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More, from a press release issued by Dorna:

Viñales tops busy Misano test from Nakagami and Zarco

The Spaniard dominated the top of the timesheets, but there were five factories in the top five on Tuesday

Tuesday, 15 September 2020

Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) topped the Tuesday test at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, putting in a 1:31.532 to end the day two and a half tenths clear of Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu). Johann Zarco (Esponsorama Racing) was third quickest despite still recovering from a broken scaphoid, the fastest Ducati at the test. There was plenty on show, and five factories in the top five!

Viñales was out on track focusing a lot on the medium tyre, which he didn’t use in the race on Sunday when he missed out on the podium from pole. He said he’s intending to use that more during the upcoming Emilia Romagna GP and work more on the graining issues with the medium – already improved – that affected him last weekend. In addition, a new exhaust was out on track from the Iwata marque, and Yamaha also had a new carbon swingarm to try that they’ll probably use at the Emilia Romagna GP. And there’s even more, with a new rear brake system and chassis also on show. Viñales said what he tried on Tuesday didn’t make a huge step forward, but allowed him to ride more relaxed – and that could help him to push more. His teammate Valentino Rossi didn’t push for a fast lap and was 17th of 18 riders on the timesheets, but more can most definitely be expected from the number 46 on Sunday.

Rossi was also the man who debuted the new exhaust, the aim of which, according to Team Manager Massimo Meregalli, is drivability and top-end speed – important for the long straights in Barcelona and Aragon, although for the moment the riders have said there is no big improvement. Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) tried the exhaust too and ended the day in ninth, 0.804 off the top as he focused on race pace. His teammate and Misano race winner Franco Morbidelli sat the test out due to a stomach complaint.

Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) was second on the timesheets, seemed happy with a step forward and got to ride the 2020 bike too. That got a positive review, with “no negatives” although he suffered a small crash on it that he put down to hitting a bump. Alex Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was P11 overall and on test duty for a few things including a new Honda exhaust and aero. The Spaniard explained that he went faster than he did over the weekend on his second run of the day, and that he has managed to find a better feeling over one lap. Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) remained sidelined by injury, and Stefan Bradl (Repsol Honda Team) also sat out the test, not planned to be on track after having already tested at the venue ahead of the GP.

Zarco, in third, appeared pleasantly surprised by his feeling on the bike as he continues his recovery from scaphoid surgery just ahead of the Styrian GP. He was quick, as ever, and top Ducati after a solid fast lap. He suffered a small crash exiting pitlane but nothing too dramatic. The man fresh from a maiden podium, Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing), was seventh despite his ongoing recovery from a broken leg… and that was also the reason he elected to test only in the morning.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) was the next man from the Borgo Panigal factory on the timesheets as he ended the day in eighth – and pretty glowing. He also only tested in the morning with “no reason” to continue in the afternoon once the work was done and some solutions found. He was working on the setup and the details, as ever, and praised a new part that had arrived and the increase in confidence he’d been able to achieve on Tuesday. Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) was a little more downbeat but continued work on the first sector and Turn 11, and tried the chassis updates from Ducati. He was P12 overall despite some technical trouble when he’d wanted to use the same time of the day as the race to work on another step forward. Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) was in P16 and using Dovizioso as a spotter in the afternoon as he looks for some progress, with Tito Rabat (Esponsorama Racing) in P18 and suffering a technical issue during the test.

At KTM, Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was the lead man on the timesheets in P4, and explained how his main aim was to improve grip and stability, especially on the rear. The stability through the fast corners had been improved, as has the grip on entry. Espargaro didn’t push for a lap time and was working a lot on race pace.

Three of the four KTM riders were putting in the laps, with Iker Lecuona (Red Bull KTM Tech3) sitting out the action and leaving Espargaro, Lecuona’s teammate Miguel Oliveira and fellow rookie Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) on track. Red Bull KTM Factory Team Principal Mike Leitner said that they were trying to improve the turning of the RC16, with the riders also appearing with a new white cover over some cables that come out from the tank cover, go around the steering head and back under the tank cover on the other side… Binder ended the day in P10 overall, and Oliveira P13. The Portuguese rider also had a small crash and said he didn’t have many new parts to try, working instead on a more immediate step forward for the Emilia Romagna GP.

