The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team was back on track today for the second day of the MotoGP Official Test Losail. Though the day was not without challenges, the Factory Yamaha crew persevered. Maverick Viñales was quick to get up to pace and topped the timesheets, just slightly ahead of teammate Valentino Rossi in second.
Careful progress over the winter paved the way for a positive outcome for Viñales today. He built on his strong result from previous tests in an effortless fashion to top the timesheets early on in the session and he successfully defended his lead from a late charging Rossi and Jonas Folger, resulting in a Yamaha top 3.
Clearly happy with his race set-up, the Spaniard spent most of the day fine-tuning his YZR-M1 in order to be 100% ready for the upcoming first MotoGP round in Qatar. The Spaniard concluded the second day with a total of 49 laps and a fastest time of 1'54.455s under his belt, earning him first place in the combined standings.
Teammate Rossi proceeded to better his feeling with the Michelin front tyre, especially on corner entry. He tried various setting modifications to improve braking stability and made a comparison between set-ups to get a clear sense of which direction he will work on tomorrow.
The Doctor had some bad luck when he suffered a low side crash in the earlier stages of the session, sustaining small cuts on his left hand. However, it didn’t stop the Italian from signing off with a 1'54.732s for second place in the combined results, set on lap 37, an hour before the end of the session.
Tomorrow the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team will be back on track from 16:00 - 23:00 local track time.
