2017 MotoGP: A Preface To Qatar Race Day

Okay, so we have the test results from the three days of Qatar testing. But, as is the case with any pre-season racing tests, the results can’t be the absolute conclusion of the machine’s performance. Why? Because no team wants the other teams to know what its real potential is before the season starts.

Nevertheless, all eyes were on the factory frontrunners of the previous season, which includes the likes of Honda, Ducati, Suzuki and Yamaha. Other teams such as LCR Honda (Crutchlow), Pull&Bear Aspar Team, Monster Yamaha Tech 3, Octo Pramac Yakhnich (Redding), etc. too showed a competitive potential. Aprilia and KTM, on the other hand, seemed troubled for the most part of the testing, but are far from quitting. So, before it all begins, here’s a preface to the Qatar GP.

Starting with KTM, it’s needless to mention that the Austrian team seems far off its target, at least in the test round. After discovering more issues with the new motor it used at the Qatar test, it has decided to not go with the motor until the fourth race of this season. As communicated by Pol Esparago to Motorsports.com, the motor was aimed at bottom-end delivery and lacked top-end performance, which needs to be rectified for it to be competitive.

The Track And The Test

The track, better known as the Losail Circuit, is composed of 1068m of straight and a total of 16 turns, which takes the total distance of the track to 5.4km. At this figure, it is a fairly large circuit and hence the best circuit record (lap record registered while an active race) stands at 1’54.927, set by Jorge Lorenzo during the 2016 Qatar GP.

When we compare this time to the best time (not a circuit record) produced during the Qatar test, which was 1’54.330, we find that it was significantly lower (in racing terms) than last year’s number. Mind it that nobody was “racing” at the past weekend’s test, and this figure should go down even further. Interestingly, Lorenzo (who holds last year’s circuit record) finished fourth fastest at the 2017 Qatar test, yet registered a better timing (1’54.519) than the previous year.

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(picture: Motorsports.com)

Another exciting aspect of the Qatar GP would be the performance of satellite teams, a few of which have also shown tremendous potential in the erstwhile season and are continuing to do so, as we can see from the timings of the test. The performance of riders like Cal Crutchlow, Scott Redding and Alvaro Bautista at the Qatar test was a testimony to the same; all finished within the top eight riders.

Conclusion? We can expect surprises, a lot of them, especially when Rossi has been sitting close to around the 10th position (except for Sepang, where he stood as the fifth fastest) mark throughout the most part of the testing. He could be holding tight on his horses and might want to release them on race day. Guess what? He will, and the same goes for Lorenzo, Marquez, Pedrosa, along with the rest of the grid. Within the next 10 days, the urge to be the fastest and the best on the track will evaporate any excuse and turn it into, well, “shuddh...desi...racing.”