2022 MotoGP
Official Catalunya Test
Fabio Quartararo once again stamped his authority on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya official test on Monday.
The Frenchman’s 1:39.447 in the opening part of the eight-hour Official Test was enough for him to cling on to top spot by the narrowest of margins, with Ducati Lenovo Team’s Francesco Bagnaia only 0.004 seconds adrift in second. Completing the top three was Prima Pramac Racing’s Johann Zarco who completed a whopping 93 laps during the day.
A small crash at Turn 2 didn’t deter Aprilia Racing’s Aleix Espargaro, as he quickly put Sunday’s embarrassment behind him by finishing the day fourth on the time-sheets and only a tenth away from his title rival Quartararo. Repsol Honda will be hopeful they’ve managed to make a breakthrough on the new RC213V after Pol Espargaro grabbed the final place inside a top five split by only a quarter of a second.
Ducati Lenovo Team’s Jack Miller posted a 1:39.742 inside the opening hour to end up sixth, half a tenth clear of Aprilia Racing’s Maverick Viñales. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Franco Morbidelli suffered a crash late in the day at Turn 5 but showed positive signs of improvement by closing out the Official Test in eighth.
Completing the top ten was the Gresini Racing duo of Enea Bastianini and Fabio Di Giannantonio, while top KTM was Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) in eleventh, ahead of the top, and only, Suzuki present: Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar).
All six factories unveiled a raft of brand-new parts throughout the course of the day as they look to springboard themselves towards glory in the pivotal middle part of the 2022 World Championship. Here’s what was spotted in pitlane at the Catalunya Test.
Fresh from the top step, Quartararo was focussing his work on a revised swingarm – the one he used to great effect in Sunday’s race. Speaking afterwards, Quartararo and team boss Maio Meregalli confirmed that ‘El Diablo’ has permanently reverted back to the original 2022 aero package and will not use the upgrade first seen at Mugello for the rest of the season.
He ran a total of 67 laps throughout the day trying setting solutions, tyres, and a new engine map. He secured first place with a 1‘39.447s, set on lap 13/67, 0.004s ahead of his closest rival.
Fabio Quartararo – P1
“We didn’t have many things to test. We tried the swingarm again here that we already tested in Jerez. We made a big comparison with two sets of tyres. Those runs were pretty long. Then we tried a map to try to find a little bit of power. And we tried a tyre for Michelin and a new setting. That’s what I tested today. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but it was also nothing negative.”
Morbidelli had good race pace on used tyres throughout the Catalan GP and was keen to confirm this feeling today as well as make a step on new tyres. The Italian suffered a small crash in the final stages but was quickly back up on his feet. Despite the early end to that run, he still got a total of 78 laps in over the entire session. His fastest time, a 1‘39.795s that he produced on lap 28/78, put him eighth place in the overall timesheets, 0.348s from first.
Franco Morbidelli – P8
“The pace was better, so I’m pretty happy with the work we’ve done. There is still some room for improvement in some areas. But I think we made good progress. I feel that there is more potential even though the overall potential this weekend was not so bad. If I didn’t have the incident on the first lap of the race, I think I could have fought for a top-10 position, for sure. But we don’t just want a top 10, we want more. So, we are working towards where we want to be.”
Massimo Meregalli – Team Director
“As always, the test right after a GP is a long day. We didn’t have any new items to test today, but we are always trying to bring out the best and exploit what we have. We tried a couple of set-ups that we thought could work at the Sachsenring, but in the end we were not that satisfied about them. At least we now know this in advance. Anyway, we are in a good position at the moment. We entered the Mugello and Barcelona weekend thinking that we needed to do damage limitation, but in the end we did two good races. So, we are looking forward to the next two rounds ahead of the summer break.”
WithU Yamaha RNF’s Andrea Dovizioso was also seen with the latest swingarm, plus the aerodynamic upgrade as they try to get the Italian comfortable on the Yamaha M1.
