Jorge Martin, a hopeful contender for the MotoGP title, took the lead on the first day of the three-day pre-season test at Sepang. This session, held on Tuesday, was the official collective test day for the season. However, Franco Morbidelli, a newcomer to the Pramac Ducati team, was unable to participate due to a serious accident during road bike testing at Portimao. Martin, who finished second in last year’s title race, dominated the day’s action with a comfortable lead, being the only rider to achieve a lap time below 1m58s. His time of 1m57.951s was just under half a second off the lap record set by Pecco Bagnaia at the venue.
Pedro Acosta, a rookie sensation, continued to impress in MotoGP by securing the second position. It should be noted that Acosta had previously participated in a shakedown at the same track earlier this month, which may have contributed to his performance. Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo, who was just 0.008s behind Acosta, also had the advantage of participating in the shakedown.
Fabio Di Giannantonio, a newcomer to the VR46 Ducati team, achieved the best result among the 2023-spec Desmosedicis, finishing in fourth place. The top 10 also included the three GP23 peers of Di Giannantonio: Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) in seventh, Marco Bezzecchi (VR46 Ducati) in eighth, and Marc Marquez (Gresini Ducati) in ninth. The Marquez brothers and Bezzecchi all experienced crashes during the session, while Marc Marquez had technical issues at the start of the day.
Johann Zarco was the highest-ranking Honda rider in 10th place. Luca Marini, another Honda newcomer, stated that the brand’s new RC213V was only being utilized at around 60% of its potential. However, he believed that he and his fellow Honda riders had now settled on the engine specification for the season.
Defending champion Pecco Bagnaia had a minor incident during his outlap and ultimately finished in 16th place, 11 positions behind his factory teammate Enea Bastianini. Raul Fernandez, a rider for Trackhouse Aprilia, suffered a high-side crash shortly after Bagnaia, resulting in his bike catching fire. Fernandez, who had completed only 21 laps before the incident, has been taken to the hospital for evaluation. Maverick Vinales was the top-performing Aprilia rider, finishing in sixth place.
There were also falls for Augusto Fernandez (Tech3 Gas Gas) and Jack Miller (KTM). Miller, who is recovering from a fractured scaphoid sustained during motocross training in the off-season, stated that the injury did not limit his performance. The grid will continue to run for two more days at Sepang before concluding with a two-day test at Lusail prior to the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix.