What happened at the official MotoGP test at Jerez

The big news of the one-day test was Honda making the Kalex-designed chassis available to its riders. With Marc Marquez still sidelined, the testing duties fell to Joan Mir and HRC test rider Stefan Bradl, while LCR Honda’s Alex Rins and Taka Nakagami were also putting the outsourced frame through its paces. There was some heavily updated aero, largely similar to what Stefan Bradl raced the day before on his HRC wildcard entry, with Honda even experimenting with winglets on the swingarm of its RC213V machines. The best-performing Honda was Nakagami in 12th.

A new frame was spotted on test at Jerez which appeared to be a blend of the Austrian firm’s signature trellis-style chassis and a more conventional twin-spar affair. Both the factory Red Bull KTM riders used the day to try the aero package that test rider Dani Pedrosa used so successfully during his wildcard entry over the weekend, with many of it filtering through to the GasGas satellite riders of rookie Augusto Fernandez and Jonas Folger. Proving that aerodynamics is high on the priority list of KTM was the presence of Red Bull Advanced Technologies personnel in the garage, which is the mob responsible for the aero on Max Verstappen’s title-winning Formula 1 car. The quickest KTM was Brad Binder in eighth.

There wasn’t a lot of visual updates on test with the four Ducati teams, except for a new belly pan that was spotted on Johann Zarco’s Prima Pramac GP23. Said to be in a bid to improve cooling efficiencies, it didn’t make its way to the factory bike of reigning world champ Pecco Bagnaia, with the team confirming a lot of time was spent getting to the bottom of Bagnaia’s struggles in a blistering hot Friday practice during round four. Factory rider Enea Bastianini wasn’t present as he continues to recover from his broken shoulder blade. The Mooney VR46 duo topped the timesheets with Marco Bezzechi ending the day 0.101sec quicker than Luca Marini.

Both Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli were working their way through two different chassis as well a different swingarm, all of which are believed to have been seen before, as the factory looks to turn around what’s been a dismal season so far. Quartararo also tried a new exhaust late in the day, and he ended the session third overall behind the two satellite Ducatis.

Rather surprisingly, Quartararo’s YZF-M1 matched the Mooney VR46 Ducatis for top speed, with all three registering 292.6km/h in the speed trap. While a long way off the top speed capability of a MotoGP machine, only Zarco (294.2km/h) and RNF Aprilia’s Raul Fernandez (293.4km/h) were quicker.

No one put in more laps (or practice starts) than Aprilia Racing’s Maverick Vinales who turned 94 laps on his way to finishing fifth overall as the highest-placed RS-GP. With no parts visibly different, the factory used the day to work on set-up, better starts and to ensure some of the mechanical issues that have blighted its riders to date are sorted out. Test rider Lorenzo Savadori was on track, however RNF Aprilia’s Miguel Oliveira was out after being taken out for the second time in four rounds, this time dislocating his shoulder and fracturing his femur. Aleix Espargaro finished seventh, almost half a second down on Bezzechi.