Viñales hits back as Yamaha dominate on Day 4
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Maverick Viñales shot to the top by the end of play on Day 4 of the Official MotoGP™ Qatar Test with a late 1:53.244, making it three Yamahas leading the way on Thursday as Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) and Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) both set 1:53.3s to cement their good form heading into the final day of pre-season testing, taking second and third overall.
In terms of new tech, nothing too new was seen on Thursday but track conditions couldn’t have been more perfect for Day 4, handing riders a fantastic opportunity to get some crucial laps under their belts with time running out before the start of the season.
Pitlane reporter Simon Crafar revealed that Yamaha have been looking excellent in race pace trim. One of those riders is of course Viñales and it was a busy day for the Spaniard, who had three bikes in his garage: his ‘standard’ one, a T1-plated carbon bike and the stunning white and red liveried package. Viñales was also once again seen doing plenty of practice starts at the end of pitlane and at the end of the day’s play, he set that table-topping time. The number 12 confirmed he is concentrating hard on his starts and the opening handful of laps, with a big race simulation coming on Friday.
Teammate Quartararo did sit top in the closing stages but was edged down to P3 at the chequered flag, the Frenchman not quite going as quick as yesterday and now third on the combined times behind Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) and Viñales. “Many things” to test was the order of El Diablo’s day, Quartararo confirmed that he feels comfortable on the new chassis and the pace he has is “great.” He’s looking for another step on the final day.
Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha SRT) was very pleased after Wednesday’s track action and was pleased with the new parts that Yamaha have been trying so far. On Thursday, The Doctor set his fastest lap of the test so far – a 1:53.993 – and is in good spirits, with Rossi saying he feels like “a real rider” again. Petronas Yamaha SRT Team Manager Wilco Zeelenberg confirmed that Morbidelli has been trying lots of different settings to enable him to get the feeling he had in 2020, and the man himself confirmed he’s “really happy” overall but, as always, there’s areas to work on during the final day.
Ducati’s fastest rider on Day 3 was Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) and the Italian was another to set his best time of the test so far. Speaking on After the Flag, Pecco was happy with his 1:53.444 but admitted it was by no means a perfect lap. Bagnaia was a lot happier with his race pace though, the new factory Ducati recruit has been quietly going about his business and confirmed he used Ducati’s new aero package in Thursday’s race simulation.
2021 pre-season testing for the premier class will come to an end on Friday evening, it’s going to be a huge day for every rider, team and manufacturer.
(source: MotoGP.com)