News 21 Nov 2018

MotoGP rookies take to Valencia in opening day of testing

Pramac Racing's Bagnaia fastest of the premier class newcomers.

Image: Supplied.

Recently-crowned Moto2 world champion Francesco Bagnaia topped the list of MotoGP rookies on day one of testing at Valencia, finishing up 11th on the timesheets while debuting with Pramac Racing.

The number 63 experienced his first taste of the Ducati Desmosedici GP18, lodging a best-time of 1m32.39s, just 0.980s off the pace from leader Maverick Vinales (Yamaha Factory Racing).

“Unfortunately the rain stopped us after only 38 laps,” Bagnaia explained, “But I’m really very satisfied with this first day. Honestly, we just tried to lap as much as we could. We’ll start working on the setup tomorrow. My first feeling? The bike is impressive.”

Fellow Moto2 graduate and Team Suzuki Ecstar newcomer Joan Mir was 15th at the end of the day with a 1m32.787 time, marking his first official appearance with the squad after already sampling the Suzuki in Japan.

On his first ever outing on a MotoGP machine, Fabio Quartararo was able to get 38 laps under his belt to set a quickest time of 1m33.850s, which also marked the maiden outing for the newly-introduced outfit Petronas Yamaha SRT.

The last of the rookies was KTM Tech3 Racing’s Miguel Oliveira, logging a total of 33 laps while recording a quick-time of 1m35.118s. The test also signifies Tech3’s transition to KTM machinery. Testing will resume today for day two.

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