Vinales makes dream debut with Yamaha

Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) has topped the first test day for the 2017 MotoGP season, up to speed quickly before then stealing the top spot from Valentino Rossi – an incredible statement of intent in his new home.

With a 1:30.930, Viñales beat his nine-time world champion teammate by only 0.020secs on the first day, after Rossi led the timesheets for some time. The man Vinales replaced, Jorge Lorenzo, was third quickest in his first outing with the Ducati Team – only 0.1secs off the top.

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As the lights went out to signify the start of the first of 2017 testing, somewhere in the midst of a huddle of photographers there was a black-liveried 2016 Ducati preparing to meet its new rider: Lorenzo. Quick to exit the pits once action was underway, the 99 had a new 99 on the bike – with double devil horns.

After a few laps well off the pace, Lorenzo was soon up to speed; smiling and making adjustments in the pits in good company: test rider Casey Stoner. One of the biggest stories of the day had a happy first chapter, as the number 99 settled into the top 10 around 0.6secs down – and then went for a final blast around the lengthening shadows of the circuit on the 2016 bike to go red in the first two sectors and cross the line in P3 – only 0.122secs down.

The ‘Spartan’ then did a short run on the 2017 bike he is expected to run on day two.

Lorenzo's new teammate Andrea Dovizioso was running the 2016 bike in full red and the 2017 in a full black testing livery, ending the day in fifth with a 1:31.31. ‘DesmoDovi’ was also one of the riders testing new front forks from Öhlins, alongside Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda).

Marquez spent his first day in defence of his 2016 world championship third on the timesheets after proving an early leader in the morning. A best of 1:31.102 after 53 laps saw him slot into the timesheets just 0.050secs behind Lorenzo. Marquez’ teammate Dani Pedrosa also led the timesheets for a window in the middle part of the day, doing 42 laps despite his ongoing recovery from a broken collarbone and registering a best of 1:31.306 – 0.376sces off Viñales’ best as the ‘Baby Samurai’ closed out the top 10.

There were a number of victims of turn 10 on day one, including Rossi in the morning, as well as Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pol Espargaro and Ecstar Suzuki's Andrea Iannone – with the latter walking more slowly away from the scene as he tested his back following a cracked vertebra sustained in FP1 at Misano in September.

Iannone impressed on his first day at Suzuki, fourth for much of the day before the crash and eventually ending seventh on the timesheets, just behind fellow crasher Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda).

Crutchlow, as well as riding his LCR Honda, got a taste of a full Repsol Honda machine with LCR livery – ending the session with a best of 1:31.156 after 69 laps over the day. He also suffered a crash at turn 14 – the same place he crashed out of the 2016 season finale.

Compatriot Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Yakhnich) finished the day in eighth and 0.3secs off the pace, completing 71 laps, with teammate for the test, Michele Pirro, in 13th as he sits in for Danilo Petrucci who has returned to Italy for family reasons and is missing the test.

Hector Barbera and Loris Baz began Avintia Racing’s 2017 with a solid performance, with Barbera in ninth and 0.020secs ahead of Pedrosa – 0.3secs down on P1. The Spaniard was on the 2016 Ducati – the bike he raced in red when replacing Andrea Iannone for two races this season – with Baz a further second back in 15th as he looks to get back to full fitness after a tough season.

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini saw its new arrivals start to settle in. Aleix Espargaro ended the first day in 14th and 1.2secs back from Vinales, after also proving a key member of the top 10 for much of the first few hours of the session. Sam Lowes, who does have some previous experience of the Aprilia machine following in-season tests, began his MotoGP career in earnest with a slightly more difficult day. He registered a 1:33.359 as his best lap over 63, then crashed out in the last minutes of the day – but walked away unscathed.

Aussie Jack Miller (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) was 11th in an impressive return to the track and only 0.5secs back from the front, with teammate Tito Rabat putting in the most laps – 72 – and finishing up 18th on 1:32.578, a few tenths off his best from Q2 during the Valencia GP. Alvaro Bautista had a happy return to Aspar with the Pull&Bear-sponsored team, closing out day one in 12th and 0.7secs off P1 – the last man on the timesheets within a second of Viñales.

Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s new line-up, Moto2 graduates Jonas Folger and Johann Zarco, had a good first day on track as they gradually improved lap times, down to around a 1.5secs off the fastest of the day by the end of their first taste of MotoGP™ – and both incredibly split by only 0.015 in 16th and 17th.

With Iannone ending the day on a 1:31.165 in sixth on his first impressive showing for Suzuki, new teammate Alex Rins also had a good first day as the rookie chipped away at the lap time in his first experience of MotoGP. Completing 71 laps on his first day in the premier class, the white-liveried number 42 Suzuki got down into the 1:32s by late afternoon, ending the day with a 1:32.811.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing duo Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith debuted in their new colours in 19th and 20th respectively, with Espargaro one of the fallers at turn 10 but ending the day 0.2secs quicker than his recovering teammate as the pair get to grips with the switch to KTM.

Francesco ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia was another on track and completed the timesheets – getting a ride on the Aspar Ducati after winning a bet in the team that he could test the MotoGP bike if he won two races in Moto3 this season with Pull&Bear Aspar Mahindra – duly taking the victory in Assen and then in Malaysia.

Teams and riders will be back on track again today.