Viñales fastest at the Valencia test with Hafizh Syahrin improving

Bruno Gomes

November 21, 2018

The first official IRTA test for the MotoGP teams has ended in Valencia, with many riders taking the two days of testing to test many different components on the bikes they’ll need to race on the 2019 season.

For Malaysian rider Hafizh Syahrin, the test in Valencia was the first taste he had with the new bike since Tech3 team has decided to use KTM machinery after many seasons with Yamaha bikes.

For Syahrin, the RC16 made in Austria is a very different bike to ride, and if he had some problems on day 1, today the Malaysian rider had more time on the track and felt better, lowering his lap times considerably.

In the end, Hafizh Syahrin ended the test in 22nd, with the best time of 1m33.008s, feeling better every time he went out on track, which was obvious in his lap times as he went 1.225 seconds quicker than on Tuesday

“Overall, we had a decent test. I didn’t look at the lap time these two days but tried to feel good on the bike, to get used to it and to understand the electronic. On the first day, until we didn’t touch anything on the bike, but this afternoon we changed some things on the front and the rear, which was positive. Later today, it was quite cold and we used the medium tyre. I had a small crash in turn 10, but I was in good shape and had a good rhythm to understand the bike. We try to continue working hard and to understand, also for the team to learn the new electronic. I hope we have some great weather in Jerez and aim to improve with every session”, said Syahrin.

Meanwhile, at the top of the timesheets, it was Maverick Viñales who took Yamaha Movistar to the top being the fastest rider of both days combined, beating Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) and Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda).

Surprise of the test was Franco Morbidelli on the new Petronas Yamaha SRT satellite team, who was sixth fastest, while the best rookie was the Moto2 champion Francesco Bagnaia (Alma Pramac Ducati) in 11th.