MotoGP Factory Teams To Test At Phillip Island

The Factory MotoGP teams of Honda, Yamaha and Ducati will be at Phillip Island this week as they and two Moto2 squads engage in testing with a focus on tire wear. Following last year’s Australian Grand Prix in which the premier class race was divided into two halves by pitstops and the Moto2 event was shortened due to the abrasive new track surface causing severe tire wear, it was decided to organize testing at the island track which will host the 16th round of the 2014 season.

Fresh from their announcement in Malaysia to run under Open regulations for 2014, the Ducati Team will be fielding riders Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow (pictured above during a recent Sepang test session), joined on-track by Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, and Repsol Honda Team’s Dani Pedrosa.

World Champion Marc Marquez continues to recover from a broken leg and it has not yet been determined whether Repsol Honda will team Pedrosa up with an alternative rider. All MotoGP class representatives will be experimenting with Bridgestone’s new Phillip Island-specific tires.

In the Moto2 ranks, two leading teams have been selected by Dunlop to work on behalf of the tire company, as Marc VDS Racing Team is represented by Mika Kallio and Tito Rabat while Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2’s Nico Terol and Jordi Torres will also be in action at the 4.4km (2.7mi) counter-clockwise circuit.