MotoGP – Viñales ends test as the fastest rider

Bruno Gomes

February 26, 2019

Maverick Vinales | Photo credits: MatraX Lubricant

After the first official test of the season in Sepang, Malaysia, the MotoGP paddock traveled all the way to Losail circuit for the second and last official pre-season test session before the first race, precisely in Losail, in just two weeks’ time. At the Qatari track, Maverick Viñales showed the progress that the Yamaha YZR-M1 suffered throughout the Winter break, and the Spaniard finished the three days of testing as the fastest rider.

Viñales clocked the best chrono of the Qatar test on the last day, and even though riders had to face strong winds, the Monster Energy Yamaha rider was able to put in a fast lap. 1m54.208s was the time that left Maverick Viñales on top of the timesheets, and two tenths clear of rookie Fabio Quartararo.

The Frenchman, on the Petronas Yamaha SRT satellite Yamaha YZR-M1, doesn’t seem to be suffering the pressure of competing for the first time in MotoGP, and showed how well he’s adapting to this new reality by leaving the Qatar test with the second best lap time, demoting Ecstar Suzuki rider Alex Rins to third on the timesheets.

The reigning world champion Marc Marquez, still recovering from injury, and not like what happened in Sepang where he could only do a small number of laps before resting his shoulder, did longer runs on the new Repsol Honda RC213V, showing that he’s getting better every time he goes on track. The fourth fastest time of the test gives him hope to be able to fight for the win on the first race of the season.

As for the Ducati’s, the best was the factory Desmosedici GP19 ridden by Danilo Petrucci of the Mission Winnow Ducati team. The new Ducati rider finished 10th and left the test a bit disappointed because the strong winds on the last day of testing didn’t let him go for the faster lap times, as he had planned.

The first MotoGP race of the season will happen on March 10, in Losail, and iMotorbike will follow up on all the latest updates and results to give you full reports on the start of the MotoGP season.