Marc Márquez is the fastest on day 1 of the MotoGP test in Valencia

The 2016 pre-season test of the MotoGP World Championship at the Valencia Circuit has started with Marc Márquez dominating the lap times, so a season has already begun with rider changes and, above all, in the technical side of the championship.

The technical changes focus on the introduction of the new control unit and common electronics for all teams, the arrival of Michelin as the new official tyre supplier, the new 22-litre fuel tank limit and the maximum of seven engines per season, plus a new minimum weight of 157 kg, one kilogram less than the 158 kg of the 2015 season. The wheel diameter also changes from the previous 16.5 inches to 17 inches, in line with Michelin’s commercial product for road-legal sports motorcycles.

Márquez was the fastest on this first day, setting a time of 1:31.551 aboard the Honda with Michelin, spending the entire morning session adapting to this tyre change, while in the afternoon he rode the RC213V 2016. For his part, Andrea Iannone was second fastest on this first day, just 0.088s behind the leader, riding his GP15 since the 16 will not be ready until the February test; and closing out the top positions we saw Pedrosa, who was only 0.130s behind his teammate.

The fourth place went to Maverick Viñales, the 2015 rookie, who finished 0.169s behind the leader, while Aleix Espargaró was ninth in this first contact with the track, and both riders focused their work on setting up their machines with the new tyres. Meanwhile, Takuya Tsuda (22nd) and Nobuatsu Aoki (23rd) were dedicated to the new software of the Suzuki.

Lorenzo was fifth and Rossi 12th. Both riders spent the morning riding the 2015 version of the YZR-M1 before switching to the 2016 version in the afternoon and achieving their best times of the day. Cal Crutchlow, riding the Honda of LCR, was sixth, just over three tenths behind the leader, including a crash at Turn 5.

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 duo, Pol Espargaró and Bradley Smith, took seventh and eighth positions in the best times list, separated by only six hundredths. Espargaró crashed at Turn 1. Dovizioso closed the top 10.

Regarding the debutant, Tito Rabat, of Marc VDS Racing, completed 84 laps during this first day, up to 17 more than any other rider, to finish sixteenth and continue his adaptation to the bike, the team and everything that comes with riding a MotoGP machine.

Photo | MotoGP Official website