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Phillip Island MotoGP test: Yamaha's Vinales finishes on top

Maverick Vinales topped MotoGP testing at Phillip Island for a second day in a row, Yamaha's new signing gapping the field by almost three tenths of a second

Vinales pulled the same trick as he did on Thursday, putting in three laps under 1m29s just after an hour into the day's running to storm to the top of the times.

The best of the three was a 1m28.549s, a time good enough to still be 0.294 seconds clear of the rest of the field at the end of the final day.

This time Vinales wasn't alone in the 1m28s bracket, world champion Marc Marquez pumping out a pair of sub-1m29s at the same time as his Yamaha rival.

It was his first that was fastest - a 1m28.843s - and it was still his best time when the session came to an end, despite the Spaniard dropping back under 1m29s for a couple of laps a little over an hour from the chequered flag.

Dani Pedrosa finished the day third fastest, having set his best lap inside the last half hour.

The Honda rider sat in fourth for the majority of the day thanks to his early 1m29.110s, but got shuffled down the pack when the likes of Alex Rins and Cal Crutchlow improved with a little over an hour to go.

Pedrosa, who missed most of Thursday's running through illness, then put in a 1m29.033s with 23 minutes remaining to vault back into the 'best of the rest' spot behind Vinales and Marquez.

That demoted Jonas Folger down the fourth, the German hanging around the top of the time sheets all day after setting a 1m29.042s an hour in to the session.

It wasn't all smiles for the Tech3 Yamaha rider though, Folger's running briefly interrupted with a fall a little over an hour from the end.

He wasn't the only rider at the classy end of the times to have an off-track excursion.

Rins jumped from outside the Top 10 into what was fifth at the time with a 1m29.103s with just over an hour to go, only to low side at Turn 2 shortly afterwards.

The Suzuki rider still ended up sixth thanks to that time, just 0.002s behind LCR Honda's Crutchlow.

Andrea Dovizioso was the best-placed Ducati with the seventh fastest time, while Jorge Lorenzo put in an improved showing to go eighth fastest, just under a tenth slower than his teammate.

Jack Miller and Aleix Espargaro rounded out the Top 10, while everyone down to Alvaro Bautista in 19th managed to sneak into the 1m29s.

The only riders still stranded in the 1m30s were Scott Redding, Sam Lowes, and Karel Abraham.

Valentino Rossi was left disappointed with the final day of testing at Phillip Island, ending up in 11th spot, almost a second behind teammate Vinales.

The best of the KTMs was Pol Espargaro in 17th, 1.308s off the ultimate pace, with team-mate Bradley Smith 19th.

FRIDAY TEST TIMES:

Pos Rider Team Time Gap Laps
1 Maverick Vinales Yamaha 1m28.549s - 101
2 Marc Marquez Honda 1m28.843s 0.294s 96
3 Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m29.033s 0.484s 65
4 Jonas Folger Tech3 Yamaha 1m29.042s 0.493s 63
5 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda 1m29.101s 0.552s 85
6 Alex Rins Suzuki 1m29.103s 0.554s 66
7 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 1m29.248s 0.699s 73
8 Jorge Lorenzo Ducati 1m29.342s 0.793s 75
9 Jack Miller MVDS Honda 1m29.358s 0.809s 93
10 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 1m29.361s 0.812s 65
11 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m29.470s 0.921s 52
12 Andrea Iannone Suzuki 1m29.547s 0.998s 77
13 Danilo Petrucci Pramac Ducati 1m29.615s 1.066s 57
14 Johann Zarco Tech3 Yamaha 1m29.670s 1.121s 87
15 Hector Barbera Avintia Ducati 1m29.791s 1.242s 83
16 Pol Espargaro KTM 1m29.857s 1.308s 62
17 Loris Baz Avintia Ducati 1m29.977s 1.428s 71
18 Bradley Smith KTM 1m29.978s 1.429s 73
19 Alvaro Bautista Aspar Ducati 1m29.984s 1.435s 74
20 Scott Redding Pramac Ducati 1m30.005s 1.456s 74
21 Sam Lowes Aprilia 1m30.200s 1.651s 57
22 Karel Abraham Aspar Ducati 1m30.452s 1.903s 61


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