Since its inception, the maximum displacement category has undergone some changes that, today, allow MotoGP riders to have a certain number of engines in their box to squeeze the information and thoroughly analyze the prototypes of the championship. This new formula, added to the arrival of the V4 or in-line four-cylinder models, marked a before and after in the motorcycling championship.
However, maintaining these engines is not easy, especially due to the demands and performance required to ride on a circuit intended for the elite of the competition. For this reason, seven engines are assigned to each garage per season, although there are teams like Aprilia, whose concessions allow them to have a total of nine engines in their box.
Since the beginning of the preseason, practically all the drivers have used their first and second engines for the first time. However, some manufacturers, such as Honda, preferred to make it debut in the first race of the year, the same decision that Portuguese rider Miguel Oliveira and newcomers to the category, Remy Gardner and Raúl Fernández, opted for.
Other teams have not been so farsighted, as is the case of the Monegasque team and Honda satellite with Alex Márquez or the KTM rider, Brad Binder. In this way, Fabio Di Giannantonio appears as the first driver to use the third engine for the first time, specifically in the Argentine Grand Prix. The Italian rider was followed a week later -at the Grand Prix of the Americas- by Enea Bastianini, Pecco Bagnaia, Jorge Martín, Johann Zarco and Luca Marini.
This situation opened the doors to the winner of Portugal, Fabio Quartararo. The Frenchman premiered his third engine during the Portuguese event, and his teammate, Franco Morbidelli, as well as Marco Bezzecchi, Aleix Espargaró and the Suzuki Ecstar drivers, Joan Mir and Alex Rins, joined the current champion’s strategy.
Therefore, after contesting the first five races of the 21 that make up the 2022 sports calendar, we can draw the following conclusions:
- Fabio Di Giannantonio was the first MotoGP rider to test his third engine for the first time in Argentina
- With 16 races to go, only eight riders have not fitted the third engine before Jerez
- Aprilia is one podium short of losing the concessions
- Honda has not commented on its strategy and it is the sixth – and last – factory on the qualifying sheet.
