2021 Qatar MotoGP Shakedown test times - Friday (FINAL)
The Qatar MotoGP Shakedown test - open to test riders, rookies and riders from Concession manufacturer Aprilia - took place at Losail on Friday.
The outing saw the first MotoGP laps for Moto2 graduates Enea Bastianini, Luca Marini and Jorge Martin, plus the debut 𒊎of Cal Crutchlow as a Yamaha tes🐓t rider - the Englishman sharing M1s with the Factory's two Japanese test riders Katsuyuki Nakasuga and Kohta Nozane.
That meant there was no official record of which Yamaha rider set which lap time, with C♐rutchlow definit🃏ely taking to the track on both the '#T2' and '#T3' M1s.
The T2 looked to be the ol🐎der A-Spec (2019 chassis) Yamaha, as taken to second in the world championship by Franco Morbidelli last season. Meanwhile, the carbon-black T3 had the squarer air intꦍake of the 'inconsistent' Factory-Spec bike:
Earlier, Crutchlow had wไar🦹ned that very strong winds could limit today's action but all riders except Aleix Espargaro were seen on track.
HRC test rider Stefan Bradl, the most active MotoGP test rider so far this year with several private outings at Je𝔍rez, was quickest for ﷺmost of the day, finally finishing a comfortable 1.2s clear of the #T2 Yamaha, with the #T1 in third.
Partly due to the tricky conditions, Bradl was 1.8s slower than the fastest lap aꩲt last y൲ear's Qatar test (by Maverick Vinales).
Moto2 champion Bastianini was not only the fastest of the rookies but the top ꦕDucat༺i rider, in an impressive fourth place on the Avintia GP19.
Ducati test rider Michele Pirro began the day on a full red-liveried bike but later took 🤪to the track 💞with a new prototype fairing featuring small winglets just behind the front wheel:
Meanwhile, Pramac's Martin suffered his first MotoGP fall: "Exiting corner 3 I touched a big bump and then the bike started shaking a lot 🎶and I couldn't keep it under me and I crashed. It was a really fast crash and aggressive crash but I am fine, so this is good enough. But the bike not so much. But this is racing and sometimes this can happen."
The first Official 2021 MotoGP test, open to all race riders,🦩 begins at the circuit tomorrow💙 (Saturday).
Testing takes place from 2pm to 9pm each day...
| Qatar MotoGP Shakedown test times - Friday (FINAL) | |||||
| Rider | Nat | Team | Time | Lap | |
| 1 | Stefan Bradl | GER | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | 1m 55.614s | 55/60 |
| 2 | Yamaha Test2 | N/A | Yamaha Test Rider (YZR-M1) | +1.236s | 58/58 |
| 3 | Yamaha Test1 | N/A | Yamaha Test Rider (YZR-M1) | +1.518s | 39/39 |
| 4 | Enea Bastianini | ITA | Avintia Esponsorama (GP19)* | +2.437s | 35/35 |
| 5 | Michele Pirro | ITA | Ducati Test Rider (GP21) | +2.624s | 47/58 |
| 6 | Yamaha Test3 | N/A | Yamaha Test Rider (YZR-M1) | +3.008s | 4/11 |
| 7 | Lorenzo Savadori | ITA | Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* | +2.659s | 25/38 |
| 8 | Luca Marini | ITA | Sky VR46 Avintia (GP19)* | +2.762s | 31/33 |
| 9 | Sylvain Guintoli | FRA | Suzuki Test Rider (GSX-RR) | +3.000s | 44/53 |
| 10 | Jorge Martin | SPA | Pramac Ducati (GP21)* | +3.261s | 26/31 |
| 11 | Dani Pedrosa | SPA | KTM Test Rider (RC16) | +3.441s | 24/34 |
| 12 | Takuya Tsuda | JPN | Suzuki Test Rider (GSX-RR) | +5.776s | 22/24 |
Official Qatar MotoGP records:
Best lap:
Marc Marquez SPA Honda 1m 53.380s (2019)
Fastest race lap:
Jorge Lorenzo SPA Yamaha 1m 54.927s (2016)
Full Qatar Shakedown rider line-up:
Stefan Bradl (Honda)
Luca Marini (VR46 Avintia)
Katsuyuki Nakasuga (Yamaha)
Enea Bastianini (Avintia Esponsorama)
Dani Pedrosa (KTM)
Kohta Nozane (Yamaha)
Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia Gresini)
Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha)
Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Gresini)
Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki)
Michele Pirro (Ducati)
Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati)
Takuya Tsuda (Suzuki)
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years a❀nd has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
