Though Petronas Yamaha Sepang Racing Team Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo suffered an opening-lap crash last Sunday during the British Grand Prix that caused a DNF, he redeemed himself during this week’s two-day official MotoGP test at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.Yamaha’s Fabio QuartararoThe Yamaha YZR-M1 pilot was quickest Thursday but was much faster Friday when he posted a best of 1:31.639, which is just 0.010 of a second off the lap record posted by Jorge Lorenzo last season (Repsol Honda).
When both days were complete, Quartararo would finish 0.476 of a second ahead of Mission Winnow Ducati Team’s Danilo Petrucci, and 0.614 ahead of the other Petronas Yamaha SRT pilot Franco Morbidelli.“We tried some really positive new settings on the front of the bike, which is positive because there’s a lot of braking on the side of the tire at Misano and you need to get good feedback from the bike,” Fabio Quartararo says.“We didn’t make a lot of laps on the second day like we did on day one, but we found some good things for the race. I’m really looking forward to the weekend now that we’ve been able to be really fast. The times won’t mean too much come the race because we’ll have very different levels of grip then, but I was able to do an amazing lap, I have good pace and we’ll arrive to the race with over 150 laps done before we even start FP1.”Ducati’s Danilo PetrucciIn combined times from both days. Monster Energy Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi finished fourth 0.750 of a second back. The nine-time World Champion was followed by Pramac Racing Ducati’s Jack Miller (-0.766); teammate Maverick Vinales (-0.937); and the final rider to post within a second of Quartararo, Pramac Racing Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia (- 0.968);Rounding out the top were LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami; Aprilia Racing Team Gresini’s Aleix Espargaro; and Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez, who leads Mission Winnow Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso by 78 points heading into round 13 of 19.The 2019 MotoGP Championship returns in two weeks for the San Marion Grand Prix September 13-15 at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.
Aprilia Tuono 660 Factory + Steve ’Stavros’ Parrish
byMotos and Friends by Ultimate Motorcycle
Hello everyone and welcome once again to Ultimate Motorcycling’s weekly podcast—Motos and Friends. My name is Arthur Coldwells.
Our first segment features the new Aprilia Tuono 660 Factory. Senior Editor Nic de Sena brings us his report on the flagship version of Aprilia’s upright middleweight machine. He gives us insight into whether it’s worth spending the extra money on the Factory version, and also of course, whether this sporting Aprilia is really the motorcycle for you.
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The next guest segment of Motos and Friends is brought to you by the faster and most technologically advanced, 2023 Suzuki Hayabusa—one of the most iconic sportbikes ever. Check it out in person at your local Suzuki dealer now, or visit suzukicycles.com to learn more.
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In this segment, Associate Editor Teejay Adams chats with (arguably) one of the most interesting Suzuki race riders of all time. the iconic RG500 alongside teammate double World Champion Barry Sheene. The two were almost as famous for their exploits off-track, as for their success on it. Those were the days! Steve also raced the Isle of Man TT for about ten years where he won 13 Silver Replicas, and got a podium finish. His insight into that particular brand of mayhem are fascinating.
But there’s waaay more to Steve Parrish than his motorcycle racing. He is also the most successful Semi-Truck racer ever, and, little known piece of useless trivia—he’s my birthday twin: 24th February. He is a natural entertainer and you can’t miss his recounting of the world’s most entertaining—and arguably terrifying—double-decker bus ride ever. If any of you were actually on that hell-ride then we’d love to hear from you!
