IN
THE
WIND
P42
PJ JACOBSEN ON
FIRE WITH MV AGUSTA
A
merican PJ Jacobsen (MV
Agusta Reparto Corse)
put his hat into the ring for the
WorldSSP title itself by going
half a second faster than any of
his peers after two days on the
track at Phillip Island.
The next best WorldSSP rider
was another MV runner, Roby
Rolfo (Team Factory Vamag) with
Jules Cluzel (CIA Landlord Insur-
ance) third.
"I do not know we are half a
second or so ahead but we have
been really focused on doing
our jobs," Jacobsen said. "This
is like my second official real
test with the team and they have
been working really well. It is
really different
for me riding
this bike. It is
more like riding
a superbike and
as mixture of a
250GP bike. The feeling on the
front is really great and the bike
is really light for turning."
The new official GRT Yamaha
team in WorldSSP put Lucas
Mahias fourth, and his team
mate Federico Caricasulo fifth,
riding the new model R6.
Luke Stapleford and his
Profile Racing Triumph Daytona
left the final pre-season test
sixth fastest, one place ahead
of a brave but crestfallen world
champion, Kenan Sofuoglu
(Kawasaki Puccetti Racing). His
recent training injury had not
healed as he expected and after
the removal of the pins that held
his thumb together his joint con-
tinuously dislocated and he has
opted to miss the opening round
of Phillip Island entirely.
Gordon Ritchie
Jacobsen looks to have taken
to the MV beautifully and had a
sizeable margin to play with at PI.
MOTOGP TESTING: VINALES STORMS PHILLIP ISLAND
M
averick Vinales stormed to a
second dominant day in the third
and final day of testing at Phillip Island,
February 21. After finishing behind
fastest day-one rider Marc Marquez
(Repsol Honda) before taking the top
spot back on day two, the 22-year-old
Spaniard, who switched from Suzuki to
the factory Yamaha squad after claim-
ing his first MotoGP win at Silverstone
last year, ended up fastest at all three
tests so far—at Valencia in 2016, and
Sepang two weeks ago.
Some surprising names in the
results—including class rookie Jonas
Folger (Monster Yamaha) fourth-fast-
Maverick Vinales and the Yamaha have been a
perfect match so far. Will his immense pace be
sustainable across a full race distance?
cont. on page 44
