TESTING TIMES, DESPERATE MEASURES
Exciting times, readers. It’s almost back. No, not the hotly anticipated fourth series of This is England, no, not the McDonalds Supersize Meal, not even the Return of the Mack. So what’s almost back I hear you ask? Yep. You guessed it. MotoGP 2020 – the biggest season yet, with a belly-busting 20 rounds.
If you spend much time stalking the MotoGP social media profiles you’d easily be forgiven for thinking the winter has been all about holidays in the Alps and the Maldives with supermodels and rock stars. That’s true to a certain extent, but the teams and riders have been hard at it over the close season with their development programmes and the traditional pre-season tests.
It’s always a bit risky drawing too many conclusions from testing. You never know who is testing what – whether it be chassis updates; different tyre compounds; tweaks to the electrical wizardry; riders chasing lap times; the list goes on. It’s also worth bearing in mind that it in no way resembles the time attacks of a blood and thunder qualifying session. Nevertheless, it always throws up one or two interesting nuggets that can teach us a thing or two. Here’s a few things we learned from the most recent shakedowns and tests.
Yamaha mean business. That is clear. They are throwing everything behind mounting an assault on the might of Marquez and Honda. Sure, newly signed 2021 Factory star Fabio Quartararo topped the timesheets all three days – that wasn’t hugely relevant. They’ve also signed recently retired five times World Champion Jorge Lorenzo as test rider, a role which he appears to be relishing. Rossi and Viñales also seem delighted with this signing as they know just what Lorenzo brings to the party. With Rossi, Viñales, Quartararo, Morbidelli and Lorenzo all working in the same direction, Yamaha truly have assembled MotoGP’s answer to the Avengers. Couple this with a holeshot device, a new motor for a bit more top end and the old GOAT Rossi set his fastest ever lap of the Sepang circuit. It would appear there’s still life in the old dog yet.
The biggest revelation of testing was the all-new 2020 Aprilia RS-GP. Given the current goings on with their staffing issues I don’t like to make too many references to Italian thoroughbreds on anabolic steroids, but holy moly this bike is quick.
Aleix Espargaro has never been one to hold back with his criticism in the past, but he was positively beaming. Only 0.35s from the top of the timesheets and nearly two seconds quicker than his best in the 2019 race. Christmas has come early for the Spaniard. Or is that late? I don’t know, but his bike is quicker than a greased cougar from the planet big bollocks.
While we’re on the subject of juiced up Italians, the career prospects of Bradley Smith are currently looking pretty bright, thanks to our chiselled Italian friend. A ride in Moto E is locked up and it’s just possible that he could inherit the second Aprilia seat at just the right time. Fingers crossed Bradders.
KTM also look to have found something. They had some funky aero on show and have made a number of changes to both the frame and the motor. Able to run in the 1:58s, something is clearly working. The decision to pull out of Moto2 and Moto3 could well prove to be their best move yet. In Austria it appears the hills are alive with more than just the sound of music, while as far as looks go, the Suzuki’s a winner with an awesome 60th anniversary throwback livery. They’ve not done anything too radical to the bike, with a more subtle development approach to both the handling and minor tweaks to the engine. With Mir and Rins reportedly signed up for 2021, they should be right up at the sharp end again this season.
It’s all remarkably dull over at Honda and Ducati. Marquez is still recovering from shoulder surgery and reported that he’s still down on strength and feeling the burn. Rumours persist of the reigning champ needing a second op, but knowing him he’ll be topping every session at Qatar before winning the race in typical fashion. His brother made his debut in earnest at Sepang and looked, well, pretty much like a Marquez! Maybe his brother has let him into a few of the secrets to unlocking the unmanageable Honda.
The Ducati looked quick and smooth as ever and it was pretty much business as usual. Ducati’s biggest error appears to have been missing out on the cream of the talent for 2021 with Viñales, Quartararo, Rins and Mir all committed elsewhere. It looks like they’ll have to promote from within.
The usual caveat of not really knowing where things stand until after the first European Round at Jerez in May still holds true, but with 19 riders at Sepang all lapping within a second, 2020 looks set to be the closest and biggest season yet. Get in there!