2016 is in the books, time to start the 2017 shit talking. We are mere hours away from seeing who is where and with what. I for one am giddy with anticipation. My predictions, Lorenzo and Ducati will be fast out of the box, Vinales will perform about the same as the Suzuki, Crutchlow will win the test and tell us how and KTM will continue to blow up.
I wonder if Lorenzo will ride the GP17, Gigi said that he is going to start him on the GP16 since they have mountains of data and setup information so he can hit the ground running. I'm sure he'll pick it up fast, the Ducati seems to like the Michelin tires.
Have it on in the background on mute and it's weird trying to judge who is who on all the black bikes. BEin does not suck!
The Ducati looks extra awesome in black. If Raperface gets up to speed he should rock the Darth Vader look all year!
Times as of 2PM Valencia time (8am EST). I haven't analyzed lap by lap times yet, but so far the timing screens pretty close to what we all should have expected. Vinales is right on the pace, Lorenzo's GP17 isn't an M1, so it's going to take some time to get up to speed, and MM and VR clearly like their new bikes that were designed by and for them. 1. Rossi, Valentino ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 30.950s 2. Marquez, Marc SPA Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 31.102s +0.152s 3. Dovizioso, Andrea ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP16/17) 1m 31.149s +0.199s 4. Crutchlow, Cal GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 1m 31.156s +0.206s 5. Iannone, Andrea ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 31.165s +0.215s 6. Viñales, Maverick SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 31.234s +0.284s 7. Barbera, Hector SPA Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2/16) 1m 31.286s +0.336s 8. Pedrosa, Dani SPA Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 31.320s +0.370s 9. Miller, Jack AUS Estrella Galica 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 31.477s +0.527s 10. Lorenzo, Jorge SPA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP16/17) 1m 31.575s +0.625s 11. Redding, Scott GBR Octo Pramac Yakhnich (Desmosedici GP15/16) 1m 31.668s +0.718s 12. Pirro, Michele ITA Octo Pramac Yakhnich (Desmosedici GP16/17) 1m 32.068s +1.118s 13. Espargaro, Aleix SPA Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1m 32.177s +1.227s 14. Bautista, Alvaro SPA Aspar Ducati (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 32.565s +1.615s 15. Rabat, Tito GBR Estrella Galica 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 32.578s +1.628s 16. Espargaro, Pol SPA KTM MotoGP Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 32.613s +1.663s 17. Baz, Loris FRA Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 32.663s +1.713s 18. Folger, Jonas GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 1m 33.119s +2.169s 19. Zarco, Johann FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 1m 33.166s +2.216s 20. Abraham, Karel CZE Aspar Ducati (Desmosedici GP14.2/15) 1m 33.536s +2.586s 21. Laverty, Eugene IRL Aprilia Test Rider (RS-GP) 1m 33.800s +2.850s 22. Rins, Alex SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 33.978s +3.028s 23. Lowes, Sam GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1m 33.987s +3.037s 24. Tsuda, Takuya JPN Suzuki Test Rider (GSX-RR) 1m 34.110s +3.160s 25. Smith, Bradley GBR KTM MotoGP Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 34.496s +3.546s 26. Bagnaia, Francesco ITA Aspar Ducati (Desmosedici GP14.2) 1m 36.940s +5.990s
I like Jonas Folger's kit the best so far I think.....he's rocking the Kylo Ren lid an matching leather.
As mentioned before, to minimize variables. Best to gradually wean themselves off the pipe slowly....... I don't think the official "ban" is in effect until January 1st.
They want a direct comparison on the 2016 to 2017 bikes (or in the case of the satellite teams, what they had and what they are getting). Taking out that variable for now. Same reason they are running "2016" tires and not the new 2017 ones that roll out tomorrow.