MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

There was a lot to talk about after the Valencia MotoGP test. But it was also easy to draw conclusions that don't necessarily reflect reality. Though the sun came out later, the day started chilly, with a bitter wind that sucked temperature out of track and tires. Only the bravest and most eager ventured out early – Luca Marini, fully apprised of the hard work that lies ahead of him, was the first rider to take to the track – most waiting until the temperature rose to something a little above Arctic.

That doesn't mean that the test, and the times set at them, were meaningless. Just that they need to be treated with caution. Different riders were trying different things, and were on different programs. A large number of riders didn't attempt a real time attack, setting their fastest time as part of the normal testing program.

Maverick Viñales set the fastest lap, three tenths of a second off the lap record he set on Saturday during qualifying. But Viñales set his time on a proper time attack, a single flying lap in the afternoon before the track got too cold. Brad Binder and Marco Bezzecchi, second and third in the test respectively, also set their best times on a time attack, Binder crashing on the lap after he set his best time. Marc Marquez, fourth fastest, set a time of 1'29.460 on a single flying lap, then tried again next run, this time on slightly longer run, cutting a few hundredths off his best time on the second of four laps.

Contrast that with the riders you might expect to be fastest on any given day. Newly recrowned MotoGP champion Pecco Bagnaia was just 11th fastest, seven tenths off Viñales' best time. But Bagnaia set his quickest lap after the lunch break, in the middle of a section of short runs where he was obviously working on something. Fabio Quartararo was 12th, setting his fastest time in the middle of a longish run of 7 laps at the end of the day. And runner up Jorge Martin was down in 15th, setting his quickest time in the middle of a standard testing outing.

Martin, of course, had reason to be gunshy. The Pramac Ducati rider managed to crash twice early in the day, on subsequent runs. Then again, neither Martin, nor Bagnaia, nor even Quartararo had anything to gain by chasing quick laps. The Ducati riders were working on a new frame and engine which will form the basis of the GP24, and Quartararo had a new engine, new aero, and new frame to be trying. Yamaha has a lot of work to do to catch up, and with the cold temperatures cutting track time short, chasing a single fast lap was a long way down on their list of priorities.

Which is a long way of saying that it is difficult to judge just how good Pedro Acosta's MotoGP debut was. The GasGas Tech3 rider absolutely looked the part – training on a Yamaha R1 has helped his adaptation – Acosta's position on the bike as natural as any other rider's on the grid. If you didn't know any better, you would have thought this was his third season in MotoGP.