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Vinales fastest in final MotoGP test as Honda struggles continue

Maverick Vinales concluded MotoGP pre-season testing in Qatar fastest of all, while Honda appears to have hit a crisis point after Marc Marquez reverted to testing a 2019 bike

Honda's troubles this pre-season have been well-documented, with both LCR's Cal Cructhlow and world champion Marquez - who is also riding below fitness - critical of the RC213V's poor turning.

With little progress seemingly being made in Qatar, Honda took one of LCR rider Takaaki Nakagami's year-old bikes for Marquez to try.

Though it's unclear what bike he used to set his best time, Marquez ended the test seventh with a 1m54.145s lap, just 0.090 seconds ahead of 2019-Honda-mounted Nakagami.

Sepang test pacesetter and Sunday's fastest man in Qatar Fabio Quartararo was first out on track, and the Petronas SRT rider set the early pace with a 1m56.255s before eventually improving to a 1m55.116s.

This stood for well over an hour, before he improved on his earlier benchmark with a 1m54.953s.

With around three and a half hours of running remaining, works Yamaha rider Vinales deposed Quartararo with a 1m54.953s as he continued to refine the 2020 YZR-M1's set-up.

As the session tipped into its final two hours, the sister SRT M1 of Franco Morbidelli set the first 1m53s lap of the test with a 1m53.891s, while team-mate Quartararo suffered a technical issue and stopped at Turn 11 around about the same time.

Vinales had one last stab at the timesheets in the closing stages, and emerged fastest of all with a 1m53.858s to solidify his status as pre-season favourite for victory in the first race in Qatar next month.

Morbidelli made it a Yamaha 1-2, while Suzuki's Alex Rins edged ahead of Quartararo and Pramac Ducati's Jack Miller.

Joan Mir was sixth on the second works Suzuki, with Marquez, Nakagami, an impressive Brad Binder on the KTM, and Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso rounding out the top 10.

Ducati rolled out its new aerodynamic fairing on the final day at Losail, with both Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci both trying it.

Valentino Rossi ended the day 0.474s off his pace-setting team-mate Vinales in 12th, but suffered a small crash in the latter stages which interrupted his run plan.

Aleix Espargaro was 13th on the Aprilia, beating KTM-mounted brother Pol and the Avintia Ducati of Tito Rabat.

Crutchlow, riding sore after his crash on Sunday, made a significant improvement in laptime to a 1m54.830s on Monday - but was still only quick enough for 18th, as Honda looks to be in serious trouble heading into the new campaign.

Day three times

Pos Driver Team Car Gap Laps
1 Maverick Vinales Yamaha Yamaha 1m53.858s 84
2 Franco Morbidelli Petronas Yamaha Yamaha 0.033s 52
3 Alex Rins Suzuki Suzuki 0.210s 40
4 Fabio Quartararo Petronas Yamaha Yamaha 0.219s 58
5 Jack Miller Pramac Ducati Ducati 0.247s 69
6 Joan Mir Suzuki Suzuki 0.271s 42
7 Marc Marquez Honda Honda 0.291s 61
8 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda Honda 0.381s 33
9 Brad Binder KTM KTM 0.425s 58
10 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati Ducati 0.454s 55
11 Francesco Bagnaia Pramac Ducati Ducati 0.468s 55
12 Valentino Rossi Yamaha Yamaha 0.474s 47
13 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia Aprilia 0.574s 56
14 Pol Espargaro KTM KTM 0.765s 49
15 Tito Rabat Avintia Ducati Ducati 0.816s 56
16 Danilo Petrucci Ducati Ducati 0.894s 56
17 Johann Zarco Avintia Ducati Ducati 0.902s 66
18 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda Honda 0.972s 70
19 Miguel Oliveira KTM KTM 1.150s 48
20 Iker Lecuona KTM KTM 1.443s 40
21 Alex Marquez Honda Honda 1.661s 47
22 Bradley Smith Aprilia Aprilia 2.058s 55

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