Who improved going back-to-back at Jerez?
What changed during MotoGP's first-ever back-to-back races at the same (Jerez) circuit?
The answer, at least in terms of the top two riders in qualifying and the races, was not a lot: Fabio Quartararo taking both pole positions and race victories ahead of fellow Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales.
Their times in qualifying were slightly slower during the hotter second weekend, yet over a race distance both were just over 1-second faster than the week before (Vinales swapping from the soft to hard front tyre).
What changed during MotoGP's first-ever back-to-back races at the same (Jerez) circuit?
The answer, at least in terms of the top two riders in qualifying and the races, was not a lot: Fabio Quartararo taking both pole positions and race victories ahead of fellow Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales.
Their times in qualifying were slightly slower during the hotter second weekend, yet over a race distance both were just over 1-second faster than the week before (Vinales swapping from the soft to hard front tyre).
The most improved rider in qualifying was Tech3 KTM's Miguel Oliveira, who gained 0.620s and twelve grid places in the space of a week, with Valentino Rossi (Monster Yamaha) next best with a seven place rise and 0.399s.
Johann Zarco (Avintia Ducati), Iker Lecuona (Tech3 KTM), Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha) and Joan Mir (Suzuki) also found several tenths in their time attack.
A large number of accidents and technical issues during both races makes progress over the full 25-lap grand prix distance harder to gauge for much of the grid.
However, of those - like Quartararo and Vinales - who finished both races, the biggest jump was made by LCR's Takaaki Nakagami. The Japanese being a massive 16-seconds faster in race two, on his way to fourth place after tenth position in race one.
Next best was Repsol Honda rookie Alex Marquez, with an admirable 9-second improvement. Aprilia's Bradley Smith gained 4-seconds despite being badly held up in Sunday's turn one incident between KTM riders Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira.
Losing ground were Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) and Pol Espargaro (KTM). Dovi lost 5-seconds compared to his own podium time in race one, while Espargaro slipped 9-seconds further back.
The tables below show a comparison for qualifying and race times, over the two consecutive Jerez events…
| Qualifying Comparison - Jerez: | ||||||
| Rider | Jerez - 1 | Pos | Jerez - 2 | Pos | Time +/- | Pos +/- |
| Oliveira | 1m 37.964 | 17 | 1m 37.344 | 5 | -0.620s | -12 |
| Rossi | 1m 37.741 | 11 | 1m 37.342 | 4 | -0.399s | -7 |
| Zarco | 1m 38.106 | 20 | 1m 37.761 | 15 | -0.345s | -5 |
| Lecuona | 1m 38.512 | 22 | 1m 38.206 | 17 | -0.306s | -5 |
| Morbidelli | 1m 37.674 | 10 | 1m 37.412 | 6 | -0.262s | -4 |
| Mir | 1m 37.784 | 12 | 1m 37.600 | 10 | -0.184s | -2 |
| A.Espargaro | 1m 37.940 | 16 | 1m 37.885 | 16 | -0.055s | 0 |
| Miller | 1m 37.453 | 5 | 1m 37.423 | 7 | -0.030s | +2 |
| Nakagami | 1m 37.434 | 15 | 1m 37.464 | 8 | +0.030s | -7 |
| Dovizioso | 1m 37.535 | 8 | 1m 37.656 | 14 | +0.121s | +6 |
| Rabat | 1m 38.029 | 19 | 1m 38.211 | 18 | +0.182s | -1 |
| Crutchlow* | 1m 37.454 | 6 | 1m 37.644 | 13 | +0.190s | +7 |
| Binder | 1m 37.396 | 13 | 1m 37.596 | 9 | +0.200s | -4 |
| Bagnaia | 1m 36.955 | 4 | 1m 37.176 | 3 | +0.221s | -1 |
| Vinales | 1m 36.844 | 2 | 1m 37.102 | 2 | +0.258s | 0 |
| Quartararo | 1m 36.705 | 1 | 1m 37.007 | 1 | +0.302s | 0 |
| Smith | 1m 37.966 | 18 | 1m 38.310 | 19 | +0.344s | +1 |
| A.Marquez | 1m 38.256 | 21 | 1m 38.648 | 21 | +0.392s | 0 |
| Petrucci | 1m 37.423 | 14 | 1m 37.906 | 11 | +0.483s | -3 |
| Rins* | 1m 37.636 | 9 | 1m 38.601 | 20 | +0.965s | +11 |
| P.Espargaro | 1m 37.493 | 7 | 1m 40.277 | 12 | +2.784s | +5 |
| M.Marquez | 1m 36.862 | 3 | - | - | - | - |
*Riding injured at second round.
| Jerez Race Times - Combined: | ||
| Rider | Race Time | Diff from Top |
| Quartararo - Race 2 | 41m 22.666s | |
| Quartararo - Race 1 | 41m 23.796s | +1.130s |
| Vinales - Race 2 | 41m 27.161s | +4.495s |
| Rossi - Race 2 | 41m 28.212s | +5.546s |
| Vinales - Race 1 | 41m 28.399s | +5.733s |
| Nakagami - Race 2 | 41m 28.779s | +6.113s |
| Dovizioso - Race 1 | 41m 29.742s | +7.076s |
| Mir - Race 2 | 41m 30.359s | +7.693s |
| Miller - Race 1 | 41m 30.464s | +7.798s |
| Morbidelli - Race 1 | 41m 30.640s | +7.974s |
| P.Espargaro - Race 1 | 41m 30.734s | +8.068s |
| Dovizioso - Race 2 | 41m 35.220s | +12.554s |
| Bagnaia - Race 1 | 41m 36.823s | +14.157s |
| Oliveira - Race 1 | 41m 37.237s | +14.571s |
| P.Espargaro - Race 2 | 41m 40.154s | +17.488s |
| A.Marquez - Race 2 | 41m 42.023s | +19.357s |
| Petrucci - Race 1 | 41m 43.447s | +20.781s |
| Nakagami - Race 1 | 41m 45.349s | +22.683s |
| Zarco - Race 2 | 41m 46.189s | +23.523s |
| Zarco - Race 1 | 41m 48.896s | +26.230s |
| Rins* - Race 2 | 41m 49.757s | +27.091s |
| A.Marquez - Race 1 | 41m 51.146s | +28.480s |
| Binder - Race 1 | 41m 53.436s | +30.770s |
| Rabat - Race 2 | 41m 56.294s | +33.628s |
| Rabat - Race 1 | 41m 56.694s | +34.028s |
| Smith - Race 2 | 41m 58.972s | +36.306s |
| Smith - Race 1 | 42m 03.478s | +40.812s |
| Crutchlow* - Race 2 | +1 lap | - |
| M.Marquez - Race 1 | DNF | - |
| Lecuona - Race 1 | DNF | - |
| Rossi - Race 1 | DNF | - |
| A.Espargaro - Race 1 | DNF | - |
| Mir - Race 1 | DNF | - |
| Bagnaia - Race 2 | DNF | - |
| Morbidelli - Race 2 | DNF | - |
| Binder - Race 2 | DNF | - |
| Petrucci - Race 2 | DNF | - |
| Miller - Race 2 | DNF | - |
| A.Espargaro - Race 2 | DNF | - |
| Lecuona - Race 2 | DNF | - |
| Oliveira - Race 2 | DNF | - |
| Crutchlow - Race 1 | DNS | - |
| Rins - Race 1 | DNS | - |
| M.Marquez - Race 2 | DNS | - |
*Riding injured at second round.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
