Sepang Test, Day 3: The Ducatis wake up

Pre-season testing of MotoGP in Malaysia are now over, and this third day of track action had plenty of surprises in store for us. As the teams fine-tune their settings, with more knowledge of the new parts tested during the first days of running, the times are falling.

As a reminder, the reference time at Sepang remains that set by Pecco Bagnaia to take pole last year at the Malaysian Grand Prix. The Italian placed ahead of Jorge Martin in 1:56.337. The two drivers were the only two to lap in the minute 56 that day.

However, from the beginning of the session, Franco Morbidelli and fabio quartararo were already running in 1:56. Bagnaia quickly joined them, getting dangerously close to his personal best time with a mark of 1:56.500. He would be beaten by 7 thousandths of a second by Alex Marquez, riding his Desmosedici GP24. The Spaniard finished first on the third day of testing in Sepang thanks to this attempt.

Behind Marquez and Bagnaia, Fabio Quartararo continues to occupy the front positions, and ends a third consecutive day in the top-3. Marc Marquez finishes the tests in fifth place.

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Warmer weather

Things calmed down before the midday break, and the drivers focused on other training programmes. The weather conditions were drastically different between the first and third days of testing at Sepang. While on Wednesday the track was cold and slippery, on Friday the weather was rather warm.

This allowed all the drivers to focus on the race conditions, rather than the time attack. The aim was to prepare as best as possible for the first events of the year. After a light shower during the lunch break, the sun returned to the Sepang circuit, and the Sprint simulations were able to resume.

The test drivers are still focusing on the development of electronics and testing various aerodynamic parts. The regular drivers are concentrating on pure performance in preparation for the championship which is fast approaching.

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Honda and Yamaha confirm

Honda proves on this third day that yesterday's performances were not due to chance. Johann Zarco and Joan Mir are both in the top 10, just under a second off the leader.

Somkiat Chantra also progressed, improving his personal best time by almost a second. The Thai finished the day nine tenths behind his French teammate. He was one of those who rode the most this Friday, with 69 laps on the MotoGP bike that he is still discovering.

On the Yamaha side, the two official riders also finished in the top 10. The Pramac riders, who carried out several race simulations the day before, did less laps than the others. Jack Miller and Miguel Oliveira also fell back slightly in the hierarchy.

All the drivers will return to the track next week in Thailand, as part of the pre-season tests in Buriram. The site that will host these two days of testing, on February 12 and 13, will also host the first round of the season. A meeting set for the weekend of February 28 to March 02.

MotoGP – Sepang Test – Day 3 Classification

Ranking : MotoTiming