P1racenews AI automatic summary:
The rumours were true: VR46 team principal Alessio Salucci confirms Francesco Bagnaia “tried our GP24” at the Misano MotoGP test.
VR46 team director Alessio Salucci confirmed that Francesco Bagnaia tested one of Franco Morbidelli’s GP24s at the Misano MotoGP test.
Bagnaia’s performance significantly improved during the test, with a lap time 0.7s faster than his previous Grand Prix.
Following the successful test, Bagnaia dominated the subsequent Japanese MotoGP round, winning both races from pole position.
Speculation suggests that Bagnaia’s improvement may be linked to testing a GP24 with a GP25 engine, although officially only older parts were used.
Although Bagnaia cannot change engine specs due to homologation rules, the GP25 engine is reportedly similar to its predecessor.
Despite the lack of a direct confirmation, it is believed that Bagnaia rode Morbidelli’s bike during the test, leading to increased performance.
Bagnaia expressed satisfaction with his recent success but hinted that similar changes could have been made earlier in the season.
