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Testing at the Red Bull Ring has finished as it began, with the Ducatis setting the pace and the others playing catch up. In the final session, there were four Desmosedicis leading the way, and a particularly impressive Iannone.
The Abruzzo rider, on his very last lap, stopped the clocks on 1’23”240. A very impressive time which left his team-mate Dovizioso a distant 0”440 behind him. The Forlì rider also improved on his best in the final stages, to set an overall best of 1’23”680.
Those weren't the only GP16s though, and Casey Stoner proved that he was in no way rusty, closing in third place. He also suffered a crash, but without any consequences. The Australian, together with the two Andreas, is part of the tiny groups of riders who were able to duck under the 1’24” barrier - his best was a 1’23”865.
Hector Barbera just failed to join that group, closing in fourth with the Avinta GP14, a little over two tenths from Stoner but more than eight tenths behind Iannone. Excluding Iannone, less than a second separated Dovizioso (2nd) from Miller (12th).
After the Ducatis came the two Yamahas, with Valentino ahead of Lorenzo. The M1s gradually moved closer to the leaders but the gap remained significant. Rossi (5th) was able to record a 1’24”169, just 0”025 faster than Jorge.
In line with their times were the Suzukis of Vinales and Espargarò (7th and 8th), Maverick was just 0”014 behind Lorenzo, Aleix 0”127 behind his team-mate.
Ninth for Scott Redding on the Pramac GP15 ahead of the first of the Hondas, that of Crutchlow. Cal rounded out the top ten this afternoon, but finishes eleventh overall, behind Hernandez who had set a 1’24”396 this morning, a time he was unable to repeat this afternoon.
Danilo Petrucci was also unable to improve, 15th in the afternoon (ahead of Pirro) and 13th in the overall standings. Returning to this afternoon's results, Cal was followed by Laverty, Miller and Rabat.
The KTMs of Kallio and Luthi round out the timesheets. Despite their positions, the Austrian bikes didn't make such a bad impression: Mika is 1”951 from Iannone, 2”465 for Tom who has limited MotoGP experience.
The Aprilias are missing from the standings, having not mounted transponders on the bikes. Representing the Noale manufacturer were Alvaro Bautista, test rider Mike Di Meglio and Sam Lowes.
I TEMPI
