Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Wrap Up Pre-Season Testing with Positive Results

The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team wrap up pre season testing ahead of the first round at Qatar. 

The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team were back on track in Qatar for a very special third and final day of MotoGP testing.

Both riders had a full schedule today, completing both a dry and a wet session. They ended the 2018 MotoGP pre-season testing on a positive note, finishing in second and fifth place respectively in today's and the combined timesheets, and in third and seventh position in the wet session.

Unable to complete his time attack yesterday, Rossi was eager to make strides today. The Doctor entered the track at 15:30 local time and he wasn't to let a small set-back get in his way. Though he suffered a crash in turn 14 with still four hours of the dry session remaining, he was unharmed and quickly back out on track to make up for lost time.

The Italian spent the remainder of the available dry time preparing for the first race of the season, to be held at the Losail International Circuit in two weeks' time, and noticeably quickened his pace towards the end of the session. He ended the dry testing in second place with a 1'54.276s, set on lap 42 of 49 laps, 0.247s from first.

Following the dry session, the riders were given the opportunity to test the Losail circuit in (artificial) wet conditions during the final hour. Rossi completed the wet session in third place with a 2'15.542s.

The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team will be back in Qatar on March 15th for the MotoGP 2018 Line-up Presentation and to commence the 2018 season, with the Grand Prix of Qatar being held from March 16th - 18th.

Valentino Rossi

Position: 2nd - Time: 1'54.276 - Laps: 49

"I'm quite happy after this test, especially after this afternoon, because I think we've worked hard in these last few days and also in the first part of today. This afternoon we put it all together and I was able to do a very good lap for second position and I also had a good rhythm, with a good pace. But, we are all still very close in the timesheets, there are a lot of riders that are strong. We continue to suffer with the tyres, front and rear, and I did just half a race distance. We have to try to understand what will happen from that point until the end of the race - we will see in two weeks."

Massimo Meregalli

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP - Team Director

"We worked really hard these last three days and it wasn't all smooth sailing. We encountered some difficulties along the way that took some time to fix, but in the end we managed to get a lot of testing done and find some solutions. We tried many things, some were good, some weren't, and we made an important step at the end of the dry session. We also had the opportunity to try the track in wet conditions. The most important thing is that the riders are feeling good on the bike and can carry a competitive and consistent pace, because the season will start in two weeks' time, which is something we are really looking forward to."

Report and images from Yamaha.