Two things were clear from this test, including that the different riders are very closely competitive (the top 20 positions were approximately 1 second apart, in total), and several manufacturers have made significant steps in improving their MotoGP bikes.
Enea Bastianini set a new lap record at Sepang aboard his 2021 Ducati (the same bike rode so well by Pecco Bagnaia during the second half of the 2021 series).
Other surprises included the speed of the Aprilia machines under Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales, who finished with the 2nd and 5th quickest times, respectively. Aprilia is a concessions manufacturer, so each of these riders had the advantage of putting in laps earlier in the week before the start of the official test. The 2022 Ducati appears to be an improvement over last year’s stellar machine, but is in the early stages of its development. The quickest rider on this new Ducati was Jorge Martin, who finished the test in 3rd.
The radically new Honda also appears to be a success with both Repsol riders, Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro, finishing in the top 10, and less that 3/10ths of a second off the new lap record.
At this point, the championship winning Yamaha seems to be the least improved bike in the paddock. Leaving aside the incredibly talented Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha could manage no better than 21st on the time sheets with its five riders in attendance. Quartararo, on the other hand, finished 7th quickest. In an interview after the test, Quartararo indicated he was most impressed by the improvements made by Suzuki, whose riders Alex Rins and Joan Mir finished 4th and 12th quickest, respectively.
You can find the full, combined practice times here.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
