Quartararo quickest from Crutchlow as lap records tumble

Rookie goes half a second under his pole position time as the premier class complete the post-GP Jerez Test

Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) set a stunning new Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto lap record on Monday’s one-day post-Spanish GP test, a 1:36.376 late in the day was 0.418 quicker than anyone else after Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) had set a new lap record shortly before. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) put a late flyer in to jump to third, with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pol Espargaro 4th.

Quartararo wasn’t testing anything in particular – apart from an internal fork update - as he continued to get more miles under his belt on his Yamaha. He did though go half a second quicker than his pole position time on the old forks. Teammate Morbidelli ended the day with a 1:37.093, the Italian testing Yamaha’s latest aero package that only the factory riders have had access to this season.

Speaking of the factory Yamahas, Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) was trying some electronics to help with throttle connection as the Spaniard finished fourth quickest with a 1:37.226. He completed a whopping 94 laps, with teammate Valentino Rossi also working on throttle connection – The Doctor finished 16th.

For Honda, the most notable of the parts they were testing was Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) heading out of test rider Stefan Bradl’s bike, that particular RC213V boasting the carbon fibre covered chassis. And the reigning World Champion set his best lap time on said bike, a 1:37.260 put the Championship leader in P7. Teammate Jorge Lorenzo’s aim was to get a better feeling, a new seat was fitted for the five-time World Champion as he put in 91 laps, finishing 9th quickest but ended his day with a crash at Turn 7, this coming after he’d crashed at Turn 6 earlier.

Crutchlow was trying out some clutch electronics to help him to aid his start setup, the British rider completed 78 laps to finish second, with teammate Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) finishing tenth quickest – the Japanese rider crashing right at the end of the day at Turn 3.

Pol Espargaro had a busy day as KTM tested chassis parts, chassis settings and engine parts, the Spaniard having a productive day at the office with Team Manager Mike Leitner saying they’ll have to wait until Le Mans to see if the parts really make a difference or not. Teammate Johann Zarco was 16th quickest, with the Red Bull KTM Tech 3 machines trying the factory spec ‘cut’ exhaust.

Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Joan Mir finished 6th on the times as he tried a new setting that was more suited to his riding style, the Spaniard suffering a crash at Turn 9. Teammate Alex Rins debuted Suzuki’s version of the ‘swingarm attachment’, which he consequently broke as he suffered a run off. The man second in the Championship completed 69 laps and finished 0.896 off Quartararo in 8th.

The fastest Ducati at the test was Mission Winnow Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso, the Italian finishing 11th quickest with a 1:37.601. Both he and teammate Danilo Petrucci didn’t have anything in particular to try, but the duo was testing big setup changes that Ducati didn’t want to do during the race weekend.

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini’s Andrea Iannone attempted to ride on Monday but he was too battered and bruised from Saturday’s crash to complete any flying laps. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) completed 80 laps as the Spaniard ventured out early to try some new parts for Aprilia. Test rider Bradley Smith also put in the mileage, the British rider completing 82 laps.

A bumper day of action and lots of new things tested. Le Mans is less than two weeks away, who will be on top in France?

Top 10:
1. Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) – 1:36.379
2. Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) + 0.418
3. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) + 0.714
4. Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 0.735
5. Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) + 0.847
6. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.854
7. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) + 0.881
8. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.896
9. Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda Team) + 1.087
10. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) + 1.089

Click here for the full results!

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