Viñales leads the MotoGP test in Jerez; Marquez hardly rolls

The Yamaha rider’s best time of 1:36.879 saw him lead once again a post-GP test, a tenth quicker than his best lap all weekend and would have placed him fourth in the standings. Jerez starting grid.

“It has been a test for me, to try to improve myself on the bike, that’s why I’ve done so many laps, to understand what I have to do when there’s no grip. It has been a very productive day and we haven’t tried anything special”, explained Viñales.

Viñales gave a total of 101 laps , setting his record at 83. Álex Rins finished just 34 thousandths after having crashed in the race the day before, being the only two to go below 1:37. The Suzuki rider was one of the most active in the morning and led the classification in the middle of the day, finishing the scheduled work after noon.

His teammate Joan Mir finished third, 0.431 seconds behind Viñales with a total of 64 laps, while Takaaki Nakagami repeated the fourth position on Sunday with 71.

Behind Johann Zarco (fifth), Pol Espargaró finished, who crashed at turn 1 in the morning and spent practically the whole day alone in the Repsol Honda box since Marc Márquez only did seven laps due to neck pain at the back of the neck. Around two in the afternoon he finished the test and returned home to continue recovering.

Miguel Oliveira was the best for KTM , seventh, followed by Luca Marini (eighth), Franco Morbidelli (ninth) and the new championship leader, Pecco Bagnaia, completing a top 10 separated by eight tenths.

Without Fabio Quartararo, who did not take part in the test due to problems with compartment syndrome that ruined his race on Sunday and who flew to France to be examined, Aleix Espargaró (14th) was affected by this same ailment and only gave 12 turns before stopping. The Aprilia rider was involved in another of the crashes of the day at turn 6, as did his teammate Lorenzo Savadori (21st).

Valentino Rossi continued without hitting the key and finished 12th, while the winner of the Jerez race, Jack Miller, was only 18th.

Results of the 2021 MotoGP Jerez test

pos	Pilot	Motorcycle	Weather	gap	laps
1	Maverick Vinales	Yamaha	1’36,879		101
2	Alex Rins	Suzuki	1’36.913	0.034	59
3	Joan Mir	suzuki	1’37,310	0.431	64
Four	Takaaki Nakagami	Honda	1’37.348	0.469	71
5	Johann Zarco	Ducati	1’37.435	0.556	75
6	Pol Espargaro	Honda	1’37.506	0.627	89
7	Miguel Oliveira	KTM	1’37,508	0.629	72
8	Luca Marini	Ducati	1’37,559	0.680	66
9	Franco Morbidelli	Yamaha	1’37.627	0.748	67
10	Francesco Bagnaia	Ducati	1’37.690	0.811	40
11	Brad Binder	KTM	1’37.698	0.819	66
12	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	1’37.700	0.821	73
13	Enea Bastianini	Ducati	1’37.717	0.838	54
14	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	1,37,885	1,006	12
15	Alex Marquez	Honda	1’38.170	1.291	75
16	Mark Marquez	Honda	1’38.303	1.424	7
17	Iker Lecuona	KTM	1’38.374	1.495	64
18	Jack Miller	Ducati	1’38.455	1.576	44
19	Danilo Petrucci	KTM	1’38,608	1,729	63
20	Tito Rabat	Dukes	1’38,826	1.947	65
21	Lorenzo Savadori	Aprilia	1’39,024	2.145	54