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Ducati Team's Andrea Dovizioso was the quickest man on track on Day 2 of the private Jerez test and his day ended early, much like the Valencia test, after the Italian got through the planned programme.

Well under the lap record on new asphalt at the track, it was a time to impress. Remaining focused on trying to improve the turning performance of the Desmosedici, the 2017 Championship runner up was quickest with a 1:37.668 after 37 laps.

Teammate Jorge Lorenzo was third fastest at the venue where he took his first podium in red, with the Borgo Panigale factory riders gathering the last of their on-track data ahead of the GP18’s expected debut at the Sepang test in January. Five-time World Champion Lorenzo did 50 laps.

Cal Crutchlow was second quickest, trailing Dovizioso by a tenth and a half as he continues test duties for HRC.

With his 2017 bike and two 2018 prototypes, the Brit was prolific and put in 89 laps. In the battle of the rookies, his teammate Takaaki Nakagami was just beaten by newly-crowned Moto2 Champion Franco Morbidelli, with the two taking P11 and P12 respectively – very close on times.

After going quickest on Day 1, Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Andrea Iannone was P4 on the second day of action as the Hamamatsu factory focus on engine direction, with this test the final chance for the team to gather data ahead of their final decisions on direction for 2018.

Teammate Alex Rins, who sat out Day 1 in favour of test rider Sylvain Guintoli, was back out on Thursday, too – putting in one of the biggest lap counts of the day and taking P6 on the timesheets.

Pol Espargaro was the man who split the two Suzukis, taking Red Bull KTM Factory Racing into the top five once again.

Espargaro did 59 laps, with teammate Bradley Smith putting in 47 to complete the top ten. The Austrian factory are trying new chassis, swingarms and electronics settings, as well as focusing on set up and reconfirming data gathered throughout testing so far and their impressive 2017 season.

Tito Rabat, meanwhile, was the fastest of those who have changed machinery. The new Reale Avintia Racing rider was seventh quickest and the top Independent Team Ducati, settling in well. He was just ahead of Danilo Petrucci, with the Pramac squad back out on track on Thursday.

Petrucci’s teammate Jack Miller was just one position behind the Italian as he adapts to the bike – using one of Petrucci’s GP17s – after also impressing on his Desmosedici debut at the Valencia test. The final Independent Team Ducati on track was the Reale Avintia Racing machine of rookie Xavier Simeon, who was P16 after 66 laps.

cott Redding and Eugene Laverty were next up on the timesheets, with the two men locking out P13 and P14 for Aprilia Racing Team Gresini on the RS-GP.

Redding joins the team for 2018, with Laverty taking on MotoGP test duties for the Noale factory following his two days of WorldSBK testing on the Aprilia WorldSBK machine on Monday and Tuesday.

Alex Marquez, standing in for injured Tom Lüthi on the EG 0,0 Marc VDS MotoGP Honda, made big inroads on the second day to go P15 after 57 laps under the watchful eye of big brother Marc Marquez, the reigning MotoGP Champion.

The Repsol Honda Team are not riding at the Jerez test, instead electing to use the test days next season, with Movistar Yamaha MotoGP and Monster Yamaha Tech 3 also electing to use different dates - heading for Sepang International Circuit for a private test at the end of the month.

source: motogp.com

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Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez followed up his sixth world title win on Sunday by going fastest in Valencia over the two days of testing, almost four tenths clear of teammate Dani Pedrosa - with a best of 1:30.033.

Honda have been testing their 2018 bike as well as the 2017 and some parts on the bike with which they took the triple crown, and both men put in a combined total of over a hundred laps.

LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow, meanwhile, put in a mammoth 72 laps on Day 2 to go sixth fastest as he also begins work on Honda’s 2018 push for glory.

On the second day, Johann Zarco was the fastest Yamaha, and the Frenchman put in 65 laps to go third overall – just pushed back down the timesheets in the latter stages by Dani Pedrosa.

