FULL THROTTLE: Rins came out on top in Qatar

SPANISH motorcycle rider Alex Rins bested rival Maverick Viñales on the second day of the Qatar MotoGP pre-season test on Sunday.

Rins, who rides for Suzuki, beat Yamaha’s Viñales by 0.057 seconds. Rins’ lap time was 1:54.593 seconds. The victory comes ahead of the Qatar MotoGP Gran Prix on Sunday March 10.

Rins said it was a good result for himself and Suzuki.

Spanish KTM rider Pol Espargaro set a time of 1:57.978 seconds during the first hour of the test. Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci later bested the time with 1:56.247 seconds before clocking 1:55.365 seconds, putting him four tenths clear of Honda’s Marc Marquez.

Rins began to make his mark about two hours into the car, clocking a time of 1:55.263 seconds. Petrucci then became the first rider to break the 1:55 barrier with a time of 1:54.953 seconds.

Viñales, who performed well in the first test race on Saturday, set times of 1:54.781 seconds and 1:54.650 seconds.

Rins secured the 1:54.593 win as the test entered its final two hours. He managed a total of 47 laps to Viñales’ 52.

There were five Spanish riders in the top 10 of the test. Rins was followed by Viñales in second, with Marquez coming fifth with 1:55.004 seconds, Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro sixth with 1:55.173 and brother Pol 10^th with 1:55.255.

Honda’s Jorge Lorenzo came 18^th in the test, clocking a time of 1:55.742 and improving on his result on Saturday by 1.4 seconds. It comes after he missed a test in Sepang, Malaysia, due to injury