Jorge Lorenzo leads first post-season MotoGP test at Valencia
Jorge Lorenzo led the first post-season MotoGP test of the 2014/15 winter at Valencia
After his bid to beat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi to second in the championship ended with a failed wet-tyre gamble in Sunday's race, Lorenzo gave himself a lift with a test-topping lap of 1m30.975s.
He headed an all-Yamaha top four, with Tech 3 duo Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith between Lorenzo and Rossi.
Andrea Iannone's first day in official Ducati colours resulted in fifth place, two spots ahead of new team-mate Andrea Dovizioso, as they sandwiched leading Honda rider Dani Pedrosa.
Champion Marc Marquez ostensibly had the day off, but took to the track for a few demonstration laps alongside his brother Alex, who was given a quick run on the Honda MotoGP bike as a reward for his Moto3 title.
Cal Crutchlow made an encouraging start to life on a Honda with eighth, followed by the Ducatis of test rider Michele Pirro - who had the day's only crash - and Pramac's Yonny Hernandez.
Suzuki's 2015 riders Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales got their first taste of the new GSX-RR.
Vinales managed the most laps of the day with 64 and was 17th, while Espargaro was 14th, lapping faster than the bike had managed in Randy de Puniet's hands during the race weekend.
Also rejoining the MotoGP fray was the factory Aprilia operation, beginning its new association with ex-Honda satellite team Gresini.
Former MotoGP rider Alex Hofmann conducted the Aprilia's early running before handing over to confirmed 2015 rider Alvaro Bautista and his expected team-mate Marco Melandri.
Five-time MotoGP race winner Melandri's handful of late-afternoon laps marked his first appearance in the series since leaving for World Superbikes at the end of 2010.
He is yet to be officially confirmed for the last vacancy on the 2015 MotoGP grid.
Other new rider/bike combinations settling in on Monday included Stefan Bradl and Loris Baz at Forward Yamaha (12th and 20th), Danilo Petrucci at Pramac Ducati (13th), Scott Redding on Marc VDS's new Honda (15th), Alex de Angelis with Ioda (16th), Eugene Laverty at Aspar Honda (21st) and Moto3 runner-up Jack Miller on the LCR Honda (22nd).
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap Laps 1. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m30.975s 45 2. Pol Espargaro Tech 3 Yamaha 1m31.118s +0.143s 49 3. Bradley Smith Tech 3 Yamaha 1m31.204s +0.229s 59 4. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m31.250s +0.275s 42 5. Andrea Iannone Ducati 1m31.465s +0.490s 39 6. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m31.602s +0.627s 33 7. Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 1m31.644s +0.669s 46 8. Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda 1m31.847s +0.872s 53 9. Michele Pirro Ducati 1m32.054s +1.079s 37 10. Yonny Hernandez Pramac Ducati 1m32.146s +1.171s 34 11. Hector Barbera Avintia Ducati 1m32.190s +1.215s 54 12. Stefan Bradl Forward Yamaha 1m32.209s +1.234s 50 13. Danilo Petrucci Pramac Ducati 1m32.314s +1.339s 56 14. Aleix Espargaro Suzuki 1m32.315s +1.340s 40 15. Scott Redding Marc VDS Honda 1m32.998s +2.023s 36 16. Alex de Angelis Ioda Aprilia 1m33.132s +2.157s 56 17. Maverick Vinales Suzuki 1m33.268s +2.293s 64 18. Karel Abraham Cardion Honda 1m33.446s +2.471s 57 19. Mike di Meglio Avintia Ducati 1m33.594s +2.619s 30 20. Loris Baz Forward Yamaha 1m33.834s +2.859s 55 21. Eugene Laverty Aspar Honda 1m34.320s +3.345s 45 22. Jack Miller LCR Honda 1m34.633s +3.658s 61 23. Alvaro Bautista Gresini Aprilia 1m34.919s +3.944s 14 24. Alex Hofmann Gresini Aprilia 1m35.646s +4.671s 26 25. Marco Melandri Gresini Aprilia 1m35.959s +4.984s 9 26. Marc Marquez Honda 1m36.181s +5.206s 12 27. Alex Marquez Honda 1m36.658s +5.683s 12
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments