KTM 'salad box' and Aprilia 'rabbit ears' among tech innovations in Buriram

A selection of 🌠tech pictures from Buriram, where MotoGP teams completed their🎃 final pre-season test before the start of the 2025 world championship.

Marco Bezzecchi, 2025 Buriram MotoGP Test
Marco Bezzecchi, 2025 Buriram MotoGP Test

Ducati

The big news at Ducati was the factory team's decision to stick with last year's GP24 engine for 2025 and 2026. Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez will also start the year on the 'old'൩ chassis and fa🌸iring.

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati pits, Buriram MotoGP Test
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati pits, Buriram MotoGP Test

Here is💖 Marc Marquez, who was in a league of his own during a Grand Prix race sim🌳ulation run, with the old fairing:

Marc Marquez, 2025 Buriram MotoGP Test
Marc Marquez, 2025 Buriram MotoGP Test

Compare Marquez's fairing🎶 with Bagnaia on the new fairing (bigger lower duct, smaller side winglets) during day one:

Francesco Bagnaia, 2025 Buriram MotoGP Test
Francesco Bagnaia, 2025 Buriram MotoGP Test

Ducati again tried some new rear seat aero at Buriram. But as this isn't part of the Aero Body re💧strictions it can be added or removed a🍨t any time:

Ducati rear wing, Buriram MotoGP Test
Ducati rear wing, Buriram MotoGP Test

Ducati's carbon fibre sw𓄧ingarm doesn't feature the kind of aero tweaks seen on some other bikes:

Ducati swingarm, Buriram MotoGP Test
Ducati swingarm, Buriram MotoGP Test

A 'squashed' factory Ducati in holeshot mode:

Ducati, practice start, Buriram MotoGP Test
Ducati, practice start, Buriram MotoGP Test

Aprilia

With Jorge Martin out injured, Marco Bezzecchi did an impressive job at Buriram💧, being fꦍastest during a Sprint simulation and third on the overall timesheets (behind only the Marquez brothers) during his time attack.

Here, the evening light shows the details of Bezzecchi's Aprilia, including front fork♓ wings, fairing design and swingarm. The Italian said the bike he finished the test with would be the bike homologated t💟o start the season:

Bezzecchi, Buriram MotoGP Test
Bezzecchi, Buriram MotoGP Test

A close u𝔍p of the 'rabbit ear' Aprilia aero on the back of a Trackhouse machine:

Aprilia rabbit ears, Buriram MotoGP Test
Aprilia rabbit ears, Buriram MotoGP Test

Raul Fernandez rode despite recent hand surgery. Note the vent (arrow) directing air from the front of the bike to aꦆn area under the seat. Is it for cooling, or aero purposes?

Raul Fernandez's Aprilia, Buriram MotoGP Test
Raul Fernandez's Aprilia, Buriram MotoGP Test

An Aprilia carbon fibre swingarm with protection from the e🎉xhaust heat. Aprilia is the only manufacturer not to use Akrapovic, choosing SC Projec🎐t exhausts:

Aprilia swingarm, Buriram MotoGP Test
Aprilia swingarm, Buriram MotoGP Test

Bezzecchi wa𓄧s among the riders who suffered wheelspin during a practice start at Buriram, probably from the front holeshot device being set too low for the grip available:

Bezzecchi, practice start, Buriram MotoGP Test
Bezzecchi, practice start, Buriram MotoGP Test

KTM

KTM f🍰inished the test fourth on the timesheets with Pedro Acosta, who was🦩 second best to Marc Marquez (but an average of 0.6s per lap slower) during his 20-lap race simulation.

