Ai Ogura topped MotoGP’s first in-season test of the year at Jerez, leading Raul Fernandez and Marco Bezzecchi in a 1-2-3 finish for Aprilia.
Trackhouse’s Ogura set a time of 1m35.944s with just minutes to go in the afternoon session, usurping his team-mate Fernandez by just 0.005s.
The two Trackhouse riders ended up three tenths clear of Bezzecchi on the factory Aprilia, although they still ended up two tenths shy of Alex Marquez’sfastest lap from Friday Practice at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Bezzecchi was the first rider to hit the track when the test session began at 10am on Monday, less than 24 hours after the first European race of the season.
The Italian set the early benchmark with a 1m36.790s and delivered a marginal improvement on his lap time, before Pedro Acosta shot to the top on his factory KTM by just 0.035s.
Soon after, Sunday winner Alex Marquez moved the goalposts with a 1m36.394s, a time that remained unbeaten until the end of the morning session.
Bikes of Marc Marquez, Ducati Team
Photo by: German Garcia
Lap times didn’t immediately tumble when the riders returned to the track after the lunch break, and it was only about two hours into the afternoon session that Fernandez was able to dispose of Alex Marquez with a time of 1m36.316s.
An hour later, Marc Marquez moved his factory Ducati to the top, but Fernandez wrestled back the crown just seconds later on his satellite Aprilia.
Just 0.049s separated the two riders at the top of the table, but the one-time grand prix winner pulled ahead comfortably with an hour to go.
The Spaniard appeared set to end the day on top, but much like Sunday’s race at Jerez, Ogura surged ahead at the last-minute to finish quickest.
Behind the Trackhouse duo, Bezzecchi wrapped up a strong day for Aprilia in third place, surging ahead of Marc Marquez in the afternoon after recovering from a crash at Turn 11. The factory Ducati rider, who was trialling a new front fairing on one of his two bikes, held on to fourth place ahead of the top KTM of Acosta.
Sunday winner Alex Marquez wound up sixth for Gresini, while Fabio Quartararo finished a solid seventh while testing a new rear aero device and front fairing on his Yamaha.
Yamaha Factory Racing bike detail
Photo by: German Garcia
Eighth place went to VR46’s Fabio di Giannantonio, while Johann Zarco was again Honda’s top rider in ninth place . Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) rounded out the top 10 ahead of his former title rival Jorge Martin (Aprilia).
LCR’s Diogo Moreira was the quickest rookie in 13th, but was also the first rider to crash on Monday, the Brazilian damaging his bike with a high-speed fall at Turn 1.
A total of 23 riders took part in the test, including Aprilia’s Lorenzo Savadori and KTM’s Dani Pedrosa, the latter effectively replacing the injured Maverick Vinales. However, Gresini was down to one bike in the afternoon session, with Fermin Aldeguer calling it quits halfway through the day.
MotoGP Jerez test: Full results:
| Position | Rider | Team | Bike | Time Morning | Time Afternoon | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A. Ogura | Trackhouse MotoGP Team | Aprilia | 1’37.089 | 1’35.944 | — |
| 2 | R. Fernandez | Trackhouse MotoGP Team | Aprilia | 1’36.769 | 1’35.949 | 0.005 |
| 3 | M. Bezzecchi | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | 1’36.769 | 1’36.272 | 0.328 |
| 4 | M. Marquez | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | 1’36.817 | 1’36.277 | 0.333 |
| 5 | P. Acosta | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 1’36.734 | 1’36.299 | 0.355 |
| 6 | A. Marquez | BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati | 1’36.394 | 1’36.409 | 0.450 |
| 7 | F. Quartararo | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team | Yamaha | 1’37.057 | 1’36.439 | 0.495 |
| 8 | F. Di Giannantonio | Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team | Ducati | 1’36.769 | 1’36.477 | 0.533 |
| 9 | J. Zarco | Castrol Honda LCR | Honda | 1’36.658 | 1’37.010 | 0.714 |
| 10 | F. Bagnaia | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | 1’36.697 | 1’36.671 | 0.727 |
| 11 | J. Martin | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | 1’36.932 | 1’36.683 | 0.739 |
| 12 | E. Bastianini | Red Bull KTM Tech3 | KTM | 1’37.249 | 1’36.687 | 0.743 |
| 13 | D. Moreira | Pro Honda LCR | Honda | 1’37.620 | 1’36.878 | 0.934 |
| 14 | L. Marini | Honda HRC Castrol | Honda | 1’37.038 | 1’36.896 | 0.952 |
| 15 | J. Mir | Honda HRC Castrol | Honda | 1’36.977 | 1’36.988 | 1.033 |
| 16 | B. Binder | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 1’37.325 | 1’36.980 | 1.036 |
| 17 | J. Miller | Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 1’37.326 | 1’37.008 | 1.064 |
| 18 | F. Aldeguer | BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati | 1’37.039 | — | 1.095 |
| 19 | F. Morbidelli | Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team | Ducati | 1’37.298 | 1’37.071 | 1.127 |
| 20 | D. Pedrosa | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | 1’38.011 | 1’37.483 | 1.539 |
| 21 | T. Razgatlioglu | Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | 1’37.884 | 1’37.490 | 1.546 |
| 22 | A. Rins | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team | Yamaha | 1’37.583 | 1’37.541 | 1.597 |
| 23 | L. Savadori | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | 1’38.102 | 1’37.737 | 1.793 |
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– The Autosport.com Team
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