Mandalika MotoGP Test Report

[Admin]

How dirty was the start of the Mandalika MotoGP test? So dirty that Fabio Quartararo looks like he is practicing his flat-track starts. (MotoGP/)

The recent MotoGP test at Mandalika, Indonesia, was the first time most of the paddock had experienced this track, putting first-year and veteran riders on an equal footing. There was also rain before practice began on Friday, covering the circuit with a brown dust and affording little grip. After no success with the track’s cleaning apparatus, the organizers made the extraordinary decision to use the MotoGP bikes themselves (at how many thousands of euros per track mile, each?) to clear a narrow line. Older readers may remember that at some US and Canadian events of the 1960s and ‘70s, organizers would dry a wet track by sending out every van in the paddock to drive around the circuit—the mechanics’ race!

Alex Márquez takes responsibility for suggesting this ad hoc approach: “In the morning it was very dirty. Everyone was waiting for somebody to clean the track or something…but nobody went out. So I gave the idea to Race Direction.”

Riders also noted they were being painfully pelted by stones from crumbling asphalt. Aleix Espargaró said, “In every corner you get the small stones.”

Understand that these preseason tests are race-team business, never intended to become ratings boosters for the media. Each team has its own concerns to address. Have we succeeded in improving performance on worn tires? Does this bike need enhanced front-end feel? Have the latest factory changes improved grip during the third phase of cornering?

Yet as always, at Mandalika the quickest single-lap lap times are reported as if they are the goal of testing. Let’s remember that races are won not by freak hot laps on soft tires, but by durable, consistent race laps.

That said, Pol Espargaró set the fastest time on Friday—he and Marc Márquez reckoned the Honda to be working well.

Related: Testing, testing…

Pol Espargaró was the quickest on Friday. (MotoGP/)

Everyone was speaking of “making another step,” but on the slow-clearing track it was hard to find a pattern. That will take care of itself at the first GP, Qatar, where we will see how the race sims run in FP3 and 4 truly stack up. Who is ready to go race distance in minimum time? The 2022 Ducatis have more power than last year, and yet they remain rideable. Ducati Corse director Paolo Ciabatti commented on the new variable ride height (VRH) system at the front, now able to help lower CG and increase acceleration off corners as well as the start.

“The lowering device? The story of the wings and the spoon is often repeated. Ducati innovates while remaining within the regulations. We are sorry to hear that it is being questioned.”

Such questioning is normal—what team gladly funds further R&D to keep up with Ducati’s new-technology output? Protest not, that ye be not protested. At Daytona in 1972 Bob Hansen knew the heads on the very fast Suzukis couldn’t be stock—they looked completely different. Yet he knew that the Type A cylinders on his own team’s Kawasakis weren’t stock either. Two scorpions in a bottle. Some politics required.

The Four Types of Cornering Motorcycle

We have seen the photos showing a Ducati with its front wheel off the pavement, yet with its front suspension still at mid-stroke—not fully extended as happens to a conventional suspension. This foretells a future integrated motorcycle ride-height and attitude-control system. Such a system will break even more of the compromises spelled out to me by Stu Shenton at Laguna Seca back in the Age of Two-Strokes. He observed that each phase of cornering requires a differently designed motorcycle—braking, turn-in, turning, and exit.

The braking motorcycle needs a long wheelbase that can suppress braking instability, and it requires the lowered center of mass that allows harder braking (provided the tire is hot enough to grip rather than lock).

The turn-in motorcycle is the one Marc Márquez has always preferred—optimized for instant response, meaning that it has a short wheelbase, is fairly stiff (to avoid 1948 Buick steering delay), with quick steering geometry—steep rake angle and short trail.

