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MotoGP: Maverick Vinales Fastest on Day 2 of #AusTest2017

  • Vinales the only rider to run below 1 minute 29 seconds

  • Almost half a second faster than Marc Marquez

  • Crutchlow made strong progress as third fastest of Day 2

Maverick Vinales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) stunned the field when he clocked a 1:28:847 on his 21st lap early yesterday. He was the only rider to go sub 1 minute 29 seconds at one of the most challenging tracks in the MotoGP calendar.

Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was without a doubt the hardest working rider yesterday after having completed 107 laps and setting the second fastest time on his 20th lap. Although he set an impressive time of 1:29:309, he was still 0.462 seconds behind Vinales and his Yamaha M1 with its new double layer fairing. Honda has still not come up with any new aero modifications to their present RC213V.

Cal Crutchlow made strong progress yesterday, finishing the day just 0.016 behind 2016 World Champion, Marc Marquez. The same can be said about Alvaro Bautista who placed himself at P4 with a time of 1:29:411, 0.086 seconds behind the Brit rider. The factory Ducati rider, Andrea Dovizioso also improved from P8 in day 1 to P5 in Day 2. Ducati also has not experimented with any aero work unlike Yamaha, Aprilia and Suzuki.

The biggest improvement made by any rider yesterday was Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini). The factory Ducati rider ran with updated aerodynamic fairings and jumped to P6 after having spent Day 1 at a low P14.  MotoGP rookie Jonas Folger (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) also jumped up to P7 with a time of 1:29:664. That’s quite impressive considering that he was slightly faster than nine-time champion, Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) who came in at P8 on Day 2.

Aleix Rins (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR) clocked in at 1:29:802 with the GSX-RR and its slight changes on aerodynamics. Jack Miller (Team EG 0,0 Marc VDS) completed the top 10 with a time of 1:29:802, almost a second behind Vinales. Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) placed 11th followed by Andrea Iannone (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR) at P12 with over a second gap behind the Movistar Yamaha rider.

Karel Abraham (Pull&Bear Aspar Team) made it into the top 15 at P13 with just 0.008 seconds faster than Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing) at P14. Jorge Lorenzo and his new Ducati Desmosedici place 15th but made over half a second progress as compared to Day 1.

Will Vinales continue his domination of being the fastest? Do the “double fairings” on the Yamaha M1 really work? Stay tuned to Bikes Republic for more MotoGP updates.

PHOTO SOURCE: MotoGP

A passionate individual when it comes to anything related to two wheels (or sometimes more), he enjoys the chaotic and magical world of motorsports as much as riding leisurely to the shops on his beloved Vespa. With an education-based background, he is always eager to learn and share about the poetic arts of motorcycling.

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