Maverick Vinales dominates for Yamaha as last 2019 MotoGP test begins
The final test of the 2019 MotoGP season kicks off at Jerez with Maverick Vinales topping the timesheets by 0.7s for Yamaha
Maverick Vinales continued Yamaha’s dominant conclusion to the 2019 MotoGP season with a clear advantage over the opposition on day one of the Jerez MotoGP test.
Continuing to put miles on the 2020 specification Yamaha M1, Vinales – who was quickest at last week’s Valencia test – showed the Iwata manufacturer appears to be fairly advanced with its latest generation model as he put 0.754s between himself and stablemate Fabio Quartararo on the sister Petronas SRT machine.
The Frenchman, who will ride a latest spec Yamaha M1 next season as a reward for his superb rookie campaign, spent the day trialling ‘prototype engine parts’ before switching to the same machine as Vinales when testing resumes in February at Sepang.
Having demonstrated strong form in Valencia, Suzuki was once again up at the sharp end with both Joan Mir and Alex Rins challenging in third and fourth on the new GSX-RR, ahead of Franco Moribdelli on the second of the Petronas Yamahas.
Marc Marquez was sixth best on the Repsol Honda but suffered another crash just before the lunchtime break and needed to be cleared by the medical staff to continue in the afternoon.
Cal Crutchlow followed up his Honda counterpart in seventh place, with Pol Espargaro putting in more impressive lap times on the brand-new KTM RC16 in eighth place.
Danilo Petrucci and Andrea Dovizioso rounded out the top ten for the factory Ducati team, ahead of Jack Miller and top Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro.
Elsewhere, Valentino Rossi was again the slowest Yamaha rider in 14th position, Alex Marquez put in 70 laps on his official debut as a Repsol Honda rider (he ran under the LCR banner last week) and Eric Granado made his test debut for Avintia Ducati following the news Karel Abraham has been axed from the team to make way for Johann Zarco.
The second and final day of MotoGP testing takes place on Tuesday at Jerez, marking the last 2019 MotoGP outing before attention turns to February’s Sepang MotoGP test.
2019 Jerez MotoGP Test Results [Day 1 – 25 November]
| Jerez 2019 MotoGP Test Results - Day 1 [Monday] | |||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Time | Laps |
| 1 | Maverick Viñales | SPA | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1m 37.131 | 68 |
| 2 | Fabio Quartararo | FRA | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1m 37.885 | 68 |
| 3 | Joan Mir | ESP | Team Suzuki Ecstar | 1m 38.012 | 56 |
| 4 | Alex Rins | SPA | Team Suzuki Ecstar | 1m 38.089 | 69 |
| 5 | Franco Morbidelli | ITA | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1m 38.117 | 75 |
| 6 | Marc Marquez | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | 1m 38.227 | 69 |
| 7 | Cal Crutchlow | GBR | LCR Honda | 1m 38.253 | 66 |
| 8 | Pol Espargaro | SPA | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1m 38.348 | 56 |
| 9 | Danilo Petrucci | ITA | Ducati Team | 1m 38.358 | 48 |
| 10 | Andrea Dovizioso | ITA | Ducati Team | 1m 38.474 | 45 |
| 11 | Jack Miller | AUS | Pramac Ducati | 1m 38.492 | 52 |
| 12 | Aleix Espargaro | SPA | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1m 38.500 | 53 |
| 13 | Andrea Iannone | ITA | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1m 38.751 | 49 |
| 14 | Valentino Rossi | ITA | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1m 38.759 | 64 |
| 15 | Tito Rabat | ESP | Reale Avintia Racing Ducati | 1m 39.103 | 53 |
| 16 | Sylvain Guintoli | FRA | Team Suzuki Ecstar | 1m 39.148 | 63 |
| 17 | Alex Marquez | ESP | Repsol Honda Team | 1m 39.413 | 70 |
| 18 | Bradley Smith | GBR | Aprilia Factory Racing | 1m 39.558 | 67 |
| 19 | Michele Pirro | ITA | Pramac Ducati | 1m 39.652 | 27 |
| 20 | Iker Lecuona | ESP | Red Bull KTM Tech3 | 1m 39.933 | 38 |
| 21 | Brad Binder | RSA | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1m 39.980 | 67 |
| 22 | Eric Granado | BRA | Reale Avintia Racing Ducati | 1m 43.056 | 21 |
| NC | Dani Pedrosa | ESP | Red Bull KTM Tech3 | - | - |
