On Thursday 29th and Friday 30th August, the MotoGP™ riders will be on track at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli for two important days of official testing.
GoPro British Grand Prix race winner Alex Rins will be putting in the work for Team Suzuki Ecstar, while the Misano Test provides a golden opportunity for teammate Joan Mir to return from injury. Talking of injuries, Repsol Honda Team’s Jorge Lorenzo completed a weekend at Silverstone without no further complications. The Spaniard now gets two more days on track to improve his fitness ahead of the final part of the season.
Championship leader Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) will continue his preparations as he sets his sights on an eighth title. The man who remains his closest challenger, Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), was allowed to travel home after his huge Turn 1 shunt. However, with the Italian suffering a concussion, Dovi may have to undergo medical checks before riding. The other rider involved in the dramatic Lap 1 crash was Fabio Quartararo. Petronas Yamaha SRT’s rookie star should be riding as the Frenchman aims to get his first taste of the San Marino layout on a MotoGP™ machine in his pocket before the Grand Prix weekend.
In the factory Yamaha box, both Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and teammate Valentino Rossi will have new things to try as the duo aim to have a strong end to their 2019 campaigns. Viñales wants to concentrate on improving the chassis and grip, with Rossi pointing out the importance of having a good test, with last year’s San Marino GP throwing up plenty of complications for the home hero.
As always, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing will be rolling out some new items for their riders to try. Pramac Racing’s Jack Miller was unimpressed with the Silverstone race and wants to understand whether his tyre woes were down to settings, or the tyre itself. This is similar to Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol), who also suffered in the higher temperatures on Sunday at his home GP. Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) will be working on finding a different setup with his GP19 to give the Italian less traction on the rear.
In addition, HRC test rider Stefan Bradl and Ducati Team test rider Michele Pirro will be joining the other 22 riders on circuit.
Plenty of action will be coming your way on Thursday and Friday this week, and you can keep up with it all on motogp.com. Reports, highlights and interviews will be available at the end of each day, so keep your eyes peeled for any interesting innovations that are unveiled at Misano.