With a rather disappointing race still on his mind, Andrea Dovizioso tried several different parts and new settings in order to gain some small differences. He did a total of 56 laps throughout Monday and together with his experienced crew found some slight improvements compared to the race weekend.
Andrea Dovizioso – P19
“It’s always good to do a test after the race weekend. It’s difficult, because everybody is tired after the race, but I think the morning is the right moment to test. In the afternoon, the grip increases a lot and is completely different than at the race weekend. We didn’t try anything crazy, but I tried the material that the factory team got, the swing arm, the fairing and I felt a bit better with the swing arm. Let’s see if I will have it for the next round. We also tried a different position on the bike and it was a bit better. I was able to play a bit more on the braking, which was positive. We also tried a different maps, small things, but this is what we can do and it was quite good.”
On the other side of the WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team garage, Darryn Binder mainly focused on playing around with different settings in order to get more used to his Yamaha YZR-M1 machine. The MotoGP rookie suffered a small crash after lunch break, but had already gained some more knowledge in the morning. He did a total of 49 laps.
Darryn Binder – P20
“Today was pretty good. We started off this morning, just trying a couple of different things to make me feel a bit more comfortable on the bike. I found some small improvements, that I was able to be a bit more consistent with my lap times. Overall, I felt happy with the bike. Just after lunch, I had a small crash, which was an unfortunate end to finish a test. I did some laps afterwards, but basically, that was the end of it. In general, I feel like we are heading in the right direction with the bike setup. Lap by lap I get more comfortable and more confident on the bike. I’m still looking to improve on the soft tyre, but unfortunately, today when it came to the time to use the soft, I think the conditions weren’t really too great, it was really hot, so we never used it. But otherwise, I’m happy with how things went.”
Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager
“It was an eventful day; the sun was out and it was very hot. After a race weekend like this, there’s always things to try, to compare, especially the things you don’t have time to do during the race weekend. There’s always a bit more grip on the track on Monday, which is a fact you always have to keep in mind. Our guys tried many small things, but mainly reconfirmed things we already knew and also tested some new things that has been a surprise. In general, it was a good test. We didn’t do a too crazy number of laps, because the temperature has been very high, so at a certain stage, the track was very hot. Overall, we made some steps.”
As ever, there was a lot going on down at Ducati and one interesting innovation was a rather different chassis spotted on test rider Michele Pirro’s GP22 and, even more interestingly, Johann Zarco’s Prima Pramac Ducati. Both the Frenchman and Davide Tardozzi refrained from confirming whether we could see the chassis in action at some stage through 2022 or whether it was early work on the GP23…
Bagnaia was one of the first to hit the track on his Desmosedici GP. Leaving the box a few minutes after the opening of the pit lane, the Italian rider completed a total of 84 laps, setting the second-fastest time in 1:39.451, just four thousandths off the best time of the day, set by Quartararo. Jack also started early and completed 68 laps, ending the test in sixth position (1:39.742).
Francesco Bagnaia – P2
“It was a positive day. I did a lot of laps on used tyres and several tests, most of which turned out to be positive. We mainly concentrated on the start practice because lately compared to our rivals we were losing something at that stage. We were able to take some steps forward, so I’m happy and satisfied with today’s work.”
Jack Miller – P6
“Compared to yesterday’s race, our pace improved today, but you have to consider that the track conditions are very different from yesterday. The temperatures are still high, but there is more rubber on the asphalt, and we have modified the bike’s set-up a lot compared to the standard. It was a positive day: I tried some new small components and a new fairing, and we had some good feedback. We’ll have a weekend off before heading to Sachsenring, Germany, for the next GP.”
Enea Bastianini and Fabio Di Giannantonio returned to the track with the primary goal to regain the right feeling and confidence with the bike, and 50 laps completed by both riders no doubt helped.
