Jorge Lorenzo cemented his status as favourite to retain his MotoGP title by setting the pace on the final day of pre-season testing at Losail. The Spaniard enjoyed a half-second advantage over the rest of the field with Scott Redding leading the chasing pack in second, completing an encouraging winter for the Briton.
Thursday’s running was headlined by another sensational display by Maverick Vinales who topped the timesheets on board his Suzuki. The 21 year old remained competitive throughout the final evening but Lorenzo was the only rider able to break below the 1m55 barrier, clocking a 1:54.810 on a qualifying-style time attack.
The field was closely matched behind the world champion with Redding finishing a sensational second for Octo Pramac Yakhnich, seven thousandths of a second ahead of Vinales. Marc Marquez was next up as four manufacturers filled the top four places but the two-time champion endured another difficult week, crashing on Friday evening and relying on a last-ditch effort to lift him up the order.
Valentino Rossi ended the week in fifth spot after crashing at turn ten on two separate occasions while Andrea Iannone slipped to sixth after failing to improve on the final day. Cal Crutchlow took seventh ahead of Andrea Dovizioso despite a heavy crash late in the evening while Hector Barbera managed to finish ninth despite two falls from his Avintia Ducati.
MotoGP Official Test – Losail (Combined Classification)
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