MotoGP test in Aragon: Ducati wins!

This test in Aragon concerned Suzuki and KTM on Wednesday and Thursday, Yamaha Factory and Pramac on Wednesday, as well as Ducati Factory on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the track was very slow since not only had it rained the night before, but the circuit had not been used for a month. Overall, the times were therefore not significant and, to illustrate this, we will compare the fastest time, attributed to Jack Miller in 1'48.870, to pole position in 1'47.635 Maverick Vinales last year. In the opinion of the professionals on site, we expected times around 1'48.0...

To stay at Pramac, Danilo Petrucci achieved 1'49.1, barely 1/10 slower than the best time of Maverick Vinales, the fastest man at Yamaha yesterday.

It should be noted that on the side of the 3 tuning forks, we did not seek to obtain the best possible time, the fastest times having been achieved without new tires. Valentino Rossi thus focused on in-depth work aimed at optimizing his racing pace, only very rarely going below the 1'50 mark. The Doctor also suffered a minor fall at turn 3.

To finish with Yamaha, we brought you the scoop the presence of Jonas Folger dressed in official Factory team clothing. The German driver did not take to the track but was content to observe it from the safety lanes, as well as to detail the work in the box.

His presence within the Yamaha Factory team, however, strongly supports the hypothesis of his future status as a test rider for the Iwata firm.

At Suzuki, were present Andrea Iannone, Alex Rins and Sylvain Guintoli. It is surely a big coincidence, but when the French pilot is present, Andrea Iannone always finds a reason to ride very little. So yesterday, whileAlex Rins cleaned the track in the morning and that Sylvain Guintoli had completed more than 80 laps during the day, the Vasto rider appeared to do a few laps around noon in 2'00 on the handlebars of his GSX–RR before declaring that the track did not allow for profitable work. Leaving Suzuki at the end of the year, Andrea Iannone is obviously no longer very motivated to do tests even though his teammate described them as “super positive”.

At KTM, Randy de Puniet carried out his first freelance alongside Bradley Smith, after almost 2 years without having ridden a MotoGP. The French rider, who is still suffering from his amputated right at Suzuka, therefore used this first day to patiently get his bearings with the specificities of a MotoGP (Michelin tires, carbon brakes, etc.) before working more specifically on the aerodynamics Thursday.

Due to the track conditions, several falls took place at turn number 2 but what impressed observers on the first day was the performance of the very sophisticated Ducati Panigale Superbike driven by Michele Pirro. In the end, the Italian rider clocked 1'51.1 on Wednesday, which, given the track conditions, was far from ridiculous for a Superbike.

On Thursday, the track had significantly improved, which the official Ducatis of George Lorenzo et Andrea Dovizioso, credited respectively with 1'47.6 and 1'48.0, without more details than the information provided by Davide Tardozzi: “We will have new parts in Misano and Aragon: Pirro tried some things and, for the next two races, we will tend to see new developments ».

Obviously, Ducati has not said its last word while 71 points separate Marc Marquez from Jorge Lorenzo, and 72 from Andrea Dovizioso. There are 7 races left...

As a reminder, all these times are unofficial but generally very close to reality. It even sometimes happens that certain times are announced worse than reality, to hide one's game. This was the case during the last test in Misano for a certain Maverick Vinales... who is 88 points behind Marc Marquez, but only 29 on his teammate Valentino Rossi.