Marc Marquez continues to look the overwhelming favourite for the 2015 MotoGP world championship after finishing the second pre-season Sepang test on top. The reigning champion broke the lap record to go fastest in the first test and although he didn’t quite hit those same heights this week, Marquez still had comfortably enough to outpace Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo.
With cooler conditions greeting the riders first thing on Wednesday morning, the opening tour turned into something resembling a qualifying session with most of the field going in search of a fast time on new tyres. Cal Crutchlow was the first man to go below the two minute mark with a 1:59.658 but Marquez soon put that time into perspective, knocking half a second off the benchmark set by the Briton. Lorenzo soon split the Honda pair to go second although the Yamaha rider could only close to within three tenths of the no.93.
Crutchlow held onto third with Andrea Iannone rounding off a strong debut for Ducati’s GP15 with fourth place on the final day. Valentino Rossi followed his compatriot in fifth while Bradley Smith continued to snap at the heels of his factory Yamaha colleague with the sixth fastest time, just half a tenth shy of Rossi. Smith also retained the edge over Tech 3 teammate Pol Espargaro after the Spaniard crashed out while attempting a new-tyre run.
Dani Pedrosa was seventh quickest, some eight tenths down on his pacesetting teammate, with Hector Barbera grabbing eighth on his Avintia Ducati while Aleix Espargaro claimed ninth for Suzuki despite failing to make a significant gain on his Tuesday best.
2015 MotoGP Testing: Sepang – February 25
| 1 | Marc Marquez | Honda | Repsol Honda Team | 1:59.115 |
| 2 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | 1:59.437 |
| 3 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda | CWM LCR Honda | 1:59.658 |
| 4 | Andrea Iannone | Ducati | Ducati Team | 1:59.722 |
| 5 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | Movistar Yamaha MotoGP | 1:59.833 |
| 6 | Bradley Smith | Yamaha | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 1:59.883 |
| 7 | Dani Pedrosa | Honda | Repsol Honda Team | 1:59.912 |
| 8 | Hector Barbera | Ducati | Avintia Racing | 2:00.244 |
| 9 | Aleix Espargaro | Suzuki | Team Suzuki MotoGP | 2:00.275 |
| 10 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | Ducati Team | 2:00.468 |
| 11 | Pol Espargaro | Yamaha | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 2:00.490 |
| 12 | Danilo Petrucci | Ducati | Pramac Racing | 2:00.556 |
| 13 | Yonny Hernandez | Ducati | Pramac Racing | 2:00.603 |
| 14 | Maverick Vinales | Suzuki | Team Suzuki MotoGP | 2:00.604 |
| 15 | Stefan Bradl | Forward Yamaha | Forward Racing | 2:00.685 |
| 16 | Scott Redding | Honda | Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS | 2:00.695 |
| 17 | Nicky Hayden | Honda | Drive M7 Aspar | 2:00.813 |
| 18 | Michele Pirro | Ducati | Ducati Test Team | 2:00.875 |
| 19 | Alvaro Bautista | Aprilia | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 2:01.310 |
| 20 | Mike di Meglio | Ducati | Avintia Racing | 2:01.487 |
| 21 | Karel Abraham | Honda | AB Motoracing | 2:01.536 |
| 22 | Jack Miller | Honda | CWM LCR Honda | 2:01.593 |
| 23 | Eugene Laverty | Honda | Drive M7 Aspar | 2:01.815 |
| 24 | Loris Baz | Forward Yamaha | Forward Racing | 2:02.587 |
| 25 | Alex de Angelis | ART | Octo IodaRacing Team | 2:03.300 |
| 26 | Katsuyuki Nakasuga | Yamaha | Yamaha Factory Test Team | 2:03.448 |
| 27 | Marco Melandri | Aprilia | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 2:03.569 |
