Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1447191
MotoGP Sepang Rookies Test Kicks Off T he first day of school for MotoGP 2022 kicked off with the rookie's day at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia, January 31. Class newbies Remy Gardner (KTM), Raul Fernandez (KTM), Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), Darryn Binder (WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP) were all on track, with Fernandez topping the day on a 2:00.898 despite no official times being released. Ducati's test rider Michele Pirro was riding a new Ducati GP22, which was sporting the long exhaust we saw at the tests last year. The Ital- ian was also continuing work on the aero package we saw at the Jerez test. Lorenzo Savadori was testing for Aprilia Racing and the Italian was seen running the smaller front wings we saw in Jerez, with Aprilia's front fairings upgraded. The new exhaust and aluminum swingarm were also seen on one of Savadori's bikes. Test riders and rookies will be back on track on Tuesday (2/1) and Wednesday (2/2) ahead of the Sepang Test that begins on Saturday, February 5. CN IN THE WIND P36 Remy Gardner was at the Sepang test despite suffering a fractured wrist in a recent motocross training accident. Rea Tops Jerez WorldSBK Test T he two-day Jerez WorldSBK test saw Jonathan Rea (Ka- wasaki) top the timesheets. The six-time WorldSBK Champion only completed a half day's riding on the second day but was the only rider to dip into the 1:38 bracket. His fastest time of 1:38.851 put him well clear of teammate Alex Lowes in second, who clocked a 1:40.266. Third went to Frenchman Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki), the French- man continued his comeback from a scaphoid injury that forced him out of the end of the 2021 campaign. Mahias had some new components on his bike, with more to come including updates such as the gear- box and aerody- namics. Mahias also tested new suspension at Jerez as Kawasaki Puccetti evaluates Ohlins suspen- sion. The factory Honda team of Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge opted out of the second day of testing at Jerez after Vierge clocked a 1:40.342 lap time to better Lowes on the day with Lecuona just under two-tenths of a second back on 1:40.496. Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta) topped the WorldSSP test, registering a 1:42.341 ahead of Can Oncu (Kawasaki, 1:42.361) and Kenan Sofuoglu (MV Agusta, 1:42.361) who made a special guest ap- pearance for MV Agusta. CN Jonathan Rea topped the timesheets on the Kawasaki. Yamaha and champion Razgatlioglu were not present at the test.