MotoGP | Valencia test: Marini fastest, Marc Marquez and Quartararo disappointed

MotoGP Test Valencia – The only day of MotoGP testing with a view to 2023 took place today before the Sepang tests which will be held in February 2023. 22 riders plus Ducati tester Michele Pirro were on track in Valencia.

Compared to 2022, Darryn Binder, Remy Gardner and Cal Crutchlow are out and Moto2 World Champion Augusto Fernandez is in. Lots of shirt changes. Enea Bastianini moved to the official Ducati, Jack Miller in KTM, Pol Espargarò in GasGas, Joan Mir and Alex Rins on Honda (the first Team Factory, the second Team LCR), Alex Marquez on Ducati, Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez on the Aprilia SAT of Team RNF.

The fastest at the end of the day was Luca Marini who stopped the clock on the Mooney VR46 Racing Team's Desmosedici GP at a time of 1:30.032, using the 2022 bike without updates, essentially the one he raced on Sunday.

Behind him, Maverick Vinales, 0.225s behind, on track with the prototype of the new Aprilia RS-GP and team-mate Marco Bezzecchi, +0.230s.

The surprise of the day was Miguel Oliveira, who switched from KTM to Aprilia and did not encounter any major difficulties, finishing fourth, 0.335s from the top.

A beautiful debut on the Team RNF Aprilia for the Portuguese rider, who put behind him Aleix Espargarò and a smiling Fabio Di Giannantonio, immediately at ease on the updated Ducati Gresini compared to the one ridden this year, essentially the 2022 version.

Closing out the Top Ten are Brad Binder with the KTM, Jorge Martin with the Ducati Pramac, Fabio Quartararo on Yamaha and Enea Bastianini, on the track with the official Ducati colours.

Speaking about the Yamaha, Quartararo said he was disappointed with the new engine, which instead had given excellent results in the Misano and Barcelona tests. The French rider also tried a new chassis which, however, did not particularly satisfy him and new aerodynamics with Ducati style fins also in the tail.

Johann Zarco finished 11th with the second Ducati Pramac, ahead of Pecco Bagnaia who lapped with the prototype of the new Desmosedici GP, Marc Marquez astride the prototype of the new RC213V and Franco Morbidelli, who lapped with both the 2022 Yamaha and the the prototype of the new M1.

If there is satisfaction on the Ducati side (both Bagnaia and Bastianini found themselves at ease with the new Desmosedici GP), at Honda things went differently.

Marc Marquez praised the team's work, but on Sky Sport he admitted that this is not what he expected from Honda and that with this bike they will not be able to fight for the world championship. From his point of view, therefore, a revolution is needed before the Sepang tests.

Returning to the time trial, Alex Marquez, making his debut on the Ducati Gresini vacated by Enea Bastianini, finished 15th, 0.680s from the top. The Spaniard preceded Pol Espargarò, riding the GasGas (basically the KTM), Jack Miller, Joan Mir, Takaaki Nakagami, Alex Rins, Raul Fernandez and the Moto2 Champion Augusto Fernandez.

MotoGP Valencia test – The times