2021 Qatar MotoGP Shakedown test times – Friday (FINAL)

The Qatar MotoGP Shakedown test – open to test riders, rookies and riders from Concession manufacturer Aprilia – took place at Losail on Friday.

The outing saw the first MotoGP laps for Moto2 graduates Enea Bastianini, Luca Marini and Jorge Martin, plus the debut of Cal Crutchlow as a Yamaha test rider – the Englishman sharing M1s with the Factory’s two Japanese test riders Katsuyuki Nakasuga and Kohta Nozane.

That meant there was no official record of which Yamaha rider set which lap time, with Crutchlow definitely taking to the track on both the ‘#T2’ and ‘#T3’ M1s. 

The T2 looked to be the older A-Spec (2019 chassis) Yamaha, as taken to second in the world championship by Franco Morbidelli last season. Meanwhile, the carbon-black T3 had the squarer air intake of the ‘inconsistent’ Factory-Spec bike:

Earlier, Crutchlow had warned that very strong winds could limit today’s action but all riders except Aleix Espargaro were seen on track.

HRC test rider Stefan Bradl, the most active MotoGP test rider so far this year with several private outings at Jerez, was quickest for most of the day, finally finishing a comfortable 1.2s clear of the #T2 Yamaha, with the #T1 in third.

Partly due to the tricky conditions, Bradl was 1.8s slower than the fastest lap at last year’s Qatar test (by Maverick Vinales).

Moto2 champion Bastianini was not only the fastest of the rookies but the top Ducati rider, in an impressive fourth place on the Avintia GP19.

Ducati test rider Michele Pirro began the day on a full red-liveried bike but later took to the track with a new prototype fairing featuring small winglets just behind the front wheel:

The first Official 2021 MotoGP test, open to all race riders, begins at the circuit tomorrow (Saturday).

Testing takes place from 2pm to 9pm each day…

Official Qatar MotoGP records:
Best lap:
Marc Marquez SPA Honda 1m 53.380s (2019)
Fastest race lap:
Jorge Lorenzo SPA Yamaha 1m 54.927s (2016)

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Full Qatar Shakedown rider line-up:

Stefan Bradl (Honda)

Luca Marini (VR46 Avintia)

Katsuyuki Nakasuga (Yamaha)

Enea Bastianini (Avintia Esponsorama)

Dani Pedrosa (KTM)

Kohta Nozane (Yamaha)

Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia Gresini)

Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha)

Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Gresini)

Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki)

Michele Pirro (Ducati)

Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati)

Takuya Tsuda (Suzuki)