MotoGP – Jorge Lorenzo goes fastest at Aragón test

Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo^W set the fastest time of the second in-season test at the Motorland Aragón track today, ahead of Ben Spies and Cal Crutchlow.

Lorenzo set a 1.49’187 late in the day, as the Yamaha team set out to confirm what they had found on Monday in terms of engine spec and electronics, whilst also working on the set-up for the track. His teammate Ben Spies^W was just over two tenths behind. Their satellite team counterparts in the form of Monster Yamaha Tech 3 were closely in tow, with Cal Crutchlow^W half a second behind Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso^W a further two tenths down. Dovizioso, who finished Monday’s test fastest, continued his work on electronics, engine, and track set-up, while Crutchlow tested all the components he couldn’t test due to crash damage last time out.

With the Repsol Honda Team absent, it was up to their satellite counterparts to represent the brand, with San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Álvaro Bautista^W finishing top Honda just over a second off in seventh, having worked solely on Aragón bike settings, while LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl^W finished the day in ninth. He initially set his bike up for the track, after which he continued work on suspension and chassis stiffness.

The Ducati Team pair of Valentino Rossi^W and Nicky Hayden^W were not testing the new aluminium swingarm, instead focussing their work on new bike settings. Hayden looked comfortable all day, ending up in sixth, yet still a second off the front, while Rossi looked to be struggling in eighth, over 1.7s off his teammate. Pramac Racing Team’s Héctor Barberá^W was fastest Ducati once again in fifth as he evaluated electronics, while Cardion AB Racing’s Karel Abraham was suffering from a hand injury sustained on Monday and ended the day in tenth after completing only 19 laps.

The CRT field included Bautista’s teammate Michele Pirro, who was fastest CRT in 11th, while NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Colin Edwards set the 13th quickest time as he continued to improve the Suter-BMW’s electronics package. Avintia Blusens’ Iván Silva was evaluating the part-carbon Inmotec chassis, but damaged the bike in a crash, meaning he switched to the FTR chassis for the afternoon. His teammate Yonny Hernandez finished the day 12th, while Silva’s limited time with the chassis left him last in 14th.