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At the end of the first day of the shakedown test at Sepang, Dorna sent out a press release and a small selection of photos to media outlets. You can read the press release below, but the photos provided a few interesting clues to what the factories have been working on. So here are the photos, with a few things I noticed.

Pedro Acosta (above), in pristine leathers on a clean Tech3 GASGAS RC16 (well, a KTM actually). Given the amount of dirt on the track (see below), this must be one of his early laps on the bike. More significant was the Spanish rookie's best time. His lap of 1:59.385 after a single day on a dirty track at Sepang is three tenths faster than Augusto Fernandez was after nearly six days of testing at Sepang in 2023. Fernandez had set his best time on a track that was well rubbered in, and with six days of testing under his belt. For Acosta to be this quick straight away is a sign that he might just live up to the hype.

If you wanted to see how filthy the Sepang track is (unsurprisingly, given that it hasn't been used intensively for a while), then look at the swingarm and belly pan of Stefan Bradl's Honda RC213V. Covered in dirt. These parts are washed every day, to ensure they work correctly.

The state of Bradl's bike demonstrates why they have a shakedown test: you don't want to lose the first day of testing to just cleaning the track, as we saw at Mandalika when we first went there.

As for parts, the new tail unit is just visible, though hard to distinguish from this angle. The bike looks very similar to the one tested at Valencia, complete with ground effect fairing and different side pods. New is the addition of fork fairings, which are becoming ubiquitous after Aprilia introduced them last year.

From this angle, not much looks to have changed on this particular specification of Yamaha M1, ridden by Cal Crutchlow at Sepang. The fairing looks very similar to the one used at the Valencia test, though the Ducati-style butterfly top wings have been replaced by a modified version of last year's mustache wings. Comparisons with the 2023 aero are hard, because of Yamaha's judicial use of glossy black paint on the wings, which is perhaps even more effective at hiding shapes than the black and white zebra camouflage paint employed by KTM.

Yamaha's biggest deficit, of course, is acceleration more than anything. The aerodynamics do not offer much of a clue as to what Yamaha have done with that.

The Ducati is by far the most interesting bike caught by Dorna's MotoGP snappers. The tail section looks unchanged, though the top fairing looks like it has been reduced a little again. The most interesting part of this photo of Michele Pirro, however, is around the midsection of the fairing, and especially in the region where the duct tape is covering up seams.

The front part of the fairing looks very similar, with the side pods and downwash ducts appearing to be almost identical to the set used last year. Behind that, however, is a new side panel. It looks at first glance like Ducati have taken the rear half of the ground effect fairing the Pramac Ducati riders started the season off with and stuck it to the front half of the fairing used by the factory team.

But click on the photo and zoom in, and you can see that the ground effect panel actually contains ducts as well. There is a duct at the top front section for air to enter, and a duct at the bottom exiting onto the asphalt, highlighted by the duct tape stuck inside. It looks like Ducati are adding a secondary downwash system to reduce wheelie and drag.

The duct tape makes clear this is still a very experimental system, parts patched together to test how it works. Whether they have a more complete version of this, or whether the aero updates announced by Ducati at the launch in Madonna di Campiglio comprise something else, we will get to see next week.

Dani Pedrosa appears to be riding a relatively standard version of the KTM here. The tail wing is the version used by all four KTM riders throughout most of 2023, and is in contrast to the version tested at Valencia, which we see on Acosta's bike at the top. The zebra camouflage paint is there to hide aero updates, but the angle of this photo is more effective than that here.

Lorenzo Savadori rode five different bikes on the first day of the shakedown test. The one in this photo looks like a pretty standard Aprilia RS-GP, as raced by Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales last year. We saw from other photos that Aprilia were testing new aero, including a new tail section with a wing - an idea similar to something KTM tried a couple of years ago - and new side panels behind the rear wheel, aimed at reducing drag. Aprilia have expanded their aerodynamics department, and have become pioneers in some areas.

What can we see here? Nothing special from a technical perspective, just Cal Crutchlow chasing Stefan Bradl into a corner. But from a motorcycling perspective, this is as special as it gets. Crutchlow and Bradl are still competitive MotoGP riders, and Crutchlow is perched as elegantly on the Yamaha M1 as is possible as you force the bike through the corner. Sometimes, photographs are just beautiful to look at.

Dorna's press release after the first day of the shakedown test:

Shakedown Lowdown: Day 1

Factory test riders and 2024 rookie Acosta head out on track at Sepang

Thursday, 01 February 2024

MotoGP™ is officially underway for 2024! Day 1 of the #SepangShakedown concluded with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing test rider Dani Pedrosa on top, with the three-time World Champion putting in a best lap of 1:59.233. Right on his tail comes Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3), the only rookie in 2024, just 0.152s behind as his impressive performances only continue to fuel the hype around his arrival into MotoGP™.

The Shakedown allows factory test riders and rookies to take to the track, as well as those granted unlimited testing by the new concession system that came into force at the conclusion of 2023. As it stands that's Yamaha and Honda. On Day 1 of the Shakedown, however, we didn't yet see any of the "race" riders who are able to take part thanks to the concessions, so there was no 2021 Champion Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) nor new teammate Alex Rins, and no Joan Mir (Repsol Honda Team), his new teammate Luca Marini, nor fellow Honda riders Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR) and Takaaki Nakagami (IDEMITSU LCR). Yet.

That meant a total of seven riders in action on Thursday, although those who can take part are expected on track at some point before action concludes. Pedrosa and rookie Acosta were joined by fellow RC16 rider Pol Espargaro, who begins his new role as a Test Rider for KTM, and Michele Pirro (Ducati Lenovo Team), Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha Factory Racing), and Stefan Bradl (HRC Test Team) were all on track for their respective factories.

In terms of innovations spotted so far, Aprilia, Ducati, KTM and Honda all had new aero to test, with the rear tail unit aero a particular talking point with all the aforementioned manufacturers. Pol Espargaro and Pedrosa were testing KTM's newest aero package, with Bradl and Pirro doing the work for Honda and Ducati, respectively.

Acosta, despite it being only his second day on a MotoGP™ machine, was testing a couple of things on his RC16 as the reigning Moto2™ World Champion did some work with an innovative front mudguard, as well as testing out both the steel and carbon chassis.

Plenty more is to come over the next two days of Shakedown action before the Official Test kicks off on Tuesday the 6th of February, so stay tuned for more!

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