After a busy weekend at the Spanish GP, work for the MotoGP™ teams and riders continued on the following Monday as everyone took part in a one-day Official Test at the Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto.
But what were the teams testing? Let’s have a closer look, factory by factory:
HONDA:
The big one for Honda was the much-talked-about Kalex chassis being on show. Overall, while it looks similar to the chassis that we’ve seen the Japanese giants using so far in 2023, there are small changes across the board. Up and around the headstock is where we do see big changes though – the cut out for the air intake is much different, on the Kalex chassis it cuts backwards quite deep. This one is very much a topic to keep a close eye on.
Elsewhere, Honda unleashed a swingarm winglet in Jerez. Turning and rear grip have been an issue for Honda this season, and when asked about this particular part, Joan Mir (Repsol Honda Team) sounded positive about its effects. Let’s hope it’s an innovation that can help Honda’s riders make a step forward.
Mir was also testing the updated aero that Test Rider Stefan Bradl was using during the Spanish GP. The new part is the top element that sits above the downwash ducts on the side fairing.
And speaking of, Honda also updated their downwash ducts. They now have a larger opening and a more closed-off design, no longer having a large hole on the side. This style is much more like the Ducati downwash ducts, so it seems Honda are chasing a larger effect from them. We know this is for ground effect, to help pull the bike into the ground on the side of the tyre, giving more feeling, grip and helping them turn.
KTM:
KTM had a very interesting new element on their aero. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was spotted using the new aero that Test Rider Dani Pedrosa used throughout the weekend. However, there was another update – it’s a large element that stretches all the way down to the bottom, with the sidepod now no longer reattaching to the fairing where it used to. It's understood that this splitter-like feature may be to enhance the effect of their ground-effect side fairings – very interesting.
As we saw on Pedrosa’s RC16s over the weekend, KTM have a new rear wing. The new one is square, whereas the older version is triangular. One big change is that the angle of attack on the wing has been changed and it has a small gurney flap on the trailing edge of the wing. Pedrosa was also seen testing a new chassis for the Austrian manufacturer.
YAMAHA:
Another factory to test new aero was Yamaha. The new wings now just extend out from the fairing and don’t swoop down to reconnect lower down, which is much like the style we see on the Aprilia and Honda machines. In addition, they’ve tweaked the sidepod wings slightly and they seem to be bigger than before, as we saw the Iwata factory run the front wings both with and without these tweaked sidepods.
We saw both Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) and teammate Franco Morbidelli testing a new exhaust system, but neither rider sounded convinced it had made a difference to performance. Both the Frenchman and Italian were also experimenting with two different chassis too.
DUCATI:
A small detail that was found on Johann Zarco’s Prima Pramac Racing GP23 was a new belly pan that has a small air inlet at the bottom. Other than that, it was mostly set-up work for Ducati’s other riders. Much like the next factory we’ll touch upon, no big changes to the bike’s exterior were made in Jerez.
APRILIA:
In terms of new parts that could be seen from pitlane, there wasn’t too much going on down in the Noale camp. Having done so over the weekend, Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) continued to work on his starts and played around with different settings.
Set-up work was also on Aleix Espargaro’s (Aprilia Racing) agenda. The Spaniard was also part of a small group of riders, including Quartararo, that tested MotoGP™’s new radio communications system.
As always, it was an eye-catching day of MotoGP™ testing. Head over to MotoGP™'s Tech Facebook group to keep up to date with all the new innovations that are sighted throughout the year.