MotoGP Misano Test Day Two
Focus on Honda
The second day of the Misano Test saw both Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro return to the track and continue the work they started the day before.
For Marquez, it provided more crucial time on the RC213V to build his own fitness as well as help to define the progression of the bike.
There was an intensive schedule as Marquez completed 61 laps on the second day, adding to his 39 on day one, and Marquez was one of the final riders on at track during the final session.
The intensive work was rewarded with positive feedback towards a number of new items brought by Honda HRC.
Marquez’s efforts were rewarded with a quickest time of 1’31.642, 0.6s faster than his best time from Tuesday and 13th in the combined test rankings. But the most important aspect of the test was the information gained about his physical condition and the feedback given to HRC’s engineers for the future.
Working mostly on setting for during the race weekends, Pol Espargaro completed an additional 67 laps on Wednesday for a total of 117 across the two days of testing. The work allowed Espargaro to compare a variety of components including aerodynamics and shocks in back-to-back runs.
With the knowledge gained, Espargaro’s side of the Repsol Honda Team box feel they have made progress to improve on both Saturday during Qualifying and with overall pace for the race. A fastest time of 1’31.707, set in the morning of the first day, has the Repsol Honda Team rider end the test in 14th place overall.
Pol Espargaro will join Tech3 next year and will ride a KTM under GASGAS branding.
Takaaki Nakagami was pleased the progress he was able to make, the LCR Honda Idemitsu rider clocked up over 150 laps at the Italian venue as he worked tirelessly to improve the set-up of his RC213v ahead of the final six rounds of the 2022 World Championship.
The Japanese star focused his efforts on finetuning his existing package and made notable steps forward on Wednesday.
Nakagami is expected to step into a testing role with HRC next year if rising star Ai Ogura gets the nod to step up into MotoGP with LCR Honda for 2023.
Álex Márquez and his team were not given any new items to test by HRC, ahead of the Spaniard’s impending move to Gresini Ducati in 2023, so they took the opportunity to refine existing parts and settings and made encouraging progress. Álex got through a heavy workload to rack up nearly 140 laps over the two days, finishing P17 overall.
Current Suzuki rider Alex Rins will ride for LCR Honda in 2023.
Marc Marquez – P13
“It was a really successful test for me, especially because after such a long time away it was not easy yesterday. But today I started to feel the bike more and run at my pace, this allowed me to try some different components for Honda for the future. This was also good. The most important aspect was how the arm recovered between the two days and, ok I struggled at the end of today, but this is what the doctors and physios were expecting. Let’s see how the recovery in the next few days goes to understand what the next steps are.”
Pol Espargaro – P14
“Today we were riding well in the morning and even with my wrist I was able to find a better rhythm. In the afternoon I was very tired and I had to keep adjusting the brake a lot with my wrist. We stopped a little earlier because of this but it was still a good two days. We kept working and were able try a number of items from during the year which made some points more clear as we look ahead to Aragon. I am glad we had this test to push into the final races.”
Takaaki Nakagami – P15
“It’s been a busy two days of testing here in Misano and we had a lot of time to do. First of all, I really appreciate all the work from my team. I did many laps and, especially on Wednesday afternoon, the lap times were quite good and quite consistent. The feeling of the bike is much better than the weekend in Misano, so in the end we’re quite happy about the performance and lap times. I’m now really looking forward to the Aragon GP, so thanks again to all my team and let’s keep pushing.”
Álex Márquez – P17
“Today was a positive second day of tests. We had zero items from Honda to try, so we focused on our package and to evaluate the items that we have (received) during the season and not to make the mistake of trying them and confusing things during a GP (weekend). So we made progress on that and have improved our package a lot with things like the feeling. I’m really happy how the team worked in this situation because having no items is not easy. We did a good job and everyone worked really hard, so I’m happy about that and ready for the home GP in Aragon.”
Now the MotoGP teams begin preparations for the Aragon GP, the last European race before the four flyaway races in Japan, Thailand, Australia, and Malaysia. The Aragon GP will begin on Friday, September 16.
MotoGP Misano Test Combined Times
- Fabio Quartararo – Yamaha 1m31.054 (FP4)
- Francesco Bagnaia – Ducati 1m31.172 (FP3)
- Maverick Vinales – Aprilia 1m31.189 (FP3)
- Enea Bastianini – Ducati 1m31.260 (FP3)
- Aleix Espargaro – Aprilia 1m31.333 (FP3)
- Jorge Martin – Ducati 1m31.439 (FP3)
- Luca Marini – Ducati 1m31.473 (FP2)
- Miguel Oliveira – KTM 1m31.585 (FP3)
- Marco Bezzecchi – Ducati 1m31.591 (FP2)
- Fabio DiGiannantonio – Ducati 1m31.605 (FP3)
- Johann Zarco – Ducati 1m31.606 (FP2)
- Franco Morbidelli – Yamaha 1m31.614 (FP3)
- Marc Marquez – Honda 1m31.642 (FP3)
- Pol Espargaro – Honda 1m31.707 (FP1)
- Takaaki Nakagami – Honda 1m31.786 (FP4)
- Brad Binder – KTM 1m31.803 (FP4)
- Alex Marquez – Honda 1m31.864 (FP4)
- Jack Miller – Ducati 1m31.927 (FP3)
- Alex Rins – Suzuki 1m31.936 (FP1)
- Michele Pirro – Ducati 1m32.070 (FP3)
- Dani Pedrosa – KTM 1m32.308 (FP3)
- Raul Fernandez – KTM 1m32.346 (FP3)
- Remy Gardner – KTM 1m32.433 (FP3)
- Stefan Bradl – Honda 1m32.634 (FP1)
- Darryn Binder – Yamaha 1m32.820 (FP1)
- Lorenzo Savadori – Aprilia 1m33.379 (FP1)
- Dominique Aegerter – Suzuki 1m33.907 (FP1)
- Andrea Dovizioso – Yamaha 1m34.897 (FP1)
MotoGP Misano Test Day Two Top Speeds
- Martin 300.0
- Quartararo 298.3
- Vinales 298.3
- Bagnaia 297.5
- A Espargaro 297.5
- Pedrosa 297.5
- Miller 296.7
- Bastianini 296.7
- Pirro 295.8
- Oliveira 295.8
