Sepang MotoGP Test Times
Shakedown Day Three

The MotoGP world has been waiting with nervous bated breath awaiting what surprises Ducati has in store for 2022, but there has been not all that much to talk about yet other than what looks like a much simpler activation of the launch device on the Desmosedici. 

A clip getting around Twitter shows the Ducati sink to the ground at the touch of a single button, both ends lowering gracefully, rather than the somewhat more complicated and tricky to operate two stage activation we saw last year. 

Further tweaks to the exhaust were also evident along with the various aerodynamic changes that we have seen tested this week. There were hints that a new swing-arm was also being trialled by test rider Michele Pirro. 

Ducati technicians have stated that the work on the exhaust valves, seen towards the end-caps of the Akrapovic exhausts, is primarily focussed on the tuning of the engine braking. This is an area that is become more and more significant across all facets of motorcycle racing as everyone seeks the tiniest edge that will make the job of their riders easier on corner entry. 

The device on the end of the swing-arm is, presumably, some sort of laser that could be used to calculate the flex in the swing-arm.  That’s my best guess, you have any better ones?

Marco Bezzecchi was circulating again for the new Mooney VR46 Racing Team. The 23-year-old Italian lapped slightly quicker than the hugely experienced Pirro and was the second fastest rookie.

You can also see in this shot that the Ducati of Marco Bezzecchi got hot enough to start burning through the belly pan. 

Marco Bezzecchi

“I’m happy: a good day today, even better than yesterday and overall a good job over the three days with all the technicians, Ducati and the Team. We have always improved, I am happy with my physical condition and I cannot complain. Saturday we will be back on track, there will be more references with the other riders, even more opportunities to ride together and I will continue to get familiar with the bike. Let’s go forward step by step.”

Fabio Di Giannantonio was still out of action due to a bout of gastro and will be hoping to recover in time to join the weekend on track action. The 23-year-old Italian only completed 38-laps on Monday and did not ride the last two days. 

Fabio Di Giannantonio

“I’m obviously very sorry. I got ready as good as I could to start these three days on the right foot, and the whole off-season in general. Due to a “silly” thing unfortunately I had to stay in bed. Yesterday I was totally knocked out, while today I’m a little better. I want to hope that with a couple more days off I will be ready to get back on track from Saturday already.”

Jack Miller was on the ground at Sepang and looking seemingly no worse for wear after his recent brush with Covid.

Yamaha have been evaluating some further tweaks to their aero package, which the returning riders will also no doubt work with this coming weekend and evaluate further. The primary difference that sticks out is the change to the lower part of the front edge of the wings and what appears to be a larger air intake tract.  The welding on particular areas of the chassis was slightly different across some of the bikes. 

Yamaha rookie Darryn Binder improved throughout the week but not as much as he might have liked. The young South African a second adrift of the two Tech3 KTM alumni but also remarking that three days of wrestling a MotoGP heat in the sweltering and stultifying heat and humidity of Malaysia had taken their toll and that we was looking forward to the next two days off to recuperate before the on-track action recommences on Saturday. 

Cal Crutchlow made his first appearance on Wednesday after recently extending his contract with Yamaha as their official test rider. 

Some aero tweaks were evident at Suzuki also but it will be what improvements have come from the engine department back at Hamamatsu that Alex Rins and Joan Mir will be most eager to test come Saturday.

Japanese test rider Takuya Tsuda joined Guintoli on track on Wednesday but at over 3.5-seconds off the pace it might be somewhat of a worry that he helps develop the MotoGP bike for the factory in Japan. 

Aprilia have used a carbon-fibre swing-arm in recent seasons but were trialling an alloy swing-arm at times this week.  Lorenzo Savadori had been the only Aprilia rider on Monday. Savadori was then joined by Maverick Vinales on Tuesday while on Wednesday Aleix Espargaro also hit the track and it was that pair that topped proceedings.  

Due to Aprilia’s relative lack of results in recent times the MotoGP concession rules allow their full-time riders to join the three-day Shakedown test normally only reserved for rookies and test riders.  

