Marc Marquez set the pace in Monday’s single day of post-race MotoGP testing at the Circuito de Jerez. He led Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow and Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo plus Repsol Honda Team partner and Sunday race winner Dani Pedrosa.
Fresh from his third podium finish from as many races, Marquez was first out of the pits as his team worked in the areas of electronics and chassis. Following a short time in which Lorenzo topped the timesheets, it was the newcomer who moved ahead in the second hour and his best lap time of 1:38.824 stuck for the rest of the day.
Crutchlow had no new parts to test and so focused on setup modifications, but did not push to the absolute limit as he remains bruised from his two heavy crashes of Saturday.
The Yamaha Factory bikes sandwiched Pedrosa as Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi finished third and fifth, comparing two versions of their 2013 chassis with the goal being to establish one solid base setup; if achieved, this will allow the squad to rule out the time-consuming task of switching between chassis during race weekends. This exercise had not been carried out previously, as grip levels were too low in Qatar whereas Texas provided many unknowns when compared to familiar Jerez.
GO&FUN Honda Gresini focused on the front and rear Showa suspension of Alvaro Bautista who finished sixth quickest.
LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl had suffered a lack of front end grip for the entire race weekend, thus on Monday the German hoped to modify the geometry of his bike in a bid to find a proper solution. He would end proceedings in ninth spot.
Filling the void in seventh and eighth were the Ducati Team pairing Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso, who had been highly keen to sample the new GP13 Lab chassis for the first time. Both riders conducted back-to-back comparisons with the current GP13 bike, although test rider Michele Pirro – who had competed with the new machine over the weekend – was not on-track.
Bradley Smith rounded out the top 10 on the second Tech 3 machine.
Not in attendance were Pramac Racing nor Power Electronics Aspar. For the Italian outfit, Ben Spies remains out of action because of his pectoral muscle problem, whereas Andrea Iannone was due to undergo arm pump surgery in Barcelona on Tuesday.
Spies will be back in action at Mugello later this month, Pramac Racing confirmed from the Jerez test on Monday evening. For the preceding Monster Energy Grand Prix de France on May 19, Pirro will cover for the recovering American.
Spies will have missed two races by the time he makes his comeback, having been advised by doctors to rest after suffering chest pains as a result of a pectoral muscle problem.
“Following today’s additional medical check in Dallas, the doctor supervising Ben Spies recommended that the Texan undergo a period of extended rehabilitation,” said a Pramac team statement. “Despite his wish to return to the track as soon as possible, Spies will miss the French Grand Prix and will join the team again at the end of May, at Mugello.”
–From motogp.com
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