Monster Energy Yamaha Continue Positive Progress on Jerez Test Day 1

25-11-2019

Monster Energy Yamaha Continue Positive Progress on Jerez Test Day 1

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP‘s Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi travelled from the Circuito de la Comunitat Valenciana - Ricardo Tormo to the Circuito de Jerez - Ángel Nieto to commence the next stage in their 2020 pre-season testing program. Following last week‘s IRTA test, the team-mates were keen on trying the protype and new items once more at the Jerez MotoGP Official Test. Their findings confirmed the improvements made, and they completed the first day in 1st and 14th place respectively in the rankings.

The riders were kept on their toes during the eight-hour session. Occasional rain meant they had to make the most of the dry track time to work on their YZR-M1s.

Viñales swung his leg over the bike for the first time in Jerez at 11 o‘clock to complete yet more kilometres in preparation for the 2020 season. The Spaniard found a good rhythm again and began chipping away at his time whilst comparing various testing items. He completed 68 laps in total familiarising himself with the new engine and showed no signs of slowing down. He posted a best time of 1'37.131s on lap 60, consolidating his place at the top of the standings with a convincing 0.754s-margin over his closest rival.

Rossi took to the Jerez track half an hour after his team-mate, eager to further improve the prototype while concentrating on the setting and overall performance of his Yamaha. The Doctor‘s first impressions are positive, though he is still working on the bike's stability in fast corners. He completed 64 laps in total. His best time was a 1'38.759s, set on lap 59 at the end of his penultimate run. This time put him in 14th place in today's standings, 1.628s from first.

Maverick Viñales

We are working a lot on the new engine trying to understand the positives and negative points of the new bike. This test is quite important for us to decide on the engines and take the right approach to further improve the engine on the track, which is our focus here. We are trying to understand the best way to work. For tomorrow my plan is the same. I need to make laps with the engine, and I also need to try the tyres, and then we will see. Even if it rains, we need to go out and try the newer stuff. For sure, we are comparing the old and new items back-to-back. The positive point is that I felt good with both bikes today, so we have two good choices, which is even better. I feel we can create a lot of potential with the new engine.

Valentino Rossi

We worked a lot today, even though the weather conditions weren‘t fantastic. Every now and then we had some rain, we had to stop and start like this, but the track conditions were quite good anyway. We worked a lot on the new bike and made another comparison with the old one, and the feeling isn‘t too bad. Some things were better, and we also have some areas where we need to work.