A few days rest and back to work, Pol Espargaro and Stefan Bradl remounting their respective Repsol Honda Team machines for the final pre-season test of 2021.

The heavy winds which plagued the opening Qatar Test had subsided as running resumed in Doha. Conditions were much improved and times quickly fell, the unofficial lap record even being broken towards the close of the day.

Time between tests gave Pol Espargaro and his team an opportunity to digest all they had learned in the opening days, coming back to the Losail International Circuit ready to do it all again. Midway through the day, Espargaro shot to the top of the timing sheets with a 1’54.272 – each lap growing his confidence and knowledge of the Honda. Pol would continue to build his speed and jumped back up to second place with just over an hour of the test to go. The day yielded another 53 laps in total for the newest addition to the Repsol Honda Team garage, ending in fifth overall and as top Honda thanks to a 1’53.899, 0.8s faster than his time from Sunday.

HRC Test rider Stefan Bradl was once again running towards the top of the time sheets as action began at the Losail Circuit, challenging the established Grand Prix riders while working through a busy testing plan for Honda. Bradl’s day was interrupted by a Turn 2 crash with just under four hours left, the German sitting out the remainder of the day. A medical check revealed no major injuries, Bradl and the team electing to rest to be recovered for the coming two days.

Pol Espargaro

Fifth 1'53.899

“Today was another really good day, speaking honestly the progress has been better than I was expecting. It’s coming naturally and I am finding and understanding the limits more and more. Still there are some tenths to find over the fast lap, but we are making big steps, I was eight tenths faster today, so it means we are constantly changing our references and we are always learning. But more important than this is our consistency, and this is really where we have been working and what I am happy with. I am still working a lot on myself, but now we can start to experiment a bit with the bike. It’s positive.”

Stefan Bradl

16th 1'54.974

“We had another good start to the day and I was feeling good on the bike, unfortunately I had a crash at Turn 2. This has been a tricky corner for everyone this test, but I was pushing for the limit. The crash itself wasn’t a problem but when I got to the gravel I rolled awkwardly and quite hard and I felt quite sore. I went for a medical check and there’s nothing serious, but we decided to rest today because we still have two important days. The aim is to be recovered for them.”

MotoGP 2021
Testing   Qatar

Qatar Test Two - Day One

Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Miller Jack 43 AUS Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati 1'53.183
2 Quartararo Fabio 20 FRA Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 0.080
3 Vinales Maverick 12 SPA Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 0.327
4 Zarco Johann 5 FRA Pramac Racing Ducati 0.716
5 Espargaro Pol 44 SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 0.716
6 Espargaro Aleix 41 SPA Aprilia Racing Aprilia 0.788
7 Mir Joan 36 SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 0.895
8 Rins Alex 42 SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 0.960
9 Bagnaia Francesco 63 ITA Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati 1.053
10 Nakagami Takaaki 30 JPN LCR Honda Honda 1.079
11 Morbidelli Franco 21 ITA Petronas Yamaha SRT Yamaha 1.184
12 Oliveira Miguel 88 POR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 1.343
13 Rossi Valentino 46 ITA Petronas Yamaha SRT Yamaha 1.435
14 Bastianini Enea 23 ITA Avintia Esponsorama Ducati 1.555
15 Marquez Alex 73 SPA LCR Honda Honda 1.747
16 Bradl Stefan 6 GER Repsol Honda Team Honda 1.791
17 Petrucci Danilo 9 ITA Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing KTM 1.795
18 Test2 Yamaha 82 JPN Yamaha Test Team Yamaha 1.815
19 Martin Jorge 89 SPA Pramac Racing Ducati 1.827
20 Binder Brad 33 RSA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 2.096
21 Lecuona Iker 27 SPA Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing KTM 2.132
22 Marini Luca 10 ITA SKY VR46 Avintia Ducati 2.145
23 Pedrosa Dani 26 SPA KTM Test Team KTM 2.457
24 Guintoli Sylvain 50 FRA Suzuki Test Team Suzuki 2.459
25 Savadori Lorenzo 32 ITA Aprilia Racing Aprilia 2.985
26 Pirro Michele 51 ITA Pramac Racing Ducati 4.072
27 Test1 Yamaha 81 JPN Yamaha Test Team Yamaha 4.327
28 Tsuda Takuya 85 JPN Suzuki Test Team Suzuki 4.612
Location Information

The fabulous Lusail International Circuit lies on the outskirts of Doha, the capital city of Qatar. Built in little over a year, the track cost $58 million USD and required round-the-clock dedication from almost 1,000 workers in order to get it ready for the inaugural event – the Marlboro Grand… read more.

Length 5.380 kilometres / 3.343 miles
Width 12 metres
Left corners 6
Right corners 10
Longest straight 1.068 kilometres / 0.664 miles
Constructed 2004

Losail International Circuit, Al Daayen, Qatar - View in Google Maps

www.circuitlosail.com

Records

Pole Position 1m 52.772s (171.7km/h) Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati, 2021)
Race Lap 1m 54.624s (168.9 km/h) Maverick Viñales (Yamaha,2021)
Race Time 42m13.198 (168.2km/h) Enea Bastianini (Ducati, 2022)
2022 Race Winner Enea Bastianini (Ducati)