Over in the Team Suzuki Ecstar garage, Team Manager Davide Brivio said Joan Mir and Alex Rins tried a different swingarm, although the initial feedback was that it didn’t make much of a difference, so Suzuki won’t be using it – according to Brivio himself. Rins, fifth overall, said he had a positive day though as he tried the swingarm and some electronic settings, and that he was riding comfortably free from pain despite some complaints in the latter laps of the San Marino GP as he continues to fight back to full fitness. Mir said he was happy with his day’s work overall too, which included some setting changes… and not pushing for a lap time. The Spaniard said he and Suzuki tried to improve their qualifying pace, but ended up improving their race pace even more if that’s a good warning shot for many. He was only just off his teammate, in P6 by the end of play.

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini’s Aleix Espargaro and Bradley Smith were testing the holeshot system on the rear, with the intention of trying to use it during the race – just like Ducati – in the near future. Chassis and electronics were also a focus for the Noale factory, with Espargaro trying a setting that gives him more torque, the aim being to give him more pace over a qualifying lap. Smith was happy to set a mid-1:32 and confirmed he was testing a new chassis too, with the Brit putting in a mammoth 96 laps over the course of the two sessions. He was P14 just 0.055 behind Espargaro, who was in turn only 0.006 off Oliveira.

That’s a wrap from testing and we’ll be back on track on Friday to begin the Emilia Romagna GP, before the lights go out for the race on Sunday at 14:00 (GMT +2).

 

 

 

More, from a press release issued by Red Bull KTM Tech3:

Oliveira and Lecuona target growth for second Misano round
 

With a lot of experience and data, Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Miguel Oliveira is heading into the seventh race weekend of the 2020 season in 10th position of the overall standings, just 28 points behind the leader of the MotoGP World Championship. The Portuguese star showed a brave ride last Sunday at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli to collect important points, but aims to advance from his 11th position in the race, having carried out a test day on Tuesday at the same venue.

Yet, Iker Lecuona was not on the bike on Tuesday, but studied data and lines of his contenders. Thereby, the Red Bull KTM Tech3 MotoGP rookie learned a lot and likewise targets to go better during the Gran Premio dell’Emilia Romagna e della Riviera di Rimini, which is the third consecutive weekend of competition on the same circuit. The Spaniard concluded last weekend’s race in P14 following an eventful start. As usual, the MotoGP riders will be out on track at 9.55 local time on Friday morning for FP1.

Miguel Oliveira
 

Championship: 10th

Points: 48

“I’m excited to get going again this weekend at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. Our motivation is to turn around the result, improve it. Especially securing a better Qualifying position than we had during the first round here, so this would help a lot to gain a better position during the race as well.”

Iker Lecuona
 

Championship: 18th

Points: 15

“For this weekend here in Misano, I need to have a better Qualifying, for sure. Because my pace is very good. It’s possible to fight for the top 10, but to realize this, I need to start further towards the front of the grid. I need focus on trying to improve some tenths in terms of race pace, but also on a single fast lap. Finally, my objective for this weekend is to fight for the top 10 again, finishing the race. But also scoring points would be very important for me.”

 

 

 

More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda:

Alex Marquez takes strides forward at Misano Test

From the moment he entered the track in the morning, it was clear Alex Marquez and his Repsol Honda Team had made a step forward as the rookie lapped in the 1’32s throughout the day.

After just a days rest it was back out on track for Alex Marquez and the Repsol Honda Team for a day of running at the Misano circuit. Starting almost as soon as the circuit opened, the MotoGP World Championship rookie only stopped for lunch and completed a total of 93 laps aboard the Honda RC213V.