The turning motorcycle is the one preferred by the all-time greatest of the corner-speed masters: Jorge Lorenzo. Its first requirement is cornering clearance, and this is why the VRH systems raise the bike for corners. The turning motorcycle is optimized for the stability it needs to remain at a high lean angle all the way through long, fast corners—a longer wheelbase, lower center of mass, and high-stability steering geometry. And as we know today, since high lean angles make conventional suspension ineffective, it also needs enough lateral chassis flexibility to allow its tire footprints to follow pavement contours. We may soon see systems that can switch this lateral flex on or off (by limiting the lateral motion of the steering head). What we may call “stiff mode” could be useful in Márquez’s style of near-instant turn-in.

Questions were raised about Ducati’s variable ride height; Ducati Corse director Paolo Ciabatti says it’s the same story as when they brought winglets and the rear tire scoop into use: “Ducati innovates while remaining within the regulations.” (Ducati/)

Making such new systems work as planned is only part of the problem. The real biggie is integrating them into the machine’s overall handling. We’ve already seen some glitches; for example, a too-rapid rise in ride height at the end of braking.

Why Active Suspension?

One response would be to ban active suspension. In nature, active suspension is common—think of how fast a cat can run in “low-profile mode,” its belly dragging on the ground as it rushes to seize its prey. Animals hunker down before launching a rush for the very same reason that a low-CG bike can get to the next turn quicker than a taller bike—a lowered CG allows stronger acceleration. Runners before a sprint are down in the blocks, not standing up straight.

Consider also combat aircraft, whose wings “curl up” to generate extra lift when needed for rapid maneuver. Eighty years ago the German Bf 109 fighter was given self-deploying “combat slats” that increased lift at higher angles of attack—to let it out-turn its rivals.

Three-Lap Sets

Many rider sessions at Mandalika were classic three-lap setup outings—get the tires to temperature and answer the next setup question on the test schedule. At Daytona, much of qualifying for the 200 was also made up of just such short sets. In, out, in, out, the possibilities quickly evaluated. This is just making prudent use of test time to answer the questions each team faces.

Nearly everyone also ran partial- or full-race simulations to discover how this year’s tires respond to the Mandalika surface, and to evaluate how the bikes deliver a consistent race pace over race distance at their current level of development.

Naturally there were also time attacks—hot laps on new rubber—as a means of saying “I’m here, and I’m one of the big dogs.” Hot laps are for qualifying, and are a specialty unto themselves—no one will run such hot laps in a race. It also pays to remember that Valentino Rossi carefully avoided such laps, limiting his practice to work on specific parts of a racetrack, never showing his cards until qualifying where he’d put all of what he’d learned into a single lap.

Those small steps gel into an improved setup, and rider after rider at Mandalika spoke of bigger steps being made. By the third day, many were stating definitely, “We’re ready to begin the season at Qatar,” because now that the general setup is close, Qatar’s four free practices plus Sunday morning warmup must do the rest.

Look at the race sims of the riders on MotoGP.com Results. Álex Rins (Suzuki) ran a block of 10 laps, nine of which (90 percent) were minute-32s. Marc Márquez (Honda), despite still having to carefully manage his injury-limited energy, ran a 10-lap block of which eight (80 percent) were minute-32s. Enea Bastianini’s group of 12 laps produced nine minute-32s—75 percent—on an already optimized 2021 Ducati. Takaaki Nakagami’s (Honda) 21-lap sim contained 12 minute-32s (57 percent). Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), the current champion, did an 18-lap group of which 39 percent were minute-32s. The sims of many riders contained no minute-32s at all.

Riders were in and out of the pits on three lap outings to collect feedback on bike setups and part testing. (MotoGP/)

What It Means on Race Day

All of this is subject to change without notice—Qatar is a race, not a test, and any rider may take a further step forward. Of special interest is the remarkable new speed of the Aprilias—can they be made to go the distance at Qatar? KTM has opted to refine its 2021 bikes rather than build a completely new model for 2022—and the bikes have responded well.

Races are not won by hot laps on soft tire setups. They are won by race setups that deliver consistent fast laps at minimum energy cost to the rider, on used race tires.

We get our next generous helping of answers (and more questions) the first week in March, at Qatar.

View the full article