Today the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team wrapped up the second Official MotoGP Test of the 2016 season at the Phillip Island circuit.
Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi have spent the last three days battling the elements whilst working through a number of new materials and finished fourth and sixth respectively in the combined timesheets.
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team's Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo set the fifth and ninth fastest time during the third day of testing in Australia. This last opportunity was one of the more challenging outings for the riders as they focused on making a decision as to which YZR-M1 model they would like to continue to develop — the one more similar to the 2015 model or the alternative edition.
Rossi was the last rider to head out on track, but he was quick to catch up with the other riders by pushing during long stints and moving up to fourth place before the weather once again put a halt to testing. He was able to pick up the pace further later in the afternoon when the rain subsided and set a total of 56 laps. His best lap of 1'29.435s secured him fifth in today's ranking order, just 0.277s off today's quickest time. His fastest time of the weekend, a 1'29.404s, puts him in sixth position in the combined standings, just 0.273s from first.
Teammate Lorenzo was also eager to work down his testing checklist and was one of the first riders to leave pit lane to make the most of the dry conditions in the morning. Determined to give his engineer as much data as possible to base the next steps on, he completed a total 41 laps and set a fastest time of 1'29.760s. Despite a small crash later in the afternoon, which left him unhurt but saw him end the day early, he took ninth place, 0.602s from the front. His best lap overall of 1'29.357s has him placed fourth in the combined time sheets, 0.226s from the lead.
The team will now head back to Europe whilst the engineers return to Japan to process the data and further prepare the 2016 YZR-M1 for the start of the season.
The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team will regroup in Qatar for the final pre-season test on March 2nd, a little more than two weeks ahead of the opening round, also in Losail.
Confidence high for Tech3 pair after constructive 3 days in Australia
The Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team pairing of Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith concluded the test in Phillip Island positively having made some encouraging steps forward after another committed performance on the final day despite the intermittent rain. The inconsistent weather limited the track time, yet the Tech3 duo powered through and continued to collect valuable data for the upcoming 2016 MotoGP season, with the next outing being the last pre-season test at Qatar on Wednesday 2nd March.
Pol Espargaro carried on pushing today as he aimed to increase his knowledge about the new standard ECU in order to further refine his base setup. In fact, the young Spaniard's best time, which left him only 0.587 from the top in the combined standings, saw him improve by nearly half a second compared to yesterday, while the fastest time of the test couldn't be beaten throughout the day.
On the other side of the Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team garage Bradley Smith produced a spirited display and confidently completed 45 laps, despite falling midway through the day, although he was not injured. Smith finished in 16th, yet his time from yesterday places him in 13th overall, but only six tenths of a second from third, leaving him fully optimistic for the next test.
Source: www.yamaha-racing.com
