After a successful end to the 2016 World Championship, all teams stayed for a two day Official Test at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia. This marks the very first outing for the newly signed riders on their respective bikes and teams.Movistar Yamaha teammates for the next season, Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales tried their 2017 Yamaha YZR M1 for the very first time. Rossi tried the 2017 bike on both days while Viñales was allowed to learn the geometry of the 2016 M1 during the entire first day and then was later upgraded with the 2017 bike.
On Tuesday morning, both Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales started off on 2016 bikes. While Rossi tested some new parts on the current bike, Viñales got off on the older 2016 version of the M1. Maverick got on pace quickly as he adapted well to the smoothly handling Yamaha, having come from Suzuki.
Halfway through the session, Valentino Rossi put up the fastest lap time using his updated 2017 bike. Soon after that a big disaster struck Rossi, as he crashed out at a fast turn leaving the bike heavily damaged unable to continue the session. Maverick Viñales then put up the fastest lap in front of Valentino Rossi, World Champion Marc Marquez and the new Ducati rider Jorge Lorenzo.At the end of Day 1, Viñales bettered as the fastest rider in the combined time sheets at 1'30.930s which was 0.020s faster than Valentino Rossi. Day 2 started off with the 2017 bike for Maverick Viñales, while Rossi missed some time as his mechanics were busy preparing the bike that was crashed the day before. Viñales got into business straight away improving further on the 2017 machine. He was once again on top, being the only rider dipping into the 1.29's in front of Repsol Hondas Marc Marquez. Valentino Rossi was 7th fastest on Day 2 overall, which was seven tenths behind Maverick Viñales.
The 2016 Yamaha was a great bike at the start of the season that very much adapted with the Michelin tyres, along with having great mid corner stability and higher corner speed. The only place where Yamaha lacked was Mid season development and straight line top speed. Yamaha factory racing is now looking for that extra grunt on the main straights on their 2017 bike along with various other aspects. Only time will tell, about the future YZR M1 that will be used by the new duo Rossi-Viñales.
By: Aravind Rb