The recent Spanish world champion Jorge Martin on an Aprilia, Marc Marquez riding an official Ducati, three novices riding a MotoGP for the first time in their career: the traditional end-of-season testing day offered strong images , this Tuesday at November 19 Montmelo (Spain).
Less than 48 hours after the end of the season, marked by the triumph of Jorge Martin against the double Italian title holder Francesco Bagnaia, several thousand spectators had taken over the main grandstand of the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit bathed in sun to witness the first riders' laps on the prototypes of the motorcycles they will have available in 2025.
If the best time was achieved by Alex Marquez (Ducati-Gresini) ahead of the surprising Frenchman Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), the moment most awaited by the fans but also the media was to see his brother Marc, six-time world champion, climb on his new red mount. Thus, a swarm of journalists and photographers crowded in front of the Ducati garage to see the Catalan dressed in a red overall climb on his new machine stamped with his number 93, while numerous cries of encouragement fell from the stand.
Marquez in the Bagnaia wheel
While many observers predict that the Spaniard, third in the championship this season, will fight for the title next year, he took the fourth fastest time on Tuesday just behind Francesco Bagnaia, his new teammate. “The feelings with the team and the bike were very good, I felt comfortable straight away. I have noticed improvements, but not changing manufacturers makes things easier”underlined Marquez.
For his debut on the handlebars of an Aprilia, Martin was logically one of the most applauded. If he wore a golden helmet in the morning and a star on his machine, the Madrilenian's motorcycle on the other hand displayed his number 89 since the former Ducati-Pramac rider has not yet decided whether he would choose to compete with the number 1 next year. The Spaniard, who suffered his first minor fall with his new mount, achieved the 11th time. However, he was a little faster than his new teammate, the Italian Marco Bezzecchi (13th).
The Frenchman, Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), 2021 world champion, allowed himself the luxury of finishing second with a better time than during qualifying for the Barcelona GP on Saturday. The three rookies, the Spaniard Fermin Aldeguer (Ducati-Gresini), the Japanese Ai Ogura (Aprilia-Trackhouse) and the Thai Somkiat Chantra (Honda-LCR) all suffered a fall and logically finished at the bottom of the timesheet with respectively the 20th, 21st and 23rd times.
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