Pol Espargaro rose back to the head of the times to end the final pre-season test as the fastest rider overall, while Raul Fernandez suffered with a suspected concussion.
Having led the opening day of action at the Mandalika Circuit in Indonesia, Espargaro was keen to make his way back to the peak of the timesheets on Sunday as he fired in a new lap record – a 1:31.060s – during the morning, a gambit that ultimately went unbeaten to leave him atop the pile as the final pre-season test of 2022 came to a close.
Just behind the Honda racer came Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo, the 2021 MotoGP world champion circulating just 0.014s adrift despite being left largely underwhelmed with the lack of extra power found by Yamaha for its M1 over the winter.
Aleix Espargaro again made sure Aprilia featured within the top three as he lapped a couple tenths-of-a-second away from his brother, while the other factory Yamaha of Franco Morbidelli and Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia completed the top five.
Alex Rins was sixth on the sole Suzuki out for the final day after team-mate Joan Mir was forced to rest after contracting a nasty dose of food poisoning, while Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales managed to shade Pramac Ducati’s Johann Zarco for seventh.
Brad Binder salvaged a top ten for KTM in ninth in what has been a rather challenging off-season for the Austrian brand as it has struggled for outright speed, while LCR Honda’s Alex Marquez completed the top ten just 0.543s down on Espargaro’s benchmark.
Marco Bezzecchi ended Sunday as the fastest rookie down in 17th for the VR46 Ducati outfit, while fellow newcomer Raul Fernandez pulled out early on Sunday after suffering from a suspected concussion following on from a heavy Saturday spill – in which he hit his head – the Tech 3 KTM rider only completing seven laps as he crashed once again after out-braking himself at Turn 10.
Luca Marini was 12th quickest on the final day on his VR46 bike, though will end up third in the overall combined times courtesy of his blistering Saturday-leading effort.
Marc Marquez was 14th as the test concluded just ahead of Jack Miller and RNF Racing Yamaha’s Andrea Dovizioso, with 2021 Austrian Grand Prix victor Jorge Martin ending up 20th on the other Pramac machine.
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