The 2017 MotoGP off-season has started Valencia the day after the Grand Prix of the same name and during two days of intensive testing. The next expected step is Jerez, a track that is available for five days to anyone who wants to tread it. The Ducati factory has declined while Yamaha has already left for Sepang in Malaysia. As for the HRC, it signed the winter leave for its pilots. It will therefore also be without Marquez and Pedrosa.
The World Champion Marc Márquez and his teammate Dani Pedrosa are like Jorge Lorenzo et Andrea Dovizioso : on holiday. The Honda duo will not go to work on the new RC213V at Jerez next week. A little surprise, since, in Valencia, the list of improvements desired by Marquez for the new opus of the winged coat of arms was quite extensive.
Honda announced that the two days spent on the Ricardo Tormo track had made it possible to complete the planned program before resuming at the end of January 2017 at Sepang. However, you have to be accountable for your testing days legally limited on the five-a-side season. Not by driver, but by team.
However, there will be Hondas at Jerez. According to GP One, Hiroshi Aoyama was mobilized as Jack Miller who will get used to his new chief engineer Ramon Aurin. The Australian, winner at Assen this season, will also discover the services of two electronic engineers, Andy Griffiths and Yoshihiko Ishimoto. He will finally try the new engine.
It will be recalled that Ducati will put its satellite teams Aspar, Pramac and Avintia at the forefront, with Pirro in the lead, while we will see the return of Petrucci absent in Valencia. The Italian should ride with the GP17. At Suzuki, Iannone will be first in line while Kidneys is recovering from his accident in Valencia which fractured two vertebrae. Aprilia and KTM are, however, fully announced at a time when the official Yamahas and those of Tech3 will be racing at Sepang.