The 2017 Rookie of the Year has been testing the 2017 M1, and has been positive about the bike – saying he feels more potential with it, a sentiment echoed by Tuesday’s fastest Maverick Viñales on Day  1.

On Day 2, Viñales was fifth fastest after 66 laps, with teammate Valentino Rossi taking P7 on the timesheets after 62 laps.

Rossi spent Day 2 largely working with a new 2018 engine, and Viñales said Day 1 was more positive but the slightly different track conditions on the second day had helped compare direction for next season.

Ducati, meanwhile, saw Andrea Dovizioso get through his testing program by mid-afternoon and hit the pause button until the Borgo Panigale factory head back out on track – ending the day in P15 but satisfied – with teammate Jorge Lorenzo ending the day in P4 and in the top three for some time.

Lorenzo said they got through a good program of work, but more that he understood and was able to practice some changes in his riding style to adapt to the bike – putting in 39 laps with a best of 1:30.534.

Jack Miller impressed once more in eighth on Day 2 despite a crash, putting in 45 laps on his new bike and ending the session just 0.017 ahead of Andrea Iannone.

Iannone, sidelined on the first day with a virus, was back out for 47 laps on Day 2 – and teammate Alex Rins put in 38 laps.

Aleix Espargaro was the last man in the top ten after 44 laps, again close to the man ahead and only 0.012 off ninth. His teammate Scot Redding, settling in on his new machine, did 56 laps and ended the day in P19.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing had another positive day, with Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith lining up in P11 and P12 respectively.

With a host of new parts and new team members, positivity abounded once more – with Espargaro putting in 46 laps and Smith 39. Espargaro worked mainly on the rhythm and grip, saying a big step forward had been found.

Franco Morbidelli was the fastest rookie in P16, turning the tables on Day 2 to end up just ahead of fellow rookie Takaaki Nakagami.

Morbidelli did 58 laps despite a crash, Nakagami 62. Xavier Simeon, also a rookie and recovering from injury, put in 61 laps to take P20.

source: motogp.com

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Andrea Iannone ended the first day of testing in Jerez on top with a 1:38.280 after 68 laps, only half a tenth ahead of Cal Crutchlow and Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo as it got tight at the top.

Iannone was fastest in the morning before Ducati hit back, with Crutchlow another to improve later in the day to overtake the Italian machines.

Suzuki are concentrating a lot of time on the engine at the test, with a decision on the direction for next year needing to be taken soon.

On Day 1, Iannone was joined in the team by test rider Sylvain Guintoli, who was fifteenth quickest overall and eleventh of the MotoGP riders. Race teammate Alex Rins is expected on track tomorrow.

ucati, meanwhile, were continuing with their evaluations in order to pass on maximum information to engineers for during the break – with the GP18 due to appear first at the official Sepang Test in January.

Dovizioso did 47 laps, Lorenzo 55. Crutchlow, on his part, has the new 2018 prototype Honda as he does some testing for HRC, and had two variations of the machine as well as his 2017 bike in the garage.

He did 73 laps. The Honda Team are not present, instead choosing to use the test days next season. Yamaha MotoGP and Monster Yamaha Tech 3 also sit out Jerez, instead heading for a private test in Malaysia soon.

Crutchlow’s teammate Takaaki Nakagami was the fastest rookie in P11 overall, which was ninth of the MotoGP riders.

Fellow rookie Franco Morbidelli was the next on the Grand Prix-only timesheets, only a tenth and a half back. At EG 0,0 Marc VDS, Alex Marquez was also on a MotoGP machine, with the Moto2 race winner and former lightweight class World Champion getting a run in the injured Tom Lüthi’s place. Takumi Takahashi, who tested at Valencia with the team, also rode on Day 1.

