Submitted by David Emmett on
In the MotoGP rookie preseason mini-championship, Fabio Di Giannantonio took first blood, the Gresini Ducati rider 1.656 seconds behind Ducati stablemate Pecco Bagnaia. Raul Fernandez won the Tech3 battle, 0.163 behind Di Giannantonio, and just under four hundredths faster than his teammate and Moto2 world champion Remy Gardner. Marco Bezzecchi ended as fourth fastest rookie on the VR46 Ducati, while Moto3 graduate Darryn Binder was slowest of the rookies on the RNF Yamaha, as you might expect from a rider moving up from Moto3. Binder improved his time from Thursday by 1.8 seconds.
Rookie times:
| Pos | No | Rider | Bike | Best time | Diff to best | Diff to rookie | Prev |
| 1 | 49 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | Ducati GP21 | 1:38.528 | 1.656 | ||
| 2 | 25 | Raul Fernandez | KTM RC16 | 1:38.691 | 1.819 | 0.163 | 0.163 |
| 3 | 87 | Remy Gardner | KTM RC16 | 1:38.728 | 1.856 | 0.200 | 0.037 |
| 4 | 72 | Marco Bezzecchi | Ducati GP21 | 1:39.312 | 2.440 | 0.784 | 0.584 |
| 5 | 40 | Darryn Binder | Yamaha M1 | 1:39.941 | 3.069 | 1.413 | 0.629 |
Round Number:
0
2022
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Comments
Newbies
The new riders look good. I didn't quite know how DiGia would go. New Fabio seems to be somewhat fabulous as well, congrats.
Darryn Binder made the jump from 250cc putt-putts to "easy to ride, good handling Yamaha M1" OK. That is code for underpowered.
DiGia, Raul and Remy fairly close right now. In the bottom third of the field. Faster than the test riders & Bezz. That's a good start, haven't heard of any crashes, this is also very good. DiGia not much less rapid than Jorge Martin, Gp winner, so that is an indication these riders will do well.
Give them a few more miles in the saddle and they will be fast!
This is the golden age of MotoGp!
2022 is going to be awesome! 15 weeks of the off-season is going to feel like forever.
Binder... 3 seconds off the
Binder... 3 seconds off the pace, 2 seconds off Dovi... lotta room for improvement.
On the subject of newcomers
Hypothetical:
If Marquez can't return who gets that seat?
Shhhh
You're bringing bad joo joo.
A. Marquez
I can't remember where I saw it, but Honda's plan B is to move Alex back to Repsol, and Lecuona will go to LCR instead of WSBK.
WSBK
Íker gets the seat.
If Marquez can't return who gets that seat?
Motoshrink.
ahhhh, yes
a man who truly has a feel for the front end !