Petrucci fastest as rain mars start of Phillip Island MotoGP test
Pramac Ducati rider Danilo Petrucci led a rain-marred opening day of MotoGP's second pre-season test at Phillip Island
No rider ventured onto the circuit during the first hour due to wet conditions, and rain showers continued to come and go during the day.
It resulted in ruined programmes and limited opportunities for meaningful dry-weather running.
The key themes to watch during the Phillip Island test
Cal Crutchlow led the way initially with a 1m39.168s lap, more than 10 seconds off Marc Marquez's lap record, before Marquez sliced nearly four seconds from the Brit's benchmark on Michelin's intermediate tyre just after the halfway mark.
Showers duly returned, and cleared briefly with one hour to go, when Petrucci moved to the top, with consecutive 1m34.085s and 1m32.769s laps on his first run to lead team-mate Scott Redding.
After another brief shower, Petrucci - who led a day of the Sepang test - made further inroads inside the final 15 minutes, ultimately finishing the day on top with a best time of 1m31.765s.
Suzuki's Maverick Vinales also capitalised on the drier circuit to jump up to second with a 1m32.483s lap, 0.719 seconds behind Petrucci, just ahead of Tech3 Yamaha rider Bradley Smith.
Redding finished the day fourth and was the busiest man, logging 33 laps, with Crutchlow ultimately fifth.
Valentino Rossi was the best of the four factory Yamaha and Honda riders in sixth, 1.324s behind Petrucci, with Marquez 12th on his 23rd birthday.
Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa finished 16th and 17th without setting a time in the relative dry, while Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso did not log a timed lap.
Australian Jack Miller returned from injury after missing the Sepang test and set the ninth-fastest time during his six laps, with Marc VDS team-mate and Tito Rabat 11th.
TEST TIMES:
Pos | Rider | Team | Bike | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Danilo Petrucci | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 1m31.764s | - | 12 |
2 | Maverick Vinales | Suzuki | Suzuki | 1m32.483s | 0.719s | 20 |
3 | Bradley Smith | Tech 3 | Yamaha | 1m32.590s | 0.826s | 27 |
4 | Scott Redding | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 1m32.864s | 1.100s | 41 |
5 | Cal Crutchlow | LCR | Honda | 1m32.948s | 1.184s | 21 |
6 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m33.088s | 1.324s | 27 |
7 | Pol Espargaro | Tech 3 | Yamaha | 1m33.126s | 1.362s | 20 |
8 | Yonny Hernandez | Aspar | Ducati | 1m33.841s | 2.077s | 6 |
9 | Jack Miller | Marc VDS | Honda | 1m33.992s | 2.228s | 6 |
10 | Andrea Iannone | Ducati | Ducati | 1m34.049s | 2.285s | 9 |
11 | Tito Rabat | Marc VDS | Honda | 1m35.273s | 3.509s | 29 |
12 | Marc Marquez | Honda | Honda | 1m35.354s | 3.590s | 20 |
13 | Aleix Espargaro | Suzuki | Suzuki | 1m35.584s | 3.820s | 2 |
14 | Eugene Laverty | Aspar | Ducati | 1m35.679s | 3.915s | 10 |
15 | Takuya Tsuda | Suzuki | Suzuki | 1m36.166s | 4.402s | 6 |
16 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m39.825s | 8.061s | 24 |
17 | Dani Pedrosa | Honda | Honda | 1m40.138s | 8.374s | 15 |
18 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | Ducati | - | - | 0 |
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