2019 Qatar MotoGP Test Results

The final preseason test of 2019 MotoGP finished Monday under the lights at Losail International Circuit in Qatar.

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Maverick Vinales was quickest on day one, and lost the top spot on the second day to Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins.

But the factory Yamaha YZR-M1 pilot Vinales reclaimed the fastest position Monday during the final day of preseason testing.

2019 Qatar MotoGP Preseason Test Results Yamaha Maverick Vinales
Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales

Overall Vinales was quickest with a 1:54.208 at Qatar, which hosts the season opener March 10. To put this time into perspective, the fastest lap (across all sessions) at Qatar is a 1:53.680, which was posted by Johann Zarco last season (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing).

In the combined timesheets Vinales finished 0.233 of a second ahead of Petronas Yamaha SRT’s Fabio Quartararo and 0.385 ahead of Rins.

“Honestly, I have been riding really good on the track, I felt like I was going very fast with the amount of grip that the track provided today,” Maverick Vinales says.

“But we need to improve. I don’t have really good grip on the edge, so we need to keep working, especially in that area. On the acceleration side we improved quite a lot since Sepang, and at the moment I’m quite satisfied with what we have in the braking area. My race pace is not bad, I tried ten laps just to understand how the bike is doing, but it was very cold for the medium tires.

“Anyway, I rode quite well, with quite a good rhythm. Maybe I could have pushed a little more. However, we still need to improve for the race. I think we are going to be ready. The race will be very important for us. Our bike has really positive points, but also a few negatives, so we now need to come to a conclusion and see where we can improve.”

2019 Qatar MotoGP Preseason Test Results Suzuki's Alex Rins
Suzuki’s Alex Rins

The reigning MotoGP Champion, Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez, completed the test fourth overall, 0.405 off the pace and 0.038 ahead of Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi.

The other Repsol Honda RC213V pilot, Jorge Lorenzo, was sixth, 0.445 behind Vinales Rounding out the top 10 were Petronas Yamaha SRT’s Franco Morbidelli; Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pol Espargaro; LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami; and Mission Winnow Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci.

Testing is now complete for 2019 MotoGP. The top finishers were as follows:

  • Valencia, Maverick Vinales, Yamaha YZR-M1
  • Jerez, Takaaki Nakagami, Honda RC213V
  • Sepang, Danilo Petrucci, Ducati GP19
  • Qatar, Maverick Vinales, Yamaha YZR-M1

Yamaha, which struggled throughout 2018 MotoGP, has the upper hand from pure preseason testing statistics. The question is – can Yamaha carry this momentum into the 19-round season.

2019 Qatar MotoGP Preseason Test Results Honda Jorge Lorenzo
Honda’s Jorge Lorenzo

2019 Qatar MotoGP Preseason Test Results, Session 3

Pos Rider Team Fastest lap Lead. Gap Prev. Gap Laps Last lap
1 VIÑALES, Maverick Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1:54.208 25 / 50
2 QUARTARARO, Fabio Petronas Yamaha SRT 1:54.441 0.233 0.233 28 / 48
3 MARQUEZ, Marc Repsol Honda Team 1:54.613 0.405 0.172 30 / 53
4 ROSSI, Valentino Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1:54.651 0.443 0.038 35 / 38
5 LORENZO, Jorge Repsol Honda Team 1:54.653 0.445 0.002 26 / 33
6 MORBIDELLI, Franco Petronas Yamaha SRT 1:54.660 0.452 0.007 42 / 61
7 ESPARGARO, Pol Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1:54.770 0.562 0.110 27 / 37
8 NAKAGAMI, Takaaki LCR Honda IDEMITSU 1:54.789 0.581 0.019 48 / 50
9 PETRUCCI, Danilo Mission Winnow Ducati 1:54.818 0.610 0.029 19 / 43
10 MILLER, Jack Alma Pramac Racing 1:54.851 0.643 0.033 47 / 47
11 RINS, Alex Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1:54.852 0.644 0.001 28 / 41
12 MIR, Joan Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1:54.997 0.789 0.145 37 / 38
13 BAGNAIA, Francesco Alma Pramac Racing 1:55.074 0.866 0.077 30 / 47
14 RABAT, Tito Reale Avintia Racing 1:55.229 1.021 0.155 52 / 66
15 DOVIZIOSO, Andrea Mission Winnow Ducati 1:55.233 1.025 0.004 32 / 50
16 IANNONE, Andrea Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1:55.343 1.135 0.110 21 / 39
17 CRUTCHLOW, Cal LCR Honda CASTROL 1:55.690 1.482 0.347 25 / 39
18 OLIVEIRA, Miguel Red Bull KTM Tech 3 1:55.773 1.565 0.083 28 / 28
19 ESPARGARO, Aleix Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1:55.814 1.606 0.041 28 / 54
20 SMITH, Bradley Aprilia Factory Racing 1:56.072 1.864 0.258 37 / 38
21 ABRAHAM, Karel Reale Avintia Racing 1:56.121 1.913 0.049 26 / 50
22 ZARCO, Johann Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1:56.162 1.954 0.041 32 / 42
23 SYAHRIN, Hafizh Red Bull KTM Tech 3 1:56.371 2.163 0.209 25 / 42

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