Working both on his riding style and assessing several parts and modifications for HRC, Alex set a best time of 1’32.480 – an improvement of 0.7s from his best lap of the race weekend. Alex leaves the test as the 11th fastest rider overall, 0.948s from the top time. The productive day has Alex feeling confident of a stronger race weekend at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. It looks set to once again be a hot weekend on the Italian coast.

Action begins at round eight of the 2020 MotoGP World Championship on Friday, September 18, with Free Practice 1 at 09:55 Local Time.

Alex Marquez

11TH  1’32.480

“It was a really good test today, I’m happy about it. From my second run of the day I was already faster than during the race weekend – this is always positive. We focused a lot on improving this year’s bike, but we tried some things for the future as well. We improved the setup, and this is really positive, some changes have helped me to be more consistent but also to be faster over one lap. There’s still a gap to close to the top, but I am feeling more positive and ready for the next weekend in Misano. The forecast and everything looks quite similar, so I am excited to see how we have grown since the first race.”

 

 

 

More, from a press release issued by PETRONAS Yamaha SRT:

Quartararo enjoys fruitful test ahead of second Misano race

Successful test for PETRONAS Yamaha SRT’s Quartararo, Morbidelli confident of more home glory

Fabio Quartararo enjoyed a productive day of testing at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli today, ending the two sessions with the ninth fastest time. Team-mate Morbidelli unfortunately didn’t take part due to a stomach upset.

Quartararo made his way through an extensive testing programme today, which included trialling a new exhaust and electronics system. Across the morning’s 51 laps, Fabio’s fastest time placed him eighth quickest at lunchtime with a fastest lap time of 1min 32.353secs. During that session, he also tested the new MotoGP radio communications system, which would be used only for safety reasons.

The Frenchman further improved on his time during his 56 laps completed in the afternoon, to finish the session seventh with a best time of 1min 32.336secs. The strong results have bolstered his confidence ahead of this weekend’s Emilia Romagna GP, where he hopes to make amends for the results from last time out.

The decision was made for San Marino GP winner Morbidelli to sit out of today’s test, with the Italian suffering from an upset stomach. Franco will now rest until the start of the GP, in order to be 100% fit and ready to aim for another strong result at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.

The MotoGP pair now only have two days before the Emilia Romagna GP gets underway, with FP1 at 9.55am local time (3.55pm MYT) on Friday. Sunday’s 27-lap race will begin at 2pm local time (8pm MYT).

Wilco Zeelenberg

Team Manager

This was our last test of this season and it went quite smoothly. It is clear that our pace is quite good and we have improved in that area. We were missing two or three tenths in the time attack compared to others, but we were very strong in that area last year. We know overall it is more important to be better in the long runs than the time attack, so this was the area that we wanted to focus on.

Franco had a stomach upset this morning, which is not ideal for a long day of testing. We discussed it together and decided not to start today. It is not something that worries us for the weekend, but with the next race starting Friday and another race next weekend, it was better for him not to ride today.

Fabio Quartararo

9th (1’32.336)

It’s been a positive test and it feels good to be back on the bike after a tough weekend. I’m really happy with the test because we worked on our pace and on 23 or 24 lap old tyres I was setting some of my fastest laps. We’ve tested many things today and my crew have a lot to look at with the data as well now. It’s all good things to take into the race weekend. In my first run I also tested riding with the standard headset. It’s a strange feeling but it was okay. I hope that we use it only for safety, not for communication with the team. I felt great all test though: we know what our weak points are, I think we will improve even more ahead of Friday and I think we will have a good race weekend.

Franco Morbidelli

It’s a pity to not have been a part of today’s test, because it would be really useful to test new settings for this weekend and the next races. This morning I didn’t feel well and, together with the team, we decided to rest and be fully ready for the start of this second race at home. We go into this race at Misano fully confident about our possibilities and willing to repeat a great result in front of the Italian fans. We are working really well together as a team and we have to continue in the same way. Last weekend was perfect; with the win and the first row on Saturday. I wish to fight for the same.

