MotoGP Test Jerez-2 LIVE: It continues in Spain with a VR46 duo!

The lights of an eventful Spanish Grand Prix with validated popular success have barely cooled down when the same Jerez track is placed in the spotlight for a day of testing which will be important for the projects of the five manufacturers involved in MotoGP. Not only for this season, but also for the one to come. A good reason to follow her closely, and even live here!

The Jerez de La Frontera circuit has no rest this Monday from 10 a.m. to 18:15 p.m., although the events of the last Spanish Grand Prix of the past weekend remain in hearts and minds. Sunday, Pecco Bagnaia returned to victory followed by KTM de Brad Binder et Jack Miller. Pecco Bagnaia also received a sanction after exceeding Jack Miller, having to return the conquered position. A penalty which turned out to be unnecessary, since the Italian then took victory. Once again, the FIM College was singled out for his misunderstood decisions. We want more entertainment, we are changing the format to make MotoGP more captivating and we are not allowing riders to race by putting them under the penalty of a penalty for the slightest contact...

The second Long Lap of fabio quartararo also divides the troops, the French pilot having rolled in the green by a few millimeters only by turning around to ensure not to hinder another pilot, and not to save time... We fall back into the eternal debate: Should we strict application of the rules or intelligent interpretation?

 

 

But let's leave the controversy aside until Le Mans where riders and FIM MotoGP stewards will explain themselves during an extraordinary Safety Commission and let's concentrate on this test MotoGP...

At Le Mans where the unfortunate Miguel Oliveira could miss out, as reported by the team manager of the RNF team, Wilco Zeelenberg, regarding the state of health of the Portuguese pilot: “IHe had no serious injuries, but his shoulder came out of place and doctors put it back together. In these cases you need to rest for a few weeks ».

 

For today's tests in Jerez, Aprilia called on Lorenzo Savadori at the last minute, who will drive the RS-GPOlive tree. If the team decides to replace him at Le Mans, the Noale-based test driver would be available.

At Yamaha , we didn't know what there would be to test and the little prince fabio quartararo doesn't seem to be able to wake up Iwata's sleeping beauty. “No big things” said the person concerned.
At Honda, we were waiting for the first public release of the Kalex chassis.
At Ducati we understood that we should not rest on our laurels that KTM could change into a crown of thorns. And then there is Aprilia which has reliability problems whose recurrence is starting to worry…

This morning, under a very cloudy sky, the fastest lapsed in just 1'37, starting with Aleix Espargaró in 1'37.079, to compare with the Andalusian circuit record established in 1'36.170 by Francis Bagnaia last year, or the 1'36.493 achieved last Saturday by the same Ducati rider. In terms of attendance, it is fabio quartararo who, with 55 laps, takes the prize ahead of Stefan bradl, i.e. the distance of 2 GP already completed!

 

 

Compare with the Honda chassis below.

 

 

A big fin and two frames from Yamaha, the Kalex chassis with Stefan bradl at Honda or elsewhere Joan mir suffered its 4th fall of this long weekend, this time with a new fairing, as well as numerous starting tests at KTM and Aprilia complete this very brief summary of the morning with the times below established at midday.

 

 

A little atmosphere…

 

 

Ranking at 14:00 p.m.:

 

Less than 5 minutes after this ranking, Fabio Quartararo established the best reference in 1'36.869, during his 56th lap. For this, the Yamaha rider used a soft rear tire, and we remember that during his debriefings on Saturday, he complained of not having the expected gain by switching from medium to soft…

« In the morning I was in 37.3 with 10 laps on the tire. 10 or 8 laps, I don't remember. I put two new tires on and only gained 3/10: So it was a real disaster! »

Four rounds later, The Devil improves to 1'36″725 even though the track is not very busy and the sky has completely cleared.

 

 

The numerous starting tests of the KTMs lead to clutch changes which allow Peter Bom to reveal the insides of the RC16s to us. Take advantage of it because it’s quite rare…

If you look closely, you can see the black part of the frame, entirely made of 3D metal printing (these are not tubes welded together but a single printed part), like the majority of said frame.

Ranking at 15:00 p.m.:

 

At KTM, we brought in a lot of factory technicians and several aerodynamic configurations to validate for this test. Coincidence or not, mid-session Brad Binder pranced at the top of the top speeds, with 297,5 km/h ahead Johann zarco in 294,2.

 

 

fabio quartararo was 291,8 then 292,6, which is not so bad, Franco Morbidelli and in 288,7 Takaaki Nakagami slowest at 288,0.

Oops ! Peter Bom's Tweet didn't last an hour! When we told you that you had to take advantage of it…
This kind of photo, a MotoGP without its fairing, is quite rare because the mechanics almost systematically close the box doors before removing the aerodynamic elements. In the game of cat and mouse, we still manage to take some from time to time, but publishing them quickly then puts the mechanics in difficulty who get yelled at.
One day, we will show you our “collection”…
This anti-espionage trend is relatively recent, because just 10 years ago we could see and photograph the entrails of animals without much problem. It's over, except for a Japanese journalist who has access to official photos of the naked Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki at the end of the year.

