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Testing report

Vinales fastest in Barcelona MotoGP tyre test

Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales set the pace during Wednesday's MotoGP in-season test at Barcelona.

Maverick Viñales, Yamaha Factory Racing

Maverick Viñales, Yamaha Factory Racing

Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Vinales set a late effort of 1m38.974s to end up 0.277s ahead of Tech 3 Yamaha rider Johann Zarco, while Ducati's Jorge Lorenzo completed the top three, a further six thousandths of a second down.

A combination of the old Turn 12 downhill right-hander being restored - and the chicane installed for last year's race being abandoned - and a new surface at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya have made laptimes considerably faster than they have been in previous years.

Vinales' lap was a full five seconds quicker than Dani Pedrosa's pole lap from last year, and almost two seconds faster than Aleix Espargaro's benchmark from 2015 - the last time the original Turn 12 was used during a MotoGP race weekend.

However, the old version of the Turn 10 left-hander at the end of the back straight was still in use then, meaning laptimes around the current layout are not directly comparable.

The purpose of the test was to help Michelin to define its tyre range for next month's Catalan Grand Prix, and therefore does not count towards factory riders' allocation of five private test days per year.

Cal Crutchlow was quickest in the morning session aboard the LCR Honda, but was only fourth fastest in the afternoon, 0.547s off the pace set by Vinales.

Andrea Dovizioso was fifth fastest on the second of the works Ducatis, followed by Valentino Rossi's Yamaha and championship leader Marc Marquez on the quicker of the factory Hondas.

Suzuki rider Andrea Iannone, who topped Tuesday's rain-affected running that involved only the three manufacturers not subject to in-season test limits, was eighth fastest on Wednesday.

Marquez and Iannone were both ahead of Rossi on the combined timesheets owing to their morning times.

Tito Rabat did not a set time in the afternoon after being hospitalised following a crash during the morning running in which his Avintia Ducati burst into flames.

As well as Marc VDS Honda, the Pramac and Nieto Ducati teams did not take part in the test.

Testing times:

Pos.No.RiderBikeMorningAfternoon
1 25  Maverick Vinales Yamaha 1'39.923 1'38.974
2 5  Johann Zarco Yamaha 1'39.944 1'39.251
3 99   Jorge Lorenzo  Ducati  1'40.059  1'39.257 
4 35   Cal Crutchlow  Honda  1'39.642 1'39.521 
5  Andrea Dovizioso  Ducati  1'39.942  1'39.657 
6 93   Marc Marquez  Honda  1'39.663 1'39.714
7 29   Andrea Iannone Suzuki  1'39.666 1'39.952
8 46   Valentino Rossi  Yamaha  1'40.240 1'39.708
9 41   Aleix Espargaro  Aprilia  1'39.877  1'40.332
10 26   Dani Pedrosa  Honda  1'40.161  1'40.480
11 30   Takaaki Nakagami  Honda  1'40.924  1'40.187
12 44   Pol Espargaro  KTM  1'40.187  1'41.046
13 38   Bradley Smith  KTM  1'40.814  1'40.353
14 45   Scott Redding  Aprilia  1'40.998  1'40.385
15 42   Alex Rins  Suzuki  1'40.435  1'40.832 
16 55   Hafizh Syahrin  Yamaha  1'40.435  1'40.502
17 36   Mika Kallio KTM  1'40.949  1'41.712
18 53   Tito Rabat  Ducati  1'41.259  no time
19 50  Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki 1'41.673 1'41.419
20 10  Xavier Simeon Ducati 1'41.440 1'41.722

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