The Spaniard set the baseline lap time of 1:29.871 at the 2.83-mile flat circuit just outside of Buriram. During Sunday’s final day of Thailand MotoGP testing, a Yamaha and two Honda pilots followed Pedrosa:
Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3, (-0.086)
Cal Crutchlow (-0.283)
Marc Marquez (-0.362)
In total, Pedrosa completed 271 laps during the test, he and his teammate, the reigning MotoGP Champion Marquez, working with the latest engine configuration, new aerodynamics, new chassis settings, and some Michelin tires. Both riders also practices race simulation to prep for round 15, which gets underway in October at the Thailand circuit.Yamaha’s Johann Zarco“We leave Thailand with positive feelings. The test was quite tough as the temperatures were high, and we worked really hard over the three days,” Dani Pedrosa says.“In the end we didn’t have many tires left, so we had to carefully manage the planning of our work. We worked on many aspects of the bike’s setup, and step-by-step we improved our speed and pace. Among other things, today we tested a carbon swing arm that’s a new area for us to work on, so we’re still in the process of learning and of finding the feeling. I“I’m very happy with the job my team is doing at the track, and with what the engineers are doing back in Japan. They’re really helping us to improve, and this is good and gives us confidence. Hopefully we’ll be able to continue this trend at the final test in Qatar, which will be very interesting as conditions will be different.”Honda’s Cal CrutchlowAs for Marquez, he suffered a small crash on the third and final day of Thailand MotoGP testing, but was able to finish the day fourth, just ahead of the top Suzuki pilot – Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins.The top Ducati time Sunday went to Alma Pramac Racing Ducati’s Jack Miller, the Australian finishing 0.409 of a second behind Pedrosa.Rounding out the top 10 were Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso; LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami; Reale Avintia Racing Ducati’s Tito Rabat; and Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi.Ducati’s Andrea DoviziosoAs for the other Ducati Team rider, five-time World Champion Jorge Lorenzo, the Spaniard who led the Sepang MotoGP test finished 16th fastest while comparing the GP17 and GP18 prototypes.The riders now have a two-week break before the final test of the 2018 MotoGP season at Losail International Circuit in Qatar; testing gets underway March 1.
Hello everyone and welcome once again to Ultimate Motorcycling’s weekly Podcast—Motos and Friends.
My name is Arthur Coldwells.
This week’s Podcast is brought to you by Yamaha motorcycles. Discover how the YZF-R7 provides the perfect balance of rider comfort and true supersport performance by checking it out at YamahaMotorsports.com, or see it for yourself at your local dealer.
This week’s episode features Senior Editor Nic de Sena’s impressions of the beautiful new Harley-Davidson Low Rider ST that is loosely based around the original FXRT Sport Glide from the 1980s. Hailing from The Golden State, these cult-status performance machines became known as West Coast style, with sportier suspension, increased horsepower, and niceties including creature comforts such as a tidy fairing and sporty luggage.
In past episodes you might have heard us mention my best friend, Daniel Schoenewald, and in the second segment I chat with him about some of the really special machines in his 170 or so—and growing—motorcycle collection. He’s always said to me that he doesn’t consider himself the owner, merely the curator of the motorcycles for the next generation.
Yet Daniel is not just a collector, but I can attest a really skilled rider. His bikes are not trailer queens, they’re ridden, and they’re ridden pretty hard. Actually, we have had many, many memorable rides on pretty much all of the machines in the collection at one time or another.
From all of us here at Ultimate Motorcycling, we hope you enjoy this episode!
