MotoGP 2017

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Agent_Smith

Agent_Smith

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So testing is underway for the 2017 season, and it has already begun badly for Tito Rabat. A heavy crash has resulted in some nasty injuries so he's now in a race against time to make the starting grid in Qatar.

From Supersport.com

Suzuki's Andrea Iannone was the fastest rider on day two of the 2017 test season at Malaysia's Sepang circuit Tuesday while Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi leapt up the timesheets.

But the session was briefly red-flagged after Spaniard Tito Rabat crashed and was taken to hospital.

The Marc VDS Honda rider fractured his hand and sustained injuries to his left knee, right foot and wrists, and will not take any further part in the testing.

Iannone, logged 1min 59.452 seconds – 00.406 seconds faster than Spaniard Maverick Vinales on a Yamaha.

Motorcycling superstar Rossi – debuting Yamaha's new fairing with "internal" winglets following the ban on external ones this year – registered 2min 00.254 seconds and was fourth fastest, an improvement from Monday's eighth spot.

"We tried a different frame, different chassis, different tyres and I finished in fourth and improved the lap time so it was a good day," said Rossi.

“The fairing was not a big difference but the new chassis was a good difference. Compared to the old one, we’ve still not decided, we need to continue working tomorrow.”

The Italian superstar is targeting an elusive 10th world title in a new MotoGP season dominated by riders switching allegiances and thereby changing bikes too.

Three-time world champion Lorenzo on a Ducati was the eighth fastest at 2min 00.484 seconds, an improvement from his 17th standing on Monday.

"I’m really happy with the progress," Lorenzo said.

"Today I understand the bike a lot better and I can extract more performance from it, although I’m still a long way off my limits."

Damp conditions in the morning left riders pushing for faster timings in the afternoon.

Alvaro Bautista from the Pull and Bear Aspar Team was third fastest at 2 min 00.218 seconds while current world champion Marc Marquez on a Honda was tenth on the timesheets, logging 2min 00.531 seconds.

The third and final day of the test session in Sepang will begin Wednesday.

The second round of testing will be held on Phillip Island in Australia from February 15-17 and a third round in Qatar from March 10-12.

The 18-race MotoGP season gets under way in Qatar on March 26.
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I'm quite interested to see this 'internal winglet' that Rossi (and I assume Vinales) are running.
 
Agent_Smith said:
So testing is underway for the 2017 season, and it has already begun badly for Tito Rabat. A heavy crash has resulted in some nasty injuries so he's now in a race against time to make the starting grid in Qatar.

From Supersport.com



I'm quite interested to see this 'internal winglet' that Rossi (and I assume Vinales) are running.
Click to expand...
Does anyone have photos?
 
Hmm, details are sketchy. Found this link with the rest of the article and a grainy pic.

While MotoGP may have placed a ban on aerodynamic winglets for the 2017 season, it seems that some manufacturers have found a way around the new veto – with Valentino Rossi testing a new fairing today at the Sepang test that incorporates them internally into it.

The new design, first trialled yesterday by Yamaha test rider Kouta Nozane, uses a second skin design on the side panels of the bike, with the winglets built in between both layers to both allow airflow over them while still keeping them within the rules on the winglets sticking out from the bike.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing it's something to do with the slot in the green part of the fairing?
 
I had another go using my sick Paint skills.

JcX9jnZ.jpg

Red circle - The area of interest
Red arrow - ''Inner'' fairing
Blue arrow - ''Outer'' fairing
Yellow arrow - Internal winglet/vane. There is another above it.
 
Haha good job Picasso! That seems to show it quite well!
 
F1 been getting all the love recently and understandably so (what with the raft of new regs, new look and some new faces). But we mustn't forget that MotoGP is also less than two weeks away and the final practice day has just concluded with Maverick Vinales claiming the top spot.

Vinales grabs the final P1 in testing

Maverick Vinales concluded MotoGP's pre-season testing at the top of the timesheets on a night when Marc Marquez crashed three times.

Vinales followed up his Saturday's P1 with back-to-back fastest lap times as he clocked a 1:54.330 around the Qatar circuit.

That put him 0.071s up on Andrea Dovizioso, who made a late improvement on the Ducati, while Honda's Dani Pedrosa was third.

Jorge Lorenzo finished the test in fourth place having been leading up until the final two hours of running.

The former World Champion, who has switched to Ducati from Yamaha, trialed the Italian outfit's new aerodynamic fairing for the first time on Sunday.

Alvaro Bautista, one of the night's early crashers, was fifth quickest followed by Scott Redding, Jonas Folger and Cal Crutchlow. The LCR Honda man was the final rider to get within half a second of Vinales' P1 time.

Tech 3 Yamaha's Johann Zarco and Marquez completed the top ten on Sunday.

It was trying day for the reigning MotoGP champ who was running the RC213V's new fairing for the first time as he crashed no fewer than three times. Marquez's best was 0.660s shy of Vinales' pace-setting time
Click to expand...
 
Looks like they rescheduled the qualifying due to weather....
 
But if I am reading correctly, then Q1 is at 19:30 our time which corresponds with Dstv, so hopefully we still get to see it live.
 
So qualifying has been called off. Grid will be determined by combined practice times meaning Maverick Vinales on the Yamaha will be on pole with Suzuki's Andrea Iannone lining up along side him with Marc Marquez in third on the Honda. Other notables are Rossi in 10th and Lorenzo in 12th. Just hope the race goes ahead tomorrow. Who knew a race in the desert would be affected by rain...
 
Agent_Smith said:
So qualifying has been called off. Grid will be determined by combined practice times meaning Maverick Vinales on the Yamaha will be on pole with Suzuki's Andrea Iannone lining up along side him with Marc Marquez in third on the Honda. Other notables are Rossi in 10th and Lorenzo in 12th. Just hope the race goes ahead tomorrow. Who knew a race in the desert would be affected by rain...
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Where is Zarco?
 
Tough debut for Binder finishing in 20th, but to his credit, he kept it upright. Hope he gets to grips with his bike soon and gets stuck in in two weeks time in Argentina.
 
Great start to the season! Would love to have seen Johan Zarco hold on but unfortunately not to be. The duel between Dovi and Vinales was great to watch. Seeing that Ducati unleashed down the straight just never gets old. Was hoping he could stave Vinales off, but credit to Vinales. He was mighty!

Roll on Argentina...
 
Agent_Smith said:
Great start to the season! Would love to have seen Johan Zarco hold on but unfortunately not to be. The duel between Dovi and Vinales was great to watch. Seeing that Ducati unleashed down the straight just never gets old. Was hoping he could stave Vinales off, but credit to Vinales. He was mighty!

Roll on Argentina...
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Yeh I was really hoping Zarco pulled it off, it was epic until he crashed out... pity.

Looks like rossi might have eaten a bit into his tyres catching up from 10th, but dropped pace at the end. Glad to see Marques falling off the chase :D and pity that Ionnone crashed out as well... that could've been fun to watch.
 
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