Marc Marquez fastest with Ducati GP25 updates at MotoGP Jerez test

Factory Ducati rider Marc Marquez offered a hint that Ducati’s latest updates could be powerful by setting the two fastest times of Monday’s official MotoGP test at Jerez.

The Spaniard’s laps were split across the morning and afternoon sessions. His tour of 1m35.876s in the latter part of the afternoon was the better of them – and over three tenths faster than the best lap of the day set by another rider, in this case KTM’s Maverick Vinales.

Marquez’s lap was a strong response to crashing out of the Spanish Grand Prix at the track on Sunday, while new developments from Ducati may also have contributed. Strict testing rules mean this test was the first chance for the dominant Italian factory to test anything new since the start of the season.

Although temperatures were broadly similar to those seen on Sunday, windy conditions and an even grippier circuit made meaningful comparison of lap times difficult. But for the record, the Marquez lap was a little slower than the best qualifying time from Saturday, Fabio Quartararo’s 1m35.610s. Marquez was also a couple of tenths shy of his own best lap from qualifying.

Marquez’s team-mate Francesco Bagnaia showed no obvious signs of an immediate romance with any of Ducati’s new parts, setting the 15th-fastest time in the morning and only 17th in the afternoon. As he continued to look for that elusive “feeling” on the GP25, he registered 64 laps on the day compared to Marc’s 79.

Spanish GP winner Alex Marquez had always planned a relaxed day given that there were no major updates for the GP24 rider to test, and finished up his work early. He was seventh-fastest in the morning and 10th in the afternoon.

Unlike Alex Marquez’s Gresini team, Ducati’s other satellite squad, VR46, had its fair share of novelties to test given that one of its riders, Fabio di Giannantonio, races the only GP25 on the grid apart from those ridden by Bagnaia and Marquez. Di Giannantonio ran a relatively low number of laps, 48, but was fifth-fastest in the morning.

The second VR46 rider, Franco Morbidelli, was unable to lend a hand on Monday following heavy crashes on both the Saturday and Sunday of the Spanish GP weekend. The Italian, who was diagnosed with concussion following the Sunday spill at high-speed Curva Criville, was released from testing duty and will need to be passed fit ahead of the next round at Le Mans.

Yamaha appeared to have made significant progress, thus keeping the momentum going from Quartararo’s strong weekend, when he also claimed second place in the Spanish GP.

The Iwata factory brought an updated version of its in-line four engine to the Monday test, and Quartararo pronounced himself pleased with its performance. The Yamaha’s straightline speed was a weak point on the weekend.

“The new engine is an improvement over the old one, with more power. I’m very happy,” said the Frenchman. “The grand prix and the test were the best four days of the last three years.”

Yamaha felt no need to continue running past mid-afternoon, with both Quartararo and team-mate Alex Rins wrapping up their work with two and a half hours left on the clock, at which point Quartararo was the fastest man of the afternoon. Following Marquez and Vinales’s later efforts, Quartararo would end up third-fastest for the day overall.

Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Burak Akbulut – Anadolu – Getty Images

At KTM, development rider Dani Pedrosa joined the manufacturer’s regular quartet for the test. Factory rider Pedro Acosta’s day was disrupted by a crash at Peluqui during the first hour of testing.

Aprilia, which is considering a possible second aero homologation, continued to run the new rear wing package seen adorning Marco Bezzecchi’s bike on the weekend. The Italian also tried a new swing arm.

Trackhouse Aprilia rider Ai Ogura, who said his main focus for the test was to work on his own riding, also tried the new rear aero.

Regular Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Savadori, who has stood in for the injured Jorge Martin at most races this year, focused his work on braking performance and the bike’s stability. The Noale manufacturer scored well in terms of mileage on Monday. Bezzecchi’s 48 laps were the most of any rider in the morning, and Ogura was close behind him with 46. In the afternoon, Bezzecchi was the only rider to notch up a half-century with his 50 laps.

Honda tried numerous new parts, the most visible of which was an updated swing arm. Joining its regular quartet was test rider Takaaki Nakagami. Aleix Espargaro, who raced as a wild card on the weekend, did not take part in the test.

LCR Honda rookie Somkiat Chantra did not have the day he needed to help him bounce back from a tough start to the season. He missed the morning session due to arm pump issues, then fell in the afternoon.