Márquez in stealth mode as new MotoGP era begins

The Italian worked wonders at Aprilia, overseeing the 2020 switch to a 90-degree V4, which was the turning point for the Italian brand, and creating arguably the best downforce aerodynamics package on the grid. This should come as no surprise because unlike most top MotoGP engineers, who studied mechanical engineering at university, Albesiano fulfilled his dream of working in bike racing after studying aeronautical engineering.

Honda needs to improve its RC213V in all areas, including aero package, so Albesiano’s knowhow will be huge for Honda, especially because he will be working with former Aprilia colleagues Aleix Espargaro and crew chief Antonio Jiminez, who will lead the factory’s all-important test team.

The big question is will Honda listen? Last year the company signed Kalex chassis designer Alex Baumgartel to help the RC213V project, but the German exited the role because he felt the Japanese engineers weren’t listening to his advice.

It’s enlightening to contrast what’s happened to the Japanese manufacturers following the European takeover to what happened to the European industry when the Japanese brands arrived en masse in the 1970s.

In 1968 not one Japanese motorcycle figured in the MotoGP/500cc championship points table, which was all MV Agustas, Nortons, Matchless G50s, Linto, Patons, Benellis, Triumphs, CZs and even Vostoks from Russia.

How did these brands react to Japan’s invasion of MotoGP? Did they try to work out what the Japanese manufacturers were doing right and adapt accordingly, or even hire a Japanese engineer or two?

No, they just disappeared. By 1974 all but seven of the 37 MotoGP points scorers rode Japanese motorcycles and by 1977 there wasn’t a single non-Japanese bike among the 33 points scorers.

And this season, because racing always operates in cycles, was historic for the Japanese industry, because for the first since 1970 there were no Japanese MotoGP winners.

And, judging by Tuesday’s Barcelona tests, there won’t be any Japanese wins next year either.

There was zero surprise that Ducati dominated, with Alex Márquez fastest on his Gresini GP24, after a year on the GP23, with former world champions Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Márquez third and fourth on their factory GP25s.

Lap times weren’t as fast as they had been during the race weekend, so Fabio Quartararo’s second place in the tests wasn’t quite as impressive as it seemed: his best lap was one tenth faster than his best qualifying lap on Saturday, which had put him on the fourth row of the grid.

And it was the first test on a cool November day, so no one was going for broke.

The younger Márquez being faster than the older Márquez gave the Gresini team the chance to have a little fun with its former rider, now in the next-door factory garage.

“All the team said to Marc, ‘Hello we are in front of you!’” laughed Márquez the younger, who bettered his Saturday qualifying lap by four tenths on the GP24.

“When I tried more and more the bike felt better and better every time,” he added. “The main difference I felt was in corner entry, where we suffered a lot with the 23, because the 24 was made for the new rear tyre.”

Quartararo was as busy as ever – he can’t even remember how many engine and chassis upgrades he’s tried this year. Most of all he liked the new chassis, which allows him to flick into corners faster. Biggest worry for Yamaha was possibly Jack Miller’s lack of speed during his first day on the M1 with Pramac. The Aussie was 2.2sec off the pace, with only Honda rookie Somkiat Chantra slower.

Even though Ducati’s GP24 was utterly dominant last season the GP25 is already better: more horsepower, with a smoother, more “electric” power delivery, which is better for traction and tyre life and makes life easier for the rider too.

The new chassis, essentially the same as that tried by Bagnaia during September’s Misano tests, is an important step forward because it addresses the rear-pushing-the-front issue, which sometimes made life difficult for GP24 riders. That’s why Bagnaia crashed so much.

Biggest difference is the steering-head area, where lateral flex has been introduced to improve feel as riders tip into corners, so they can cope better with the rear tyre affecting the front tyre.

Márquez looked like a red devil – all red, toda rosso – enough to burn your retinas, but other than that he was low key. He didn’t do many laps and he rode his fastest lap as the sun was setting and track temperatures falling. He looked super-relaxed and ready to unleash hell in 2025.

“I worked a lot for the engineers because when you jump into an official team you are in the hand of the engineers, you work for them,” he said. “The bike has some positive points, which work a bit better. The feeling was super-good, especially with the team, which is the most important thing with your first impression. The engine is better and it feels like the character of the bike going into corners is a bit different, so I need to understand the new limit.

