Bagnaia takes advantage of the extra grip on the first day of testing in Misano

The Marco Simoncelli Circuit in Misano is one of the best places to accumulate rubber over the days and after three days of Grand Prix and a test day, the rubberized asphalt caused the times to drop to 1.31.292 with which Pecco Bagnaia stopped the clock to be the fastest rider of the afternoon session and also of the day, beating the 1.31.531 with which Aleix Espargaró had led in the morning session. The Italian from Ducati stayed 2 tenths away from the absolute track record, set by himself in 2021 with 1.31.065.

Luca Marini also rode faster than the Aprilia rider in the afternoon, finishing with the second fastest time, just ahead of Jorge Martín, who was third, ahead of the Ducatis of Marco Bezzecchi and Johann Zarco.

Fabio Quartararo, who was able to test the first prototype of the 2023 engine, which gave him good impressions of top speed, and a new chassis that he may already mount from the next race, finished sixth. Enea Bastianini achieved the seventh fastest time, working on the set-up to improve the 2021 bike with which she competes this year.

The top 10 of the afternoon was closed by Maverick Viñales, Brad Binder and Aleix Espargaró. The guys at Aprilia worked hard with a lot of parts to test.

Pol Espargaró, who has returned to a bike configuration similar to the one at the beginning of the season, was the fastest Honda, while Raúl Fernández exhibited a good pace, following the inertia of the weekend, which was one of the best of the season for him.

Times of the afternoon session (FP2) of the first official MotoGP test day in Misano

Those who did not go out on the track in the afternoon were Andrea Dovizioso, who had definitively retired from competition and who only went out for a few laps in the morning to test a new helmet for Alpinerstars; the Suzuki riders, who have already packed up their gear and left Misano with nothing else to try, and Marc Márquez, who complied with the plan of doing 40 laps on his return to the tracks after the operation, and who will ride this Wednesday back on the bike.

Dani Pedrosa, KTM RC16 2023