Alex Marquez led the way on the third and final day of the Sepang MotoGP test, as Ducati riders occupied four of the top five spots in the classification.
Riding last year’s GP24, Gresini’s Marquez set a best time of 1m56.493s at the start of the running on Friday to edge out factory Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia by 0.007s.
The Spaniard’s lap was seven tenths quicker than the time with which Franco Morbidelli topped Thursday’s session, and only 0.156s off the ultimate lap record set by Bagnaia during last year’s Malaysian Grand Prix qualifying.
Lap times tumbled quickly on Friday morning, with a number of riders able to eclipse the 1m57s barrier in the first hour, including Morbidelli, Fabio Quartararo and Bagnaia.
However, neither could manage the pace of Marquez, who took the top spot in the second hour and wasn’t usurped for the rest of the day.
Bagnaia settled into second, while Quartararo secured a strong third place for Yamaha with a 1m56.724s ahead of Morbidelli in fourth.
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez jumped to fifth in the afternoon on the factory Ducati bike, but it was his long-run pace that caught the attention, as he recorded an average time of 1m57.930s over a 10-lap sprint simulation.
Pedro Acosta led the way for KTM in sixth place, while Johann Zarco was likewise the fastest Honda rider in seventh.
Marco Bezzecchi racked up 61 laps on the factory Aprilia to end up eighth, just fractionally quicker than HRC’s Joan Mir and the Yamaha of Alex Rins, who completed the top 10.
The fastest rookie on Friday was Gresini’s Fermin Aldeguer, who was classified 11th and 0.908s down on his pacesetting team-mate.
Former Ducati star Andrea Dovizioso made his first appearance in the Sepang test with Yamaha, but finished 22nd and last with a time that was 3.5s off the pace. He completed nearly 60 laps on the M1.
Sepang MotoGP pre-season test results – Day 3:
|
Pos |
Rider |
Team |
Manufacturer |
Time |
Laps |
Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Alex MARQUEZ |
Gresini Racing MotoGP |
DUCATI |
1’56.493 |
50 |
|
|
2 |
Francesco BAGNAIA |
Ducati Lenovo Team |
DUCATI |
1’56.500 |
55 |
0.007 |
|
3 |
Fabio QUARTARARO |
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team |
YAMAHA |
1’56.724 |
58 |
0.231 |
|
4 |
Franco MORBIDELLI |
Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team |
DUCATI |
1’56.948 |
41 |
0.455 |
|
5 |
Marc MARQUEZ |
Ducati Lenovo Team |
DUCATI |
1’57.042 |
70 |
0.549 |
|
6 |
Pedro ACOSTA |
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing |
KTM |
1’57.175 |
59 |
0.682 |
|
7 |
Johann ZARCO |
CASTROL Honda LCR |
HONDA |
1’57.204 |
64 |
0.711 |
|
8 |
Joan MIR |
Honda HRC Castrol |
HONDA |
1’57.279 |
55 |
0.786 |
|
9 |
Marco BEZZECCHI |
Aprilia Racing |
APRILIA |
1’57.328 |
61 |
0.835 |
|
10 |
Alex RINS |
Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team |
YAMAHA |
1’57.351 |
53 |
0.858 |
|
11 |
Fermin ALDEGUER |
Gresini Racing MotoGP |
DUCATI |
1’57.401 |
43 |
0.908 |
|
12 |
Jack MILLER |
Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP |
YAMAHA |
1’57.452 |
27 |
0.959 |
|
13 |
Brad BINDER |
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing |
KTM |
1’57.614 |
55 |
1.121 |
|
14 |
Ai OGURA |
Trackhouse MotoGP Team |
APRILIA |
1’57.754 |
55 |
1.261 |
|
15 |
Luca MARINI |
Honda HRC Castrol |
HONDA |
1’57.789 |
59 |
1.296 |
|
16 |
Maverick VIÑALES |
Red Bull KTM Tech3 |
KTM |
1’57.865 |
59 |
1.372 |
|
17 |
Miguel OLIVEIRA |
Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP |
YAMAHA |
1’57.960 |
35 |
1.467 |
|
18 |
Enea BASTIANINI |
Red Bull KTM Tech3 |
KTM |
1’58.011 |
44 |
1.518 |
|
19 |
Somkiat CHANTRA |
IDEMITSU Honda LCR |
HONDA |
1’58.129 |
69 |
1.636 |
|
20 |
Michele PIRRO |
Ducati Test Team |
DUCATI |
1’59.121 |
54 |
2.628 |
|
21 |
Lorenzo SAVADORI |
Aprilia Racing |
APRILIA |
1’59.169 |
65 |
2.676 |
|
22 |
Andrea DOVIZIOSO |
Yamaha Factory Racing |
YAMAHA |
1’59.929 |
58 |
3.436 |
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