Pol Espargaro completed the top five on Day 1 after a positive Valencia test, with new chassis, swingarms and a host of parts – with work also concentrating on electronics and setup. Teammate Bradley Smith was seventh quickest of the GP runners, with Reale Avintia Racing’s Tito Rabat splitting the two KTM machines. Rabat’s rookie teammate Xavier Simeon was thirteenth quickest.

The fastest RS-GP was Scott Redding as the Brit settles in at Aprilia Racing Team Gresini, with teammate Aleix Espargaro replaced in Jerez by Aprilia test rider and WorldSBK racer Eugene Laverty. Laverty was twelfth quickest and just behind Guintoli. Finally, Pramac Racing didn’t ride on Day 1, but will be back on on track on Thursday.

There were two interruptions on Wednesday after a fall for Pol Espargaro – rider ok – earlier in the session brought out the Red Flag to allow the track to be cleared, and a Red Flag interrupted the end of the day after a crash for WorldSBK frontrunner Chaz Davies on the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati Panigale.

Reigning WorldSBK Champion Jonathan Rea also took a tumble, with the Kawasaki Racing Team rider going down early in the session.

 

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It was a slow start to action at Valencia as sunny skies hid cool air temperatures, but the engines soon fired up to full speed once the first forays had been made.

By the end of the first day, Maverick Viñales was top, taking over in P1 late in the day and ending the day two tenths clear of Johann Zarco.

Yamaha had four combinations of chassis and engine to test, with Zarco, meanwhile, setting his fastest lap on the 2017 M1.

The big visual headline from the early part of the day saw Viñales head out first sporting a new aerofairing on his M1, and it wasn’t long before teammate Valentino Rossi did the same.

Viñales put in 80 laps, Zarco 53 and Rossi 63, as the ‘Doctor’ took fourth on the timesheets to slot in just behind reigning World Champion Marc Marquez.

Just before midday there was a dramatic crash for Rossi at Turn 10, with the number 46 soon on his feet and walking over to look at the bike. Back to the pits soon after, Rossi was unhurt and headed back out.

Marquez, meanwhile, was the last man out on track and did 70 laps as he began his campaign to defend the crown – already. His best was just over a tenth slower than Zarco, and began the day on the 2017 bike before trying a modified version and then the 2018 bike – with a new chassis, new engine, and new exhaust – “almost everything new”.

Teammate Dani Pedrosa did 52 laps, and ended the day in P11 after his Valencia GP victory on Sunday. Cal Crutchlow, on the first LCR Honda machine, finished up in tenth after 55 laps.

Jack Miller was the standout debutant as he rode a Ducati for the first time, going fifth fastest and almost immediately quicker than his fastest lap in the race on Sunday – and quicker than any lap put in during the race on Sunday.

He was the fastest Ducati, with the Borgo Panigale factory’s Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo slotting into P7 and P8 respectively – both putting in around a half century of laps. Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing) took P14 after 46 laps, just behind Tito Rabat– with the former intermediate class Champion putting in 70 laps on his first day on a Ducati.

Aleix Espargaro was sixth and fastest for the Noale factory after 51 laps, with new teammate Scott Redding settling in in P15 on Day 1.

Pol Espargaro took ninth after 56 laps, with teammate Bradley Smith putting in a similar count of laps to end the day in P12 as the Austrian factory head into their sophomore season.

Takaaki Nakagami was the fastest rookie in P17 after 76 laps, with reigning Moto2 Franco Morbidelli incredibly close behind in P18. Xavier Simeon put in 43 laps on his first run in the premier class, returning from injury and ending the day in P20. He also suffered a lowside crash earlier in the day.

Alvaro Bautista suffered a big crash early in the day after a mechanical problem, and went to hospital for precautionary checks. He sat out the rest of the test day, although was confirmed with no fractures.

There were more issues of a different nature at Team Suzuki Ecstar as Andrea Iannone and Alex Rins were both sidelined with a virus, and are hoping to get out on track tomorrow.

source: motogp.com

 

         

 

 

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