Fabio Di Giannantonio – P10
“We lapped a lot and we were fast. We did a great amount of work with regards to the set-up: we didn’t have anything new to try and it wouldn’t have been the right time to do it anyway: it’s better to focus on what we have to improve. We haven’t fixed everything; the goal was to improve mid-corner and we didn’t, but generally speaking it was a positive test. We have useful information and now we’ll get ready for the next two back-to-back events.”
Enea Bastianini was able to try a brand-new fairing that Ducati made available for him and the two Ducati factory riders.
Enea Bastianini – P9
“I tried a new fairing and the feeling with it is good. I feel more comfortable on corner entry, but it’ll be important to see whether we lost something speed-wise or not. It was not possible to evaluate every aspect of it on such a low-grip track as this one. Generally speaking it was a positive day, we made a little step forward with the front-end of the bike and, even though we’re still not 100% ready, we’re surely heading in the right direction.”
The Mooney VR46 Racing Team brought a range of new components from Ducati to test out, focusing on set up. On track from 11.00 am after yesterday’s good P6, Luca continued to work on the set-up to better face the next scheduled GPs (German GP, June 19th and Dutch GP, June 26th) before doing a few laps with the new Ducati fairing. He closes with a best time of 1’40.047 (62 laps) just six tenths from the strongest guys.
Luca Marini – P13
An interesting test, as always in these days, we were able to test ideas that we had in mind for a while and that we have never been able to try during the free practice sessions for the short time. A positive day, we dedicated ourselves to the details: the bike here was already very good, we just worked to set my feeling. We are making progress, the goal is to fight for the podium. At the beginning of the year we have struggled a bit, the bike was new, the Team too and we just needed time to understand everything. Even how to give feedback, my style and things are now much better. I did four laps with the new fairing, but for now I have only positive aspects to report to Ducati.”
Among the first to test the Catalan track this morning, Marco, forced to retirement in the race after a crash, signs a best lap time of 1’40.765 and completed 23 laps, satisfied with the progress made on the setting of his bike in a long run perspective.
Marco Bezzechhi – P21
“A day of testing with the goal of making a step forward on the setting, not many laps but a good job overall. After two races of this type, I suffered a bit of pain in my left arm and I preferred to conserve my energy also in view of the German GP at Sachsenring, a completely left-hand track. I didn’t attempt a time attack or anything and I have just completed the schedule before lunch.”
Aprilia had the entirety of pitlane talking when they rolled out a radical new side fairing, pictured below. Both Viñales and Aleix Espargaro tried it throughout the course of the day. Espargaro was also spotted trying the new rear wing that Lorenzo Savadori first used in Mugello.
Viñales had a slightly different chassis to try during the day, plus the pair worked on an upgraded engine that Technical Director Romano Albesiano confirmed they hoped to be able to use at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Pol Espargaro was seen with a third different chassis that had carbon bonded to the main beam, and put in an impressive amount of laps as he and Honda HRC worked to further understand the 2022 RC213V. Completing a total of 88 laps, or 413 kilometers of riding, the #44 provided the team and engineers with a wealth of data.
Pol Espargaro – P5
“Today was a really busy day doing almost 90 laps and testing quite a lot of things. We tried a chassis, a swing arm, some aero and some other pieces to confirm a few points. One day of testing isn’t enough because we always want more, but for now it is good and we accept what we have done. Hopefully what we have done today will help us in the coming races with small and consistent steps forward.”
On the other side of the Repsol Honda Team box, Stefan Bradl was back in his element as he ran through the day’s testing plan. A total of 53 laps allowed the HRC Test Rider to complete the items he was assigned and stop running at around 15:00 Local Time. After his fall on Sunday, Bradl experienced some discomfort during the test. A best time of 1’40.474 saw Bradl end the day as the 17th fastest rider.
