2014 Valencia MotoGP Test, Day 1
On Sunday, Jorge Lorenzo DNF’d during the Valencia Grand Prix. The two-time MotoGP Champion made a mistake of switching to a wet setup due to some rain, and was subsequently forced to retire due to wearing out the rain tires on dry pavement.
But on Monday, the scenario was much different for the Spaniard when he topped the time sheets on day one of the traditional three-day post-season test at Valencia.
Lorenzo, and his teammate Valentino Rossi, both began the session on their 2014 YZR-M1 machines for some initial comparison data, but switched later to the 2015 models.
Forty-five minutes into the five-hour session, Lorenzo entered the track as the eighth rider and immediately set the pace. After setting multiple fastest laps he led for most of the session with a 1:31.501, Yamaha reports.
Yamaha reports that after completing seven laps he returned to the pits, but soon increased his lead further to a 1:31.421 when he returned to the track. Upon return to the pits he was pushed back by Pol Espargaro, but 2 hours and 20 minutes into the session Lorenzo retook the lead and soon improved his time to an impressive 1’30.975, making him the only rider to go under the 1:31 mark.
His teammate Rossi, who earned his 50th-career pole at Valencia Saturday and finished second there Sunday, was fourth quickest, 0.275 of a second off the pace. Sandwiched between the factory Yamahas were the Monster Yamaha Tech3 duo of Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith. Pol trailed Lorenzo by 0.143 of a second, and Bradley by 0.229.
Sunday’s race winner, the 2014 MotoGP Champion Marc Marquez, didn’t test Monday. Instead, he spent the day with his brother Alex, who won the 2014 Moto3 title Sunday. Marquez and Team HRC gave Alex a special gift – some laps on his brother’s RC213V. Together, the Marquez brothers completed 12 exhibition laps on Marc’s two bikes.
“It was a wonderful experience riding with Alex and following him around the track! Sometimes it got a bit too much for him to take in, which is normal because it was his first laps on a MotoGP bike,” Marc Marquez says.
“I really enjoyed myself, but also had a bit of trouble going behind him because sometimes he went a little wide. Overall, he did very well. Coming from Moto3 and completing some laps on a MotoGP bike is difficult and he surprised us with how well he adapted. Alex enjoyed this experience; we’ll see if in the future we can repeat it!”
As for Marquez’s teammate Dani Pedrosa, who finished third on Sunday, he was sixth fastest, 0.627 of a second slower than Lorenzo. Marquez’s Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa was sixth fastest overall, 0.627s down on Lorenzo.
The top Ducati rider was Andrea Iannone, the new member on the factory Ducati Team. Iannone finished fifth, 0.490 of a second off the pace, as he and teammate Andrea Dovizioso tested the GP14.2. Dovi finished the day seventh, 0.669 of a second off the pace.
The 2015 Desmosedici will not be ready until Sepang MotoGP testing, which gets underway after the winter break. Due to this, the Ducati Team ended their test after Monday.
The new look CWM LCR Honda team were hard at work with new recruits Cal Crutchlow and Moto3-transplant Jack Miller both on track. Crutchlow ended the day eighth on his new RC213V, with Miller further down the timesheet notching up 61 laps on a 2014 Open Honda as he adapted to MotoGP. Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team) ended the day 15th, as he too tested the RC213V and lapped two seconds slower than Lorenzo, MotoGP reports.
Yonny Hernandez was 10th and his new Pramac Racing teammate Danilo Petrucci was 13th as they tested only the GP14, while Hernandez will switch to the GP14.2 from Tuesday, MotoGP reports.
Spanish pair Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales started their Suzuki adventure with rookie Viñales in 17th – roughly a second behind his more experienced new teammate. Espargaro was 14th overall and 1.34 seconds off P1 pace, MotoGP reports.
Evolving Aprilia machines were tested by Alex Hofmann, with Marco Melandri making an appearance late in the day for the new Factory Aprilia Gresini team. Alvaro Bautista also featured, with the Italian manufacturer experimenting with differing air intake options and a new pneumatic valve engine, MotoGP reports.
NGM Forward Racing welcomed Stefan Bradl and Loris Baz as the team focused their work on chassis and suspension, with the new riders adapting to the Forward-Yamaha package, MotoGP reports.
