Ahead of the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar, there’s already been important track action elsewhere with a private test taking place at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. The Italian venue has welcomed KTM and Aprilia to the track, as they get important miles bagged.
Fielding test riders Dani Pedrosa and Pol Espargaro at KTM and Lorenzo Savadori at Aprilia – who until now has been deputising for Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) on the grid – it’s a good opportunity to get down to business and see what’s hot and what’s not before the Official Test at Jerez on April 28th. Whilst Savadori has had plenty of time aboard the RS-GP in 2025, the last outing for Espargaro and Pedrosa was at the Shakedown Test at Sepang, back in early February.
For both, it’s also a chance to use concessions to their advantage and try to close the gap to Ducati. With it being a private test, only KTM and Aprilia are on track and category D concession manufacturers – Yamaha and Honda – are not present, electing to stick to their own testing plans.