino Rossi - 2019 MotoGP Qatar Test Day 1

Valentino Rossi was fifth overall for the day – 2019 MotoGP Qatar Test Day 1

That’s it from Day 1 and it was ruled by Viñales and Rins – what will Day 2 bring? Find out from 16:00 local time (GMT+3) on Sunday with more laps in the desert at Losail International Circuit.