Jerez MotoGP Test Results | Pecco Bagnaia sets fierce pace on Ducati GP22 

Pecco Bagnaia has good reason to be confident heading into the off-season after completing his breakthrough 2021 MotoGP campaign with the fastest time on the second and final day of MotoGP testing in Jerez.

Though he’d miss out on the 2021 MotoGP title to Fabio Quartararo, Bagnaia was arguably the faster of the two during the final stages of the season, notching up five pole positions and four wins from the latter six races of the year.

With Quartararo’s form fading amid complaints the Yamaha M1 is being out-paced in the development race, Bagnaia arguably heads into the off-season as the favourite for the 2022 MotoGP title, a status he emphasised in Jerez with a dominant fastest time.

Riding the new Ducati GP22, Bagnaia posted a 1m 36.872secs, just 0.3secs off the overall lap record despite much cooler track temperatures and a full 0.5secs clear of the chasing pack.

Quartararo stepped up the pace to set the second fastest time even if his plea towards Yamaha to extract more top end pace from the M1 appeared to have been vindicated by Bagnaia’s fine form.

Alex Rins was third quickest on the Suzuki, while Pol Espargaro gave Honda reason to be encouraged with the significantly different RC213V proving quick out of the box in fourth.

Maverick Vinales made it five different manufacturers inside the top five on the Aprilia, ahead of 2020 MotoGP champion Joan Mir, Thursday pace setter Takaaki Nakagami on the LCR Honda and Enea Bastianini on the Gresini Ducati in eighth.

Jack Miller and Alex Marquez rounded out the top ten, with Brad Binder the best of the KTM contingent in 11th.

Elsewhere, Fabio di Giannantonio was quickest of the five rookies debuting at this test in 19th, just ahead of Raul Fernandez. Moto3 convert Darryn Binder suffered his first crash with a high-side on the RNF Yamaha, leaving him bottom of the timed riders again but two seconds quicker than he managed on Thursday and 0.6secs off the next slowest, Marco Bezzecchi.

2021 MotoGP Post-Season Test Results | Jerez | Friday [Nov 19]