until Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League
The 2022 MotoGP season kicks off properly next Saturday when the complete grid assembles at the Sepang International Circuit for the first of five days of pre-season testing, initially at the Malaysian track for two days and then across the Java Sea for the championship’s first-ever visit to the new Mandalika Bay track in Indonesia.
But before that happens, there’s something of a teaser in the shape of three days of ‘shakedown’ testing action at Sepang, where we’ll see some of the 2022 field taking to the track for the first time alongside some long-time MotoGP veterans who hopefully won’t need to be lining up on the grid for the first round of the championship a month later in Qatar.
That’s because the shakedown test, which commences on Monday, will be open not just to factory test riders but also to MotoGP’s bumper crop of 2022 rookies, with another chance for the newcomers to learn their way around a premier class machine on what is set to be a relatively quiet track.
The most attention is likely to be focused on Tech3 KTM duo Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez, straight off the back of finishing first and second respectively in the 2021 Moto2 championship.
KTM emphasised its full backing of the duo earlier this week in the team presentation, and it’s likely not only to be a chance for the pair to continue learning their machine but also for the factory’s engineers to pay close attention to their new chargers.
One rookie who will likely be left to his own devices by his manufacturer is RNF Yamaha’s Darryn Binder, as the direct-from-Moto3 graduate continues to get his head around not just a bike that’s six times more powerful but also the stopping power of carbon brakes and the incredible grip of Michelin’s control MotoGP tyres.
That trio of riders are joined by Ducati’s duo of Italian first-timers, as Fabio Di Giannantonio and Marco Bezzecchi also continue their own learning curve.
Both are riding 2021-spec machines rather than developing 2022 bikes like Gardner and Fernandez will be on. They’ll be joining Binder – the only other rider apart from Di Giannantonio’s Gresini Racing team-mate Enea Bastianini set to start 2022 on year-old machinery – in learning the ropes this week rather than trying anything major in terms of new components.
However, there’ll be plenty of new bikes on track too, as the six factories send their test riders not just to begin testing themselves but also to shake down the machines that their racers will take over a few days later.
The test riders will be running with newly-built engines and checking freshly-assembled bikes for technical defects, so it means that the rest of the grid in theory should be stepping onto bikes nicely warmed up for them.
The busiest of those test riders will be Ducati’s Michele Pirro, with five factory bikes to prepare for Pecco Bagnaia, Jack Miller, Luca Marini, Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco. On top of that, there’s sure to be plenty of new components for him to try as a relaxed Ducati factory flexes its engineering brain after a comfortable end to the 2021 season.
Elsewhere, there are a plethora of past world champions and MotoGP race winners on track for other teams, as Cal Crutchlow tests for Yamaha, Dani Pedrosa once again joins KTM, Sylvain Guintoli takes the lead for Suzuki and Lorenzo Savadori continues with Aprilia.
The one with the toughest challenge might well be Honda’s Stefan Bradl, however, as the German works to refine a fundamentally different RC213V that will be taken over by Marc Marquez later in the week.
The three days of track action at Sepang kick off on January 31, with seven and a half hours of action every day. None of the 2022 pre-season tests will be broadcast on live TV.
