inside the top three on each day
suggested Yamaha has made
serious progress. While he only
managed six laps in his Sprint
simulation, Quartararo's average
lap time was extremely competi
-
tive, just over a tenth per lap off
the Marquez
brothers.
It took precisely 13 laps of the
first official day of preseason
testing to erase all optimism
from the Aprilia camp. Jorge
Martin was dramatically ruled
out of days two and three of
testing, and the upcoming Thai
-
land test, after suffering a single
fracture
to his right hand and
three in his left foot in a brutal
highside that had him faceplant
the tarmac.
After falling just minutes ear
-
lier in a pain-free get-off at turn
one, the reigning
champion was
then flung from his Aprilia RS-
GP entering turn two. The bone
breaks were detected after a
visit to a local hospital. It's hard
to envision a worse start. Martin
will miss the final preseason
test in Thailand but should be fit
to compete in the first round.
"There could be the chance
that his first time with the '25
(RS-GP) is during FP1 [of round
one]," said Aprilia Racing CEO
Massimo Rivola of the brutal
reality that faces his rider.
Pedro Acosta (KTM) showed
strong speed in sixth. And while
he repeatedly spoke of being
happy, his body language sug
-
gested he was anything but.
That
may well have stemmed
from the fact that he was over
half a second off the top Duca
-
tis per lap in his race simulation,
as
KTM tested a multitude of
new parts. The performance of
new additions Maverick Vina-
les (16th) and Enea Bastianini
(18th)
was also a concern.
Johann Zarco (seventh) and
Joan Mir (eighth) provided
further positivity for Honda. Yet
their longer runs (1.5 seconds
slower than Ducati per lap)
showed there is still a long way
to go. That said, sources close
to Honda indicated a good
atmosphere and an overriding
sense of the project moving
in the right direction, which is
much more than can be said of
this even in each of the past two
years.
Neil Morrison
OVERALL (Top 5)
1. Alex Marquez (Duc) 1:56.493
2. Francesco Bagnaia (Duc) 1:56.500
3. Fabio Quartararo (Yam) 1:56.724
4. Franco Morbidelli (Duc) 1:56.948
5. Marc Marquez (Duc) 1:57.042
Pecco Bagnaia had
some reservations about
the GP25 but still went
second quickest.
VOLUME 62 ISSUE 6 FEBRUARY 11, 2025 P25
It was all
smiles in
the Yamaha
camp for the
first time in
years.
