Maverick Viñales stormed to the top of the lap charts once again in the third and final day of testing at Phillip Island. The 22-year-old Spaniard, who switched from Suzuki to the factory Yamaha squad after claiming his first MotoGP win at Silverstone last year, has been fastest at all three tests so far – at Valencia in 2016, and Sepang two weeks ago.
Some surprising names in the results – including class rookie Jonas Folger (Monster Yamaha) fourth-fastest – showed that not everybody was going for a fast lap time, but concentrating on testing chassis, tyre and even engine choices; and that the long and sinuous Phillip Island circuit is too complicated to be regarded as a level playing field.
But the omens for Viñales and his new Movistar Yamaha were good, as he defeated first-day leader (and one-time pre-teen minibike rival) Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) by almost three tenths of a second,
Second Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa, back after missing yesterday morning fighting a fever, was a close third. Behind him there wasn’t much difference between lap times, with a shade over a second covering from second to 17th place, held by Pol Espargaró on the brand new and clearly promising Red Bull KTM.
Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) was fast again, the 2016 Phillip Island winner placed fifth.
Then came second class rookie Álex Rins (Ecstar Suzuki), slightly faster than the factory Ducati pairing of Dovizioso and Lorenzo. This was a significant improvement for Lorenzo, who said: “Today we made an important step to better understanding the bike, just like on the final day at Sepang.” Had he been able to use the soft tyre in the morning, he would have been able to challenge to top three, he opined.
Jack Miller (VDS Honda) and Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia) completed the top 10.
Vinales’ teammate Rossi was 12th, nine tenths down on the Spaniard. Both Yamaha riders were still wavering between the ‘standard’ chassis and an updated version aimed at reducing tyre wear for stronger race finishes compared with last year. “The difference is small. We are not decided yet,” said Vinales’ crew chief Ramon Forcada, formerly filling the same role for Lorenzo.
Rossi, in the same position, told press he was “not very happy” after slipping down from second on the first day. “We have to find something else at the next test,” he continued. Rossi named Márquez as a more realistic rival for the title than Viñales, citing his sustained pace in long race-simulation runs.
Analysis by Crash.net bore him out. Averaging lap times for riders who had completed more than 10-lap runs put Márquez fastest at 1’29.125, three tenths faster than Crutchlow, Viñales, Iannone and Folger. This compared well with Viñales’ best single-lap of 1’28.549.
Three more days of testing at Qatar precede the opening race of the MotoGP season at the same circuit, on 26 March.
In a surprise revelation, Ducati, pioneers of downforce and winglets, will not be joining the current trend by rival manufacturers for ducted fairings, according to sporting director Paolo Ciabatti.
Speaking to Dorna’s technical interviewer, Ciabatti denied that the Italian factory had something up its sleeve. “We are going to stay with the conventional fairing at the next tests and the first race,” he said.
Honda is yet to reveal any solutions to the 2017 ban on winglets, while KTM has explained that it has much more basic matters to decide first.
But the other three manufacturers have all started experimenting with downforce ducts of various persuasions. Yamaha sandwiches its vanes in double-layer fairing flanks first seen at Sepang tests. At Phillip Island both Suzuki and Aprilia joined the party, with broadly similar solutions: double skins and ducting around the sides of the fairing nose.
Results at this early stage are far from certain, with new Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaró saying there was some advantage in preventing wheelies, but “the bike feels heavier, though it may just be at this circuit”. Suzuki’s Davide Brivio said that further wind-tunnel tests in Japan would help them decide, but “we have to make that decision before the Qatar race”.
The new rules require that fairing design remains frozen throughout the season.
A second high-profile birthday celebration took place at Phillip Island, with Marc Márquez turning 24 one day after Rossi had turned 38. His team presented him with a birthday cake and (rather puzzlingly) a magnifying glass, perhaps to help him as he seeks to refine the electronics for his new Honda Big Bang engine package.
by Michael Scott
