Marc Marquez posted the best times during the first day of MotoGP testing at Sepang today, with a lap time of 2:00.262.
The entire MotoGP grid took to the Malaysian track this morning, with the exception of injured Yonny Hernandez, along with five factory test riders. Repsol Honda’s Marquez was atop the time sheet, with Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi second (2:00.380 best time) and teammate Jorge Lorenzo third (2:00.521). Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso (2:00.617) was fourth, and Repsol rider Dani Pedrosa (2:00.745) was fifth.
The first official MotoGP practice for 2015 was mostly about riders getting used to new machines; Honda had 2014 and 2015 bikes at the event, for riders to compare and contrast (Marquez was quicker on the new bike). Yamaha’s factory prototype was a bit changed from when it was last spotted at the end of 2014, with a new, shorter exhaust.
The Gresini Aprilia team was testing out new engines with pneumatic valves; at one point, Alvaro Bautista managed to stall the bike, and had to get push-started by Suzuki test rider Nobu Aoki, who was watching from the side of the track.
Suzuki’s Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales had to wait for tester Takuya Tsuda to give their bike a shakedown run before they took their machine out on-track. The Suzuki was also sporting a shorter exhaust. Espargaro ran off-track at one point, and ended the day in 14th; Vinales finished in 21st.
Cal Crutchlow managed 10th on the LCR Honda, while rookie teammate Jack Miller finished in 19th.
Overall, most of the teams spent the day fooling around with new electronics packages and generally getting acquainted with their 2015 machines. You can see the complete timing results below.
Sepang MotoGP test results – Day one:
1. Marc Marquez/Repsol Honda Team/2:00.262 62/63
2. Valentino Rossi/Movistar Yamaha MotoGP/2:00.380 (+0.118) 27/57
3. Jorge Lorenzo/Movistar Yamaha MotoGP/2:00.521 (+0.259) 30/55
4. Andrea Dovizioso/Ducati Team/2:00.617 (+0.355) 36/41
5. Dani Pedrosa/Repsol Honda Team/2:00.745 (+0.483) 25/45
6. Pol Espargaro/Monster Yamaha Tech 3/2:00.930 (+0.668) 29/55
7. Andrea Iannone/Ducati Team/2:01.424 (+1.162) 58/59
8. Stefan Bradl/Forward Racing Team/2:01.556 (+1.294) 50/58
9. Bradley Smith/Monster Yamaha Tech 3/2:01.707 (+1.445) 27/52
10. Cal Crutchlow/CWM LCR Honda/2:01.713 (+1.451)34/60
11. Scott Redding/Estrella Galicia 0.0 Marc VDS/2:01.917 (+1.655) 59/62
12. Michele Pirro/Pramac Racing/2:01.951(+1.689) 51/53
13. Aleix Espargaro/Team Suzuki MotoGP/2:02.225 (+1.963) 42/45
14. Alvaro Bautista/Factory Aprilia Gresini/2:02.285 (+2.023) 27/50
15. Hiroshi Aoyama/HRC/2:02.560 (+2.298) 45/69
16. Danilo Petrucci/Pramac Racing/2:02.627 (+2.365) 32/49
17. Nicky Hayden/Drive M7 Aspar/2:02.699(+2.437) 22/46
18. Hector Barbera/Avintia Racing/2:02.700 (+2.438) 28/55
19. Jack Miller/CWM LCR Honda/2:02.807(+2.545) 53/59
20. Katsuyuki Nakasuga/Yamaha Factory Test Team/2:03.092 (+2.830) 38/47
21. Maverick Vinales/Team Suzuki MotoGP/2:03.164 (+2.902) 58/69
22. Eugene Laverty/Drive M7 Aspar/2:03.295 (+3.033) 41/46
23. Mike di Meglio/Avintia Racing/2:03.878 (+3.616) 34/57
24. Karel Abraham/AB Motoracing/2:03.879 (+3.617) 38/45
25. Loris Baz/Forward Racing Team/2:04.163 (+3.901) 57/66
26. Marco Melandri/Factory Aprilia Gresini/2:04.502 (+4.240) 41/42
27. Alex de Angelis/Octo Ioda Racing Team/2:04.673 (+4.411)40/46
28. Takumi Takahashi/HRC/2:04.797 (+4.535) 76/76
29. Takuya Tsuda/Team Suzuki MotoGP/2:05.478 (+5.216) 13/18
30. Michael Laverty/Aprilia Test Team/ 2:06.190 (+5.928) 23/28
Go Suzuki!