As at S🔯epang, the factory team of Acosta and Brad Binder continued with the larger rear seat 'salad box' (perhaps housing the electron൩ics):

Acosta, Buriram MotoGP Test
Acosta, Buriram MotoGP Test

However, here is Tech3's Enea Bastianini still using the standard rear seat un🐈it, albeit with the revised one-♚on-top-of-the-other exhaust position:

Bastianini, Buriram MotoGP Test
Bastianini, Buriram MotoGP Test

The KTM swingarm remains the most radical in MotoGP thanks to the saw-🐎ಞtooth aero:

KTM swingarm, Buriram MotoGP Test
KTM swingarm, Buriram MotoGP Test

Close-up showing the front wing, fender wing, fork wings and radiator van🐻es on the RC16:

KTM, Buriram MotoGP Test
KTM, Buriram MotoGP Test

ౠA front view, highlighting the fend𒐪er wing, fork wings and fairing aero shapes:

KTM, Buriram MotoGP Test
KTM, Buriram MotoGP Test

Acosta's RC16 in holeshot modeඣ for a practice start:

KTM practice start, Buriram MotoGP Test
KTM practice start, Buriram MotoGP Test

Yamaha

After challenging for best-of-the-rest behind Duc💫ati at Sepang, Yamaha had a more modest showing at Buriram with Fabio Quartararo (8th) and Jack Miller (10th) its only riders in the top ten.

The Monster bikes of Quartararo and Alex Rins were again in fu🐼𝓀ll livery:

Alex Rins, Buriram MotoGP Test
Alex Rins, Buriram MotoGP Test

However, the latest M1 aero sculpting was much easier to spot on theꦚ unpainted Pramac biܫkes of Miller and Miguel Oliveira:

Miller, Buriram MotoGP Test
Miller, Buriram MotoGP Test

Yamaha frame👍s are normally black (see Rins above), so a ꧙silver frame usually means a new design...

Yamaha frame, Buriram MotoGP Test
Yamaha frame, Buriram MotoGP Test

The M1 swingarm is officially described ♔as being made from a mix of 🦋'Aluminium/CFRP (carbon fibre)':

Yamaha, Buriram MotoGP Test
Yamaha, Buriram MotoGP Test

Yamaha's latest version of the lower fairing duct, directing air under the 🐬bike duri🌜ng cornering:

Yamaha, Buriram MotoGP Test
Yamaha, Buriram MotoGP Test

While side fairing design is merging in a similar direction, there remains a split between the rectangle box-shaped front🥃 wings of Ducati and Honda, with the drooping curves of Yamaha and Aprilia (and KTM in the midd𒊎le):

Yamaha, Buriram MotoGP Test
Yamaha, Buriram MotoGP Test

Quartararo's Yamaha as low as it can go during aඣ practice start:

Quartararo, Buriram MotoGP Test
Quartararo, Buriram MotoGP Test

Honda

Engine power remains a concern but Honda finished the pre-season on a positive note with Joan Mir posting the sixth fastest lap at Bu๊riram as well as a Sprint simulation beaten only by Marco Bezzecchi.

Honda, Buriram MotoGP Test
Honda, Buriram MotoGP Test

Luca Marini preferred the new Honda fairing at Sepang, when Mir and Johann Zarco picked 𝕴the standard design. Marini appeared to switch back to the older version at Buriram, running the same aero as the other RCVs:

Zarco, Marini, Buriram MotoGP Test
Zarco, Marini, Buriram MotoGP Test

The Buriram light highligh𝄹ts the Honda fairing on Zarco'sꩲ LCR bike:

Zarco, Buriram MotoGP Test
Zarco, Buriram MotoGP Test

A𝔍 close-up of the Honda front fairing shape and fork wings:

Honda, Buriram MotoGP Test
Honda, Buriram MotoGP Test

The all-aluminium Honda swingarm. The rꦰide height devi♌ce can also be seen poking out of the lower fairing:

Honda, Buriram MotoGP Test
Honda, Buriram MotoGP Test

The ride-height device in maximum 'holeshot' lowering configurati💧on, during a practi༒ce start by Zarco:

Honda, Buriram MotoGP Test
Honda, Buriram MotoGP Test

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