Petronas Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo set a stunning new Jerez MotoGP outright lap record during today’s one-day test, a 1’36.376 late in the day which was 0.418 quicker than anyone else after Cal Crutchlow had set a new best just minutes before.
Quartararo’s team-mate Franco Morbidelli put a late flyer in to jump to third, with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pol Espargaro in fourth.
The Frenchman wasn’t testing anything in particular – apart from an internal fork update - as he continued to get more miles under his belt on his Yamaha. He went half a second quicker than his pole position time on the old forks. Morbidelli ended the day with a 1'37.093, the Italian testing Yamaha’s latest aero package that only the factory riders have had access to this season.
Maverick Viñales (Monster Yamaha) was trying some electronics to help with throttle connection as the Spaniard finished fourth quickest with a 1'37.226. He completed a whopping 94 laps, with team-mate Valentino Rossi also working on throttle connection – The Doctor finished 16th.
For Honda, the most notable of the parts they were testing was Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) heading out on test rider Stefan Bradl’s bike, that particular RC213V boasting the carbon-fibre covered chassis. And the reigning World Champion set his best lap time on said bike, a 1'37.260 put the championship leader in seventh. Team-mate Jorge Lorenzo’s aim was to get a better feeling, a new seat was fitted for the five-time World Champion as he put in 91 laps, finishing ninth quickest but ended his day with a crash at turn 11, this coming after he’d crashed at turn 6 earlier.
Crutchlow was trying out some clutch electronics to help him to aid his start setup, the British rider completed 78 laps to finish second, with team-mate Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) finishing tenth quickest – the Japanese rider crashing right at the end of the day at turn 3.
Pol Espargaro had a busy day as KTM tested chassis parts, chassis settings and engine parts, the Spaniard having a productive day at the office with team manager Mike Leitner saying they’ll have to wait until Le Mans to see if the parts really make a difference or not. Team-mate Johann Zarco was 16th quickest, with the Red Bull KTM Tech3 machines trying the factory spec ‘cut’ exhaust.
Suzuki Ecstar’s Joan Mir finished sixth on the times as he tried a new setting that was more suited to his riding style, the Spaniard suffering a crash at turn 9. Alex Rins debuted Suzuki’s version of the ‘swingarm attachment’, which he consequently broke without crashing. The man second in the championship completed 69 laps and finished 0.896 off Quartararo in eighth.
The fastest Ducati at the test was Andrea Dovizioso, the Italian finishing 11th quickest with a 1'37.601. Both he and team-mate Danilo Petrucci didn’t have anything in particular to try, but the duo were testing big setup changes that Ducati didn’t want to do during the race weekend.
Aprilia's Andrea Iannone attempted to ride on Monday but he was too battered and bruised from Saturday’s crash to complete any flying laps. Aleix Espargaro completed 80 laps as the Spaniard ventured out early to try some new parts for Aprilia. Test rider Bradley Smith also put in the mileage, the British rider completing 82 laps.
