Marc Marquez began his MotoGP title defence by topping the first day of 2014 pre-season testing at Sepang in Malaysia. After initially swapping first place with Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi, Marquez moved his Honda 0.518 seconds with a 2m00.286s lap in the closing stages. Rossi retained second, followed by Marquez’s team-mate Dani Pedrosa and the second Yamaha of Jorge Lorenzo.
Satellite Honda riders Alvaro Bautista (Gresini) and Stefan Bradl (LCR) completed the top six. Forward Racing made an impressive start to its new programme with Yamaha-based Open class bikes. Former CRT benchmark Aleix Espargaro was seventh, while team-mate Colin Edwards was 11th despite mechanical problems keeping him in the garage initially.
None of the factory Ducatis made it into the top 10, with race riders Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow sandwiching tester Michele Pirro in 12th and 14th respectively. Crutchlow was another man to lose mileage to technical issues.
But Pramac’s Andrea Iannone took eighth place on the Open Ducati, ahead of Tech 3 Yamaha duo Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith. The only team not present was Ioda, which will begin its programme with Open class Aprilias for Danilo Petrucci and Leon Camier at the second test later this month.
The presence of test riders from Honda, Ducati and Yamaha plus Randy de Puniet on the new Suzuki – which was 19th quickest – still meant a 26-bike field for the test.
Pos Rider Bike Time Gap Laps
1. Marc Marquez Honda 2m00.286s 62
2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 2m00.804s +0.518s 61
3. Dani Pedrosa Honda 2m00.906s +0.620s 75
4. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 2m01.082s +0.796s 47
5. Alvaro Bautista Gresini Honda 2m01.240s +0.954s 52
6. Stefan Bradl LCR Honda 2m01.320s +1.034s 61
7. Aleix Espargaro Forward FTR-Yamaha 2m01.419s +1.133s 26
8. Andrea Iannone Pramac Ducati 2m01.538s +1.252s 44
9. Pol Espargaro Tech 3 Yamaha 2m01.634s +1.348s 48
10. Bradley Smith Tech 3 Yamaha 2m01.876s +1.590s 55
11. Colin Edwards Forward FTR-Yamaha 2m02.483s +2.197s 26
12. Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 2m02.497s +2.211s 27
13. Michele Pirro Ducati 2m02.552s +2.266s 48
14. Cal Crutchlow Ducati 2m02.860s +2.574s 38
15. Yonny Hernandez Pramac Ducati 2m02.891s +2.605s 49
16. Katsuyuki Nakasuga Yamaha 2m03.126s +2.840s 35
17. Nicky Hayden Aspar Honda 2m03.319s +3.033s 56
18. Hiroshi Aoyama Aspar Honda 2m03.328s +3.042s 51
19. Randy de Puniet Suzuki 2m03.893s +3.607s 75
20. Kosuke Akiyoshi Honda 2m04.267s +3.981s 64
21. Scott Redding Gresini Honda 2m04.431s +4.145s 48
22. Hector Barbera Avintia-FTR Kawasaki 2m04.922s +4.636s 44
23. Mike di Meglio Avintia-FTR Kawasaki 2m05.825s +5.539s 51
24. Broc Parkes PBM Aprilia 2m05.889s +5.603s 40
25. Michael Laverty PBM Aprilia 2m06.070s +5.784s 14
26. Karel Abraham Cardion Honda 2m06.755s +6.469s 41
