IN
THE
WIND
P28
Jack Miller finished
the test in eighth.
is a much larger air intake.
As Vinales said, "I feel really
good on the bike, and it is in the
right direction. But we still have 10
km/h difference in top speed, and
we need to work more on that."
Rossi spoke of the need for
smooth response. It was not so
hard to make more power, "and
with Yamaha, we work very much
because we need the top speed,
but we must do it with good
power delivery. They are work-
ing, and we already feel some-
thing. But it is not enough."
Ducati was working on chas-
sis, and in the case of test rider
Michele Pirro, aerodynamic
developments, especially to the
wheel covers. The rider com-
ments echoed Yamaha's—better,
but not enough. Andrea Dovizio-
so, who ran only five laps on day
two, said, "We compared the
new chassis again and the feel-
ing was good, but the improve-
ment is not as big as we want."
The eternal bugbear is the
search for improved mid-corner
speed.
Honda, as at last week's Valen-
cia tests, had new aerodynamics,
plus chassis and engine chang-
es. Marquez and Cal Crutchlow
were testing the latest updates
and made positive remarks, while
Alex Marquez was still gaining
experience on an older bike.
Test rider Stefan Bradl was not at
the Jerez test.
KTM was testing two different
chassis configurations; Aprilia
merely working on electronic
strategies, as they await an all-
new bike.
On combined times, Vinales
led Marquez, then Rins, Fabio
Quartararo and Mir.
Andrea Dovizioso was sixth,
running only five laps on day two;
fellow Ducati rider Jack Miller
was eighth after only four. In
between them, Franco Morbidelli
(Petronas Yamaha). Pol Espar-
garo (Red Bull KTM) and Cal
Crutchlow (LCR Honda) rounded
out the top 10, with Rossi 11th.
New Repsol Honda rider Alex
Marquez ran a best time on day
two at 1:39.224 to place 17th
overall. Dani Pedrosa missed the
first day through illness, and ran
11 laps on the second, to end up
19th.
Michael Scott
Combined
1. Maverick Vinales (Yam)
2. Marc Marquez (Hon)
3. Alex Rins (Suz)
4. Fabio Quartararo (Yam)
5. Joan Mir (Suz)
