Hna graduated this Saturday at Sepang International Circuit the three days of set-up before the official test next week (February 6 to 8) where the curtain will officially rise on the 2024 preseason and the shakedown left interesting images not only on the field of aerodynamics focused on a technical level because the rise continues unstoppable. And even the former MotoGP rider and Superbike champion Ben Spies From the United States he launched his message: “It would be nice if MotoGP bikes started looking more like motorcycles and less like airplanes.”
At the sports level, the growth of the current champion Moto2 Pedro Acosta If in his first day of testing in the majors in Cheste in November he already left quality characteristics, in these three days of the Shakedown he improved his times even more with the carbon fiber chassis that is not only in the official KTM box but it extends to GasGas Tech3. And with that he set the best time of the three days this Saturday, 1’58″189, which is below the race record set last year by Àlex Márquez with 1’58″979. And the third session, again, was interrupted by a classic Southeast Asian downpour in the middle of the afternoon and the last two hours were wet.
In three days Pedro Acosta He was second with 1’59″385, third with 1’58″531 until first this Saturday with 1’58″189, a crash included shortly after turn 11. And as you know what happened in these three days was an extra test for him and the officials of Honda and Yamaha, he was the only official rider who came out of the track in the last hour in the wet and shortly after the finish he experienced the second crash of the day, his third in MotoGP, this time at turn 15, the three of real learning.
The one from Puerto de Mazarrón beat Pol Espargaró by 66 thousandths, now working as a tester for the brand, but keeping his pace alive: “The rookie is coming strong. He did a very good test, he fits the bike very well and we are all very satisfied, so… the curves are coming!”, ‘Polyccio’ said at the end of the shakedown.
Honda closed the gap on KTM – perhaps putting on new rubber – and Johann Zarco finished just over two tenths, ahead of his compatriot Quartararo, who 0″328 Joan Mir, the strong men of the -their pits, LCR Honda and Repsol Honda.The Mallorca confirmed that the 2023 Honda has disappeared from the pits and here it has two 2024 units based on the Cheste prototype.
The top-5 is closed by Dani Pedrosa who, after leading the first day in the next two, focused on testing the parts, but never stopped pushing, 0″289 behind Acosta
Classification
Shakedown, day 3
1. Pedro Acosta (ESP/GasGas) 1’58″189
2. Pol Espargaró (ESP/KTM test) 1’58″255
3. Johann Zarco (FRA/Honda) 1’58″400
4. Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha) 1’58″438
5. Dani Pedrosa (ESP/KTM test) 1’58″478
6. Joan Mir (ESP/Honda) 1’58″517
7. Alex Rins (ESP/Yamaha) 1’58″543
8. Luca Marini (ITA/Honda) 1’58″935
9. Takaaki Nakagami (JPN/Honda) 1’59″072
10. Cal Crutchlow (GBR Yamaha test) 1’58″983
11. Michele Pirro (ITA/Ducati test) 1’59″330
12. Lorenzo Savadori (ITA/Aprilia) 2’00″000
13. Stefan Bradl (ALE/Honda test) 2’01″099
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
