As soon as the 2022 season ended last weekend in Valencia, the drivers of the premier category got back in the saddle with a view to preparing for the 2023 season, with their new machines for some, even their new colors for others. Who says new season, says changes: new faces in the paddock, new teams appearing, but also and above all, new machines. Factories had the opportunity to unveil prototypes that represent a year of hard work, or even a little more. The culmination of thousands of hours of effort by all the technical teams, testing of parts on the test bench and then by the pilots.
Find the first part of this article here.
Pol Espargaro is joining the Tech3 GASGAS team for the 2023 season. He has 2 prototypes available for testing for this day. The one we see here is the machine for the 2022 season, but it also has a second prototype equipped with the chassis that Brad Binder used last weekend. This second prototype is also equipped with a new rear loop and new exhausts.
Here is this new rear loop, as well as these new exhausts, the new one of which is located on the left. The back loop is slightly narrower at the top, but the most important thing is how it is scooped out on the bottom surface. It looks like KTM is really experimenting with changing the balance of their RC16.
We also see the new chassis here on one of Jack Miller's two prototypes. Interestingly, for Jack Miller's first ever outing on the KTM, he directly tested this new chassis which only appeared on track last weekend at the Valencia Grand Prix. Usually, the classic procedure would be to go out on the normal prototype first to get a feel for it, then try the new things to feel the improvement. It really seems like KTM is confident that this chassis is a positive step forward.
Ducati also seems to be playing with weight distribution and balance as we noticed that one of Enea Bastianini's GP23s has a differently shaped fuel tank. The change is a little difficult to spot, but its shape means that the mass of fuel could end up in a lower area, to improve the handling of its Ducati.
Here is the standard Ducati tank, used until now, and very hollow in order to be able to lower the bike, to use the Ride Height Device.
Johann Zarco tried a new lower side fairing, which strongly resembles that developed by Aprilia. This seeks to explore ground effect to help stabilize the bike at high lean angles to find more grip.
Photo credit: Dorna Sports
