MotoGP – Maverick Viñales the fastest rider at the official test in Catalunya

Bruno Gomes

June 18, 2019

Maverick Viñales puts the bad luck of Sunday behind and goes on to be the fastest rider at the official MotoGP test in Catalunya.

The Montmeló circuit in Catalunya was the stage for another post-race official MotoGP test. If Marc Marquez was the happiest man on Sunday, this Monday it was Maverick Viñales. The Monster Energy Yamaha rider was involved in a crash during the race. But he put that bad luck behind to finish this MotoGP test with an impressive pace.

The Spaniard was the only rider to lower to 1m38s. Viñales also put in an impressive amount of laps. He completed no less than 98 laps aboard his Yamaha M1 (450 km) and completed the test without any problems.

The second fastest rider on track yesterday was another Yamaha rider. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) almost lowered to the 38s bracket but was unable to do so. In the end, the Italian was 0.047s slower than Viñales and shows that the Petronas Yamaha SRT is one of the best teams in the MotoGP paddock.

Third fastest was race winner Marc Marquez. The Repsol Honda rider tested some different fairings on his bike, suffered a small crash, and leaves this test with a better knowledge of what needs to be done to improve his bike to face the rest of the championship.

As for Malaysian rider Hafizh Syahrin, the Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider finishes the MotoGP test with the 22^nd fastest lap time. Syahrin clocked in a little more than 50 laps at the Catalan circuit and leaves Catalunya with positive feelings

“This has been a truly good test. I was able to improve my riding a bit. We had to start a bit later with a mechanical problem on the bike. Everybody already set a time in the morning, therefore, we were not concentrating on doing a fast lap anymore. I didn’t use many new tyres, but a new one from Michelin, which was really good and even better than the one we chose in the race. Overall, this test has been positive. We also tried some things with electronics, which was a bit better. I’m happy with this test”, said Hafizh Syahrin.