Marco Bezzecchi put the disappointment of his retirement from the Spanish MotoGP behind him by topping the timesheets in a VR46 Ducati 1-2 in Monday's post-race test at Jerez, though it was down at Honda where much of the media focus could be found.

Reeling from a disappointing Spanish MotoGP weekend that yielded a best result of ninth for Takaaki Nakagami amid DNFs for Alex Rins and Joan Mir, the next phase in Honda's rebound efforts was revealed - albeit unofficially - with a new chassis design.

Wheeled out by development rider Stefan Bradl, the much mooted new design - which features several new aero solutions - is understood to have been designed by German chassis makers Kalex.

Signalling a major change of ethos for Honda - which has traditionally preferred to keep the design of its bikes in-house - it has long been rumoured that Kalex has been working on a new evolution of the RC213V so as to widen the scope for the Japanese firm in its attempts to reverse its fortunes.

Having stamped its authority as the dominant force of MotoGP with Casey Stoner's title win in 2012, his successor Marc Marquez would go on to win six of the next seven world titles up to 2019.

However, his long spell out through injury, coupled with changes that made the RC213V's handling too edgy - leading to multiple crashes - in 2020 began a decline that led to it being the only manufacturer not to win a race in 2022.

With Kalex already on board to develop a new swingarm for the RC213V, while the new chassis doesn't appear to be a complete re-design, there are some tell-tale differences when viewed visually though Honda itself was remaining tight-lipped as to what they were exactly.

In the meantime, Bezzecchi and team-mate Luca Marini topped the timesheets to keep VR46 Ducati's tail up following a difficult Spanish MotoGP weekend, while Fabio Quartararo too will likely take some encouragement from ending the test third best.

Fabio di Giannantonio made a rare appearance inside the top four, ahead of Maverick Vinales and Spanish MotoGP race winner Pecco Bagnaia.

Elsewhere, Iker Lecuona wasn't present on the Repsol Honda as he had been at the weekend, though there was an appearance for Lorenzo Savadori on the RNF Aprilia, the Italian called up to replace the injured Miguel Oliveira.

CLICK HERE for full 2023 MotoGP World Championship Standings after the Spanish MotoGP [Rd 4 of 20]

MotoGP Testing Results | Jerez [1-5-2023]