MotoGP’s three-day Australian pre-season test ended yesterday at Phillip Island, with Marc Marquez finishing the final day on top of the timesheets.
It was a very productive test for the Repsol Honda Team, which made further progress on the new unified software and collected much valuable information on tyres and bike settings. This data will be valuable as the HRC engineers return to Japan and continue their work.
With the day opening under a heavy sky that threatened rain, Marquez immediately began to lap strongly, setting very consistent lap times that put him second quickest. Unfortunately, rain started to fall around noon, resulting in a long wait in the garage until just after 3pm.
When the action resumed, Marquez took over at the top of the timesheets with a 1’29.158 lap that remained the fastest time of the day. In his last exit, Marquez crashed in Turn 9, with no consequences. Marquez yesterday completed a total of 64 laps, with his best time occurring on lap 48.
A late charge put Cal Crutchlow third in the dying minutes of the test. One of the most impressive results of the day came from Hector Barbera in fourth with a 1’29.361s, he and his teammate Loris Baz, in sixth, were split by Valentino Rossi. In seventh, Dani Pedrosa made steady improvements throughout the day to end ahead of Pol Espargaro and Jorge Lorenzo, Andrea Dovizioso rounded out the top ten yesterday and was 0.702s back on Marquez’s best time.
Marquez’s time was good enough for second on the combined timesheets, just 0.027s behind the fastest man over the three days, Maverick Vinales (Team Suzuki Ecstar).
“Overall, these three days have been very good. I’m especially happy with today, because we have taken a big step forward,” Marquez said.
“In the afternoon I managed to maintain a consistently fast pace, and this was the first time this preseason that I’ve started to feel good with the bike and the new tyres. It’s a pity that at the end of the session when we wanted to try something else, it was too late.
“I was pushing hard at the same time, I lost the front and crashed. The important thing is that I was unhurt and the work we’ve done has been positive. Yesterday we focused on adjusting the electronics and finding a good base, and today I think we did a good job looking for balance in the setup of the bike.”
As riders pushed harder and harder to improve their times, a number of falls occurred yesterday.
Defending champion Lorenzo, MotoGP rookie Tito Rabat, Vinales, Aleix Espargaro, Bradley Smith, Crutchlow were among those who suffered falls on final day of testing. Late in the day there was a brief red flag as Danilo Petrucci crashed at Turn 8, the Italian heading to the medical centre with right wrist pain. The Italian was later diagnosed with multiple fractures in his right hand. Fellow Ducati rider Eugene Laverty crashed with 45 minutes remaining, the Aspar MotoGP Team man avoiding any serious injuries having only just returned to full fitness after his Sepang crash.
Riders and teams will be back on track for the final official preseason test in Qatar on March 2-4.