Motorcycle Racing News MotoGP 2019 Sepang MotoGP Test Results, Day 1: Marquez Fastest

2019 Sepang MotoGP Test Results, Day 1: Marquez Fastest

February 6, 2019

2019 Sepang MotoGP Test Results, Day 1

Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez may still be recovering from winter surgery to his left shoulder, but that didn’t slow him down on the first day of official 2019 MotoGP testing at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia.

2019 Sepang MotoGP Test, Day 1 — Honda’s Marc Marquez

The five-time MotoGP Champion posted a 1:59.621 at the 3.4-mile circuit. To put this time into perspective, the lap record at Sepang is a 1:59.063, which was posted by Marquez’s former teammate Dani Pedrosa.

As for Marquez’s current teammate, Jorge Lorenzo is sidelined as he recovers from wrist surgery.

Marqeuz, who won 2018 Sepang MotoGP, also only rode 29 laps – about half of what the others did. He left early to undergo further physiotherapy on his left shoulder and rest before day two of three in Sepang Testing.

2019 Sepang MotoGP Test, Day 1 Suzuki Alex Rins — Suzuki’s Alex Rins

When Wednesday’s test session was over Marquez finished 0.259 of a second ahead of Team Suzuki Excstar’s Alex Rins, and 0.316 ahead of Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Maverick Vinales.

“I’m very happy to ride again after a long winter, but I was expecting to be better than I was,” says Marc Marquez. “I still don’t have full power, for one or two laps it’s ok but I had to change my riding style to compensate.

“We stopped early to save myself for the rest of the test, there are still two days and we will see what the feeling is. Honda have been working really hard this winter and we tried a few things, but the list is really big. We’re trying the most important things first. The bike is already at a good point, but there’s always more to try before Qatar.”

Reale Avintia Racing’s Tito Rabat was the top Ducati finisher. He was 0.362 of a second off the pace, and finished ahead of Mission Winnow Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci and Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi.

2019 Sepang MotoGP Test, Day 1 Andrea Dovizioso — Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso

Rounding out the top 10 were LCR Honda Idemitsu’s Takaaki Nakagami; Mission Winnow Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso; Honda Test Team’s Stefan Bradl; Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pol Espargaro.

The riders will return to Sepang Thursday for the second day of MotoGP testing.

2019 Sepang MotoGP Test Results, Day 1

Pos		Rider	Team	Fastest lap	Lead. Gap	Prev. Gap	Laps	Last lap
1		MARQUEZ, Marc	Repsol Honda Team	1:59.621			26 / 29
2		RINS, Alex	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	1:59.880	0.259	0.259	25 / 61
3		VIÑALES, Maverick	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	1:59.937	0.316	0.057	28 / 63
4		RABAT, Tito	Reale Avintia Racing	1:59.983	0.362	0.046	58 / 59
5		PETRUCCI, Danilo	Mission Winnow Ducati	2:00.051	0.430	0.068	8 / 54
6		ROSSI, Valentino	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	2:00.054	0.433	0.003	22 / 56
7		NAKAGAMI, Takaaki	LCR Honda IDEMITSU	2:00.158	0.537	0.104	54 / 55
8		DOVIZIOSO, Andrea	Mission Winnow Ducati	2:00.197	0.576	0.039	17 / 49
9		BRADL, Stefan	Honda Test Team	2:00.214	0.593	0.017	41 / 61
10		ESPARGARO, Pol	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	2:00.313	0.692	0.099	3 / 44
11		MILLER, Jack	Alma Pramac Racing	2:00.383	0.762	0.070	26 / 51
12		MORBIDELLI, Franco	Petronas Yamaha SRT	2:00.460	0.839	0.077	58 / 60
13		ESPARGARO, Aleix	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	2:00.602	0.981	0.142	51 / 55
14		CRUTCHLOW, Cal	LCR Honda CASTROL	2:00.681	1.060	0.079	24 / 51
15		BAGNAIA, Francesco	Alma Pramac Racing	2:00.694	1.073	0.013	25 / 49
16		OLIVEIRA, Miguel	KTM Tech 3 Racing	2:00.902	1.281	0.208	58 / 59
17		TEST 1, Yamaha	Yamaha Test Team	2:00.965	1.344	0.063	54 / 55
18		QUARTARARO, Fabio	Petronas Yamaha SRT	2:00.985	1.364	0.020	45 / 65
19		KALLIO, Mika	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Test Team	2:01.054	1.433	0.069	4 / 20
20		ZARCO, Johann	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	2:01.121	1.500	0.067	53 / 61
21		IANNONE, Andrea	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	2:01.249	1.628	0.128	35 / 36
22		GUINTOLI, Sylvain	Suzuki Test Team	2:01.286	1.665	0.037	14 / 58
23		MIR, Joan	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	2:01.432	1.811	0.146	24 / 55
24		ABRAHAM, Karel	Reale Avintia Racing	2:01.627	2.006	0.195	25 / 45
25		TEST 2, Yamaha	Yamaha Test Team	2:01.736	2.115	0.109	11 / 45
26		SYAHRIN, Hafizh	KTM Tech 3 Racing	2:01.853	2.232	0.117	48 / 49
NC		SMITH, Bradley	Aprilia Racing Factory Team
NC		TSUDA, Takuya	Suzuki Test Team

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One of the few moto journalists based on the East Coast, Ron Lieback joined the motorcycle industry as a freelancer in 2007, and is currently Online Editor at Ultimate Motorcycling. He is also the author of "365 to Vision: Modern Writer's Guide (How to Produce More Quality Writing in Less Time).

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