The final pre-season test at Qatar is underway and teams are giving their sweat and blood to get everything in order. The testing on day 2 at the Losail Internation Circuit saw Suzuki top the lap times. Alex Rins scored an amazing 1:54.593 lap time to beat the rest of the riders.
Rins showed his promising pace early in the day, and he improved lap by lap to finish the session on top of the timesheets, Rins was also the quickest rider through sector 4. The Spaniard put in 47 laps and reported enjoying a great rhythm on his GSX-RR, as well as feeling confident with the direction of the bike and its new parts.
Speaking about his time, Rins said, “It would be good if the race was tomorrow! We’ve been doing a great job; in Sepang we tested a lot of parts, but here we’re confirming that those parts are good. But the important thing is the way I’m riding, step-by-step with a nice rhythm, and using worn tyres as well. The aim is to get everything 100% clear when we come back for the first race. I feel that our package is better than last year, just by changing small things. I feel happy with the bike.”
While Alex was having a good tuning with the bike and the track, his teammate Joan Mir was still trying to get things right with his machine. He finished at the 11th position overall. He said, “I’m really satisfied with today, because I made good improvements. I’m feeling strong with the bike, especially as I improved my feeling with the front end which helped me to get a better pace. It was a shame because I put a new tyre in, but I wasn’t able to get the lap I wanted, but we have another day tomorrow and I’ll try again then. Today I tried the new exhaust and I’m happy about that too, I found positive things from it. The plan tomorrow is a race simulation and further improvements.”
The Ducatis, who performed phenomenally well in the Sepang test, were okay here in Qatar. Petrucci finished at 4th whereas Dovi was at the 8th place. Yamaha’s rider Maverick Vinales was at the 2nd place while his teammate the Doctor was way down at the 19th place.
Marc Marquez, the reigning world champion who has had a shoulder injury in the past, also took part in the test and was at a respectable 5th position.
Let’s see how things go on the next day of the final pre-season test here in Qatar.
Lap times at the end of day 2 of 2019 Qatar test:
1. RINS, Alex Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1:54.593
2. VIÑALES, Maverick Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1:54.650 0.057 0.057
3. QUARTARARO, Fabio Petronas Yamaha SRT 1:54.908 0.315 0.258
4. PETRUCCI, Danilo Mission Winnow Ducati 1:54.953 0.360 0.045
5. MARQUEZ, Marc Repsol Honda Team 1:55.004 0.411 0.051
6. ESPARGARO, Aleix Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1:55.173 0.580 0.169
7. NAKAGAMI, Takaaki LCR Honda IDEMITSU 1:55.175 0.582 0.002
8. DOVIZIOSO, Andrea Mission Winnow Ducati 1:55.205 0.612 0.030
9. CRUTCHLOW, Cal LCR Honda CASTROL 1:55.247 0.654 0.042
10. ESPARGARO, Pol Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1:55.255 0.662 0.008
11. MIR, Joan Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1:55.280 0.687 0.025
12. MILLER, Jack Alma Pramac Racing 1:55.380 0.787 0.100
13. MORBIDELLI, Franco Petronas Yamaha SRT 1:55.556 0.963 0.176
14. RABAT, Tito Reale Avintia Racing 1:55.661 1.068 0.105
15. BAGNAIA, Francesco Alma Pramac Racing 1:55.680 1.087 0.019
16. IANNONE, Andrea Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1:55.698 1.105 0.018
17. ZARCO, Johann Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1:55.716 1.123 0.018
18. LORENZO, Jorge Repsol Honda Team 1:55.742 1.149 0.026
19. ROSSI, Valentino Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1:55.795 1.202 0.053
20. ABRAHAM, Karel Reale Avintia Racing 1:55.951 1.358 0.156
21. OLIVEIRA, Miguel Red Bull KTM Tech 3 1:56.274 1.681 0.323
22. SMITH, Bradley Aprilia Factory Racing 1:56.866 2.273 0.592
23. SYAHRIN, Hafizh Red Bull KTM Tech 3 1:56.983 2.390 0.117
