‘Top Gun’ was joined by teammate Aleix Espargaro on Day 3 as the Sepang Shakedown ends with new parts put to the test
Three days of Shakedown testing at the Sepang International Circuit have ended and topping the timesheets, just as he did on Tuesday, was Aprilia Racing’s Maverick Viñales. The Spaniard’s teammate Aleix Espargaro was on track as the Noale factory duo finished 1-2, with fastest rookie honours going to Raul Fernandez (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing).
It’s been a busy three days for the factory Test Riders and rookies, with updated parts getting a run out ahead of the Official two-day Sepang Test on the 5th and 6th of February. Viñales’ fastest time was a 1:58.942, 0.144s quicker than Espargaro’s. However, testing – especially at this early stage – is more than just setting a fast lap time.
And that’s especially true for the five rookies we have on the scene in 2022. Unfortunately for Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP™), gastroenteritis has kept him out of action for the second and third day of Shakedown testing. Hopefully the Italian will be fit enough to take part in the Sepang Test, having missed some crucial track time on his Ducati.
Aforementioned, Fernandez ends the Shakedown as the fastest rookie. An impressive 1:59.468 sees him sit half a second away from Viñales, with Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) a couple of tenths down on Fernandez’s time. Reigning Moto2™ World Champion Remy Gardner (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) is nursing a wrist injury but is pleased with how his three days have gone, while Darryn Binder (WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP™ Team) enjoyed his time on the bike. The South African was “feeling the heat” but upbeat about his Shakedown and didn’t do a time attack, instead focusing on doing some longer runs to try the YZR-M1 on a full fuel tank.
What has each factory been seen testing?
The Bologna factory’s trusty Test Rider Michele Pirro has been hard at work during the three days in Malaysia. The long exhaust was back in action, the Italian was using this and the short one to gain valuable data, with an aero package previously seen in the Jerez Test also on display. The Ducati looked like it had a new swingarm, too. Expect more items to be rolled out in the coming days from the Italian marque.
The Iwata factory debuted some new aero during the Shakedown. It’s largely the same but now the aero runs all the way across the front of the air intake, similar to the set up on the Aprilia RS-GP. Yamaha also looked like they were testing an updated chassis that had additional material welded on.
Test Rider Stefan Bradl was at the controls during the Shakedown as HRC tested the second 2022 chassis that Honda have in their arsenal, previously seen in Jerez at the end of last year. In addition, the exhausts and the tail unit have been updated from the Jerez Test.
The Noale factory ran with Test Rider Lorenzo Savadori on Day 1 before Viñales and Espargaro joined in the fun. Aprilia brought the new, smaller wings that we saw at the Jerez Test, while the whole front fairing looks to have been updated. An updated exhaust also made an appearance, as did a new aluminium swingarm – Aprilia usually run a carbon swingarm.
New aero, the same as we saw at the Jerez Test, and an updated swingarm were spotted on the bike of Dani Pedrosa as the three-time World Champion and Mika Kallio put in the ground work for the Austrian factory.
The Hamamatsu factory have some new wings to test in Malaysia. It’s only a small update to the ones we saw Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Alex Rins running in 2021, but every small detail counts in MotoGP™. That was the only thing externally that caught the eye, but there’s no doubt plenty more would have been going on behind the fairing.
Now, all attentions turn to the Official Sepang Test. Stay tuned to motogp.com and MotoGP™’s social media channels for updates throughout Saturday and Sunday’s test schedule, as the rest of the grid descend to Sepang.