Misano Test, Day 2: Quartararo shines again ahead of Danilo Petrucci
French rookie keeps pace showed during the first day of test in Misano being the only rider able to go under the 1.32 ahead of Danilo Petrucci and his teammate Franco Morbidelli; Miguel Oliveira and Jorge Lorenzo did not ride today as planned, while Jack Miller, Abraham, Bradl Rabat, Zarco and Syahrin did not take part at the test in the afternoon
MotoGP test are definitely over and now riders will only have to focus about the track and races, where surely teams will bring anyway some materials to improve the development to be fast. Considering this, second and last day of test in Misano was crucial for everyone as long as they will not have the chance to make any test; finding the right confidence and some parts that could help riders and team to improve could be really important for the next season, but also for 2019. Michelin brought also a supersoft tyre that riders could only use today as long as Michelin wanted to know asphalt’s condition.
It was again a positive day for Yamaha Petronas, who had his two riders on top again after yesterday where Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli were really fast going on top of the time sheet putting their bikes ahead of everyone. The French and the Italian were impressively fast today as well, with number 20 who ended on top again being the only rider able to run under the 1.32, while his teammate was not too far from him in 3rd
Factory Yamaha riders on the other hand had again some parts to test over than the same ones who both Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi tried yesterday; it seems that work is paying off as long as both guys were fast also during the second day of test with the Spaniard who managed to end in 5 following his teammate who finished in 4th despite a little crash in the afternoon. Good news is that if Maverick and Valentino liked the materials brought for the test, they could even use that for Misano GP.
Up and down for Ducatis, who surely had something to test and saw their Pramac satellite riders leading the way thanks also to the supersoft tyre in the morning with Jack Miller 1st and Francesco Bagnaia 2nd while Factory riders where not so fast on a single lap except Danilo Petrucci who found a fast lap just during his last attempt; probably Italian Team is testing something and they did not focus too much on a single shot. Anyway, Miller rode only during the morning while Francesco Bagnaia kept working in the afternoon and managed to end 7th fastest overall while the Australian was 5th. Petrucci managed to finish in 2nd with Dovizioso in 17th.
Even Honda kept doing his job, with Marc Marquez who made a lot of laps as usual to give his feedback to Japanese Team, who did not have Jorge Lorenzo who is still suffering from the injury that forced him to stay out for two months. Reigning World Champion was even the only HRC on track in the afternoon as long as Stefan Bradl was not in, with Takaaki Nakagami and Cal Crutchlow who made their job in every session. Marquez ended in 10th, while the Japanese and the Briton were 8th and 21st.
This two days were really positive for Suzuki, who saw Alex Rins staying on top during the second day but especially Joan Mir coming back after the injury he had during Brno Test and forced him to stay out of Austrian GP; Spaniard rookie was not only able to ride but he was also fast during the whole session of tests showing that he is ready and 100% fit. Last GP winner ended the day in 13th position with his teammate was 11th.
It was really interesting see Daniel Pedrosa back on track, with the Spaniard who made a fast lap in the morning being faster than Pol Espargaro and Johann Zarco but especially he worked a lot on the bike to develop as much as possible KTM and it seems that everyone is satisfied with the job done. The Spaniard ended the day with a 16th position overall, while Espargaro and Zarco finished in 18th and 19th.