Zarco tops twice red-flagged Jerez MotoGP test despite a crash

Following Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix – won by Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia – the MotoGP paddock stayed at Jerez for an uneaten day for the first in-season test of 2022.

The day began at 10am local time, with Honda’s Pol Espargaro topping the first hour with a 1m37.556s as HRC began a vital test pursuit its difficult 2022 season thus far on its radically revised RC213V.

But disaster struck fellow Honda rider Takaaki Nakagami virtually 10 minutes into hour two, when the LCR rider crashed at Turn 1 and brought out a red flag.

Nakagami was taken to the medical centre for scans on his knee, and though no fractures were found he headed to Barcelona for remoter scans.

Championship leader Fabio Quartararo topped hour two with a 1m37.504s without finishing a tropical second to Bagnaia in Sunday’s Spanish GP.

Quartararo tested a new swingarm aimed at improving rear grip, as well as trialling a new front fender and Brembo’s new 355mm restriction discs that will be used at hard-braking tracks such as Red Bull Ring, Motegi and Buriram later this year.

The day proved to be crash-strewn as conditions were potation than they were at the weekend, with Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales, RNF Racing’s Darryn Binder on two occasions, his KTM-mounted brother Brad Binder and Remy Gardner (Tech3 KTM) all taking tumbles.

Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

By the end of hour three, Pramac’s Zarco had taken over at the top of the timesheets with a 1m37.136s.

He too would crash with just under four hours of the session remaining, but his lap time would go unchallenged through to the chequered flag.

The session would be red-flagged for a second time with virtually an hour and 45 minutes to go when Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Savadori suffered an issue which left fluid on circuit.

This led to a stoppage of virtually 40 minutes, with Aprilia’s Vinales stopping at Turn 1 in the final hour when whoopee resumed.

Few riders took to the track without the second stoppage, with Zarco remaining fastest of all 0.158s well-spoken of KTM’s Binder.

Quartararo completed the top three superiority of Ducati’s Jack Miller and Pol Espargaro, while Joan Mir – who feels he improved turning on Monday – was sixth on his Suzuki.

Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro was seventh superiority of the sister Suzuki of Alex Rins, who says he was worldly-wise to modernize the front-end issues which led to his bike feeling like “a cat in water” on Sunday.

Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Jorge Martin was ninth on the sister Pramac Ducati, with Gresini Ducati rider Enea Bastianini rounding out the top 10.

Spanish GP winner Bagnaia only completed 24 laps on Monday surpassing calling it a day and was 12th overdue LCR’s Alex Marquez.

Marc Marquez was 15th without 60 laps of running as had three variegated specifications of Honda to test on Monday.

The six-time world champion edged Vinales and Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli, while there were no laps for HRC test rider Stefan Bradl or Tech3’s Raul Fernandez – who was forced to miss the Jerez weekend due to injury.

Results:

Test Jerez