Sepang a fortnight ago, all seven
runners (Franco Morbidelli was
once again absent as he recov-
ers from a concussion) were
competitive, including last year's
runner-up Jorge Martin (seventh)
and Marc Marquez, who ended
up fourth despite a technical
issue at the start of day two and
a crash at the end. In total, there
were six Bologna bikes inside
the top 10 places.
It would've been a total
Desmosedici whitewash had it
not been for Aprilia. There were
plenty of positives for the Noale
factory, who had Aleix Espar
-
garo third, as they continued to
assess several aerodynamics
combinations. The '24 RS-GP is
"more physical" to ride, accord
-
ing to the Catalans, due to the
huge amounts of downforce
generated by its new fairings. "In
terms of stability, the bike has
improved a lot. With used tires, it
is a lot easier to maintain the lap
time, so this is very good."
Teammate Maverick Vinales
was a much-improved sixth after
his tough Malaysian test, while
Trackhouse Racing's Raul Fernan
-
dez was arguably the rider of the
test, placing fifth despite riding
with three fractures in his hip.
Having shown great promise
in Malaysia, these two days were
something of a reality check for
KTM. Factory men Brad Binder
and Jack Miller used the two
days to assess two new engines,
with both favoring one in particu
-
lar. "It looks like they gave us a
little bit more power, but feeling-
wise and riding-wise, you don't
even notice," said Binder, who
was ninth fastest and six-tenths
of a second off Bagnaia. "You
just feel the rpm come a little bit
earlier, or the limiter come a little
bit sooner." After his Sepang
heroics, Pedro Acosta had a
more muted outing in Qatar in
15th, one second off Bagnaia's
top time.
Despite signs of promise,
there was no miracle cure for the
issues facing MotoGP's two Jap
-
VOLUME ISSUE FEBRUARY , P37
Marc Marquez has been
consistently inside the top five and
finished Qatar in fourth in just his
third ride on the Ducati.
