Submitted by David Emmett on
Marc Marquez has ended the first day of the Phillip Island MotoGP test on top of the timesheets. The Repsol Honda rider was quick from the start of the day, taking over as fastest in the middle of the day, and holding his advantage until the end.
Valentino Rossi ended the day in second, the Movistar Yamaha rider putting in a late charge along with several other rider, which paid off with a spot behind Marquez, just under two tenths slower than the reigning world champion. Andrea Iannone was third fastest on the 2017 Suzuki GSX-RR, holding off the second Movistar Yamaha of Maverick Viñales. Viñales, who has topped four of the five previous days of testing, was forced to settle for fourth.
Danilo Petrucci was the first Ducati home in sixth, the Pramac rider over three quarter of a second off the pace of Marquez, but faster than Dani Pedrosa, who had briefly led the timesheets early in the day. Factory Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso took eighth spot, while Marc VDS' Jack Miller was the last rider to get within a second of Marquez at the Australian's home track. Jonas Folger rounded out the top ten, ahead of Jorge Lorenzo on the second Ducati.
Results:
| Pos | No | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff | Prev |
| 1 | 93 | Marc Marquez | Honda RC213V | 1:29.497 | ||
| 2 | 46 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha M1 | 1:29.683 | 0.186 | 0.186 |
| 3 | 29 | Andrea Iannone | Suzuki GSX-RR | 1:29.926 | 0.429 | 0.243 |
| 4 | 25 | Maverick Viñales | Yamaha M1 | 1:29.989 | 0.492 | 0.063 |
| 5 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda RC213V | 1:30.065 | 0.568 | 0.076 |
| 6 | 9 | Danilo Petrucci | Ducati GP17 | 1:30.262 | 0.765 | 0.197 |
| 7 | 26 | Dani Pedrosa | Honda RC213V | 1:30.281 | 0.784 | 0.019 |
| 8 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati GP17 | 1:30.410 | 0.913 | 0.129 |
| 9 | 43 | Jack Miller | Honda RC213V | 1:30.426 | 0.929 | 0.016 |
| 10 | 94 | Jonas Folger | Yamaha M1 | 1:30.578 | 1.081 | 0.152 |
| 11 | 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Ducati GP17 | 1:30.631 | 1.134 | 0.053 |
| 12 | 19 | Alvaro Bautista | Ducati GP16 | 1:30.770 | 1.273 | 0.139 |
| 13 | 8 | Hector Barbera | Ducati GP16 | 1:30.771 | 1.274 | 0.001 |
| 14 | 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia RS-GP | 1:30.802 | 1.305 | 0.031 |
| 15 | 5 | Johann Zarco | Yamaha M1 | 1:30.867 | 1.370 | 0.065 |
| 16 | 17 | Karel Abraham | Ducati GP15 | 1:31.179 | 1.682 | 0.312 |
| 17 | 44 | Pol Espargaro | KTM RC16 | 1:31.200 | 1.703 | 0.021 |
| 18 | 76 | Loris Baz | Ducati GP15 | 1:31.249 | 1.752 | 0.049 |
| 19 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki GSX-RR | 1:31.432 | 1.935 | 0.183 |
| 20 | 45 | Scott Redding | Ducati GP16 | 1:31.755 | 2.258 | 0.323 |
| 21 | 22 | Sam Lowes | Aprilia RS-GP | 1:32.307 | 2.810 | 0.552 |
| 22 | 38 | Bradley Smith | KTM RC16 | 1:32.690 | 3.193 | 0.383 |
Comments
Looking forward...
..to your detailed article David.
Stoner
I figured Casey Stoner would be ast here. Where is he hiding?
Stoner testing would be pointless
PI is about the rider, tyres and setup - Stoner was able to win there even in the years when he lost the championships on a crap Ducati.
The limited development feedback available from PI doesn't justify Stoner testing there.
Ducati need a track where they can work on finding the bikes weaknesses, not one where a rider can demonstrate their unique skills.
Bradley and Scott
What the heck is going on with Bradley Smith? Is his knee still that messed up? I had figured he would be much closer to 100% by now. I also can't help but once again be dissapointed by Scott Redding. What happened to the pace and promise he showed in testing last year? The guy seems to be a constant let down. He needs to stop with the monkey clothes and get to riding. He will be in WSBK soon if he can't get on with it.
Brad
Is doing what he always does; working through his programme methodically. KTM have a lot of parts to test and he'll be ticking them off one at a time, don't expect him to chase a 1 lap time till near the end of the test.
I'm a huge fan of his and
I'm a huge fan of his and understand how he works through things methodically. I especially loved the 2 articles David did with him on the electronics. Having said that I in no way shape or form expected him to be 1.5 seconds behind Pol. It makes me think he is still not right after the knee injury.
David please do an interview
David please do an interview with Folger. Please. I'm sure a lot of articles would feature Zarco in most of the motoblogs, him being the two time reigning moto2 champ and a possible candidate for rookie of the year. But Folger is making his mark for sure. We'd love to hear from him about his mentality and the training he underwent to adapt to the new class (looks like he's adapting really well).