Day 3 and last day of Ducati and MotoGP CRT testing at Jerez

The private test of the MotoGP CRT and Ducati World Championship at the Jerez Circuit concluded today with a good improvement in lap times on the new machines of the premier class. The five riders who took part in these sessions at the Andalusian track completed the training and are now preparing for the next one.

The best rider of this private test was Randy de Puniet. The Frenchman managed to reduce his times to 1.40.30 after 66 laps. Without a doubt, the 14 has adapted superbly to his ART from Team Aspar and made the most of these three days of testing at the Andalusian track. Behind him was Aleix Espargaró, who, after two difficult days due to a fever, was able to enjoy a final day in better shape, cutting more than 1.5 seconds from his time. That’s a great improvement for the Catalan on his ART, setting a 1.41.10 after 60 laps.

Statements from Aleix Espargaró:

On the first day I felt unwell and couldn’t make the most of it. Yesterday I was better, but a little off-center, and since this morning the feeling has been fabulous.

Little by little we are getting used to this completely new bike. Today we worked a lot on the front end; I needed to gain confidence at all costs, and I have achieved it. At the end of the day we changed the forks and improved our times enormously. I didn’t expect to achieve such a good pace, and I’m happy.

While the Aspar duo dominated throughout the test days, behind them Mattia Pasini continues his adaptation with his MotoGP machine from Speed Master, also improving almost a second day by day. It was very interesting to see the Italian on his ART, setting a 1.41.29.

Further back, Danilo Petrucci with his Ioda Racing project is also on the right track. Since his debut last Monday he has improved with his machine, finishing today with a 1’41.6 and closing the session with an improvement of 1.7 seconds over the lap time he set yesterday on the second day. Although the Italian did not have an easy time, this morning he suffered a small crash, fortunately without consequences, and was able to return to the track to continue working with his Ioda.

The last of the CRT riders was James Ellison, who was also the one who took longest to make his debut. His début with the ART of Paul Bird Motorsport has been interesting, considering he was riding it for the first time, cutting two seconds from his best lap time from yesterday. A great day-by-day progress.

We should also remember that the MotoGP CRT bikes were not alone at Jerez, as Ducati shared the track with them. Specifically, today’s big protagonist was Héctor Barberá, the Valencian who rode the satellite GP12 at the Andalusian circuit. The 8 managed to ride consistently and at a good pace, setting a 1.40.0, although he also had a small scare, a minor crash with no consequences, fortunately.

Now the CRT bikes close their pre-season for a few days. Specifically, they are expected to return to the track from March 8 to 9 at the Motorland Aragón Circuit.

Below you can see the unofficial times: