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.
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.”
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, 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 |
