Maverick Vinales upstaged the predicted MotoGP championship contenders by topping the timesheets on day two of the official pre-season test in Australia. The Suzuki rider enjoyed his best race of his rookie campaign here in October and demonstrated his Phillip Island form once again to outpace Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo.
Thankfully for all concerned, the weather stayed dry for the majority of the day with the only shower coming midway through the morning. Vinales was an ever-present at the top of the leaderboard, becoming the first rider to go under the 90-second barrier before seeing off the late challenge of Marquez to finish fastest on a 1:29.131, just two tenths shy of his own qualifying time last year.
The improvement of Marquez was one of the stories of the day with Repsol Honda seeing positive signs from their RC213V, as well as their latest development engine. Movistar Yamaha have encountered very few problems all winter and they were competitive once again, Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi just two tenths off the pace in third and fourth, each showing impressive consistency.
Cal Crutchlow was fifth fastest for LCR Honda ahead of Hector Barbera who didn’t appear to have suffered from sitting out day one. Andrea Iannone was three thousandths down on his fellow Ducati rider in seventh with Dani Pedrosa dropping to eighth after a crash at turn four in the final two hours.
British pair Scott Redding and Bradley Smith completed the top ten which was covered by just 0.861s.
MotoGP Official Test – Phillip Island (Day Two Result)
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