The MotoGP has arrived at the halfway point, with the Austrian Grand Prix archived, we are ready to face the last half of the season, which with the many Asian trips will be decidedly demanding. To prepare for the upcoming races, Honda, KTM and Ducati went to Misano to carry out private tests with their respective test riders.
The Misano World Circuit will host the premier class in three weeks and some of the teams are preparing to face what will be the 12th round of the season, but before that Barcelona, on the track they have set aside for testing. Ducati saw its test rider Michele Pirro busy today, who rode the Desmosedici in preparation for the next rounds.
Staying with Ducati, the two Gresini standard-bearers also took advantage of the Misano test to ride road bikes and train in view of the next grand prix. Pure training work for Fabio Di Giannantonio and Alex Marquez, the latter author of a slight crash before the lunch break.
The most “substantial” part of the test day, however, was seen in the KTM and Honda pits. Stefan Bradl got on the factory team’s HRC bike. The German undoubtedly has a lot of work to do in order to help bring Honda back to the top, which is currently experiencing a deep crisis. Black bike, as usual, with the tester who was seen at work with a longer swingarm.
Stefan Bradl, Repsol Honda Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
They also worked hard in the KTM box, which showed up at Misano with the two test riders and three bikes. Dani Pedrosa and Jonas Folger brought various tricks to the track that could come in handy during the Misano weekend, a stage on which the Mattighofen-based manufacturer is betting a lot. Different fairing, mudguard and tank for the RC16, which also had a sensor on the rear.
A bike with a livery and sponsors and another with an all-black fairing let us think of various innovations, even those that are not visible, but the results on the track will speak for themselves. Despite a small problem in the morning which forced Pedrosa to stop the bike, the Spaniard was the author of a 31.6, only two tenths above the pole time, even if the timing is not official.
Not even Michelin was missing, working on the tires with the two testers Valentin Debise and Sylvain Guintoli (soon to move to BMW). Mattia Pasini is also seen on the track, who is warming up the engines due to his presence at Misano as a wild card in Moto2. The rider from Romagna will race with the RW Racing team and has prepared himself with an intermediate class bike to better prepare for the weekend of his home race.
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