 

 

 

More, from a press release issued by Ducati:

Day of official testing completed for the Ducati Team in Misano ahead of the Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna and the Rimini Riviera scheduled for this weekend

Just two days after the end of the Lenovo Grand Prix of San Marino and the Rimini Riviera, held last Sunday at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli”, the Ducati Team returned to action today on the same race track for an official day of testing ahead of for the Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna and the Rimini Riviera, which will be held this weekend on the same circuit.

Taking advantage of the favourable weather conditions and the chilly temperatures, Andrea Dovizioso took to the track around 10:00 AM this morning completing a total of 45 laps and setting his best time in 1:32.290. Having already completed his test program in the morning, the rider from Forlì – and current championship leader – opted not to take part in the afternoon session to restore forces ahead of the next consecutive Grand Prix, scheduled for this weekend.

After a difficult weekend that saw him finish only sixteenth, Danilo Petrucci took to the track today determined to find a solution to increase his competitiveness in his second home GP. The rider from Terni took advantage of the entire day of testing working on the setup of his Ducati Desmosedici GP 20 bike, completing a total of 88 laps and closing with the sixteenth time overall in 1:32.679.

Andrea Dovizioso (#04 Ducati Team) – 1:32.290 (8th)

“I am satisfied with this day of testing: this morning, we were able to complete our program, working on the details that interested us most. After a difficult weekend like the past one, it would not have made sense to continue testing even in the afternoon, since we will have another three days to be able to work. Compared to the last GP, I feel I can be much more competitive this weekend. Still, we have to keep our feet on the ground: our rivals have also been working to improve and getting a spot on the front rows will be even more important, but in general, I am confident and positive”.

Danilo Petrucci (#9 Ducati Team) –  1:32.679 (16th)

“It has been a very demanding day: we used all the track time available, trying different things to solve the problems that we had during the past race weekend. Unfortunately, we are still struggling, and I am not satisfied at the end of these two free practice sessions. I hope that in the next two days before the race we will be able to finally understand how to get much closer to the front in this GP”.

The Ducati Team riders will return to the track at Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” this Friday, 18th September, for the Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna and the Rimini Riviera, which will start at 2:00 PM local time on Sunday, 20th September on the distance of 27 laps.

 

 

 

More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki ECSTAR:

TEAM SUZUKI ECSTAR MAKE STRONG IMPROVEMENTS IN MISANO TEST

Just two days after the San Marino Grand Prix, the MotoGP riders took to the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli for a one day test before this weekend’s Emilia Romagna GP.

The Team Suzuki Ecstar pairing made good use of this official test, both testing a new swing arm as well as general setup and electronics settings they also put in preparation for the forthcoming race weekend.

Alex Rins closed the day in fifth place with a best time of 1’32.114. He reported positive feelings with the bike and no pain in his arm after making some adjustments to the ergonomics of the bike to compensate for his recovering injury. After trying the new swing arm he switched his focus to several small areas of the electronics, making it a productive day. Rins took fourth in the morning session and fifth on combined times and clocked a total of 76 laps.

Mir felt good with his GSX-RR and he put in a best lap of 1’32.162. He worked across several different areas, including the new swing arm and general set-up. He ran in second place at the end of the morning session and has kept the confidence and feeling of last Sunday’s podium at the circuit. He completed 75 laps.

Davide Brivio:

“It’s been a positive day and a good test where we went through several different things. We tested a new swing arm which Joan had already tried last weekend, but today we had the chance to look at it in more depth. Alex tried it for the first time today. At the moment we’re not fully convinced that it’s an improvement, so we’re not planning to introduce it at the moment. Then we worked on electronics and settings, trying different ways to set up the bike, despite the fact that both riders are happy with the performance of the GSX-RR right now. We also tried tyre options. Overall, we’re feeling prepared for the race this weekend.”

Alex Rins:

“The problem I had in my arm on Sunday during the race was really quite bad, so yesterday I worked with my physiotherapist and today I tried some small adjustments with the bike in terms of riding position to try and prevent pain this weekend. It looks like it has helped a bit, so let’s see. Today has been very positive and I feel good, we worked well on the electronics and settings. Everyone was fast today but I had strong lap times, so I hope to bring that forward into this weekend.”

