Binder tops MotoGP test as Martin steals the headlines
Brad Binder was fastest on the timesheets at the Mugello test, but Jorge Martin's big news was the talk of the townRed Bull KTM’s Brad Binder has topped a rain-affected official MotoGP at Mugello, on a day where headlines were dominated by the shock announcement that championship leader Jorge Martin will defect to the Aprilia Racing squad for 2025.
Just 16 riders posted a time during the test, with Binder’s best of 1m47.617s some three seconds slower than Martin’s pole time set for the Italian Grand Prix three days earlier. Pedro Acosta (GasGas Tech3) was just 0.033s slower than Binder in second place, with both RC16-mounted riders turning a total of 17 laps each.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Repsol Honda’s Luca Marini posted more laps than anyone with 40, his best time of 1m49.051s put his third quickest at the end of the day ahead of Aussie Jack Miller (1m49.231s, 32 laps) and factory Honda teammate Joan Mir (1m49.788s, 24 laps).
Maverick Vinales was seventh (1m54.978s, 18 laps) ahead of Monster Yamaha’s Alex Rins (1m57.652s, 16 laps) and LCR Honda man Johann Zarco (1m58.093, 29 laps).
In terms of new parts, Acosta and Binder were spotted testing the same aerodynamics that was assessed during the Jerez test, while a new tank cover on Marini’s Honda is in a bid to make the tall Italian rider more comfortable on the RC231V. Teammate Mir used the day to test an updated engine.
As was the case in Jerez, there wasn’t a lot in the way of visible updates to any of the Ducatis, in fact only two of the eight riders posted times on the day with Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing) and Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) turning just eight and three laps respectively, to end the day 15th and 16th, some 18 and 19 seconds off Binder’s pace.
Factory Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro also opted to sit the test out, leaving testing duties to Vinales and the Trackhouse Racing pairing of Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez. Oliveira was the quickest of the two satellite team riders in ninth after just six laps with a 1m58.282s, while Fernandez – who was again seen onboard the latest-spec RS-GP, finished 13th after also posting just six timed laps.
Mugello official test 1 B Binder KTM 1m47.617s 2 P Acosta GasGas +0.033s 3 L Marini Honda +1.434s 4 J Miller KTM +1.614s 5 J Mir Honda +2.171s 6 M Vinales Aprilia +7.361s 7 A Rins Yamaha +10.035s 8 J Zarco Honda +10.476s 9 M Oliveira Aprilia +10.665s 10 T Nakagami Honda +10.883s 11 L Savadori Aprilia +11.680s 12 R Fernandez Aprilia +11.764s 13 A Fernandez GasGas +12.435s 14 F Quartararo Yamaha +14.758s 15 F Morbidelli Ducati +18.198s 16 A Marquez Ducati +19.063s |
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