Marc Marquez is not there, but Honda still managed to make a big voice on the first day of the MotoGP collective tests in Jerez de la Frontera in view of the 2022 season. The fastest was in fact Takaaki Nakagami, who alternated between a prototype in the 2021 version and the 2022 one, which would therefore seem to have been born in the best way. For the Japanese manufacturer, however, it was also important to find Pol Espargaro, who returned to the saddle after missing the Valencia race due to a bad fall in FP3, in which he had suffered a bad bruise on his side and left wrist.
In a certain sense, the Ducatis have confirmed themselves as the reference point of the moment. After all, in Jerez the Desmosedici GP had signed a beautiful double win this season and today they set out in pursuit of the LCR Team standard bearer with a nice trio led by Johann Zarco: the Frenchman finished 43 thousandths of a second behind, preceding an Enea Bastianini who on his debut on the GP21 with the Gresini Racing colors showed he could be fast even on the flying lap, his well-known Achilles heel in his debut season.
In fourth position we find the vice-world champion Pecco Bagnaia, who continued the work with the new aerodynamic look already tested during the post-GP tests in Misano. And also for the Piedmontese, the gap from the top is really tight, given that we are talking about just 102 thousandths.
To complete the top 5 we find Maverick Vinales with Aprilia, which today brought a “hybrid” bike to the track, with new chassis and engine. The rider from Roses seems to have started to refine his feeling with the RS-GP, managing to find a good 1’37 “674 and being among the most active of the day with his 72 laps. Aleix Espargaro, 15th and protagonist of a red flag for a fall in the first sector of the track, from which he got up without consequences, however, the test driver Lorenzo Savadori also ended up on the ground.
Sixth time for Alex Rins and it must be said that in the Suzuki garage there was a lot of work to do, because there were innovations in practically every area between frame, engine and aerodynamics. In particular, the latter was particularly visible when it was used by Joan Mir, 14th at the end of the day, as he took to the track with an Nerazzurri GSX-RR.
In seventh position we find the best of the Yamahas, which was that of Franco Morbidelli, last among the riders capable of breaking the wall of 1’38 “. The world champion Fabio Quartararo, on the other hand, was a little slower, finishing ninth at shoulders of Jack Miller’s Ducati, and did not hide the fact that he probably would have expected a more important step in terms of power with the new engine. Andrea Dovizioso also had a 2022 prototype at his disposal and worked a lot on ergonomics, finishing 18th at 1 “2.
Tenth time for the first of the KTMs, that of Brad Binder, who was also the victim of a crash at turn 8. But for the Austrian manufacturer the most important innovations were seen on Dani Pedrosa’s RC16, because the Spanish test driver made the debut of a new aerodynamic package that closely resembles that of Ducati, especially as regards the shape of the wings.
Then there are five rookies who animated the day. The fastest was Raul Fernandez, good at climbing up to 19th position with the KTM Tech3, but above all at reducing the gap from the top to 1 “7. It is true that the Spaniard had already tasted the bike in post-GP tests. of Misano, but the same goes for his teammate Remy Gardner, even if the Moto2 world champion finished 24th with a delay of 2 “8.
Fabio Di Giannatonio did better than him, 22nd in his debut on the Ducati of Gresini Racing. 2 “3 the gap paid by the Roman rider, who, with the same bike, adapted more quickly than his VR46 counterpart, Marco Bezzecchi. The Romagna rider paid 3” 4 and also accused a slight technical problem, which however did not conditioned his day too much.
At the end of the group Darryn Binder with the Yamaha of the RNF Team, but there is no doubt that his debut was the most complicated, since he rode a Moto3 until Sunday. The youngest of the South African brothers opted for a cautious approach and did not go beyond a 1’41 “749. Moreover, no one expected that he could be fast as of today.
Pos | Pilot | Weather | Gap | Gap | Turns |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | NAKAGAMI, Takaaki | 1: 37.313 | 51/68 | ||
2 | ZARCO, Johann | 1: 37.356 | 0.043 | 0.043 | 78/78 |
3 | BASTIANINI, Aeneas | 1: 37,402 | 0.089 | 0.046 | 38/51 |
4 | BAGNAIA, Francesco | 1: 37.415 | 0.102 | 0.013 | 47/68 |
5 | VIÑALES, Maverick | 1: 37.674 | 0.361 | 0.259 | 56/72 |
6 | RINS, Alex | 1: 37.810 | 0.497 | 0.136 | 28/76 |
7 | MORBIDELLI, Franco | 1: 37.884 | 0.571 | 0.074 | 46/56 |
8 | MILLER, Jack | 1: 38.002 | 0.689 | 0.118 | 53/61 |
9 | QUARTARARO, Fabio | 1: 38.020 | 0.707 | 0.018 | 34/73 |
10 | BINDER, Brad | 1: 38.086 | 0.773 | 0.066 | 54/56 |
11 | MARINI, Luca | 1: 38.149 | 0.836 | 0.063 | 50/58 |
12 | MARTIN, Jorge | 1: 38.152 | 0.839 | 0.003 | 52/61 |
13 | ESPARGARO, Pol | 1: 38.165 | 0.852 | 0.013 | 19/45 |
14 | MIR, Joan | 1: 38.194 | 0.881 | 0.029 | 59/71 |
15 | ESPARGARO, Aleix | 1: 38.207 | 0.894 | 0.013 | 18/45 |
16 | MARQUEZ, Alex | 1: 38.288 | 0.975 | 0.081 | 74/75 |
17 | OLIVEIRA, Miguel | 1: 38.312 | 0.999 | 0.024 | 61/74 |
18 | DOVIZIOSO, Andrea | 1: 38.598 | 1,285 | 0.286 | 40/53 |
19 | FERNANDEZ, Raul | 1: 39.083 | 1,770 | 0.485 | 56/57 |
20 | KALLIO, Mika | 1: 39.276 | 1,963 | 0.193 | 6/79 |
21 | GUINTOLI, Sylvain | 1: 39.496 | 2,183 | 0.220 | 20/49 |
22 | DI GIANNANTONIO, Fabio | 1: 39.628 | 2,315 | 0.132 | 48/48 |
23 | SAVADORI, Lorenzo | 1: 39.727 | 2,414 | 0.099 | 25/34 |
24 | GARDNER, Remy | 1: 40.170 | 2,857 | 0.443 | 34/52 |
25 | BEZZECCHI, Marco | 1: 40.732 | 3,419 | 0.562 | 52/53 |
26 | TSUDA, Takuya | 1: 40.936 | 3.623 | 0.204 | 22/28 |
27 | BINDER, Darryn | 1: 41.749 | 4,436 | 0.813 | 35/49 |
#MotoGP #Jerez #Test #Day #Nakagami #takes #Honda #top