Joan Mir:

“It’s been a good test today, we worked on many areas of the bike, but nothing really big, and we also had some new things to try, such as the swing arm. We managed to improve my feeling with the bike a bit after working on settings. I didn’t push for a fast lap today, I was just concentrating on testing. I’m happy with the work done; now let’s see if what we found today will make the difference when it comes to the next race this Sunday.”

 

 

 

More, from a press release issued by Avintia Esponsorama Racing:

THE ESPONSORAMA RACING COMPLETES A POSITIVE TEST DAY IN MISANO

Esponsorama Racing took part in today’s Misano test at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli where Johann Zarco and Tito Rabat finished 3rd and 18th respectively in the combined results.

Despite Zarco’s crash and a technical problem on the Rabat bike during the last moments of the day, Esponsorama Racing was able to finish an effective day for the team managing to accumulate a large number of laps and mileage to continue working on the development and evolution of the Ducati Desmosedici GP19.

During the morning session, Johann Zarco was able to complete 57 laps of the Italian track, achieving a best time of 1’32.445. In the afternoon, accumulating 39 more laps, the French rider reduced his time to 1’31.899, which allowed him to finish the test in 3rd position.

On his part, Tito Rabat added a total of 71 laps at the end of the day. The Spanish rider stopped the clock with a best time of 1’33.308, finishing in 18th position in the combined results.

JOHANN ZARCO – P3 (1’31.899)

“I am happy with today in general, I did not expect to do so many laps. In the afternoon, the plan was to do a few runs and stop, but since we had things to test and the feeling was really good that we decided to do it. Every time we went out on the track I felt good with the bike, I felt comfortable and this is very positive. Happy with the test, very happy with the fastest lap, it was impressive to get down from 1.32, and it is a good sign for the weekend.”

TITO RABAT – P18 (1’33.308)

“It has been a day where I have been able to test a lot of things, despite having a problem from the beginning with the rear soft tyre. Both in the morning and in the afternoon the tyre broke very quickly, after five laps the tyre was completely destroyed. This has affected the work plan a bit, but in the end when we were going to set the soft tyre again we broke the engine, and we did not have a spare in this test, so we could not test more things. We now have two days off before a new weekend.”

 

 

 

More, from a press release issued by Monster Energy Yamaha:

MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA MOTOGP END SUCCESSFUL MISANO MOTOGP TEST ON TOP

Misano Adriatico (Italy), 15th September 2020

MISANO MOTOGP IRTA TEST

TEST

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP‘s Maverick Viñales once again showed superb speed at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli today. He finished the IRTA Misano MotoGP Official Test solidly in 1st place, with a 0.217s advantage. Valentino Rossi spent the day testing various items to improve the bike‘s rideability. He finished the day in 17th position.

The Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team returned to the scene of last weekend‘s San Marino GP, the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, for an official IRTA Test. With the Gran Premio dell‘Emilia Romagna e della Riviera di Rimini coming up this weekend at the same track, Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi made sure to use all the available time to collect as much data as possible. They secured 1st and 17th place respectively.

Today‘s track action was divided into two sessions. Session 1 was held from 9:30-13:00 and Session 2 took place from 14:00-18:00.

With engine and fairing development frozen for next year as a cost cutting measure in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the team focused on all other parts of the YZR-M1.

Viñales dedicated his time to trying the medium rear tyre, a chassis, a new rear finger brake, and the new swing-arm options. He completed 47 laps in the morning, taking seventh place and decided to turn up the heat in the afternoon.

Though the Spaniard suffered a crash in Turn 6 due to cold tyres about an hour before the end of Session 2, he was quickly back on his feet and able to continue the testing programme. The Misano all-time lap record holder made clear that this small setback didn‘t discourage him in the slightest. He was lying in fifth position when he arrived back in the box after the incident but set the fastest time of the day on his next run, with a little less than 45 minutes to go. He clocked a 1‘31.532s for first, 0.271s ahead of his fastest rival. Throughout Session 2 he completed 45 laps for a 92 laps total.

