The MotoGP test day in Valencia was full of firsts and was marked by Marc Marquez’s superiority over the others, but the spaniard wasn’t the only highlight of the day.
In addition to the new Gresini rider, Fabio Di Giannantonio was a bit of a new rider too, but not so much as he continues on a bike he knows well, but now in the colours of the Mooney VR46 Racing Team, which he left just a few days ago. He was seventh and did a total of 60 laps, finishing 0.024s behind his former teammate Alex Márquez and 0.409s behind test leader Maverick Viñales.
Luca Marini (Repsol Honda) was also in good form and finished tenth, the best rider on a Honda, with a total of 72 laps.
The group of new recruits then followed, with Franco Morbidelli (Pramac Racing) 16th, ahead of Johann Zarco (LCR Honda). 0.77s separated the rivals, with the Italian doing a total of 69 laps, eight more than the Frenchman who made his debut at the wheel of the RC213V.
The real debut had Pedro Acosta (GASGAS Tech3) as its main protagonist, with the rider riding a MotoGP bike for the first time. The Moto2 world champion rode a total of 70 laps, with the last one being his best, thus concluding the tests with 18th place.
Finishing was Alex Rins (Yamaha), 1.311s off the lead. The Spaniard, who left LCR Honda to join the factory Yamaha team, did a total of 54 laps, having crashed out of the main race on Sunday in his farewell ride on the RC213V.