With the 2016 MotoGP season done and dusted, the riders are back in Valencia for testing the 2017 bikes. Things have been nice for Vinales as he topped the charts ahead of Valentino, while the latter became the first guy to crash in the 2017 tests!
KTM rider Bradley Smith was pleasantly surprised with the RC16 and found it very consistent. He even rubbished the issue of feedback with the steel chassis and said that he found it direct. Valentino, who finished second with 0.02 second behind Vinales, had a big crash. He understands that a lot of work has to go into the bike. Vinales though was riding the 2016 bike, familiarising himself with the Yamaha. Rossi’s crash was with on 2017 motorcycle.
The three-time champion Jorge Lorenzo spent 60 laps on Ducati’s 2016 machine and was very happy with the bike. He finished third. His new teammate Dovizioso finished 5th. He not only rode the 2016 bike as well the 2017 one, the former both with and without winglets.
Iannone too had a crash towards the middle of the day but his experience in MotoGP helped him test electronics. He finished the day 7th. The second Suzuki rider, Alex Rins spent his first few laps in MotoGP riding the GSX-RR without electronic controls. With a step by step approach he acquainted himself with the bike. Together with Suzuki’s new 2017 Factory riders, Japanese Suzuki Test Team Rider Takuya Tsuda flew into Valencia to start testing various improvements that may be applied to the Factory machines in the future, if their effectiveness is confirmed in this and further tests.
- 1. Maverick VIÑALES – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – 1’30.930
- 2. Valentino ROSSI – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – 1’30.950 + 0.020
- 3. Jorge LORENZO – Ducati Team – 1’31.052 + 0.122
- 4. Marc MARQUEZ – Repsol Honda Team – 1’31.102 + 0.172
- 5. Andrea DOVIZIOSO – Ducati Team – 1’31.131 + 0.201
- 6. Cal CRUTCHLOW – LCR Honda – 1’31.156 + 0.226
- 7. Andrea IANNONE – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – 1’31.165 + 0.235
- 8. Scott REDDING – OCTO Pramac Yakhnich – 1’31.242 + 0.312
- 9. Hector BARBERA – Avintia Racing – 1’31.286 + 0.356
- 10. Dani PEDROSA – Repsol Honda Team – 1’31.306 + 0.376
- 11. Jack MILLER – Marc VDS Racing Team – 1’31.477 + 0.547
- 12. Alvaro BAUTISTA – Pull & Bear Aspar Team – 1’31.674 + 0.744
- 13. Michele PIRRO – OCTO Pramac Yakhnich – 1’32.068 + 1.138
- 14. Aleix ESPARGARO – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – 1’32.177 + 1.247
- 15. Loris BAZ – Avintia Racing – 1’32.315 +1.385
- 16. Jonas FOLGER – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – 1’32.450 +1.520
- 17. Johann ZARCO – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – 1’32.462 +1.532
- 18. Tito RABAT – EG 0,0 Marc VDS – 1’32.578 +1.648
- 19. Pol ESPARGARO – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – 1’32.613 +1.683
- 20. Bradley SMITH – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – 1’32.806 +1.876
- 21. Alex RINS – Team SUZUKI ECSTAR – 1’32.811 +1.881
- 22. Eugene LAVERTY – Aprilia Test Team – 1’32.935 +2.005
- 23. Karel ABRAHAM – Pull & Bear Aspar Team – 1’33.231 +2.301
- 24. Sam LOWES – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – 1’33.359 +2.429
- 25. Takuya TSUDA – Suzuki Test Team – 1’34.110 +3.180
- 26. Francesco BAGNAIA – Pull & Bear Aspar Team – 1’36.940 +6.010
Here’s a small gallery from Valencia Day 1 of testing:
