MotoGP: Teams gearing up for final tests

The 2017 MotoGP grid are gearing themselves up for the final pre-season test of the year, as they head to Qatar for the final chance to get things right ahead of the opening round of the championship there in two weeks’ time.

The test kicks off tomorrow (Friday) at the Losail circuit, with three days of track time under the floodlights running from 1600 local time until 2300 (1300 until 2000 UK time).

The test will be perhaps most important for the Honda riders, as they set to finalise the exact configuration of their new engine, after switching from a screamer to big bang set-up over the winter. Their engine spec must be sealed before the first race of the season, with no alterations allowed.

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However, there’ll be plenty of attention elsewhere too, especially on the Movistar Yamaha garage as new signing Maverick Viñales looks to complete his clean sweep and top every test since his switch from Suzuki, after finishing top of the time sheets in Valencia, Sepang and Phillip Island.

Ducati are also expected to make news at the Qatar test as they finally roll out their new aerodynamic package. Believed to be similar to Yamaha’s ‘second skin’ design, it remains to be seen exactly what has sprung from the mind of Gigi Dall’Igna and his engineers.

And while attention will be focused on the premiere class, the Moto2 and Moto3 riders are also enjoying their first official outing of 2017 at Jerez, before heading to Qatar next week for their second official test.

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