Marc Marquez rode the fastest two-wheeled lap of all time at Sepang on Thursday to finish fastest for the third consecutive day. The world champion topped the times on the first two test days of 2014 and smashed Casey Stoner’s 2012 lap record on his way to doing the same on today, finishing just ahead of the two factory Yamahas.
Race simulations were the order of the day for most teams with the fastest times coming very early on. Marquez would go on to complete 40 laps, the quickest of which put him 0.194s ahead of Valentino Rossi who also lapped Sepang quicker than he ever had before. Jorge Lorenzo was third quickest although he didn’t feel he executed a perfect lap but the Yamaha rider will have been encouraged by the 120 laps completed collectively by him and his teammate.
Aleix Espargaro and Forward Racing continued to turn heads with their Yamaha-powered FTR which will run to open specification this year. The Spaniard joined the top three in the 1:59s to go fourth, outpacing the Hondas of Stefan Bradl and Dani Pedrosa who completed the top six. Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso gave Ducati cause for encouragement with seventh and ninth, either side of Moto2 champion Pol Espargaro, while Alvaro Bautista rounded out the top ten ahead of British duo Bradley Smith and Cal Crutchlow.
Scott Redding and Michael Laverty were 21st and 22nd respectively and the former will be pleased with the way his preparations have begun for his rookie season. Testing resumes in three weeks as MotoGP returns to Malaysia once again.
| MOTOGP OFFICIAL TEST – SEPANG (THURSDAY 6TH FEBRUARY) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| POS | RIDER | MOTORCYCLE | TEAM | TIME |
| 1 |  MARC MARQUEZ |
HONDA | REPSOL HONDA TEAM | 1:59.533 |
| 2 |  VALENTINO ROSSI |
YAMAHA | YAMAHA FACTORY RACING | 1:59.727 |
| 3 | JORGE LORENZO |
YAMAHA | YAMAHA FACTORY RACING | 1:59.866 |
| 4 | ALEIX ESPARGARO |
FTR YAMAHA | NGM MOBILE FORWARD RACING | 1:59.998 |
| 5 |  STEFAN BRADL |
HONDA | LCR HONDA MOTOGP | 2:00.112 |
| 6 | DANI PEDROSA |
HONDA | REPSOL HONDA TEAM | 2:00.223 |
| 7 | ANDREA IANNONE |
DUCATI | ENERGY T.I. PRAMAC RACING | 2:00.370 |
| 8 | POL ESPARGARO |
YAMAHA | MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3 | 2:00.655 |
| 9 | ANDREA DOVIZIOSO |
DUCATI | DUCATI TEAM | 2:00.725 |
| 10 | ALVARO BAUTISTA |
HONDA | GO&FUN HONDA GRESINI | 2:00.788 |
| 11 |  BRADLEY SMITH |
YAMAHA | MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3 | 2:00.896 |
| 12 | CAL CRUTCHLOW |
DUCATI | DUCATI TEAM | 2:01.057 |
| 13 |  NICKY HAYDEN |
HONDA | DRIVE M7 ASPAR | 2:01.514 |
| 14 | COLIN EDWARDS |
FTR YAHAMA | NGM MOBILE FORWARD RACING | 2:01.731 |
| 15 | MICHELE PIRRO |
DUCATI | DUCATI TEST TEAM | 2:01.782 |
| 16 |  HIROSHI AOYAMA |
HONDA | DRIVE M7 ASPAR | 2:02.383 |
| 17 |  RANDY DE PUNIET |
SUZUKI | SUZUKI TEST TEAM | 2:02.486 |
| 18 |  YONNY HERNANDEZ |
DUCATI | IGNITE PRAMAC RACING TEAM | 2:02.556 |
| 19 | KOSUKE AKIYOSHI |
HONDA | HRC TEST TEAM | 2:02.619 |
| 20 | KATSUYUKI NAKASUGA |
YAMAHA | YAMAHA FACTORY TEST TEAM | 2:02.788 |
| 21 | SCOTT REDDING |
HONDA | GO&FUN HONDA GRESINI | 2:02.833 |
| 22 | MICHAEL LAVERTY |
ART & PBM | PAUL BIRD MOTORSPORT | 2:03.187 |
| 23 | HECTOR BARBERA |
FTR KAWASAKI | AVINTIA BLUSENS | 2:03.204 |
| 24 |  BROC PARKES |
PBM | PAUL BIRD MOTORSPORT | 2:03.402 |
| 25 | MIKE DI MEGLIO |
FTR KAWASAKI | AVINTIA BLUSENS | 2:04.516 |
| 26 | NOBUATSU AOKI |
SUZUKI | SUZUKI TEST TEAM | 2:05.686 |
| 27 |  KAREL ABRAHAM |
HONDA | CARDION AB MOTORACING | 2:05.974 |
