After only a second mistake of your rookie season in a race, what’s the best way to bounce back?
Topping two days of testing at Misano, half a second clear on the final day and within 0.010 of the lap record ought to do the trick for Fabio Quartararo.
On Friday the rookie was once again top of the pile, this time ahead of the Ducati of Danilo Petrucci by nearly half a second, with Franco Morbidelli completing the top three after another impressive day for the Italian.
Once more it was a scorcher on the Riviera de Rimini as the sun beat down on the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli for the second and final day of the two-day test.
And as Petronas Yamaha SRT continued their almost-dominance at the top, Yamaha overall continued their solid showing. For Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, Valentino Rossi was seen leaving pitlane with what looked like a carbon covered front brake on one of his YZR-M1s. Teammate Maverick Viñales was on track with the double exhaust again today as well, seemingly doing a comparison with the ‘normal’ Yamaha exhaust.
The Spaniard was also back to using the usual tail on both of his bikes on Friday as he ended the test P6, just under a second back from Quartararo. ‘The Doctor’ had climbed into the top three in the closing stages, only to be displaced by Petrucci’s late time attack to end the day fourth at his home track.
Ducati shot up the timesheets on the second day with Petrucci. He and teammate Andrea Dovizioso were out testing with one of their two bikes having the swingarm attachment. In addition, the two Italians were both using the wheel covers on their GP19s, with test rider Michele Pirro displaying a slightly different looking Ducati belly pan. Pirro finished 15th on the timesheets, Dovizioso was 17th.
Jack Miller (Pramac Racing), meanwhile, was the lunchtime leader and he even ended his test at midday, the Australian encountering an issue with his number one bike during the morning. The number 43 was mainly working on his race pace and stability in the high-speed corners, something he says he struggled with a bit at Silverstone.
Miller also said he and the team had found a little bit of direction in that department; good news ahead of the Grand Prix weekend. Teammate Francesco Bagnaia was also mainly working on race setup, and the rookie had a positive-looking test on board his GP18 as the Pramac duo finished up fifth and seventh respectively. Tito Rabat also put his Ducati in P12 after a solid day’s work.
Takaaki Nakagami was the fastest Honda rider at the Misano Test, the Japanese rider putting in his fastest laps towards the end of Day 2 to sit P8 on the timesheets.
In the Repsol Honda garage, as well as having two Repsol liveried bikes, Championship leader Marc Marquez had HRC test rider Stefan Bradl’s bike at his disposal on Friday as he ended the test P10. Marquez rode a blacked-out Honda on Thursday and today it was the turn of Bradl to have a go, with Cal Crutchlow also having a black Honda on his side of the garage on Day 2. Five-time World Champion Jorge Lorenzo didn’t ride on Day 2 as he continues to recover from injury.
Meanwhile at Team Suzuki Ecstar, Joan Mir finished the test in P11 as the Spaniard continued to get back up to speed following his huge Brno Test crash. “Some new parts”, settings and grip was Mir’s main aim, and the rookie ended the test ahead of British GP winner Alex Rins, who had a low key time on the timesheets at least.
Aprilia ended the second day in the top ten. Aleix Espargaro was ninth quickest on his Aprilia Racing Team Gresini machine as the Italian brand continue working towards 2020, although the Spaniard suffered two crashes during the morning session on Day 2. Teammate Andrea Iannone confirmed the team were working more in the direction of next year’s package and the Italian ended the test in P14.
Some of the headlines, however, remain reserved for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. MotoGP Legend Dani Pedrosa got a full day of testing done for Austrian factory KTM, with the three-time World Champion trying a tail unit that was similar to what Pol Espargaro and Johann Zarco used at the opening round of the season, something Pedrosa also used at the Barcelona Test earlier in the year.
KTM did confirm they tested things they think they will use in the coming races and Pedrosa finished the day as the quickest KTM rider, with Dovizioso splitting him from Espargaro on the timesheets. Espargaro also crashed in the morning. Hafizh Syahrin was behind the number 44, and his teammate Miguel Oliveira remains absent to recover from his Silverstone crash.
