Aprilia’s Bradly Smith set the unofficial lap record at Finland’s KymiRing circuit as the two-day MotoGP test ends.
History was made on Tuesday when the six current manufacturers’ competing in MotoGP – Honda, Ducati, KTM, Suzuki, Yamaha and Aprilia – hit the new KymiRing track for its first-ever track test.
Rain played a spoilsport as riders felt the track to be good but slow in certain corners, which they reckon will not be good for MotoGP riders. The majority suggested some changes as expected ahead of the 2020 debut.
They were greeted by sunshine on Day 2 but rain hit the circuit again, limiting the time on track. Aprilia’s Smith set the unofficial lap record with his 1m47.540s time, which was more than 12 seconds quicker than Day 1.
The rain actually caught out the British rider when he was out on slicks. Honda’s Stefan Bradl was second, only 0.324s behind with Ducati’s Michele Pirro in third despite a crash at Turn 11 – the only faller of the day.
Suzuki’s Sylvain Guintoli, who will be replacing Joan Mir for this weekend’s British GP race, was fourth ahead of KTM’s Mika Kallio and Yamaha’s Jonas Folger, with the former once again delighting home fans.
In overall terms, the two-day test was marked as a success, not only for the organisers of the grand prix but also of the MotoGOP championship along with the manufacturers’ and their riders ahead of its 2020 debut.
“If I need to say something now, I believe there are some corners that we need to change,” said Kallio. “Basically we need to have some kind of gap between the corners.
“Now the bike is turning to the left or right all the time, and that’s not ideal for MotoGP [bikes]. So we need a little bit longer straights between the corners. That’s my opinion.”
