Misano MotoGP Test Results - Tuesday lap times (FINAL)

Final lap times for the opening day of the 2021 official Misano MotoGP test.
Francesco Bagnaia, San Marino MotoGP, 18 September 2021
Francesco Bagnaia, San Marino MotoGP, 18 September 2021
© Gold and Goose

Following's Sunday's San Marino MotoGP, riders and teams returned to the Misano circuit for the third and final official in-season test of the 2021 season.

Overnight rain meant a slow start to the opening day, with only seven riders setting a lap time by the 1pm lunch break. However the track was busy from the 2pm start of the afternoon session.

Jack Miller led the early afternoon running, before Ducati team-mate and Sunday's race winner Francesco Bagnaia (having suffered an earlier fall) moved to the top at 4:30pm. Further improvements saw Bagnaia remain fastest until the end of the day.

Honda riders Pol Espargaro and Takaaki Nakagami made a big step forward compared to their race weekend form by slotting into a late second and fourth, either side of Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro, followed by Suzuki's Joan Mir, Yamaha's title leader Fabio Quartararo and a strong lap by Avintia Ducati rookie Luca Marini.

Those flying laps pushed Miller back to eighth, with Pramac Ducati rookie Jorge Martin and KTM's Brad Binder completing the top ten.

Petronas Yamaha's Valentino Rossi was 0.646s from the top in eleveth, followed by Binder's team-mate Miguel Oliveira

The two-day test will see all factories work not only on the final stages of this year's world championship, but carry out important development work for their 2022 machines.

Due to the special Covid technical freeze, which ends this year, most factories have been unable to change their engine design since the start of 2020.

Honda has made no secret of the importance of this test and Stefan Bradl was seen shaking down an all-black 2022 prototype, featuring a square air intake (first seen at the Jerez test in June) rather than the usual rectangular shape, in-turn suggesting it is powered by a revised engine design.

The bike was also fitted with some tweaked ('drooping') winglets. The German's name did not appear on the timing screens, meaning the prototype's transponder was probably registered for use by the full-time riders today, alongside their 2021 race machines.

Yamaha had a 2022 chassis to try, while by contrast, Suzuki focussed on next year's engine, which both riders reported as having more power while keeping a similar character. A 2022 chassis is on the Suzuki agenda for Wednesday, when the factory will also conduct further work on its rear ride-height device on Wednesday.

2022 Tech3 KTM rookies Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez are due to complete their first MotoGP laps on Wednesday. Fernandez was present in the pits today as a 'spectator'.

Testing - which began at 9:30am and concluded at 6pm, with a lunch break from 1-2pm - continues tomorrow…

 
2021 Misano MotoGP Test - Tuesday (FINAL)
  RiderNatTeamTimeLap
1=Francesco BagnaiaITADucati Team (GP21)1m 31.524s44/45
2^3Pol EspargaroSPARepsol Honda (RC213V)+0.107s65/65
3^1Aleix EspargaroSPAAprilia Gresini (RS-GP)+0.319s44/53
4^2Takaaki NakagamiJPNLCR Honda (RC213V)+0.389s57/57
5^5Joan MirSPASuzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)+0.403s60/66
6˅3Fabio QuartararoFRAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)+0.456s52/52
7^9Luca MariniITASky VR46 Avintia Ducati (GP19)*+0.474s53/53
8˅6Jack MillerAUSDucati Team (GP21)+0.520s54/66
9=Jorge MartinSPAPramac Ducati (GP21)*+0.611s50/51
10^8Brad BinderRSARed Bull KTM (RC16)+0.645s51/52
11^2Valentino RossiITAPetronas Yamaha (YZR-M1)+0.646s55/56
12^3Miguel OliveiraPORRed Bull KTM (RC16)+0.653s57/66
13˅6Johann ZarcoFRAPramac Ducati (GP21)+0.824s37/43
14˅6Alex RinsSPASuzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)+0.855s71/72
15^5Marc MarquezSPARepsol Honda (RC213V)+0.924s47/47
16˅4Maverick VinalesSPAAprilia Gresini (RS-GP)+1.066s36/36
17˅6Alex MarquezSPALCR Honda (RC213V)+1.068s33/57
18˅4Franco MorbidelliITAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)+1.129s28/32
19^2Andrea DoviziosoITAPetronas Yamaha (YZR-M1)+1.141s51/51
20˅3Iker LecuonaSPAKTM Tech3 (RC16)+1.227s34/55
21˅2Enea BastianiniITAAvintia Ducati (GP19)*+1.313s6/11
22^1Danilo PetrucciITAKTM Tech3 (RC16)+2.002s46/46
23˅1Dani PedrosaSPARed Bull KTM (RC16)+2.058s27/41
24=Lorenzo SavadoriITAAprilia Gresini (RS-GP)*+2.973s24/33

* Rookie

^X Rider is X positions higher than previous hour.
= Rider is same position as previous hour.
˅X Rider is X positions lower than previous hour.

Official Misano MotoGP records:
Best lap:
Maverick Vinales SPA Yamaha 1m 31.007s (2020)
Fastest race lap:
Enea Bastianini ITA Ducati 1m 32.242s(2021)

By Peter McLaren

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