Offseason testing – Leader of the second day of MotoGP testing at Sepang, Viñales sprints to the record! –

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Leader of the second day of MotoGP testing in Sepang, Viñales sprints to the record !

Offseason testing - Leader of the second day of MotoGP testing at Sepang, Viñales sprints to the record! -

Maverick Viñales made a strong impression on the second day of MotoGP testing in Malaysia with a stunning 1’58.897 lap, far ahead of Alex Rins’ Suzuki and Jack Miller’s Ducati. The Yamaha official teases the unofficial record of Sepang, while Johann Zarco invites himself for the first time in the first part of the classification on his KTM! Debriefing.

The second day of MotoGP testing at Sepang has long been led by Andrea Dovizioso’s Ducati, who went on the offensive after a period of observation. The Italian pilot, vice-world champion twice in a row, was fast and constant on his which mainly shows electronic and aerodynamic developments..

  • MotoGP 2019 tests in Sepang – D1 :
  • MNC special file :

"There was never really a question of changing the engine", smiles "Dovi" when asked about the modifications made for 2019. And for good reason: the V4 of the Desmosedici is a benchmark on the MotoGP grid in terms of power and traction, but also ultra-fine fuel management.

The Honda V4, for example, would be more greedy and less efficient at transmitting all its power to the ground. Its enthusiasm must therefore be curbed at the start of the race: its full potential will be accessible to the driver – via a different map on the handlebars – when the computer deems it possible to reach the finish with the gasoline still available in the 22-liter tank..

This very important technical and strategic aspect determines the course of certain Grands Prix: it is impossible, for example, to set off at full speed on long circuits and on which there are many revivals at full load, as in Sepang precisely. This is one of the reasons why Ducatis have regularly shone there in recent years..

Offseason testing - Leader of the second day of MotoGP testing at Sepang, Viñales sprints to the record! -

Still, Andrea Dovizioso – winner at Sepang in and – remained at the top of the timesheet until midday with Cal Crutchlow, Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi on her trail. At 2:00 p.m. (local time), this "winning" quarter was only separated by 64 thousandths of a second. !

The tone is given: "You attacked yourself? But no, do you think: I do simulations to test evolutions … And you ?!" In short, it gets out of the way and it’s finally quite natural after the long winter break! Except that a pilot has decided to raise the tone even further to illustrate his speed: the Spanish Maverick Viñales…

Viñales goes to "Mack" 2

The Yamaha official, nicknamed "Mack", continued his efforts against the clock until his last laps to finally go down to 1’58.897 in his penultimate lap (63 laps in all). The n ° 12 is the first driver to pass below the symbolic 1’59 mark at Sepang this year !

Offseason testing - Leader of the second day of MotoGP testing at Sepang, Viñales sprints to the record! -

Valentino Rossi’s teammate (6th 0.728 sec behind his box neighbor) proves that the news is capable of going very quickly … on one lap: Viñales fell below the official circuit record held since 2015 by Pedrosa () and flirts very closely with the "unofficial" record set by Lorenzo during the last offseason () !

"Honestly, we really tried to work on the pace in the race today", explains the new n ° 12: "we always used the race specifications, I felt good and around midday I did some good laps, especially during the race simulation when it was hot with little grip. So I’m very happy with our work today, we made a lot of progress on the bike and we will try to do the same tomorrow ".

A remarkable performance given the conditions in Sepang at this time of year: the thermometer rises to over 50 ° C in the middle of the afternoon and takes a long time to come down! Not to mention the very high humidity level in the air, which puts a strain on the pilots’ physical condition….

Offseason testing - Leader of the second day of MotoGP testing at Sepang, Viñales sprints to the record! -

This sudden acceleration of Maverick Viñales has literally left his opponents in place: his closest pursuer, Alex Rins, is at 0.527 sec! Despite this huge gap, let us note the consistency of the Suzuki rider who had already finished behind Marc Marquez. Promising for Hamamatsu’s coat of arms !

Jack Miller also remembers everyone with the third fastest time of the day on his Ducati GP19 from the Pramac team. The Australian precedes the official motorbike of Andrea Dovizioso by a very short head, falling back to 4th place, 0.665 sec behind the leader.

“We worked a lot on the set up and we tested a lot of solutions”, explains Miller: “my feeling with the bike is excellent and even with the worn medium tires I was able to turn very quickly in 1’59. that I fell, it is my second fall in two days in turn 9 … Tomorrow I must stop this bad tradition! "

Cal Crutchlow completes the Top 5 with his semi-official Honda, despite a minor crash at the start of the day: this is enough to reassure the courageous British rider, who feared this winter that he would not be able to get back on a motorcycle because of the complications related to his heavy ankle injury. Looking at the photo above, we can see why !

Marquez assures, Zarco accelerates !

Marc Marquez, despite his recovering shoulder, once again measured his effort during this second day ended in 8th place: the Honda official was content to complete 37 laps, when his rivals covered between 50 and 60! Special mention to Tito Rabat, who relishes the healing of his leg injury by filing the slider without moderation: 75 laps on his Ducati Avintia with the 7th fastest time. !