At 15:30 p.m., Fabio Quartararo has already completed 80 laps, the distance of more than 3 Grands Prix! This clearly shows the motivation and total involvement of the young Frenchman!
On the other hand, yesterday at 22:00 p.m., while the Ducati, KTM and Aprilia boxes were still bustling with activity, the Yamaha and Honda boxes had been switched off for a long time.
Deduce what you want…

 

 

Small fall of Stefan bradl in the 3rd sector.
Lorenzo Savadori also but a little further. The Aprilia rider returns to the track just before 16:00 p.m.

Ranking at 16:00 p.m.:

 

Despite temperatures of 29° in the air and 41° on the ground, there is still a lot of activity on the track.
Fabio DiGiannantonio is progressing well and is now in 3rd place.

Qualified 15th, the Gresini driver finished 11th in the Sprint and 12th in the race.

« The weekend was positive, we went from the third group to the second group. We missed something at the end because I was too optimistic halfway through and wore the tires too much. Regardless, we are learning a lot and we have reduced the gap to the winner by half. The test will be extremely important because we will try a lot of things: Settings, ergonomics and trying to match today's times while being more comfortable on the bike. »

 

 

Maverick Vinales also improves and takes 2nd place, 0,242s behind Fabio Quartararo.
Yesterday, a broken chain on the last lap of the GP prevented him from reaching the finish.

« The first start was very good and the second was not bad, but I found myself fighting with Álex Márquez and we lost a lot of time. It also wore down the front tire a lot, so much so that I had no room to attack at the end. Just before stopping, I noticed some problems and was hoping to make it to the checkered flag, but I couldn't. The temptation is great to get angry, but you have to look at the positive side: The bike is fast, I like it, and at the first start I did very well, solving one of our problems. Now we must continue working, starting with tomorrow's test. »

 

 

The Aprilia rider did not keep his 2nd place for long, this being now occupied by Luca marini, 0,173 from the leader.

Qualified 9th, the Italian finished the Sprint 10th and the GP 6th.

« I'm happy with today's race and P6, I think it's the best possible result. Yesterday I struggled, but today we managed to do a good job. I didn't feel good on the bike after the warm-up, we made some changes and I brought back a good result in the race. It was difficult, I wasn't 100%, but it was easy to make mistakes. I suffered in the long turns: turns 4, 5 and especially 7 and 8. I couldn't get the bike to turn, get it up and open the throttle. I tried to slow down as much as possible and not give up. We remain focused on the test day, work on the settings awaits us. »

 

 

After 88 rounds, fabio quartararo finished his test!

At 16:32 p.m., barely this announcement made, Luca Marini achieves 1'36.678 and takes first place by 47 thousandths on medium tires.

9 minutes later, Marco Bezzecchi written 1'36.574 at the top of a table now well colored yellow.

The VR46 driver, qualified 13th, did not have a good weekend in Andalusia, only bringing home the point for 9th place in the Sprint before crashing in the race and thus losing command of the championship.

« I have to say that this is not my weekend! Today, at the first start, I felt a big shock, but I didn't fall. I didn't really understand what happened and I haven't even had time to watch the video footage yet. I'm more disappointed than anything because I didn't feel bad on the bike, but I wasn't fast and losing access to Q2 yesterday really complicated things. The start in the middle of a group is always difficult because the tire heats up a lot and is then difficult to manage. Today the temperature had risen a lot and I made a mistake. It's a shame, but let's move on to tomorrow's testing and the Le Mans race. »

 

Ranking at 17:00 p.m.:

 

The table displays Marco Bezzecchi et Luca marini on a medium rear tire but it is likely that they did their best time on a soft tire, because the display now shows them on a soft tire even though they did not come out...
The analysis sheets will perhaps confirm this hypothesis.

Raul Fernandez has also completed its test but all drivers are invited to start tests, from 18:05 p.m. to 18:15 p.m. That doesn't mean they'll all be there...

Takaaki Nakagami decided to modify the aerodynamics of his Honda…

 

 

Speaking of aerodynamics, said Peter McLaren managed to photograph the new giant wings of the KTMs, the vertical part of which probably measures almost a meter!!! We may wonder how far we will go…

It's here.

There is still quite a bit of activity on the track, with 8 bikes currently attacking the time trial: Marco Bezzecchi, Brad Binder, Jack Miller, Takaaki Nakagami, Alex Rins and Lorenzo Savadori.
Most are back tender. Bad sign, the clockAlex Rins is stopped in the middle of the fourth sector…

The session therefore ends with a VR46 duo in front, and the drivers now carry out start tests.

Ranking at 18:00 p.m.:

 

 

Ranking credits: MotoGP.com