Rossi spent the available track time testing a new muffler that was fitted to both his YZR-M1s, as well as some other items. His sole purpose for today‘s sessions was to find some extra top-end speed and improve rideability.

Not bothered at all by setting a time, The Doctor rode a total of 90 laps to make a detailed evaluation of which of the testing items are to his liking and could aid his 2020 championship challenge. Despite the long day, he showed no signs of fatigue. He set a 1‘32.946s on his penultimate lap in the afternoon, matching his fastest time from the morning on lap 35 of Session 1. As a result, he finished the test in 17th place, 1.414s from his team-mate.

 

MASSIMO MEREGALLI

TEAM DIRECTOR

Overall, it was a productive day. We had a long list of components to try here, including the chassis, rear arm, muffler, finger rear brake, and some setting tweaks. Both riders did a lot of laps, which was necessary for us to be able to check all the items. We also used this test to try a tyre combination that we might consider for the next race – hard front, medium rear – that unfortunately we weren‘t able to try last weekend. The new chassis didn‘t bring to the table what we expected, and we decided to use the current chassis for the remainder of the season. We will use the next few days to study today‘s data. If we confirm the riders‘ feelings in the data, Maverick and Valentino will already start FP1 with some of the other new items that we tried today.

MAVERICK VIÑALES

I‘m still a bit disappointed about what happened on Sunday, because also today we were strong. Even after I crashed, I immediately did a fast lap afterwards, I was able to ride a 1‘31-medium. I rode that best lap time with the new parts, and it feels like it can maybe help me gain something for the race. Already last week the bike was really good, and it‘s difficult to improve it. With the new part I can ride the same lap times, but much more relaxed. This is a positive sign. It means that if I need to push, maybe I can ride a little bit faster. During this test we solved the problem with the graining that I had with the medium tyre, so for sure we will try to ride more with the medium tyre this weekend, but also the soft worked really well. I could do many laps and I finished the session with some 1‘32-low laps, which is really good for us. We just need to understand why I lose grip during the race and feel like I‘m riding on ice, because if that‘s fixed, I can ride very fast and hit really good lap times without being on the limit.

VALENTINO ROSSI

We did a lot of hard work today, I did many laps, because we had a lot of different stuff to try. The test was not so bad. We worked on the bike. As always, out of all the things we tried, some were an improvement, others weren‘t. But overall it was a good test. We found something that was positive, so we will try to be stronger for the upcoming weekend.

 

 

 

More, from a press release issued by KTM Factory Racing:

NO REST AT MISANO AS RED BULL KTM RUN BUSY TESTING LAPS IN ITALY

MotoGP 2020 IRTA test Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli (San Marino, Italy)

Less than 48 hours after the MotoGP™ Gran Premio Lenovo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, three Red Bull KTM riders returned to the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli for the sole mid-season IRTA test.

Pol Espargaro sets 4th fastest lap at the Italian track

KTM test race settings with a view to this coming weekend’s seventh round

Iker Lecuona sits out the one-day session to be fully fit for ‘Misano 2’

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pol Espargaro clocked over 70 laps laps at Misano and headed the time sheets before the short lunch break. In the afternoon the Spaniard made another 30 laps and rested with the 4th best effort. For Espargaro and his crew the goal of the test was to work around some of the rear braking issues that troubled his ability to turn and maximize the grip of the new Italian tarmac in the race last Sunday. He was satisfied with the progress made by the end of the day.

Teammate, Brad Binder focused on largely the same technical solutions as did Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Miguel Oliveira. Binder posted almost 80 circulations at Misano with a quickest effort placing him 10th in the ranking by the checkered flag. Oliveira – the second of two race winners in 2020 with the KTM RC16 so far (one of just two brands to have more than one GP victor in their ranks) – was 13th on combined times.

The Gran Premio TISSOT dell’Emilia Romagna e della Riviera di Rimini gets underway with Free Practice 1 on Friday at 09.55 CET.