Stefan Bradl – P17
“My physical condition today wasn’t great; my shoulder was still hurting a bit today. Overall, it has been a good test and we were able to get through everything we needed. Today we did a few back-to-back tests to give the engineers some more information for the future. We also did some testing with tyres for Michelin. It was a real work day.”
The importance of the test was evidenced by the fact nobody did more laps of the Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya than Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) as he got close to a full century, that despite his Saturday crash.
Álex Márquez – P16
“It was a long test here in Barcelona, we tried many, many things and that was most important. I tried to give 100% and the maximum input I could to help HRC who are making a lot of effort to improve our bike. We know we still need some improvement, and they know that as well, but the effort they are putting is really good. We tried many things; some things were negative and some were positive, like always, but it was an important test for us to give the information to Japan and keep going. I believe we can be fast in the second part of the season, so this information will be crucial to work on that.”
Both Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Tech3 KTM Factory Racing completed the second in-season MotoGP testing day in Spain.
Brad Binder was quickest from the Red Bull KTM pair and was only half a second from the top time. Miguel Oliveira helped towards the grand total of more than 130 circulations trying solutions to refine the KTM RC16 for both the rest of 2022 and with a view towards ideas for the 2023 incarnation of the motorcycle. Team boss Francesco Guidotti confirmed they were trying new parts, doing further work on current parts even re-evaluating last year’s parts.
Brad Binder – P11
“We got the opportunity to back-test many things and try a few new ones but the main target was to gather information and to give the team a good direction to head for the future. I tried a new chassis that predictably had some positives but also negatives and it is important we take out the positive parts to help us. I understand both aero packages a bit better now and had the time to play around a little bit. Going forward I’m excited to see what we can do.”
Miguel Oliveira – P14
“We did the best lap-time in really hot conditions with the medium rear tire and that was not so bad. We tested a couple of different small things – such as a setting with the swingarm – and delivered some feedback. All positive, especially for a low grip track and that was what we wanted to focus on.”
Tech3 KTM Factory Racing rookies Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez were also busy less than 24-hours after the Australian and Spaniard had given the team their best set of results so far this term. For Fernandez this was the first chance to test since pre-season; the youngster missed out on the Jerez session due to injury. Fernandez rode 47 laps to the 22nd best time and Gardner clocked a massive 76 with the 15th quickest effort.
Remy Gardner – P15
“We had a really positive day today and we made some improvements which I am happy with. We tried a few things which came out unexpectedly positive and that we will study for the upcoming races. I had fun as I rode a lot of laps and learned a lot more about the bike and the tyres, and this will give me confidence to continue progressing. I was able to go fast when needed, but also had a good pace all day long. We tried different parts as well with the aim to help me feeling better when braking. I would say that there were both good and negative points, so we will see what we can do with this. I feel that I have taken a good step this weekend with the result on Sunday and today’s work, and I feel positive about what’s coming.”
Raul Fernandez – P22
“Today was more about focusing on trying to resolve the weaknesses that we have been encountering since the start of the season. We focused on my riding as we tried some set ups on the front of the bike to help me feel more confident when I enter the corners, which will allow me to push harder. Another important point that I have been struggling with is tire management for the second half of the race, so we worked on the race pace with used tires today. We found some interesting things that we will use for the upcoming races, so I look forward to heading to Sachsenring.”
Francesco Guidotti – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager
“An important day. We’re almost at the halfway stage of the season and it is key to check and back-check and we also had something new for the future. Of course we will need time to analyze all the information we had today as we worked through some suspension, electronics and adjustments to the frame. The conditions were not so easy, particularly the level of grip, so we need more comparisons. We did a lot today but we will also work a lot more at home.”
Riding solo as teammate Alex Rins is sidelined following the Turn 1 crash on Sunday, Team Suzuki ECSTAR’s Mir had two different aerodynamic packages to try. One had side pods added to the current version, and the second was a totally new design.
