Yamaha came out fighting,
and although still relatively short
of top speed, the improvement
to the package combines with a
positive spirit to the enterprise
(and the surprise acquisition of
Jorge Lorenzo as a tester) to
promise a stronger challenge.
Honda's prospects are less
clear-cut, with not only Marquez
but also satellite-team rider
Takaaki Nakagami still recuper-
ating from shoulder surgery,
while Alex Marquez is very much
finding his feet. It was left to Cal
Crutchlow on the LCR team's full
factory bike to set the second
fastest time overall, but he still
faced familiar worries about
front-end feel.
Ducati was left with a big
workload: a power-up engine
reinforces their existing strong
points, but the new Michelin
appears to suit corner-speed
bikes better than their exit-speed
rocket.
Of the rest, Suzuki was quietly
confident of an overall incremen-
tal improvement in every area,
and KTM riders had positive
comments and fast lap times.
The biggest surprise came
from Aprilia, whose all-new en-
gine now replicates the 90-de-
gree V-angle of the other V4s,
and in spite of only having two
of the new units which have yet
to receive any serious develop-
ment, they went well enough to
put chief rider Aleix Espargaro
in an unexpected 10th overall.
Reliability, however, remains to
be tested.
Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha)
was fastest every day but said,
"We still need to work. My goal
has changed a little bit—not so
much to be first in every practice
but to work on the pace, be-
cause we know that in one lap,
we are fast."
His time of 1:58.349 was less
than 0.05 off his own circuit
best lap, which gave him pole at
last year's race.
Crutchlow (LCR Honda)
was a slender 0.082 seconds
down; Alex Rins (Ecstar Suzuki)
just 0.019 slower again, while
Pramac rider Pecco Bagnaia—
in his second season—was a
whisker down in fourth, and the
top Ducati. Times were ultra-
close, the top 19 inside the same
second.
Valentino Rossi (Monster Ya-
maha) was fifth, and cautiously
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