The test teams from four manufacturers out of the five entered in MotoGP will get to work this Monday and until the next day on the Jerez track. An expedition where answers are awaited, particularly from Yamaha and Honda. For the first mentioned, it will be a question of getting an idea of what a Toprak Razgatlioglu would give as a teammate of Fabio Quartararo. For the last one, it will be the moment of truth for the Kalex chassis which, if it is satisfactory, could be quickly shipped to its destination on a Repsol box which will be erected in the coming days in Austin, Texas, for the Grand Prix of the Americas. this weekend...
Ducati, by the way, will not be part of the party while at Aprilia, Lorenzo Savadori will be mobilized. At the house of KTM, Dani Pedrosa, who will do the expected Spanish Grand Prix on the same track as a wild card, will have a work plan just as useful to the orange RC16 as the one in red and renamed GASGAS. Since we are talking about this brand, we will see if the replacement for Pol EspargaroEither Jonas Folger will be allowed to do a few laps to get back into the swing of things before launching into the large pool of the Grand Prix of the Americas. It will be recalled that, for the German, this will be the first MotoGP race since the fall of 2017. During the winter tests, the rider of 29 years hadn’t driven the RC16 much…
Yamaha and Honda will be the stars of these two days of testing in Jerez
That being said, it is towards Yamaha et Honda that eyes will be turned. The Iwata firm will work under the supervision of Lynn Jarvis who, before flying to the United States, will closely observe developments in Toprak Razgatlioglu. The Turk will turn with Cal Crutchlow which will have some new features to evaluate. Since we're talking about new products, we're saving the best for last with Honda who will put this famous Kalex chassis which must make it clear that at the HRC, we no longer know how to create a framework for the MotoGP...
The German company has already developed an aluminum swingarm for Honda, which has been in use since last fall. The cooperation with Kalex has now expanded, Honda relying on the impetus of an external partner to make its RC213V competitive. It was originally planned to test the Kalex chassis for the first time on Monday May 1 after the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez. But the process accelerated after an unconvincing start to the season. If the conclusions are positive, this Kalex chassis could already be used Austin starting this weekend.
According to the regulations, the engine specification is frozen for the entire season and only one aerodynamic package at the start of the season and another mid-season update can be homologated. But there are no restrictions on the chassis. So far, the two official drivers Honda used a chassis developed by HRC since the Sepang winter tests. The LCR driver alex rins has so far driven the chassis which made its debut during the Valencia tests last November. As Marc Marquez was not in Argentina, Kidneys received a new Sepang chassis in its LCR box.
