Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) leaves Losail International Circuit (LIC) after the Qatar Test having topped two of the three days. The top spot was once again under threat by rookie Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) and reigning Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) completed the top three.
Valentino ‘the Doctor’ Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) was inside the top four just behind Marquez, with Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda Team) taking fifth place.
So it’s Yamaha who leave Qatar on top despite a windier Day 3, with Viñales putting in 50 laps on Monday and Rossi completing 38. The Italian was pretty positive and said it came from putting ‘everything together’, but the Spaniard did still insist they need to improve and one of the big things he pointed out was edge grip.
Quartararo, meanwhile, did 48 laps and showed his Day 2 showing was far from a fluke, with teammate Franco Morbidelli shooting up the timesheets to sixth too.
Repsol Honda was the only other team and manufacturer to come close to them on Monday, although both machines took tumbles although thankfully the riders were ok. Marc Marquez was third and did 53 laps, again showing the capacity to put more mileage on his shoulder. After two much tougher days on the timesheets hovering outside the top 15, probably due to bike changes and a scaphoid break only a month ago, the five-time World Champion catapulted himself up to a 1:54.653 on Day 3.
Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) also had a solid final day as he finished the Qatar Test in eighth despite a crash. He did 50 laps with a best of 1:54.789.
Another big headline on the last day of pre-season came from the consistently impressive Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), who was a stunning seventh with a time of 1:54.770. The Spaniard put in 37 laps as the Austrian factory continue working on the details.
Danilo Petrucci (Mission Winnow Ducati Team), meanwhile, retained his stronghold on the timesheets amongst the Borgo Panigale machines. The Italian was ninth on Day 3 after another 43 laps, with teammate Andrea Dovizioso down in P15 after 50.
That’s it from the Qatar Test, and with the pre-season officially over – now all that remains is to race!