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Vinales ends test on top, Marquez crashes

ByAutoSport

Published 12/03/2017 at 20:57 GMT

Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales ended the final day of MotoGP pre-season testing in Qatar with the fastest time, as Marc Marquez crashed his Honda three times.

Eurosport

Image credit: Eurosport

After topping Saturday's test session, Vinales also logged Sunday's fastest time by recording a 1m54.330s with around two hours and 20 minutes remaining of the session.
That knocked early pacesetter Jorge Lorenzo from the top of the times, the Ducati rider having set a best of 1m54.519s just a few minutes before.
Lorenzo, who later trialled Ducati's new aerodynamic fairing first seen on Saturday, ended the session in fourth after team-mate Andrea Dovizioso - running with standard bodywork - eclipsed his time by 0.121s.
Honda's Dani Pedrosa was also able to relegate three-time champion Lorenzo late on, recording a 1m54.469s in the final half-hour of the day.
Alvaro Bautista recovered from an early crash to complete the top five on his Aspar Ducati, 0.384s off the pace, and was followed by fellow satellite Ducati rider Scott Redding.
Tech 3 rider Jonas Folger was seventh as he and team-mate Johann Zarco sandwiched LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow, while Marquez completed the top 10 - the reigning champion having endured enduring a torrid end to testing.
Sampling an updated fairing on Honda's RC213V - different to the one the manufacturer debuted on Friday - Marquez crashed at Turn 7, his second fall of the night, before suffering a third crash with a little over an hour remaining after reverting to the old fairing.
Valentino Rossi also had an underwhelming time on the second factory Yamaha, the Italian finishing 11th and 0.855s slower than team-mate Vinales.
Andrea Iannone was best of the Suzuki riders in 12th, also suffering a heavy crash that destroyed his GSX-RR bike, while Aleix Espargaro headed the Aprilia contingent in 15th.
KTM riders once again propped up the timesheets, with Bradley Smith the Austrian marque's best representative in 21st, 2.021s off the pace.
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