2023 Valencia MotoGP Test Report

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One of the biggest design revolutions in MotoGP is aerodynamic downforce. (Andrea Wilson/)

Anyone remember those  heady days in the 1980s when it seemed as if revolutionary and far-out-looking forkless Grand Prix bikes were about to start winning races? Honda poured money into the GP program of the French Elf group, running Ron Haslam as its rider. In 1987 he was fourth in the 500cc championship.

That revolution did not take place. Each year, based upon rider feedback, the forkless front end was modified to improve it. And each year it looked less radical, and more like, well, a conventional telescopic fork.

Now we actually are in a design revolution, and unlike those forkless front ends of 40 years ago, this revolution is working. The first element is use of aerodynamic downforce to allow harder acceleration without either front wheel lift or electronic throttle cuts to prevent it. That one, in my opinion, is causing the recent rash of outstanding new lap records.

The second element is variable ride-height systems like those now available on Harley-Davidson’s Pan America and BMW’s R 1300 GS dual sport production bikes. For them, the systems exist to reduce seat height so average people can confidently hold up, when stopped, bikes made tall by long-travel off-road suspension. But in MotoGP, bikes have become tall to maintain adequate corner clearance as tire grip has increased, and this makes them wheelie more easily, limiting peak acceleration. Once the front wheel lifts, it becomes easier to lift it higher, making “pop-up” wheelies the enemy of strong drives off corners.

When the bike is at lean angle in corners, ride height is maximum, but when the bike is more upright, it can accelerate faster if “turned into a dragster” by lowering front and rear ride heights.

Electronically lowering front and rear ride height when maximum acceleration is needed is another big development for MotoGP in the recent past. (Andrea Wilson/)

Yet as observed by Ducati management this past weekend, if you change too many things at once, there isn’t time in a racing season of 18 to 20 GPs to make it all work properly. Add to that the fact that these bikes are now very sensitive to small changes: If a rider can get the shapes of parts in contact with his body altered to just right, he can go much faster. Look at the extreme rider positions necessary with today’s tires and you understand how small changes could affect accurate control. We saw this with Jorge Lorenzo on Ducati: At the time, he sounded like “Mr. Hard-To-Please” but once the bike fit him well, he began to win races.

The above tends to prevent anything that’s really Buck Rogers from showing up at preseason tests. Instead, as so many riders listed, there were new aero, maybe new swingarms, a few chassis, and “engine and electronics updates.”

The first big news from the test—not exactly surprising—was that once Marc Márquez was on the Gresini Ducati instead of the Hondas he has ridden for so many seasons, he rose quickly to top time, then at the end of the day was fourth fastest. Even though surrounded by young hotties whose “hunger to win” is so often harped upon by pundits.

Maverick Viñales (factory Aprilia), who ended the day with quickest time, was as careful as the others not to say anything of real import: What did you test? “Not a lot of big things.

“…important to understand a few directions for the next year.”

His biggest need? “I’m looking for a bike that can brake late. Because I want something that’s good on the brakes but turns tight.”

Maverick Viñales ended the test with the quickest time. (Andrea Wilson/)

Bikes that have the midcorner grip to hold a line tend to have more flexible chassis that act like suspension when leaned over, keeping the tires on the pavement rather than skipping through the air. But trying to brake really hard on a flexy chassis can provoke instability. MotoGP riders have learned to be vigilant when they feel the tires “moving around.”

He continued, “One of the main points to improve was the start, which we accomplished.”

Years ago Yamaha had this trouble, which was traced to a steep rise in the grip of clutch friction material as the clutch heated up during a start (you often see riders stopping on the circuit when practice ends, to make standing starts). That can make the clutch grabby rather than smoothly linear in engagement. Aprilia’s starting problem may very well have been something else, but this is one that’s documented. It is usual to replace clutch plates after one or at most two such starts to maintain predictable performance.

Yamaha and Honda have been “the sick men of MotoGP” in recent years, as the European makers embraced the new technologies while the Japanese teams hoped they might just go away (or be banned). The rather long and drooping nose of one Yamaha fairing carried a slotted airfoil in full-width Aprilia style, and the down-sloping “deck” into which was let the narrow rider’s screen has the aspect of a “dive plane, angled at 45 degrees. Ducatis also feature this relatively flat but angled “deck” around the windscreen. On other makes the nose is rounded rather than flat in this area.

Yamaha showed a full-width slotted airfoil on one of the 2024 testbikes. (Andrea Wilson/)

Yamaha’s seat back was plain—no “stego-foils” projecting from top or sides like Ducati’s. The lower of the two exhaust pipes on the right-hand side appears recessed into the swingarm to pull it in out of the wind.