Joan Mir – P12
“Today we focused mainly on trying to understand and improve corner entry, and I’m happy about the step we’ve made there. We still have to tweak it a bit more to make it even better, but it’s nice to feel an improvement. The team put in a lot of work today, and we went through the programme pretty well. The new aero package options felt good and I’m looking forward to trying one or the other again in the next race.”
Livio Suppo – Team Manager
“It’s been a positive day, despite the fact that Alex couldn’t test due to his unfortunate injury. We had some different items to test – the most obvious of which were the two new aero fairings – and we’ll now check the data on those to see which could be the better of the two to use. Joan felt good today and he found some improvements, so the efforts of him and the team have paid off. We’ve shown today that we’re still implementing new items according to the original test plan set at the start of 2022, and the fact that Suzuki is leaving doesn’t change that.”
The 2020 World Champion confirmed he would be using one of them from the Sachsenring onwards… and on that segue, join us then as the Liqui Moly Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland gets in gear from the 17th to the 19th of June!
2022 MotoGP Official Catalunya Test Results
Pos | Rider | Nat. | Man. | Gap |
1 | Fabio QUARTARARO | FRA | YAMAHA | 1’39.447 |
2 | Francesco BAGNAIA | ITA | DUCATI | +0.004 |
3 | Johann ZARCO | FRA | DUCATI | +0.053 |
4 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | APRILIA | +0.111 |
5 | Pol ESPARGARO | SPA | HONDA | +0.241 |
6 | Jack MILLER | AUS | DUCATI | +0.295 |
7 | Maverick VIÑALES | SPA | APRILIA | +0.333 |
8 | Franco MORBIDELLI | ITA | YAMAHA | +0.348 |
9 | Enea BASTIANINI | ITA | DUCATI | +0.397 |
10 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | ITA | DUCATI | +0.516 |
11 | Brad BINDER | RSA | KTM | +0.551 |
12 | Joan MIR | SPA | SUZUKI | +0.580 |
13 | Luca MARINI | ITA | DUCATI | +0.600 |
14 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | POR | KTM | +0.641 |
15 | Remy GARDNER | AUS | KTM | +0.750 |
16 | Alex MARQUEZ | SPA | HONDA | +0.888 |
17 | Stefan BRADL | GER | HONDA | +1.027 |
18 | Michele PIRRO | ITA | DUCATI | +1.163 |
19 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | YAMAHA | +1.180 |
20 | Darryn BINDER | RSA | YAMAHA | +1.299 |
21 | Marco BEZZECCHI | ITA | DUCATI | +1.318 |
22 | Raul FERNANDEZ | SPA | KTM | +1.697 |
MotoGP Championship Points Standings
Pos | Rider | Nat | Points |
1 | QUARTARARO Fabio | FRA | 147 |
2 | ESPARGARO Aleix | SPA | 125 |
3 | BASTIANINI Enea | ITA | 94 |
4 | ZARCO Johann | FRA | 91 |
5 | BAGNAIA Francesco | ITA | 81 |
6 | BINDER Brad | RSA | 73 |
7 | RINS Alex | SPA | 69 |
8 | MIR Joan | SPA | 69 |
9 | MILLER Jack | AUS | 65 |
10 | MARQUEZ Marc | SPA | 60 |
11 | OLIVEIRA Miguel | POR | 57 |
12 | MARTIN Jorge | SPA | 51 |
13 | VIÑALES Maverick | SPA | 46 |
14 | MARINI Luca | ITA | 41 |
15 | ESPARGARO Pol | SPA | 40 |
16 | NAKAGAMI Takaaki | JPN | 38 |
17 | BEZZECCHI Marco | ITA | 30 |
18 | MARQUEZ Alex | SPA | 26 |
19 | MORBIDELLI Franco | ITA | 22 |
20 | BINDER Darryn | RSA | 10 |
21 | DI GIANNANTONIO Fabio | ITA | 8 |
22 | DOVIZIOSO Andrea | ITA | 8 |