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.
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.
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.
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 |
