Due to the difficulties facing the Japanese manufacturers in MotoGP this season and the knock-on effect this has had on the rider market, with Marquez and Fabio Quartararo’s futures uncertain, Monday’s Misano test has been seen as a crucial outing.
The main stories from Monday revolved around Honda’s 2024 prototype and the new parts tested by Yamaha with a view to next year.
Marquez ended the day down in 14th, 0.973 seconds off the pace, having been left less than impressed with the 2024 prototype he tested.
He told the media at lunchtime between the two test sessions on Monday that the problems of rear grip of the current Honda remained on the 2024 prototype chassis he tried today.
Having topped the morning session on his 2022-spec Ducati, VR46’s Luca Marini completed a clean sweep in the afternoon after going fastest of all with a 1m30.602s set in the final hour.
He was part of a depleted Ducati stable for the test, with the injured Francesco Bagnaia and Marco Bezzecchi – both of whom were on the podium on Sunday at Misano — sitting out, along with Gresini’s Fabio Di Giannantonio and Ducati test rider Michele Pirro.
Marini headed Maverick Vinales, who tested a new Aprilia chassis among other things on Monday, with Brad Binder completing the top three with a 1m31.154s on KTM’s new carbon fibre chassis.
Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
San Marino GP winner Jorge Martin was fourth despite a technical issue in the morning as he carried out the factory testing for Ducati on his Pramac-run machine.
Jack Miller completed the top five for KTM, while Quartararo was sixth overall on his Yamaha.
Yamaha brought numerous new items for 2024 to test, including a new aerodynamic package, chassis and engine developed with Luca Marmorini – who was on-site at Misano in the Japanese manufacturer’s garage today.
Miguel Oliveira was seventh for RNF having tried the 2023-spec Aprilia for the first time, while Franco Morbidelli was eighth for Yamaha ahead of Gresini’s Alex Marquez and RNF’s Raul Fernandez.
Aleix Espargaro was 11th after trying Aprilia’s new frame, which he said was neither good nor bad and felt it unlikely he would ultimately race it this season.
Takaaki Nakagami also tried the 2024 Honda for LCR and was 12th ahead of Pramac’s Johann Zarco, Marc Marquez and Tech3’s Augusto Fernandez.
Joan Mir was 16th for Honda ahead of Pol Espargaro, the Tech3 rider suffering a crash in the first session of the day after being struck by a brake failure.
Honda test rider Stefan Bradl was 18th and last at the end of Monday’s testing.
This is the last official MotoGP test until the post-race outing in Valencia at the end of November.