After taking second in the San Marino GP on Sunday, Repsol Honda rookie Marc Marquez took over the timesheets in the official post race test at the Misano today.
Marquez moved ahead on the timesheets with his last flying lap of the day and demoting Jorge Lorenzo and Yamaha team mate Valentino Rossi to second and third, respectively.
Marquez tested not only his current bike (with a new swingarm and rear shocks) – with which he suffered another harmless crash – but also the upgraded 2014 version of the RC213V.
Talking about today’s test Marquez said, “The day went well and we tried out a lot of things with the setup – above all the geometry – and we made considerable improvements.
We’ve also gathered some useful data, so this test has been very useful ahead of the five remaining races.
We also rode next year’s prototype, which I feel fairly comfortable with already.
We’ve worked well and the important thing is that we have a good foundation” Team mate Dani Pedrosa also worked with the new parts and the 2014 machine but he also tried to identify the reason why he is having so many grip issues in these past few races.
Pedrosa, like Marquez, tested a new swing arm and ‘some other small parts’ for the current RC213V machine, while HRC engineers will now return to Japan to complete the final stages of the 2014 project in time for the Valencia test.
“We’ve tried out a lot of things today, with a view to solving the rear grip issue that we’ve been having,” said Pedrosa.
“Generally speaking, that was the focus for today and some things we experimented with worked well – and others not so well.
As for the new bike, I only put in three or four laps with it and we still need to make various changes for the next time we ride with it, after Valencia.
Making adjustments to the new machine wasn’t our main objective today.
”The Yamaha factory team also debuted a new 2014 engine spec engine, tried more setting options and also tested new Bridgestone tires (which Lorenzo didn’t like) and a larger brake disc.
Happily we got a great sunny session,” said Lorenzo.
“The weather was perfect to test and we were able to make many laps to check our latest issues on the bike.
We were pretty focused on the settings thinking about the next race at Motorland in a couple of weeks and we found some good feelings.
We also tested a new spec engine for 2014 that worked really well and we are quite happy with the result.
Furthermore there were some new pieces for 2013 but small details to improve our performance.
Nevertheless the most important issue was to work on the next GP in Aragon, another good challenge for us, especially because in the last years we’ve struggled a bit.
”Rossi who finished third in this test set his best time of the day with the new engine spec, said, It was important to make a day of testing at Misano like this, because we had much we needed to try.
I used the race bike and a bike where there was also something new for next year.
At the end it has been a good test.
It was important because we found some improvements in some points of view, small details but a good way to continue.
We made a lot of comparisons between the two but at the end more or less the performance is very similar.
Now a few days of rest and then we will be ready for Aragon!” Cal Crutchlow who struggled with confidence issues because of breaking problems all weekend worked on modifications that helped with braking performance, while team mate Bradley Smith, who had struggled with balance with rear grip on worn tyres worked on a different rider position.
“I am very happy with how the test went today.
I think the chance to ride without the pressure of a race weekend came at a good time for me and I was able to gain more confidence with my YZR-M1.
I now need to make sure we carry on the momentum gained at the next race in Aragon.
I found some good improvements with the braking.
Not so much in the initial braking but certainly in the last phase of braking and that will help me in future races.
I went faster and I was able to stop the bike in a shorter distance than I could all weekend, so that is positive.
I am pleased with the progress because my pace all day was consistent and a lot better than the race weekend.
The new hard rear tyre from Bridgestone was also very positive.
I did 28-laps on it and I did my fastest time right at the end, so Bridgestone has done an excellent job and it is great they have taken our feedback on board and made a good change in the right direction,” commented Crutchlow at the end of the test.
Bradley Smith added, “Today was all about trying to figure out what went wrong during the last couple of races and I believe we found a good direction.
We have come back more towards my base setting with some specific changes for this track.
I changed the rider position and that definitely helped me.
Maybe not so much on new tyres but definitely on worn tyres and with a full fuel load as well because more of my weight was over the rear.
I also tried the new Bridgestone hard tyre and they have done a great job and I am really impressed with the performance of it.
I am excited to try it in the future because normally we can’t use the hard tyre because of edge grip, so they have taken a good step forward.
I rode fast on it today and I am happy.
It was a very positive day and we leave here for Aragon a lot closer to where we need to be and more confident for the rest of the season.
”The Misano MotoGP test also saw the debut of Yonny Hernandez on the Pramac Ducati.
The Colombian rider who is filling in for Ben Spies, sued the test to adapt to the new and more powerful bike, while team mate Andrea Iannone who crashed out of the race early on worked on set-up and brake discs that he’ll be using at the Motegi GP.
On his first day with GP13 Hernandez said, “I am happy because this bike has much more power compared to the one I was used to, the electronics are totally different and I need to change my riding style to be faster, but today I rode the best bike of my life.
