The expansion of the MotoGP calendar has met with resistance from a variety of quarters. While a section of MotoGP fans are enthusiastic about there being 21 races next year, up from 20 in 2022, and from 19 pre-pandemic, those inside the MotoGP paddock are largely opposed.

That includes at least some of the manufacturers. KTM bosses Hubert Trunkenpolz and Stefan Pierer were adamant that the ideal number of races on the MotoGP calendar was 18. "18 races would be ideal, 20 is the absolute maximum," Trunkenpolz told Speedweek's Günther Wiesinger.

Pierer agreed with his fellow KTM board member. "I made it very clear to Dorna boss Carmelo Ezpeleta that we as a manufacturer want a maximum of 18 grand prix," Pierer told Speedweek.

Trunkenpolz was damning of the choice of Sokol International Racetrack as a venue. "Kazakhstan makes absolutely no sense, as far as we are concerned. The Buddh International Circuit near New Delhi was a better prospect, as India is an important market for the motorcycle manufacturers.

Making money going racing

For the past few years, Ducati have been the manufacturer pioneering the direction of development in MotoGP. Ducati will come up with a new idea, which the other manufacturers will hastily copy, with a greater or lesser degree of success. Holeshot devices, ride-height devices, winglets. The latest example of this are the tail fins, the four winglets sticking up from the tail of the Desmosedici, which have suddenly also sprouted from the tail of the Honda RC213V and the Yamaha M1.

(As an aside, what do these tail winglets do? Riders report they give better stability, especially under braking. They are too tall to be purely vortex generators – which would reduce drag by smoothing the boundary layer of air on the tail. A possible explanation is that they are directing the airflow coming off the rider, the least aerodynamic part of the motorcycle. But they could also be helping to keep the tail of the bike straight under braking once the load disappears from the rear wheel and shifts to the front. But I digress.)

Over the next week or so, I will be taking a deep dive into what I saw at the test, with the help of photos from Niki Kovács and having talked a few things over with Peter Bom. But examining all of the photos and thinking about what I saw has been an intensive affair, as I tried to figure out what was going on.

But we'll start off with Honda. For a lot of reasons. Not just because Marc Marquez expressed disappointment at what HRC had brought to the test, but also because two new riders switched to Honda, including the 2020 MotoGP champion Joan Mir and the winner of the Valencia MotoGP race Alex Rins.

I gave my first impressions from the test on Tuesday evening after the test, but the trouble with working quickly is that you don't notice what you have missed. There are so many small changes that you don't really have time to absorb them all. And sometimes, there are so many eye-catching changes that you miss out on other big changes, which is certainly the case with Honda.