Fabio Di Giannantonio tops Jerez MotoGP test as Yamaha debuts new M1

Fabio Di Giannantonio topped the MotoGP test held in Jerez on Monday after the Spanish Grand Prix, as Yamaha debuted the updated M1.

The MotoGP paddock remained at Jerez for an eight-hour test on Monday, the first in-season test of the 2024 campaign and VR46 Ducati rider Fabio Di Giannantonio dominated the one-day test, recording a lap time of 1:36.405 after his 70-lap action.

It was an intensely competitive testing day with 17 riders coming in within a second. LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco finished with the most laps at 88.

Di Giannantonio led the way under the ideal conditions, closely followed by factory Aprilia rider Maverick Vinales as Pramac’s Franco Morbidelli finished third ahead of Spanish MotoGP winner Francesco Bagnaia.

Marc Marquez rounded out the top five on the sister Gresini, 0.232s behind the leader. The team still had a lot of testing to do even without a factory-spec Ducati, and Monday’s session in Jerez was their first chance to improve the bike based on the eight-time world champion’s feedback after the first four races.

Yamaha sparked attention as it launched its significantly revised bike, which featured new aerodynamics, a new chassis, a new swingarm, and new electronic settings, among other things.

The team debuted its new M1 with Alex Rins in 14th place while team-mate Fabio Quartararo was 18th, marking a disappointing result as the manufacturer tries to address its performance issues.

Bagnaia had topped the timesheets in the second hour of competition with a time of 1m36.589s but Di Giannantonio took the lead at the end of the third hour with a flying lap which would stand as the benchmark for the session through to the chequered flag, with nobody troubling this as the session concluded.

Brad Binder was the top KTM in sixth, ahead of Aleix Espargaro, Alex Marquez, Enea Bastianini, and Jorge Martin, who completed the top 10. Raul Fernandez was able to try out the Aprilia RS-GP24 for the first time with Trackhouse Racing and posted the 12th fastest time of the day.

Honda also had a new bike concept to test on Monday, with top factory team Honda runner Joan Mir finishing in 21st place and leading HRC runner Takaaki Nakagami finishing in 16th.

2024 MotoGP Jerez Test Results

Pos	Rider	Nat.	MotoGP Team	MotoGP Bike	Timing
1	Fabio Di Giannantonio	ITA	Pertamina Enduro VR46	Ducati GP23	1:36.405
2	Maverick Vinales	ESP	Aprilia Racing	Aprila RS-GP	1:36.492
3	Franco Morbidelli	ITA	Pramac Racing	Ducati GP24	1:36.527
4	Francesco Bagnaia	ITA	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati GP24	1:36.589
5	Marc Marquez	ESP	Gresini Racing	Ducati GP23	1:36.637
6	Brad Binder	RSA	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM RC16	1:36.639
7	Aleix Espargaro	ESP	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia RS-GP	1:36.744
8	Alex Marquez	ESP	Gresini Racing	Ducati GP23	1:36.776
9	Enea Bastianini	ITA	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati GP24	1:36.792
10	Jorge Martin	ESP	Prima Pramac Racing	Ducati GP24	1:36.893
11	Pedro Acosta	ESP	Red Bull GasGas Tech3	KTM RC16	1:36.893
12	Raul Fernandez	ESP	Trackhouse Racing	Aprilia RS-GP	1:36.905
13	Marco Bezzecchi	ITA	Pertamina Enduro VR46	Ducati GP23	1:36.920
14	Alex Rins	ESP	Monster Energy Yamaha	Yamaha YZR-M1	1:37.024
15	Miguel Oliveira	POR	Trackhouse Racing	Aprilia RS-GP	1:37.063
16	Takaaki Nakagami	JAP	Idemitsu Honda LCR	Honda RC213V	1:37.326
17	Jack Miller	AUS	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM RC16	1:37.355
18	Fabio Quartararo	FRA	Monster Energy Yamaha	Yamaha YZR-M1	1:37.438
19	Pol Espargaro	ESP	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM RC16	1:37.521
20	Johann Zarco	FRA	Castrol Honda LCR	Honda RC213V	1:37.656
21	Joan Mir	ESP	Repsol Honda Team	Honda RC213V	1:37.784
22	Augusto Fernandez	ESP	Red Bull GasGas Tech3	KTM RC16	1:37.850
23	Luca Marini	ITA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda RC213V	1:38.153
24	Lorenzo Savadori	ITA	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia RS-GP	1:38.842