Movistar Yamaha Test New Chassis in Catalunya

Movistar Yamaha test New Chassis in Catalunya see the full report from Yamaha racing below.

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Maverick Viñales was back on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya today to continue the development of new items for the 2017 YZR-M1. 

Today the Yamaha Factory riders were each able to test one of the two new frames available. Tomorrow they will switch to get a feel for the other option. After a challenging outing yesterday, Viñales was a man on a mission: he was one of the first riders to venture out on track again this morning and the last to return to the pit box as the session closed. His goal for today was to try one of the new frames as well as improve his feeling with the bike in hot conditions. Whilst consistently featuring at the top of the charts for most of the day, the Spaniard wasn‘t shy to put in 81 laps in total and set a best time of 1‘44.437s on his penultimate lap to finish in second position, 0.366s off the front.

Following the progress booked today, the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team have decided to stay at the Barcelona circuit for one further day to conduct a private test.

Maverick Viñales

2nd - 144.437 / 81 LAPS

We tried many things today, many new set-ups and some different settings on the bike and I was feeling comfortable all day. I’ve been riding well, riding with a lot of confidence on the YZR-M1, so for me it was a good day. Overall for the test the feeling was really good, in the afternoon it was better with the very hot conditions and we completed many laps in the 45s and then 46's so I was quite happy.

Massimo Meregalli

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team Director

After the challenging Catalan Grand Prix, it was good to have the opportunity today to test in similar conditions and we are satisfied with the amount of work that we got done. Today’s main goal was to evaluate two new frames that we brought here to test. Maverick tried some different settings and a different frame compared to yesterday’s race bike. He could ride comfortably with a good pace, even on used tyres throughout the whole day.

Both new frames had some positive aspects confirmed by the riders and tomorrow they will switch frames between them.

Image source: Yamaha Racing