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Jorge Lorenzo smashed through the previous fastest ever lap last time out in testing, but at Buriram, the five-time Champion found it tougher going and ended up P16 overall.

However, as he explains, he didn’t push for a timeattack on the final day.

“In Sepang we felt much better,”says Lorenzo. “But during these three days I didn’t feel very comfortable. Today I didn’t push to make a laptime, today it was set during a race simulation. I was reconfirming the old bike compared to the new bike.”

That he was, with one of Danilo Petrucci’s GP17s pilfered from the Borgo Panigale test rider at Alma Pramac Racing. Lorenzo says it’s helped him confirm that there are good and bad points to each bike.

“As I said in Sepang, I think each bike has some good and some bad points. It’s difficult to make a mix for the Qatar race,” begins Lorenzo. “But”, he adds, “today we saw, even if the new bike isn’t a lot better, it has more potential because there’s more room for evolution during the year.”

So the plan is a little wait and see for Qatar – also pending feedback from the team – and work on the front.

“Let’s see what the engineers do, and I think we also still need to work on the setting on the new bike,” sys the ‘Spartan’. “Especially with the front tyre, which I didn’t feel well here.”

1st March is the day the final three days of testing begin at Losail.

source: motogp.com

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It was Cal Crutchlow on Day 1, Marc Marquez on Day 2 and Dani Pedrosa on Day 3 to make it three days in a row on top for Honda at the Thai test.

Pedrosa is quickest overall with a 1:29.781, with Marquez P3 on combined timesheets on a 1:29.969 and Crutchlow fourth, just outside the 1:29s. Johann Zarco was second overall - just 0.086 off Pedrosa in the exclusive 1:29 club.

Marquez suffered a small crash on Day 3 – just outside the realm of a super save – but the six-time Champion nevertheless pounded through another huge workload of laps

. One innovation spotted on Sunday was a carbon swingarm, which was also used in Sepang and Valencia, but the biggest headline for the Japanese factory was the incredible pace. It bodes well ahead of the season opener, with Honda bidding to retain both the riders’ and constructors’ titles.

The interloper in the Honda party at the top was the man who looked set to go fastest until right at the end - Johann Zarco. The Frenchman broke the 1:30 barrier on Day 3 twice, with his fastest effort a 1:29.867 before he called it a day some time before the end of the test, work completed. Zarco, who will be using the 2016 chassis on his Tech 3 machine this year, did 47 laps and was top Yamaha.

Fellow sophomore Alex Rins made it a clean sweep of impressive performances on Day 3, as the Spaniard ended the test in fifth overall. Despite a crash, Rins did another 66 laps on Sunday. Teammate Andrea Iannone also ended the test positive but a little further down in P15 overall, finding it hard to unlock better pace on new tyres.

The Hamamatsu factory brought a number of things to the test, including a previous aero fairing and two iterations of a new aero fairing, as well as chassis updates.

Jack Miller was once again a star attraction on Sunday, and finished the test in P6 overall – only 0.007 off Rins ahead of him. The Australian has settled in incredibly quickly on the GP17, and teammate Danilo Petrucci on the GP18 and Ducati test duty made it both Alma Pramac Racing machines in the top ten as he slotted into P9 on combined timesheets.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) was finished early on Day 3, with the track having proven more useful than expected during the hotter parts of the day and the Italian getting through the programme. He finished the #ThaiTest with 58 laps on Day 3, P7 on combined timesheets after trying three aero fairings and comparing chassis updates. Teammate Jorge Lorenzo was P16 on combined times after a more difficult test than his domination of Sepang with a record lap, comparing the GP18 and GP17 on the final day in Thailand.

Maverick Viñales ended Thailand in eighth overall, with a lap set on Saturday – when the Spaniard said the afternoon had seen them take a big step forward. But on Sunday, teammate Valentino Rossi was quicker, P10 compared to Viñales’ twelfth place on the Day 3 timesheets. Rossi’s Sunday best was a 1:30.511 and the ‘Doctor’ set it on lap 69 of 70, but was P12 overall.

Takaaki Nakagami was a big headline at the conclusion of the #ThaiTest. The Japanese rookie put in a 1:30.456 and took a stunning tenth overall – moving forward throughout the sessions and keeping himself top debutant. But Franco Morbidelli surged forward on the chase, moving up to P13 overall and just two tenths off. His teammate Tom Lüthi improved on Sunday too, having missed the available tracktime at the end of 2017, and did a 1:31.354.

Hafizh Syahrin was the next rookie up, and the Malaysian got another 47 laps under his belt in his first ever MotoGP™ test. Just 0.183 off Lüthi, it was another impressive move forward for the first ever Malaysian in the premier class.

Tito Rabat took P11 overall as he was another who is settling into life on a Ducati well, just ahead of Rossi and Morbidelli. Aleix Espargaro was fourteenth and top Noale factory machine, with the timesheets incredibly tight, as teammate Scott Redding also moved forward on Day 3.

Bradley Smith and KTM test rider Mika Kallio also made progress with their pace on Sunday, but with so much to test, timeattacks weren’t high on the agenda. One headline-grabber for the Austrian factory on the final day was a new aero fairing, and Smith fulfilled the target of getting into the 1:30 bracket with a 1:30.921.

source: motogp.com

 

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“We leave with positive feelings after the first time at this track.” Says Dani Pedrosa  after the end of track action at Buriram, with the ‘Little Samurai’ having topped the timesheets with an emphatic final push.

The fastest ever lap of the track will now remain Pedrosa’s 1:29.781 until the Thai GP in October – and the Repsol Honda rider made it three from three for Honda at the top.

