What new tech did we see at the Misano Test?

The Misano Test was a fascinating two days of track time as we witnessed every factory test some new parts, mainly for 2022. Honda unveiled a brand-new looking 2022 RC213V, Ducati brought two new aero packages to the table, Suzuki and Yamaha tested a new chassis, KTM lapped with new aero on the second day and Aprilia were seen with a new aero package too.

Plenty of parts to get our teeth sunk into, so here's a tech round-up of the main things we saw from each factory, starting with HRC:

As many will have seen, the image below is one of the faces of the 2022 bike that Honda have been testing at Misano. This was the original intake that we saw on Day 1, and in the image below it, we saw a new intake today that Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was testing.

However, what we want to talk about here is the aero package. The aero is different and the most intriguing thing is where the aero attaches at the front and the back. Both points where the aero attaches to the fairing are in front of the fork legs - quite far forward. This is different from the current aero package (see below).

The current aero attaches at the front of the fairing and then reattaches further back on the side fairing, different to the new aero that attaches and then reattaches much further forward.

Let's have a look back at the air intake. The below image is from the Barcelona test a few months ago. Notice how this air intake seems very similar to the one in the previous image. They almost look the same, but they are different. This one here is wider at the bottom and inside the intake it seems to expand out, widening as it goes in. The one in the previous image is narrower and the bottom and doesn't appear to widen as it goes in.

Finally, below is a shot of the rear end of the 2022-spec RC213V. You'll spot how far to the right the exhaust sits, much like the Aprilias and Ducatis, which makes way for the suspected mass damper in the tail unit at the back.

Ducati, as always, have been busy. A new air intake was spotted on Tuesday at Misano and work continued with it on Wednesday. The air intake isn't quite as tall as the current one and is wider too, it actually looks somewhat like Yamaha's old air intake from 2019.

More notably, they also had new aero packages - two of them. This first one has a slight modification to both sets of wings, with the top set seeming losing some of their surface area and angle of attack. Perhaps these wings create slightly less downforce?

But it's the second aero package where things get really interesting. Seen below on Jack Miller's Ducati Lenovo Team Desmosedici, the second wing is split into two elements, meaning that this aero package has four elements in total when you include the downwash duct right at the very bottom of the fairing. The riders were understandably tight-lipped about the new design, but what we do know is it's the first-ever aero package that we've seen that has four separate elements to it.

Suzuki have a new chassis. The chassis has this section of carbon fibre bonded to the top section of the main beam. Here, carbon bonded could mean a few different things. Without a doubt it will change the bike's stiffness and flex characteristics at high lean angles, but what we also expect is that it will change how the bike feels under heavy braking. It may add more strength to the bike vertically and it could just help the Suzuki's to be a little stronger on the brakes, as it's often one area they say they are lacking - reigning World Champion Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) pinpointed this area speaking after Wednesday's final Misano Test day.

The picture below shows an all-black side fairing. From a first look there doesn't seem to be anything different, but could this be the bike that had the 2022 engine fitted? Only Suzuki will know for sure.

KTM were testing this (see below) new aero package on Day 2. It's much like the Ducati's aero package from 2020 and 2019, with the second set of wings lower down on the side fairing. We know from this that Ducati were looking for more downforce, while also bringing some of the downforce slightly further back on the bike so it's not too front heavy.

Interestingly, KTM also had another black bike (see below). But, after direct comparison to the standard bike, the aero, air intake and fairings are exactly the same. Perhaps this bike has something new internally…

The current World Championship leaders unveiled a new chassis yesterday. Below, you can see its silver outline sticking out just underneath Fabio Quartararo's (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) knee and elbow.

From this angle it appears to be very similar, with only very minor changes to its shape around the clutch. Once again, it's the philosophy of small, incremental improvements from Yamaha as they search for the rear grip consistency they desperately crave.

The main update we saw from the Noale factory was the new front aero package. Test rider Lorenzo Savadori was lapping with the new, thinner and slightly smaller wings on the opening day, which - more than likely - provide a little less downforce than Aprilia's current aero package. You can see the difference from Savadori's bike to Maverick Viñales' (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) RS-GP below.

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