Bridgestone brought the same tire specifications as the race weekend to help the teams with cross-referencing their data, with only the harder rear tire featuring a slightly different spec, MotoGP reports.
Valencia testing continues Tuesday and Wednesday.
2014 Valencia MotoGP Post-Season Test Results, Day 1:
Pos | Rider | Team | Fastest lap | Lead. Gap | Prev. Gap | Laps | Last lap | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | LORENZO, Jorge | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | 1:30.975 | 21 / 45 | ||||
2 | ESPARGARO, Pol | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 1:31.118 | 0.143 | 0.143 | 45 / 49 | ||
3 | SMITH, Bradley | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 1:31.204 | 0.229 | 0.086 | 34 / 59 | ||
4 | ROSSI, Valentino | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | 1:31.250 | 0.275 | 0.046 | 32 / 42 | ||
5 | IANNONE, Andrea | Ducati Team | 1:31.465 | 0.490 | 0.215 | 34 / 39 | ||
6 | PEDROSA, Dani | Repsol Honda Team | 1:31.602 | 0.627 | 0.137 | 15 / 33 | ||
7 | DOVIZIOSO, Andrea | Ducati Team | 1:31.644 | 0.669 | 0.042 | 45 / 46 | ||
8 | CRUTCHLOW, Cal | CWM LCR Honda | 1:31.847 | 0.872 | 0.203 | 52 / 53 | ||
9 | PIRRO, Michele | Ducati Test Team | 1:32.054 | 1.079 | 0.207 | 37 / 37 | ||
10 | HERNANDEZ, Yonny | Energy T.I. Pramac Racing | 1:32.146 | 1.171 | 0.092 | 31 / 34 | ||
11 | BARBERA, Hector | Avintia Racing | 1:32.190 | 1.215 | 0.044 | 51 / 54 | ||
12 | BRADL, Stefan | NGM Forward Racing | 1:32.209 | 1.234 | 0.019 | 48 / 50 | ||
13 | PETRUCCI, Danilo | Pramac Racing | 1:32.314 | 1.339 | 0.105 | 50 / 56 | ||
14 | ESPARGARO, Aleix | Team Suzuki MotoGP | 1:32.315 | 1.340 | 0.001 | 35 / 40 | ||
15 | REDDING, Scott | Marc VDS Racing Team | 1:32.998 | 2.023 | 0.683 | 28 / 36 | ||
16 | DE ANGELIS, Alex | Octo IodaRacing Team | 1:33.132 | 2.157 | 0.134 | 53 / 56 | ||
17 | VIÑALES, Maverick | Team Suzuki MotoGP | 1:33.268 | 2.293 | 0.136 | 63 / 64 | ||
18 | ABRAHAM, Karel | Cardion AB Motoracing | 1:33.446 | 2.471 | 0.178 | 47 / 57 | ||
19 | DI MEGLIO, Mike | Avintia Racing | 1:33.594 | 2.619 | 0.148 | 28 / 30 | ||
20 | BAZ, Loris | NGM Forward Racing | 1:33.834 | 2.859 | 0.240 | 51 / 55 | ||
21 | LAVERTY, Eugene | Drive M7 Aspar | 1:34.320 | 3.345 | 0.486 | 38 / 45 | ||
22 | MILLER, Jack | CWM LCR Honda | 1:34.633 | 3.658 | 0.313 | 57 / 61 | ||
23 | BAUTISTA, Alvaro | Factory Aprilia Gresini | 1:34.919 | 3.944 | 0.286 | 12 / 14 | ||
24 | HOFMANN, Alex | Aprilia Test Team | 1:35.646 | 4.671 | 0.727 | 18 / 26 | ||
25 | MELANDRI, Marco | Factory Aprilia Gresini | 1:35.959 | 4.984 | 0.313 | 7 / 9 | ||
26 | MARQUEZ, Marc | Repsol Honda Team | 1:36.181 | 5.206 | 0.222 | 10 / 12 | ||
27 | MARQUEZ, Alex | Repsol Honda Team | 1:36.658 | 5.683 | 0.477 | 11 / 12 | ||
NC | HAYDEN, Nicky | Drive M7 Aspar |