Marc Marquez concluded his MotoGP championship-winning season with another fastest time at Valencia on the final day of testing. The Honda rider improved his benchmark to 1m30.287s, almost three tenths of a second faster than he had managed on Tuesday.
Fellow rookie Bradley Smith began his winter happy having taken his Tech 3 Yamaha to second place, 0.311sec down on Marquez. The Briton kept himself clear of new teammate Pol Espargaro as he outpaced the Moto2 champion by 0.9sec. Espargaro was an impressive sixth overall.
With the factory Yamaha team finishing its running on Tuesday, Hondas filled the rest of the top five.
LCR’s Stefan Bradl was ahead of works man Dani Pedrosa, with Gresini rider Alvaro Bautista fifth despite crashing.
Andrea Iannone led the Ducati contingent in seventh on the Pramac bike. Works riders Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow were ninth and 10th.
Iannone’s teammate Yonny Hernandez elected not to test due to pain from a hand injury picked up when he crashed during practice for last weekend’s grand prix. Gresini’s new signing Scott Redding also withdrew as he continued to recover from his Phillip Island injuries, having managed to try his 2014 bike on Tuesday.
Aleix Espargaro showed the potential of Forward’s new Yamaha-based package as he took eighth position.
Pos Rider Bike Time Gap 1. Marc Marquez Honda 1m30.287s 2. Bradley Smith Tech 3 Yamaha 1m30.598s +0.311s 3. Stefan Bradl LCR Honda 1m30.868s +0.581s 4. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m30.992s +0.705s 5. Alvaro Bautista Gresini Honda 1m31.229s +0.942s 6. Pol Espargaro Tech 3 Yamaha 1m31.533s +1.246s 7. Andrea Iannone Pramac Ducati 1m31.594s +1.307s 8. Aleix Espargaro Forward Yamaha 1m31.644s +1.357s 9. Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 1m31.716s +1.429s10. Cal Crutchlow Ducati 1m31.875s +1.588s11. Michele Pirro Ducati 1m31.883s +1.596s12. Nicky Hayden Aspar Honda 1m32.123s +1.836s13. Hiroshi Aoyama Aspar Honda 1m32.530s +2.243s14. Michael Laverty PBM Aprilia 1m33.055s +2.768s
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