“When you arrive in team that’s performed better than anyone in the last few years you have a responsibility to be fast.”

Martin looked good on the Aprilia too – his usual aggressive self and he seemed delighted with his first go on the bike, which struggled last season due to the super-grippy rear tyre. His favourite thing: the front end. The 2025 RS-GP looks very similar to the 2024 bike, with engine, chassis and aero evolutions, but engineer Paolo Bonora told me there’s something very important – and top secret – within the new bike.

Martin was a second off his best GP24 qualifying lap but that won’t worry him a bit. This was just a get-to-know-you session, allowing Aprilia to start tailoring the bike to his desires. New team-mate Marco Bezzecchi was only a tenth slower and looking like he should be back up front next season, if Aprilia can make the rear tyre work.

KTM worked hard with Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder, splitting the two big areas of work between the pair. Acosta focused on aero, while Binder worked on electronic strategies.

Acosta tried four or five different fairings, trying to make the RC16 less shaky, more stable.

“We want to make the bike more calm, because it’s sometimes shaking a lot, which isn’t good for traction or for the tyres,” said the rookie of the year, now in the factory KTM team with Binder. “Sometimes last season the bike became a little crazy. I want everything for next year, but most of all traction and more calm from the bike.”

Among the fairings the youngster tried was a very minimal upper fairing that offers the rider little more protection than a Norton Manx! Perhaps the idea is to allow riders to use their upper body more to affect bike balance and help change directions at high speed.

What about Honda? MotoGP’s most successful manufacturer is still struggling to make headway. As usual, LCR rider Johann Zarco was the fastest man on an RC213V, a tenth faster than he’d been on Saturday.

Espargaro was four tenths slower in his first day as a retired full-time MotoGP rider and Honda test rider. Like most riders who had changed brands the Spanish veteran wasn’t allowed to talk to the media – because his Aprilia contract doesn’t expire until the end of the year.

Factory RC213V riders Joan Mir and Luca Marini were next. Mir wasn’t happy.

“It wasn’t a productive day,” he said. “Everything we tried we’ve tried before – we didn’t have any new upgrades that allowed us to be faster.”

Strangely, things were very different on the other side of the garage.

“On my side I had many things to try,” said Marini. “We had a proto bike that will be the base for the Sepang tests [in February]. We found something positive but we still need to work on the weaknesses, which are more or less always the same.”

Despite Honda’s problems, Marini insists the bike is much better than the first RC213V he rode in November 2023. “The way you ride the bike is better because it’s in balance and under control. The engine connection, the power delivery, the electronics, the aero fairing, everything is improved, but the performance still isn’t good enough.”

Among the upgrades Martin tried was a very different chassis. “It’s a huge change,” he added. “It feels like front confidence has improved even more – because we already have a lot – while we lost something in the rear.”

Marini predicts Honda will be getting somewhere by the middle of 2025, if its engineers can fix the bike’s lack of rear grip and traction. Honda will test at Jerez in a few weeks’ time – there won’t be much of a winter break for the Honda or Yamaha riders, who are able to test much more thanks to new concessions created specifically to help the Japanese catch up.

Many riders tested Michelin’s new front tyre once again. The three targets of the tyre are to make it less pressure sensitive, more grippy on the brakes and more grippy in entry.

“When you exit the garage the bike feels super heavy but once you start to massage the tyre to get it warm the feeling is normal,” explained Marini. “Michelin are doing a good job. It feels like you can enter corners with much more brake, so the limit is further and you don’t crash. There are no negative points.”

Bizarrely, this tyre won’t be introduced until 2026, despite the fact that the current front hurts the quality of racing, because as soon as a rider gets with two or three tenths of the rider in front he starts to suffer from increased tyre temperature and pressure, which reduces grip.

This isn’t Michelin’s fault. If Dorna told Michelin to introduce the tyre into the 2025 allocation then the French company could do that, no problem.

It’s strange that Dorna has millions to spend on a new logo but won’t demand a technical change which should make the racing more exciting, get more people turning on their TVs and making MotoGP financially stronger.