Monster Energy Yamaha riders end Jerez test on high notes

Michelle Liew

November 27, 2019

Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi both secured first and 11th place respectively.

The rain hit the Circuit de Jerez- Ángel Nieto but nothing could stop Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi is securing progress in the test session. The duo managed to test out the new machine and completed the test in 1st and 11th place respectively.

Viñales adapted to his testing style already but mainly paid attention to the specific areas rather than putting in as many laps as possible. The test ended early due to the rain so the Spaniard had to prioritise his focus. He completed 15 laps with the best record of 1’37.964s on lap 9. He then improved his time record to 1‘37.131s and gained first place.

Teammate Rossi, on the other hand, was able to make a detailed comparison between his old and new bike. He used the wet track conditions in the afternoon to work with the new testing items in the cold and wet. His best time was a 1’38.352s on the tenth lap. He clinched the 11th position in the combined results, 1.221s from the top.

Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP)- As It Happened

Photo credits: Yamaha Racing

“Actually, I felt really good on the bike, riding in a really good way. Yesterday, I felt fantastic on all the laps and that is the most important. I end the 2019 season with a great feeling and a lot of motivation, and that keeps you going when preparing for the new season. Yamaha is working really hard, but we‘re still working on top speed. For sure in other areas, we‘re quite strong, but we need to stay focused on improving our weaker areas for the next test in Sepang,” he says as quoted from Yamaha Racing.

Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP)- As It Happened

Photo credits: Yamaha Racing

“It‘s a shame about the weather today. It was an important day because we had to work on making a comparison between the new and the old bike, so we had a good program, but, unfortunately, we did only ten laps on the dry, and after that, we did some laps on the wet. But the feeling is positive, a lot better than yesterday. On the dry, I was a lot faster. I improved my best lap time from the day before already after three laps, and today I was more competitive. After the rain, we did some work on the new bike on the wet, and it wasn‘t so bad, but it was only half a day.”