2023-06-13 21:12:45
The top speed in the MotoGP World Championship keeps increasing. This year, 14 MotoGP riders already cracked the 350 km/h on the 1200 m long straight of the COTA. In 2022 only Enea Bastianini and Jack Miller succeeded in Austin (at 350.6 km/h each, both still on Ducati at the time).
In Mugello at the weekend, twelve drivers reached 360 km/h on the 1.141 km long start-finish straight!
“We get a little out of it with the aerodynamics, and a little more with the devices. All of these things ensure a high top speed,” says Marc Márquez. The Repsol Honda star also warned: “If the speed continues to increase, the run-off zones of all routes will be too small.”
A look at the history books shows: Dani Pedrosa held the top speed record in the premier class of the motorcycle world championship for a long time. In 2009, 349.3 km/h were measured for the then Honda pilot in Mugello. It was only five years later that Andrea Iannone (Ducati) replaced him at the top of this list at 349.6 km/h on the same route.
Finally, in 2015, it was Honda ace Marc Márquez who broke the 350 km/h mark for the first time in Doha. However, his speed record only lasted until the Mugello GP of the same year: From then on, Iannone gradually increased the record to 354.9 km/h.
Andrea Dovizioso then continued the series for Ducati at the 2018 Italian GP (356.5 km/h) and 2019 (356.7 km/h).
In 2021, Johann Zarco achieved another milestone: the Pramac Ducati pilot passed the speed measurement in Doha at 362.4 km/h. In the same year, Red Bull KTM factory rider Brad Binder equalized this mark in Mugello.
In 2022, Jorge Martin, another Pramac Ducati ace, snatched the record: the Spaniard reached a whopping 363.6 km/h in the slipstream on the second lap of the Italian GP on the 1.141 km long Mugello start-finish straight.
“It’s very risky. When you get into the first corner it’s amazing how the wind moves the bike. Still, it’s a nice feeling to drive so fast,” Martin said followingwards.
“At the end of the day it’s development, every year the technology in MotoGP gets better,” said Jack Miller. “And there will be further improvements. The sound barrier at 300 km/h used to be a big deal. Then came 360 km/h and now 363 km/h. The difference between 360 and 370 km/h is not massive.”
In the sprint race last Saturday in Mugello, Brad Binder set a record of 366.1 km/h and brought it home to KTM for the second time. Incidentally, at 364.8 km/h, Bastianini (Ducati) was also faster than the previous record.
“My bike is a rocket, the team did an incredible job,” grinned Binder. “I was able to overtake the other drivers at the end of the straight every time. It’s so good when you have a few extra km/h in your pocket. It’s exciting and makes overtaking a little easier. I now have the top speed record for the second time in Mugello with the KTM – and I’m a few km/h faster than back in 2021. »
Top speed records, Mugello GP 2023:
Brad Binder, KTM, 366,1 km/h (Sprint)
Bastianini, Ducati, 364.8 km/h (Sprint)
Di Giannantonio, Ducati, 363.6 km/h (Rennen)
Viñales, Aprilia, 363.6 km/h (Sprint)
Miller, KTM, 362,4 km/h (Sprint)
Zarco, Ducati, 362.4 km/h (Sprint)
Pirro, Ducati, 361.2 km/h (Sprint)
Marc Márquez, Honda, 360,0 km/h (Sprint)
Martin, Ducati, 360,0 km/h (Sprint)
Bezzecchi, Ducati, 360.0 km/h (Sprint)
Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia, 360.0 km/h (Sprint)
Quartararo, Yamaha, 360.0 mph (Sprint)
Oliveira, Aprilia, 358,8 km/h (Sprint)
Alex Márquez, Ducati, 358,8 km/h (FP2)
Raul Fernandez, Aprilia, 357.6 mph (Sprint)
Savadori, Aprilia, 356.4 km/h (Sprint)
Bagnaia, Ducati, 356.4 km/h (Sprint)
Marini, Ducati, 356.4 km/h (Sprint)
Morbidelli, Yamaha, 355.2 mph (Q1)
Nakagami, Honda, 354.0 km/h (Rennen)
Rins, Honda, 354,0 km/h (Sprint)
Augusto Fernández, KTM, 352.9 km/h (Q1)
Mir, Honda, 352,9 km/h (FP2)
Folger, KTM, 350,6 km/h (FP)
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