“It was really tough because with three days here, so many laps and so hot…and we didn’t have many tyres left so we had to manage it in how to plan it,” explains Pedrosa, “and we still have some things to test. But overall, it’s very positive, and the most important thing is that we learned the track.”

Teammate Marquez, meanwhile, was also feeling the heat – and did more than 270 laps over the three days. But likewise, the rider from Cervera is positive – especially about his long run pace.

“I’m very, very happy, we did a lot of laps and we improved in some areas,” says Marquez. “Today I didn’t push for a timeattack, I did a long run. I was very, very happy with the long run. It was consistent and physically I felt well.”

There was a small crash for the reigning Champion – at 50km/h, with customary, attempted save – but he shrugged it off. “After more than 200 laps, concentration isn’t the same, I was trying a new front fork and I lost the front but it was just 50km/h!”

One big talking point on Day 3 was a new carbon fibre swingarm at Honda. But it wasn’t new – it had been tested since Valencia.

“Yeah, we tried the carbon swingarm, the one we’ve been using since Valencia,” grins Marquez. “No one asked about it, so we didn’t say anything! But we’re doing back to back tests, we’re not sure because it’s a new prototype and has positives and negatives. Today was the first time I did a long run with it. When the tyre is new maybe we get more grip but when it’s a used tyre, more shaking.”

Pedrosa shared the smile at the accidental undercover prototype, but similarly stressed it’s a work in progress. “We’re trying this style of swingarm which no other manufacturers are using. It’s the first time we’ve gone into that area and we’re still in the process. It’s not easy when you don’t have experience with it but I think it’s positive, learning more about it and getting feelings, feedback and a starting point.”

The final thing the riders were quizzed on was a lot more divisive, however. The new aero-fairing drew a simple “I didn’t like it, it’s not what I expected” from Pedrosa, but Marquez swayed the other way: “The new fairing was quite positive today. I like it, and I was consistent with the used tyre.”

And the final word at the conclusion of the test goes to Marquez, who echoes the thoughts of many…

“Now we analyse here, then forget it and concentrate on Qatar because that’s a track where we suffer more,” he says. “Honestly, after so much testing, I’m just waiting for the races.”

Know the feeling? It’s getting closer! One more test begins in Qatar on the 1st March, before the season finally fires up to race two weeks later.

source: motogp.com

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Marc Marquez celebrated his 25th birthday in style at the #ThaiTest, leaving it late to set the first ever sub-1:30 laptime of Buriram quite a way through a mammoth 90+ lap workload for the six-time World Champion.

That took the top spot back from teammate Dani Pedrosa, who ended the day second fastest and a tenth and a half down after having led for the majority of the latter stages of the session. Third was another stunning lap from Jack Miller, who was 0.058 off Pedrosa as he continues his run of top performance in 2018.

One of the big headlines on Saturday was once again aero. Part of Marquez’ 94 laps in the incredible heat of Thailand was spent on an aero package, with the number 93, teammate Pedrosa and HRC test rider Cal Crutchlow – Friday’s fastest – all having tried updates across the Sepang and Thai tests.

Behind the lockout for the Repsol squad at the top, Crutchlow was the third quickest Honda and was eighth, but quicker than his Friday lap. The Brit concentrated on test duty rather than a time attack.

Miller, meanwhile, continued to show how he’s settled into life on the Ducati GP17. By the end of action, a late run from the Australian saw him shoot ahead of teammate Danilo Petrucci – who is on a GP18 and on Ducati test duty, and who ended the day in P6 after hovering further up earlier in the day.

Fourth and fifth were locked out by Yamaha – on Saturday, Maverick Viñales led Johann Zarco after Valentino Rossi had been the quicker rider on Friday. Viñales’ best was a 1:30.274, with Zarco just 0.086 behind. Viñales had a more difficult morning before making a big step in the afternoon – aiming to confirm it on Day 3.

Alex Rins, after going second quickest on the first day of the test, was seventh on Day 2 and again top Hamamatsu machine. Starting 2018 healthy after injury problems last year, the Spanish sophomore did around half a century of laps and tried new aero from Suzuki, with the factory fielding the fairing they’d previously had as well as longer and shorter version of a new package. Both Rins and teammate Andrea Iannone, who ended the day in eleventh but only three tenths back on Rins, tried the updates – and both crashed, but with no consequences.

The Ducati Team, meanwhile, moved on with the program. They have three aero fairings at Buriram as well as a chassis update and continued working on them. On Day 2 Andrea Dovizioso was ninth and teammate Jorge Lorenzo tenth. ‘DesmoDovi’ was just 0.004 off Crutchlow ahead of him and two tenths ahead of Lorenzo, with the Italian putting in over 70 laps and the Spaniard more than 50.

Two more Independent Team riders on Ducatis took P12 and P13, with Reale Avinta Racing’s Tito Rabat ahead of Alvaro Bautista (Angel Nieto Team) by only 0.028. Both were ahead of Valentino Rossi, who ended the second day in fourteenth.

Takaaki Nakagami completed the top fifteen on Saturday, fastest rookie once again and the last man in the 1:30 bracket. He had a three tenth advantage on key rival Franco Morbidelli, with the reigning Moto2 World Champion doing a best of 1:31.185. His teammate Tom Lüthi did a 1:31.994, with the Sepang test having been his first time on the bike – and he ended the day just ahead of Hafizh Syahrin and Xavier Simeon.

Syahrin, on a MotoGP machine for only the second day ever, was impressive once again on Saturday. The Malaysian rider was only 0.004 seconds off fellow rookie Lüthi, and was ahead of Simeon by the end of action.

source: motogp.com

 

         

 

 

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