Ducati is still the leader, but Yamaha is catching up
Yamaha’s engineers seem to have found some solutions regarding the issues with the top speed of the YZR-M1 bike looking at the latest MotoGP Qatar test. Honda is losing ground regarding its top speed.
Looking at the numbers, Ducati is still on the top spot with Jack Miller reaching 355.2kph (222mph) on the satellite bike – just 2.3kph faster than the factory Ducati of Danilo Petrucci.
Yamaha improved its speed on the straight line compared to last year’s MotoGP Qatar tests with Maverick Vinales finishing 9th on the chart with a top speed of 346.1kph.
Cal Crutchlow’s Honda’s RC213V MotoGP bike was 8th fastest with 348.3 kph.
Big improvements from the redesigned 2020 Aprilia RS-GP bike while Marc Marquez’s Honda is losing speed at the end of the back straight.
2020 MotoGP Qatar test – top speed:
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Speed – kph |
| 1 | Jack MILLER | DUCATI | 355.2 |
| 2 | Danilo PETRUCCI | DUCATI | 352.9 |
| 3 | Francesco BAGNAIA | DUCATI | 351.7 |
| 4 | Johann ZARCO | DUCATI | 350.6 |
| 5 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | DUCATI | 349.5 |
| 6 | Aleix ESPARGARO | APRILIA | 349.5 |
| 7 | Tito RABAT | DUCATI | 348.3 |
| 8 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | HONDA | 348.3 |
| 9 | Maverick VIÑALES | YAMAHA | 346.1 |
| 10 | Alex RINS | SUZUKI | 346.1 |
| 11 | Marc MARQUEZ | HONDA | 346.1 |
| 12 | Pol ESPARGARO | KTM | 346.1 |
| 13 | Alex MARQUEZ | HONDA | 345.0 |
| 14 | Bradley SMITH | APRILIA | 345.0 |
| 15 | Valentino ROSSI | YAMAHA | 343.9 |
| 16 | Brad BINDER | KTM | 342.8 |
| 17 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | KTM | 342.8 |
| 18 | Joan MIR | SUZUKI | 341.7 |
| 19 | Iker LECUONA | KTM | 341.7 |
| 20 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | HONDA | 340.6 |
| 21 | Franco MORBIDELLI | YAMAHA | 339.6 |
| 22 | Fabio QUARTARARO | YAMAHA | 339.6 |
The 2019 Yamaha YZR-M1 MotoGP bike was losing approximately 9.8kph on the straight line compared to Honda RC213V. Looking at the factory bikes, Marquez was fastest with 348.3kph while Vinales was only 15th fastest with 338.5kph.
2019 Qatar MotoGP test – top speed:
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Speed – kph |
| 1 | Marc MARQUEZ | HONDA | 348.3 |
| 2 | Jack MILLER | DUCATI | 347.2 |
| 3 | Danilo PETRUCCI | DUCATI | 346.1 |
| 4 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | HONDA | 346.1 |
| 5 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | DUCATI | 343.9 |
| 6 | Tito RABAT | DUCATI | 343.9 |
| 7 | Joan MIR | SUZUKI | 343.9 |
| 8 | Aleix ESPARGARO | APRILIA | 342.8 |
| 9 | Alex RINS | SUZUKI | 342.8 |
| 10 | Pol ESPARGARO | KTM | 341.7 |
| 11 | Bradley SMITH | APRILIA | 341.7 |
| 12 | Francesco BAGNAIA | DUCATI | 339.6 |
| 13 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | HONDA | 339.6 |
| 14 | Franco MORBIDELLI | YAMAHA | 339.6 |
| 15 | Maverick VIÑALES | YAMAHA | 338.5 |
| 16 | Valentino ROSSI | YAMAHA | 338.5 |
| 17 | Fabio QUARTARARO | YAMAHA | 337.5 |
| 18 | Johann ZARCO | KTM | 336.4 |
| 19 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | KTM | 336.4 |
Comparing the top speed of the 2020 MotoGP bikes with the previous ones, almost all the machines are faster and only the 2020 Honda RC213V is losing -2.2kph.
Top Speeds Difference – 2020 Vs 2019 Test
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Vs 2019 |
| 1 | Jack MILLER | DUCATI | +8 km/h |
| 2 | Danilo PETRUCCI | DUCATI | +6.8 km/h |
| 3 | Francesco BAGNAIA | DUCATI | +12.1 km/h |
| 4 | Johann ZARCO | DUCATI | / |
| 5 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | DUCATI | +5.6 km/h |
| 6 | Aleix ESPARGARO | APRILIA | +6.7 km/h |
| 7 | Tito RABAT | DUCATI | +4.4 km/h |
| 8 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | HONDA | +2.2 km/h |
| 9 | Maverick VIÑALES | YAMAHA | +7.6 km/h |
| 10 | Alex RINS | SUZUKI | +3.3 km/h |
| 11 | Marc MARQUEZ | HONDA | -2.2 km/h |
| 12 | Pol ESPARGARO | KTM | +4.4 km/h |
| 13 | Alex MARQUEZ | HONDA | / |
| 14 | Bradley SMITH | APRILIA | +3.3 km/h |
| 15 | Valentino ROSSI | YAMAHA | +5.4 km/h |
| 16 | Brad BINDER | KTM | / |
| 17 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | KTM | +6.4 km/h |
| 18 | Joan MIR | SUZUKI | -2.2 |
| 19 | Iker LECUONA | KTM | / |
| 20 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | HONDA | +1 km/h |
| 21 | Franco MORBIDELLI | YAMAHA | 0 km/h |
| 22 | Fabio QUARTARARO | YAMAHA | +2.1 km/h |
The top three fastest lap times at the 2020 MotoGP Qatar test are from Yamaha YZR-M1 bikes ridden by Vinales, Morbidelli and Quartararo.
2020 MotoGP QatarTest – Combined Times
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
| 1 | Maverick VIÑALES | YAMAHA | 1m53.858 |
| 2 | Franco MORBIDELLI | YAMAHA | +0.033 |
| 3 | Fabio QUARTARARO | YAMAHA | +0.180 |
| 4 | Alex RINS | SUZUKI | +0.210 |
| 5 | Jack MILLER | DUCATI | +0.247 |
| 6 | Joan MIR | SUZUKI | +0.271 |
| 7 | Marc MARQUEZ | HONDA | +0.291 |
| 8 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | HONDA | +0.381 |
| 9 | Brad BINDER | KTM | +0.425 |
| 10 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | DUCATI | +0.454 |
| 11 | Francesco BAGNAIA | DUCATI | +0.468 |
| 12 | Valentino ROSSI | YAMAHA | +0.474 |
| 13 | Aleix ESPARGARO | APRILIA | +0.574 |
| 14 | Johann ZARCO | DUCATI | +0.707 |
| 15 | Pol ESPARGARO | KTM | +0.765 |
| 16 | Danilo PETRUCCI | DUCATI | +0.776 |
| 17 | Tito RABAT | DUCATI | +0.816 |
| 18 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | HONDA | +0.972 |
| 19 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | KTM | +1.150 |
| 20 | Iker LECUONA | KTM | +1.443 |
| 21 | Alex MARQUEZ | HONDA | +1.661 |
| 22 | Bradley SMITH | APRILIA | +2.058 |
The first round of the 2020 MotoGP season will take place at Qatar between March 6-8.
