Yamaha, Honda set for four Misano MotoGP visits: ‘I will ride with my eyes closed!’

The creation of a second MotoGP round at Misano this year, combined with an official test in-between, means the premier-class grid will make three appearances at the Italian track by late September.

But that will rise to four in the case of Yamaha and Honda riders, who can conduct private testing as part of the concessions package.

“We will go to Misano straight after Austria [this weekend],” Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo confirmed. “We have two days testing.”

Repsol Honda’s Joan Mir said: “We have: Misano test, Misano race, Misano test, Misano race! That will be interesting.”

The San Marino MotoGP will be held at Misano on September 6-8, followed by an official MotoGP test on Monday, September 9.

The ‘Emilia Romagna’ round, in place of Kazakhstan (itself pencilled in to replace India), has been added on the weekend of September 20-22.

“After the second Misano race, I will [be able to] ride the track with my eyes closed!” Quartararo joked.

“But I think it's going to be interesting to test in a lot of different places this [revised] engine.”

Quartararo has pinpointed handling as the main area of improvement for the M1.

“The handling of the bike in the past was our strong point, now it is our weak point,” he explained at Silverstone. “And we have to come back a little bit in this area.

“Now our engine is faster but we are not turning, we are not stopping. There are many areas where we are struggling.”

Yamaha is seeking the right balance between adequate engine performance and cornering ability.

“Always when you look for one thing, you sacrifice something else,” Quartararo said.

“So for sure we will [need to] sacrifice something to have better handling.”

Meanwhile, Mir - expecting Honda updates, including a revised engine configuration, in Austria this weekend - feels Misano is not the ideal testing venue but good enough to gauge the effectiveness of new parts.

“Misano is a particular track. The grip level is high, with stop-and-go corners,” Mir said.

“To try things properly you need a track like Sepang, with long corners, a lot of spin. 

"We can still try all the things, but [Misano] is probably not the best [test] track.”

The run of flyaway races, outside of Europe, begins the weekend after the Emilia Romagna round with the Indonesian Grand Prix at Mandalika.