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.