Maverick Vinales set the benchmark at 1m58.942 before crashing the RS-GP. The fastest times came in the cooler morning conditions and thus are perhaps not the best comparative form guide against their peers. 

Aleix Espargaro was second quickest to make for an Aprilia 1-2 up front.

Honda finally got down to business proper after logistical problems saw a lot of their equipment stuck in transit earlier in the week.  The latest RC213V prototype was seen with more exhaust changes and tweaks to the tail unit. 

Over at KTM Remy Gardner’s wrist was really starting to give him some grief after three days of testing and the Australian is looking forward to the break over the next two days before testing steps up a gear on Saturday when Sepang will be a busy hive of action as the full compliment of MotoGP riders and machinery hit the track.  KTM have been trying to adapt the riding position of the RC16 to better suit the height and riding style of the 178 cm Aussie. 

Remy’s Tech3 KTM team-mate Raul Fernandez ended the Shakedown as fastest rookie. An impressive 1m59.468 for the 21-year-old Spaniard hinting at some serious early promise that will have KTM excited for the season ahead. Despite his injuries though, Gardner narrowed the gap down to his in-house rival back to just over half-a-second. 

KTM test riders Dani Pedrosa and Mika Kallio evaluated swing-arm and aero changes for the Austrian manufacturer.  

On the weekend there will be much more detailed data available once the next phase of testing beings. After a two-year freeze on engine development every manufacturer will be running essentially all-new engines as they chase not only horsepower, but also methods to try and smooth those ponies out and allow their riders to get their power to the ground and translate that into traction, and forward progress… 

Ducati certainly looked to have the edge in 2021, will they have made yet a further leap ahead, or will some of the manufacturers have closed the gap…? 

To my mind, it would be much easier to smooth the rough edges off what is the benchmark power unit for ouright speed, rather than to chase power while also trying to keep that power delivery as smooth as possible at the same time…  That said, the Aprilia stars didn’t only stop the clocks quickest at this test, they also topped the speed charts at 334.4 km/h.  A single km/h faster than rookie Bezzechi on the Ducati, but 6 km/h quicker than Bradl on the Honda, and 8 km/h quicker than the fastest Suzuki, and 9 km/h quicker than the fastest Yamaha.  But this is early days and other than being an interesting talking point, means very little in regards to a form guide for speed in 2022. 

For comparison, Fabio Quartararo holds the qualifying lap record at Sepang with a 1m58.303. The top speed record is held by Andrea Iannone at 339.6 km/h. Valentino Rossi holds the race lap record at 1m59.661. Outside of a race weekend, Danilo Petrucci set the outright benchmark at 1m58.239 during testing here in 2019 when it was a Ducati 1-2-3-4, will we see that time bettered here this coming weekend, and will Ducati dominate once again…?

Sepang Test Times
Shakedown Day Three

1. Maverick Vinales – Aprilia – 1m58.942

2. Aleix Espargaro – Aprilia – 1m59.086

3. Raul Fernandez – KTM – 1m59.468

4. Marco Bezzecchi – Ducati – 1m59.711

5. Michele Pirro – Ducati – 1m59.805

6. Remy Gardner – KTM – 2m00.046

7. Stefan Bradl – Honda – 2m00.449

8. Sylvain Guintoli – Suzuki – 2m00.491

9. Darryn Binder – Yamaha – 2m00.928

10. Mika Kallio – KTM – 2m01.074

Sepang Test Top Speeds
Shakedown Day Three

1. Maverick Vinales – Aprilia 334.4 km/h

2. Aleix Espargaro – Aprilia 334.4 km/h

3. Marco Bezzecchi – Ducati 333.3 km/h

4. Michele Pirro – Ducati 331.3 km/h

5. Raul Fernandez – KTM 330.3 km/h

6. Stefan Bradl – Honda 329.3 km/h

7. Remy Gardner – KTM 328.2 km/h

8. Sylvain Guintoli – Suzuki 326.3 km/h

9. Darryn Binder – Yamaha 325.5 km/h

2022 MotoGP Entry List

2022 Provisional MotoGP Calendar

Images by Dorna

Source: MCNews.com.au