Variable weather slows down the MotoGP teams and riders at Monday’s test at Mugello – Brad Binder sets best time ahead of Pedro Acosta and Luca Marini
After the recent race weekend, the pit lane at Mugello opened again on Monday from 10am to 6pm for an official MotoGP test day. However, this was hampered by the weather, as it rained repeatedly throughout the day, meaning that track time in the dry was limited
When the track was opened in the morning, it was still damp from the rain during the night. However, it dried out in the course of the morning so that a few fast laps on slicks were possible. Around 11:30 a.m., the rain set in again.
Some drivers went out on rain tires, but practically only did inspection laps. The rain eased again around midday, but the times were still ten seconds off those on slick tires. This did not change for the rest of the test day, as it remained rainy throughout the afternoon
Brad Binder with best time on slicks
So Brad Binder, who was one of the first riders to set off in better conditions, topped the classification with a time of 1:47.617 minutes. For comparison: the fastest race lap on Sunday was 1:45.770 minutes.
Binder’s KTM brand colleague Pedro Acosta from Tech3-GasGas finished just 0.033 seconds behind in second place. Honda rider Luca Marini finished third, but was already 1.434 seconds behind. Unlike Binder and Acosta, he set his fastest lap later in the day in poorer conditions.
Jack Miller (KTM) and Joan Mir (Honda) completed the top five, followed by Maverick Vinales (Aprilia), Alex Rins (Yamaha), Johann Zarco (LCR Honda), Miguel Oliveira (Trackhouse Aprilia) and Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) in the remaining top 10 places. A total of 16 riders marked a time.
Seven of the regular riders did not ride at all on Monday: Race winner Francesco Bagnaia and his Ducati teammate Enea Bastianini, Jorge Martin (Pramac-Ducati), Marc Marquez (Gresini-Ducati), Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) and the VR46 duo.
The weather made the day complicated for all those who wanted to test new components or play with the set-up to make progress over the weekend
Weather severely restricts testing work
Aprilia team manager Paolo Bonora said at the start of testing on Sky Sport Italia’s microphone: “We were not able to keep up with our rivals at the weekend. We know the points where we need to improve and we expect to work on closing this gap during these tests.”
“We have aerodynamic packages that we want to try out for the second part of the season. But it’s important that the weather cooperates.” Nevertheless, Vinales at least used the time in the wet to test a different electronic setting for the rain set-up – a weakness of Aprilia.
Yamaha also worked on the electronics in wet conditions. Team manager Massimo Meregalli also talked about a major innovation in the morning, without going into detail as to whether this concerned the engine or chassis. But then the rain came.
The new fairing from the Jerez test could be seen on Acosta’s GasGas machine, which catches the eye with its modified side structure. One of the most important functions of this new side fairing is to channel the air, which then exits in the middle of the surface to generate more downforce.
However, it too was not used due to the weather conditions. As a result, not only did driving remain on the track, but the test work on Monday was also manageable
The times at the MotoGP test in Mugello:
01. Brad Binder (KTM) – 1:47.617 minutes (17 laps)
02. Pedro Acosta (Tech3-GasGas) +0.033 seconds (17)
03. Luca Marini (Honda) +1.434 (40)
04. Jack Miller (KTM) +1.614 (32)
05. Joan Mir (Honda) +2.171 (24)
06. Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) +7.361 (18)
07. Alex Rins (Yamaha) +10.035 (16)
08. Johann Zarco (LCR Honda) +10.476 (29)
09. Miguel Oliveira (Trackhouse-Aprilia) +10.665 (6)
10th Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) +10.883 (29)
11th Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia) +11.680 (29)
12th Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse-Aprilia) +11.764 (6)
13th Augusto Fernandenz (Tech3-GasGas) +12.435 (15)
14th Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) +14.758 (15)
15th Franco Morbidelli (Pramac-Ducati) +18.198 (8)
16th Alex Marquez (Gresini-Ducati) +19.063 (3)
