Alkass Digital
Yamaha's Maverick Vinales took top spot at the end of play on Day four of the Official MotoGP Qatar Test, thanks to a late 1:53.244 lap time at the Losail International Circuit. It was three Yamahas leading the way on Thursday as Franco Morbidelli (Yamaha SRT) and Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) both set 1:53.3s to cement their good form heading into the final day of pre-season testing.
In terms of new tech, nothing too out of the ordinary was seen yesterday. However, track conditions couldn’t have been more perfect for Day 4 of testing, handing riders a fantastic opportunity to get some crucial laps under their belts with time running out before the start of the season.
Vinales made a late time attack to snatch P1 from new Monster Yamaha team-mate Quartararo by 0.154s, who had taken the top sport from Ducati's Francesco Bagnaia earlier in the final hour. Morbidelli then made it an all-Yamaha top three by splitting Vinales and Quartararo in the closing minutes.
Vinales' 1m 53.244s didn't quite beat Jack Miller's '53.183s from Wednesday, but the Spaniard - like Bagnaia, Quartararo and Repsol Honda's Pol Espargaro - also showed impressive pace over longer runs.
Meanwhile, Alex Marquez suffered a fractured foot after a crash. Marquez has had a bruising test so far, crashing four times across the first four days before having a fifth during yesterday’s running. The LCR rider highsided at the Turn 9 right-hander, which brought out a brief red flag period and resulted in him suffering a small fracture in his foot which ended his day early.
Marquez says he has raced with a similar injury before and hopes to be cleared to ride, but will only push for it if weather conditions don’t cause unnecessary risk. Explaining his crash after ending the day 17th, he said: “Well, I was trying some important things again during the first part of the session because that part of the day is not for making laps because conditions are so different, and we will not have those conditions during any practice in the [race] weekend.
“I was focused on many things, and then I put on new tyres to make a time attack because it’s something I needed to improve. Making the time attack, I crashed - was a highside in Turn 9, fortunately I’m OK. I have a small crack in my right foot. At the moment I’ve [been declared] not fit from the doctor, but tomorrow, if we have a good weather and good conditions, I will try to push the doctor to [pass me] fit because I feel good, I already race with this broken. So, I think it will not be a problem to be on the bike. But it’s a special doctor here in Qatar.”
Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha SRT) was very pleased after Wednesday’s track action and was pleased with the new parts that Yamaha have been trying so far. Yesterday, The Doctor set his fastest lap of the test so far – a 1:53.993 – and is in good spirits, with Rossi saying he feels like “a real rider” again. Petronas Yamaha SRT Team Manager Wilco Zeelenberg confirmed that Morbidelli has been trying lots of different settings to enable him to get the feeling he had in 2020, and the man himself confirmed he’s “really happy” overall but, as always, there’s areas to work on during the final day.
Top 10 times on Day 4:
1. Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) – 1:53.244 seconds; 2. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) + 0.079; 3. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) + 0.154; 4. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.200; 5. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) + 0.396; 6. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.583; 7. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.616; 8. Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha SRT) + 0.749; 9. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) + 0.812; 10. Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) + 0.859