Álex Rins, newly on Yamaha, said, “In the morning I rode with the bike used by Quartararo in the race, grinding kilometers and trying to familiarize myself with all the devices. In the afternoon, however, I focused on aerodynamics. The technicians brought two new packages and one in particular I really liked for stability and grip.”

Marc Márquez was forbidden by the final days of his Honda contract from saying much, but did manage to grin and say “the grip is amazing” after riding the GP23 Ducati.

Marc Márquez let lap times do most of the talking. (Andrea Wilson/)

Francesco Bagnia, the new and now two-time world champion, remarked that the new Honda looked “long, like the Ducatis.” This is interesting because Márquez tended in his winning years to prefer a shorter-wheelbase bike for its ability to immediately transfer weight to front tire in braking, rear tire in acceleration. On the other hand, Yamaha’s longer wheelbase was one of its distinguishing features back in Rossi’s prime, as it can be an element in the stability a bike needs to remain near peak grip all the way around long, fast corners. Think of the times the Honda men have remarked that their bikes were at disadvantage on circuits with corners of that kind.

Honda is at the moment using winglets at the sides of the fairing nose, Ducati style, as in that location air velocity has accelerated to flow around the bulbous nose, increasing potential for generating downforce. Aprilia and (now) Yamaha are using greater wing area (the Aprilia has a long chord) as a downforce strategy.

Joan Mir’s Honda looks very Ducati-like. (Andrea Wilson/)

KTM team manager Francesco Guidotti made the usual limited utterance: “We are looking for small gains in electronics, aerodynamics, everywhere.

“We know our engine is strong and the (carbon) chassis is the first spec of the new technology; there are plenty of areas where we can still work.”

KTM rider Jack Miller said, “We are working hard to make a broader power range, tried a different traction control. We also tried a hand brake.

“We made a step with grip.”

KTM looked to make small gains. Jack Miller said the KTM made an improvement in grip. (Andrea Wilson/)

Teammate Brad Binder said, “We didn’t have anything big or radical but we learnt a lot about what we did use.”

There are now roughly two months in which to select and refine hardware for the February test at Sepang in Malaysia. Success is not gadgets. It is being able to identify the most productive avenues of work, and choose those most able to be made ready in time.

Lap times are fun to look at, but mean little in this context. That’s because we have no idea what information each test object is aimed at generating.

Valencia Postrace MotoGP Test Times

1	Maverick Viñales	SPA	Aprilia Racing (RS-GP)	1m 29.253s	330.5 kph
2	Brad Binder	RSA	Red Bull KTM (RC16)	+0.028s	337.0 kph
3	Marco Bezzecchi	ITA	VR46 Ducati (GP)	+0.093s	337.0 kph
4	Marc Márquez	SPA	Gresini Ducati (GP)	+0.171s	335.4 kph
5	Raúl Fernández	SPA	Aprilia (RS-GP)	+0.263s	333.7 kph
6	Alex Márquez	SPA	Gresini Ducati (GP)	+0.385s	332.1 kph
7	Fabio Di Giannantonio	ITA	VR46 Ducati (GP)	+0.409s	330.5 kph
8	Enea Bastianini	ITA	Ducati Lenovo (GP)	+0.543s	333.7 kph
9	Jack Miller	AUS	Red Bull KTM (RC16)	+0.648s	330.5 kph
10	Luca Marini	ITA	Repsol Honda (RC213V)	+0.703s	328.9 kph
11	Francesco Bagnaia	ITA	Ducati Lenovo (GP)	+0.717s	337.0 kph
12	Fabio Quartararo	FRA	Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1)	+0.769s	332.1 kph
13	Joan Mir	SPA	Repsol Honda (RC213V)	+0.798s	333.7 kph
14	Augusto Fernández	SPA	Tech3 GasGas (RC16)	+0.824s	327.4 kph
15	Jorge Martín	SPA	Pramac Ducati (GP)	+0.899s	335.4 kph
16	Franco Morbidelli	ITA	Pramac Ducati (GP)	+0.953s	332.1 kph
17	Johann Zarco	FRA	LCR Honda (RC213V)	+1.030s	330.5 kph
18	Pedro Acosta	SPA	Tech3 GASGAS (RC16)*	+1.223s	332.1 kph
19	Álex Rins	SPA	Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1)	+1.311s	330.5 kph
20	Cal Crutchlow	GBR	Yamaha Test Rider (YZR-M1)	+1.512s	330.5 kph
21	Takaaki Nakagami	JPN	LCR Honda (RC213V)	+1.723s	328.9 kph
22	Aleix Espargaró	SPA	Aprilia Racing (RS-GP)	+3.059s	328.9 kph
23	Lorenzo Savadori	ITA	ApriliaTest Rider (RS-GP)	+3.431s	325.8 kph

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