On the second day of the MotoGP shakedown at Sepang, regular riders from the Honda and Yamaha teams joined the action after the first day was solely occupied by test riders and rookie Pedro Acosta. The best time this Friday went to Pol Espargaró, the KTM test rider, with a time of 1'58.241 minutes. He beat Yamaha's Fabio Quartararo by 0,283 seconds. Pedro Acosta finished third, followed by Dani Pedrosa and Alex Rins.
Rain interrupted the session for a period, causing practice to be interrupted. Despite this, the drivers were able to return to the track in wet conditions for the last 30 minutes. The time toI will espargaro represents a significant improvement over the previous best performance established by Dani Pedrosa during the previous financial year. Increasing track cleanliness and better grip contributed to these improved performances.
During today's Shakedown at Sepang, we were able to witness the revelation of new aerodynamic features that hint at what awaits us for this 2024 season. KTM thus released a spoiler on the front mudguard, but it is at Ducati that attention was particularly focused on the Desmosedici GP24 of Michele Pirro. Modifications to the red tunics which include a new fairing which combines elements of that of 2023 with some significant adjustments.
Ducati finalizes its new, highly anticipated fairing at Sepang
The new fairing represents an evolution of the “tiered” model used last year, which some drivers of the official team had abandoned during the season. On the test bike Michele Pirro, we observed a step at the front of the fairing, accompanied by an air intake. This air intake was absent on the previous year's fairing. In addition, unlike the 2023 version, this new fairing also incorporates the “ears”, which are the lower diffusers. These “ears” were only present on the 2023 fairing.
The use of adhesive tape to seal the various parts suggests that this aerodynamic development is still a prototype, and further surprises could be revealed in further testing before the season begins in Qatar. Ducati seems determined to explore new solutions to optimize the aerodynamic performance of his bike in the competitive context of MotoGP.
MotoGP Test Sepang Shakedown J2: times
Credit classification motogp.com
