Submitted by David Emmett on
Maverick Viñales ended the final day of the MotoGP test at Valencia as fastest, the Monster Energy Yamaha rider the only person to get into the 1'29s. Viñales led a trio of Yamahas, Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli finishing in second and third.
Cal Crutchlow was the fastest Honda, spending a lot of his day on the 2020 prototype Honda RC213V. Joan Mir was the fastest Suzuki rider in fifth, a fraction faster than his teammate Alex Rins, while Marc Marquez ended the day as seventh fastest. Pol Espargaro was eight quickest, a little ahead of Valentino Rossi, while Jack Miller ended the day as tenth, making it five manufacturers in the top ten.
Final times:
| Pos | No | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff | Prev |
| 1 | 12 | Maverick Vinales | Yamaha M1 | 1:29.849 | ||
| 2 | 20 | Fabio Quartararo | Yamaha M1 | 1:30.013 | 0.164 | 0.164 |
| 3 | 21 | Franco Morbidelli | Yamaha M1 | 1:30.114 | 0.265 | 0.101 |
| 4 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda RC213V | 1:30.316 | 0.467 | 0.202 |
| 5 | 36 | Joan Mir | Suzuki GSX-RR | 1:30.427 | 0.578 | 0.111 |
| 6 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki GSX-RR | 1:30.503 | 0.654 | 0.076 |
| 7 | 93 | Marc Marquez | Honda RC213V | 1:30.556 | 0.707 | 0.053 |
| 8 | 44 | Pol Espargaro | KTM RC16 | 1:30.685 | 0.836 | 0.129 |
| 9 | 46 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha M1 | 1:30.781 | 0.932 | 0.096 |
| 10 | 43 | Jack Miller | Ducati GP20 | 1:30.854 | 1.005 | 0.073 |
| 11 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati GP20 | 1:31.143 | 1.294 | 0.289 |
| 12 | 53 | Tito Rabat | Ducati GP19 | 1:31.258 | 1.409 | 0.115 |
| 13 | 51 | Michele Pirro | Ducati GP20 | 1:31.424 | 1.575 | 0.166 |
| 14 | 26 | Dani Pedrosa | KTM RC16 | 1:31.470 | 1.621 | 0.046 |
| 15 | 27 | Iker Lecuona | KTM RC16 | 1:31.515 | 1.666 | 0.045 |
| 16 | 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia RS-GP | 1:31.526 | 1.677 | 0.011 |
| 17 | 17 | Karel Abraham | Ducati GP19 | 1:31.597 | 1.748 | 0.071 |
| 18 | 6 | Stefan Bradl | Honda RC213V | 1:31.657 | 1.808 | 0.060 |
| 19 | 29 | Andrea Iannone | Aprilia RS-GP | 1:31.800 | 1.951 | 0.143 |
| 20 | 73 | Alex Márquez | Honda RC213V | 1:32.235 | 2.386 | 0.435 |
| 21 | 38 | Bradley Smith | Aprilia RS-GP | 1:32.249 | 2.400 | 0.014 |
| 22 | 33 | Brad Binder | KTM RC16 | 1:32.367 | 2.518 | 0.118 |
Round Number:
0
2020
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Comments
Pedrosa?
Is there a chance that Dani could be a wildcard or backup rider in 2020, instead of Mika? He's obviously still got it.
Pedrosa
I think KTM would be ecstatic if Dani wanted to do a race or two, but Dani has refused any opportunities to go racing again.
Yamaha blowout AT VALENCIA.
Yamaha blowout AT VALENCIA. Not getting excited yet, the motor isn't there, and the riders aren't happy w that but minding p's and q's at this point.
KTM and Dani are both really happy right like things are. A Test guy can get distracted w focus on setting up a bike for them for a race, and this is not development. Dani is a dream Test rider in that way.
They have great kids and P.Espargaro - all is going very well.
Yamaha needs a Test guy. Ducati could use a hotshot Test guy pushing to wildcard and be fastest Red rider (Pirro is excellent, but I mean podium material).
Zarco and Yamaha
Zarco should go for the test rider position at Yamaha. OK, he loses a year racing but if he impresses at Yamaha he would have a good chance of getting into one of their teams when the next round of contracts are signed. There is a very good chance that Rossi will retire then if not earlier. Zarco would then find himself in a very good position
Closed door
That door was shut a month ago when Zarco preferred three races and the mirage of a 2020 season with Honda to Yamaha's offer to lead their European test team. Following that, Yamaha has changed his plans and basically abandoned the idea to have an European test team. This was a direct blow at Rossi's request to have a very strong test team based in Europe and with pilot-grade testers---something that, I think, will hurt Yamaha in the medium/long term. There was an insightful comment by Jinx on David's article about all this (https://motomatters.com/comment/91051#comment-91051), explaining how the Japanese culture and mentality may have framed Zarco's (un?)professional behavior.
Rossi Marini
I think Rossi will retire when 1/2 brother is deserving of a MotoGP ride.
The two aren't linked
Neverthless being regularly the slowest of four Yamahas must signal that the clock is ticking. When he was fastest Yam, not so bad, but now..