I need to work hard, to learn a lot because the electronics are really different from CRT.
I need to work hard on the feeling, and I’ll do my best.
I need to do a lot of kilometers to achieve a good pace for the race, but I am faster than with my other bike.
It’s too early to say anything, I need more time to learn, and to improve.
I feel good physically right now, for a first day it has been not so bad.
I need to understand this bike that is really different from mine and it has a lot of power too.
I really thank Pramac and Ducati for the opportunity they have given me.
”“It was a good and important day.
I was faster than I was over the weekend, I recorded a good time and in the end it wasn’t bad,” said Iannone.
“The bike is basically the same.
We changed some small things, and I’m happy because my feeling is improving.
We also tried the new brake discs, which could definitely help at Motegi.
I didn’t have a lot of confidence this morning, maybe due to the track still being damp, or to my fall yesterday, but then I slowly improved and rode pretty fast and consistently.
The shoulder is hurting a little bit now, but I’ll undergo therapy and training during the week.
”Ducati factory riders had no new parts to test so they concentrated on set-up, electronics and brakes with the Japanese GP in mind and also the new Bridgestone tires.
Ducati est riders Michele Pirro and Franco Battaini worked on the new 2014 engine.
Andrea Dovizioso said, “Today’s test was interesting because you can always work on small details after a race, as you have all the parameters from the weekend.
We didn’t try any new parts, but we did some small tests with the balance that helped us to understand some things.
We tried the bigger brakes, which we might use in Japan, and they work very well.
There was also a new tyre that Bridgestone brought; it could let us also use the hard option during the weekends, as we normally just use the soft.
The conditions today were good and we dropped our fast lap time a bit, so we hope that these small improvements will help us at Aragon.
”“We got a late start because of the weather, but then we just worked through the day and pretty much tested everything we wanted to try.
We didn’t have anything too major, just some different setup options that we may want to use at some races later in the year.
On a positive note, we tried the new hard Bridgestone tyre, which seemed to work pretty well and should definitely be good for some tracks later in the season if it’s available.
We also tested brakes for Motegi.
In general, we didn’t find any big breakthroughs, but we got some good information, ” said Hayden, who did not get the new chassis that Dovizioso has been using.
Suzuki continued their development work with Randy de Puniet and Nobuatsu Aoki the chassis they chose the last time they tested and are still using the Mitsubishi ECU software, but according to the official MotoGP website they have already working with the Magneti Marelli spec system.
Suzuki will continue testing at Misano tomorrow and Wednesday.
2013 MotoGP Misano Test Results:1 MARQUEZ, Marc Repsol Honda Team 1:33.
264 2 LORENZO, Jorge Yamaha Factory Racing Team 1:33.
502 0.
238 0.
238 3 ROSSI, Valentino Yamaha Factory Racing Team 1:33.
660 0.
396 0.
158 4 CRUTCHLOW, Cal Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1:33.
780 0.
516 0.
120 5 BAUTISTA, Alvaro GO&FUN Honda Gresini 1:33.
877 0.
613 0.
097 6 PEDROSA, Dani Repsol Honda Team 1:33.
892 0.
628 0.
015 7 BRADL, Stefan LCR Honda MotoGP 1:34.
015 0.
751 0.
123 8 DOVIZIOSO, Andrea Ducati Team 1:34.
118 0.
854 0.
103 9 HAYDEN, Nicky Ducati Team 1:34.
252 0.
988 0.
134 10 IANNONE, Andrea Energy T.
I.
Pramac Racing Team 1:34.
378 1.
114 0.
126 11 SMITH, Bradley Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1:34.
414 1.
150 0.
036 12 PIRRO, Michele Ducati Test Team 1:34.
652 1.
388 0.
238 13 DE PUNIET, Randy Suzuki Test Team 1:35.
097 1.
833 0.
445 14 AOYAMA, Hiroshi Avintia Blusens 1:35.
501 2.
237 0.
404 15 PETRUCCI, Danilo Came IodaRacing Project 1:35.
671 2.
407 0.
170 16 HERNANDEZ, Yonny Ignite Pramac Racing Team 1:36.
277 3.
013 0.
606 17 BARBERA, Hector Avintia Blusens 1:36.
348 3.
084 0.
071 18 EDWARDS, Colin NGM Mobile Forward Racing 1:36.
402 3.
138 0.
054 19 CORTI, Claudio NGM Mobile Forward Racing 1:36.
540 3.
276 0.
138 20 LAVERTY, Michael Paul Bird Motorsport 1:37.
699 4.
435 1.
159 21 MAGNONI, Michele Came IodaRacing Project 1:39.
107 5.
843 1.
408