Espargaró leads the morning of the Misano test; Marquez completes 39 laps

The Aprilia rider set a time of 1.31.531 on his 40th lap of the 45 he gave to the Misano Circuit in the morning session of the official MotoGP test held on the Italian track to lead the times, lapping below of Saturday’s pole time, set by Jack Miller (1.31.899). Aleix Espargaró overtook his teammate Maverick Viñales, who was the first driver to go out on the track as soon as the pitlane opened, at 9 in the morning, completing a total of 51 laps, the second with the most kilometers after the 55 given by Darryn Binder .

The third fastest time was left by Fabio Quartararo, the leader of the World Championship, ahead of Pol Espargaró. The first Ducati was that of Enea Bastianini, 67 thousandths faster than Pecco Bagnaia, second and first, respectively, in Sunday’s race. Jorge Martín was seventh, with Alex Rins, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Luca Marini completing the top 10.

Márquez, comeback with 39 laps

All the lights in the morning, however, have been on Marc Márquez, who reappeared just 100 days after his last start on the track, at the Italian Grand Prix, and after undergoing a fourth operation on his right arm. The Honda rider did three runs of six laps each with the 2022 bike to test himself and see how his body responded. Next, the team prepared a second 2022 bike for him but with a new aerodynamic package, completely black, that the Spaniard could mount in the races he will contest until the end of the season, since before leaving he had not used the aerodynamic update. Marc’s best time was 1.32.395.

Test Misano MotoGP, Tuesday morning session times

Honda fielded the 2023 bike in the hands of test rider Stefan Bradl, who completed 44 laps on the new machine. At the moment Honda has not mounted the new aluminum swingarm that it ordered from the German manufacturer Kalex on the prototype. The 2023 bike is expected to go into Márquez’s garage this afternoon for the second test session.

As anecdotes, explain that the Swiss Dominique Aegerter, who rode in 33.9, made his debut with the Suzuki, as a gift for his title in MotoE, while Andrea Dovizioso, already retired since Sunday, did some tests with the Yamaha to test a new helmet designed by Alpinestars, his latest service to one of his personal sponsors.

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Honda RC213V, new fairing