Pol Espargaro: “It’s been a pretty good day. We had some question marks after Sunday and the weekend but we had a great test and improved our problems. The track was better without the rubber of the other classes – which helped – but we also tried many things on the bike that allowed us to be better. The rhythm was fine, it was nice, and the lap-time was not too bad on medium tires. Everything looks promising for the weekend.”

Brad Binder: “This afternoon I felt a bit better on the bike. We tried quite a few different things and I felt a couple will benefit me for the GP. All-in-all it was a positive day but I’m still very far from where I want to be with the fastest lap-time and my race rhythm, however it is a good step up from what we had in the race last weekend. I still want more if possible.”

Miguel Oliveira: “I’m excited to get going again this weekend at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. Our motivation is to turn around the result and improve it. Especially securing a better Qualifying position than we had during the first round here, so this would help a lot to gain a better position during the race as well.”

Mike Leitner, Red Bull KTM Race Manager: “In general all three riders did a good job today because it was not easy to plan for this test. We had some future items for the bike but, of course, we had some things we wanted to fix to have a better second race weekend. It ended up positive because people worked on different targets and we made some interesting discoveries. We’ll now look ahead to our second race attempt here at Misano.”

 

 

 

More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing:

Emilia Romagna GP – Pramac Racing is back on track

The Pramac Racing team is back on track at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli for a test day. Pecco Bagnaia gets back on his Ducati Desmosedici after last Sunday’s amazing performance. His pace was immediately fast and with the Team they found the right set-up from the very first laps. Pecco completed the fastest lap with used tires and closed the morning session with the third time of 1:32.207 at the twenty-fifth lap of twenty-six in total. A good morning also for Jack Miller who tried different combinations of set up, unfortunately in the afternoon session a technical problem didn’t allow the Australian rider to make the most of the day. Jack made his best time of 1:32.510 during the afternoon session on lap 20, closing in P12.

Pecco Bagnaia

Very positive day, With the team we immediately found the right setup. My pace was very fast since de beginning, and I finished the session in top 3. I will not do the afternoon session because I want to rest my leg, but I can’t wait to get back on track on Friday.

Jack Miller

Today we have tried different set up, we were able to understand certain mistakes, and we will also have Friday and Saturday to be on track. Unfortunately a technical problem did not allow me to be on track a lot this afternoon but I am still satisfied.

 

 

 

More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda Idemitsu:

NAKAGAMI CONFIDENT OF BEING COMPETITIVE AFTER MISANO TEST

15 September 2020 | Misano Test

With back-to-back races at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, MotoGP teams took advantage of the opportunity to take part in a vital one-day test at the Italian circuit on Tuesday. Having finished ninth in last Sunday’s first race, LCR Honda IDEMITSU’s Taka Nakagami was confident of making significant improvement in race two this coming weekend, as he ended up the test session in second place overall.

As the top Honda runner in the championship, the Japanese star was also handed the opportunity to test the 2020 version of the Honda RC213V in the morning. He used his current race version to set his fast time however, which bodes well for the Emilia Romagna GP which begins at Misano on Friday.

Takaaki Nakagami – 2nd

(1’31.803 – lap 29 of 31)

“This morning I had the opportunity to get a taster of the 2020 RC213V, the test bike used by Stefan Bradl. I didn’t do too many laps, it was just a first taste but it was quite good. We tried to understand the bike a bit, but unfortunately I had a crash at turn one because I got a big impact off the bumps and I lost the front. It was quite a simple crash, but then we went back to our bike to work on the set-up for this weekend.

“We tested many items, and definitely we have improved from last weekend. I can say that we are now at a really competitive level on all laps, and even a qualifying lap too. I got into the 1’31 bracket for the first time and ended the day P2 so I’m pretty happy about that. That should mean we are competitive this weekend. We still will have work to do, because whenever you test there is always a lot of grip on the track. Anyway, we are definitely heading in the right direction and we have a good base for Misano race two.”