THE ROAD to MotoGP 2020 began in earnest today as a post-race one day test at Brno gave teams the opportunity to trial new parts for this year or get a jump on the opposition for next season.
Arguably the manufacturer with the most to gain from shifting its focus more towards 2020 having struggled to consistently get the better of either Honda or Ducati this season, Yamaha will take satisfaction from ending the day having locked out the top three positions.
Sticking with his finely-tuned 2019-spec Petronas SRT M1, Fabio Quartararo was the pace setter throughout the day, with Franco Morbidelli – who crashed out of the Grand Prix on lap one – ensuring a positive end to a tough weekend for both himself and the Malaysian-backed outfit. tough weekend in third.
Yamaha brings first draft of 2020 Yamaha M1... and is instantly quick
Splitting them was Maverick Vinales on an early draft of what will become the 2020 Yamaha M1. Catching attention both with its moody carbonfibre livery and heing quick from the off Vinales was a mere 0.012s behind his satellite counterpart, while Valentino Rossi complemented his team-mate in sixth.
Alex Rins had a small evolution to trial on the Suzuki GSX-RR en route to fourth quickest, but there was concern for team-mate Joan Mir who – after crashing out on lap one with Morbidelli in the race – suffered a high-speed off at Turn 1, the ferocity of which led to his bike vaulting the fence. Airlifted to hospital as a precaution, he is currently undergoing tests.
Cal Crutchlow and runaway MotoGP leader Marc Marquez had a busy day swapping between three different Hondas en route to fifth and eighth respectively in an effort to both tweak this year’s RC213V and make headway on the 2020 concept. LCR Honda team-mate Takaaki Nakagami was assigned mostly Michelin tyre development work.
After getting two of its bikes on the podium in the race, Ducati dialled it down on Monday with a focus on fine tuning the GP19 for the latter stretch of the season, Andrea Dovizioso 12th best, behind Danilo Petriucci and Pecco Bagnaia.
Attention now turns to the Austrian MotoGP round 11 of the 2019 MotoGP World Championship season this weekend, held at the Red Bull Ring. Joining the calendar in 2017, Ducati has dominated both runs of the event thus far.
