Vinales tops final day at Phillip Island

Maverick Vinales

Yamaha's Maverick Vinales remained at the top of the timesheets on the final day of MotoGP's second pre-season test at Phillip Island.

Vinales eclipsed his previous benchmark with a 1:28.549, set on the 13th of 101 laps, as morning conditions again proved more favorable.

Vinales has thus topped both pre-season tests with his new team.

Marc Marquez, celebrating his 24th birthday, finished 0.294s adrift of Vinales, with factory Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa 0.190s further back, the latter recovering from a fever, which took hold on Thursday.

Tech 3 Yamaha's Jonas Folger was again the fastest rookie, rising to fourth position, before suffering an off, with LCR's Cal Crutchlow and the Suzuki of Alex Rins close behind.

Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo were separated by just under a tenth on their works Ducatis, in seventh and eighth respectively, Lorenzo breaking into the 1m29s bracket.

Dani Pedrosa

Marc VDS rider Jack Miller kept his place inside the top 10, which was completed by the Gresini-run Aprilia of Aleix Espargaro, with Yamaha's Valentino Rossi finishing back in 11th.

KTM's Bradley Smith, after admitting he had been "too conservative", climbed up to 18th, with a high 1m29s, two places and just over a tenth down on team-mate Pol Espargaro.

Aprilia's Sam Lowes and Aspar's Karel Abraham brought up the rear.

1st Maverick Vinales – 1'28.549
It was a very positive test for us. We came here to try many items and now we got things clear and we already know which set-up we can start using in Qatar. We did a lot of work and I'm happy about that. Today we concentrated mainly on the race pace and I'm satisfied, but we're still able to improve. We didn't decide on the fairing yet, it's still totally open, you never know.

2nd Marc Marquez 1:28.843
I'm very happy with how it went today because we improved a lot, especially in the afternoon, even if I did my best lap time in the morning. In the end I felt much more comfortable and it seems that yesterday's long runs were useful for improving the electronics and getting closer to the level we wanted to reach. Overall, I think it has been three very positive days, and we did a good job. Of course we shouldn't forget that this circuit is quite particular, and in Qatar we'll see where we really are. Today I had a funny present from my team, a magnifying glass; I know I'm quite persistent in asking to check the data to find the issues we had, and they told me to find it myself! I'm very thankful that HRC is putting in a lot of effort, and step-by-step we're getting better. I'd like to wish all the best to my Crew Chief Santi [Hernandez], who wasn't able to be here at Philip Island because of some medical checks. We all missed him and we're looking forward to seeing him with us again at the next test!

3rd Dani Pedrosa 1:29.033
Overall I think it's been a very positive test, especially considering that this isn't one of my favourite tracks. I was riding quite well and I think we improved day by day. Yesterday I wasn't feeling well but today I felt a bit better and we were able to do a good job on the track. The team has worked very well. We focused again on electronics and on the setup of the bike, and the only thing we missed was a long run, as we ran out of time. Michelin have also made some good steps forward with the tires. All in all, we can say we're heading in the right direction, even if we still have some work to do.

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