Offseason testing - Leader of the second day of MotoGP testing at Sepang, Viñales sprints to the record! -

"Today we tested the most important novelties for Honda", explains Marc Marquez (1’59.790). "I started the day well, then my shoulder started to get in the way so I stopped so I could ride properly tomorrow. I still can’t ride exactly the way I would like. Normally I brake very late and hard, but that It’s impossible for me at the moment and I have to brake earlier and more slowly. As far as the bike is concerned, we have mainly worked on the exits of turns, even if on this circuit the grip conditions are very changeable ".

Danilo Petrucci and Takaaki Nakagami complete the Top 10 ahead … Johann Zarco, 11th at 1.076 sec! The Frenchman enters the upper part of the table for the first time since his time at KTM, with a notable improvement in his time: from 2’01.121 yesterday to 1’59.973 today !

This bodes well for Johann, even if he admits having benefited from the two days of testing at Sepang just before this official test. Another encouraging news: Laurent Fellon’s protege – with whom he has however distanced himself … – is also for the first time the first KTM rider in the standings.

Offseason testing - Leader of the second day of MotoGP testing at Sepang, Viñales sprints to the record! -

His teammate Pol Espargaro, often the fastest, is 17th at 1.408 sec: a poor performance to be taken with caution, however, as the Spanish rider offered himself a huge high side this morning in the first corner, which naturally resulted tempered his ardor…

Quartararo on a 2019 Yamaha M1

Fabio Quartararo, 14th at 1.211 seconds, also ended a good second day of testing since he also beat his teammate Franco Morbidelli (15th at 1.254 seconds): it could quickly become aroused in the new Yamaha Petronas SRT team, which has also just revealed that its French pilot would finally have a 2019 M1 !

Offseason testing - Leader of the second day of MotoGP testing at Sepang, Viñales sprints to the record! -

Remember that Fabio Quartarao was supposed to ride with an M1 specification "B", less advanced than the "A" version equivalent to the official motorcycles used by his Italian teammate. A logical choice given El Diablo‘s beginner status.

But it turns out that the two pilots will ride with a vintage 2019 M1 and that the differences between the two mainly concern the engine speed (that of Fabio would take less revs / minutes) and the responsiveness to changes: Morbidelli will benefit more quickly. pieces validated by Rossi and Viñales in the official team.

Offseason testing - Leader of the second day of MotoGP testing at Sepang, Viñales sprints to the record! -

In short: Yamaha would grant the two pilots of its new satellite structure a treatment and equipment "semi-factory" or almost, which must not fail to make Tech3 and its former pilot Johann Zarco sigh, who had long demanded this consideration….

The financial power of the Malaysian oil company Petronas is probably not unrelated to this increased support from Yamaha: remember that the SRT team rents its motorcycles to the Japanese brand and that the amount of this rent must act directly on the quality of the machines in question. !

Results and standings of the second day of MotoGP testing in Sepang

  1. VIÑALES, Maverick Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1: 58.897
  2. RINS, Alex Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1: 59.424 0.527
  3. MILLER, Jack Alma Pramac Racing 1: 59.517 0.620
  4. DOVIZIOSO, Andrea Mission Winnow Ducati 1: 59.562 0.665
  5. CRUTCHLOW, Cal LCR Honda CASTROL 1: 59.566 0.669
  6. ROSSI, Valentino Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1: 59.625 0.728
  7. RABAT, Tito Reale Avintia Racing 1: 59.664 0.767
  8. MARQUEZ, Marc Repsol Honda Team 1: 59.790 0.893
  9. PETRUCCI, Danilo Mission Winnow Ducati 1: 59.845 0.948
  10. NAKAGAMI, Takaaki LCR Honda IDEMITSU 1: 59.966 1.069
  11. ZARCO, Johann Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1: 59.973 1.076
  12. BAGNAIA, Francesco Alma Pramac Racing 1: 59.995 1.098
  13. ESPARGARO, Aleix Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 2: 00.101 1.204
  14. QUARTARARO, Fabio Petronas Yamaha SRT 2: 00.108 1.211
  15. MORBIDELLI, Franco Petronas Yamaha SRT 2: 00.151 1.254
  16. BRADL, Stefan Honda Test Team 2: 00.230 1.333
  17. ESPARGARO, Pol Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 2: 00.305 1.408
  18. IANNONE, Andrea Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 2: 00.510 1.613
  19. KALLIO, Mika Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Test Team 2: 00.523 1.626
  20. OLIVEIRA, Miguel KTM Tech 3 Racing 2: 00.672 1.775
  21. MIR, Joan Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 2: 00.876 1.979
  22. ABRAHAM, Karel Reale Avintia Racing 2: 01.245 2.348
  23. TEST 1, Yamaha Yamaha Test Team 2: 01.406 2.509
  24. GUINTOLI, Sylvain Suzuki Test Team 2: 01.654 2.757
  25. SYAHRIN, Hafizh KTM Tech 3 Racing 2: 01.859 2.962
  26. TEST 2, Yamaha Yamaha Test Team 2: 02.989 4.092
  27. TSUDA, Takuya Suzuki Test Team 2: 03.276 4.379
  28. SMITH, Bradley Aprilia Racing Factory Team

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