MotoGP Sepang Test – Recapping the opening day of action

MotoGP Sepang Test One

Prima Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martin topped proceedings on the opening day of the Sepang MotoGP Test after firing in a brisk 1m57.951 on Tuesday morning. That marker is half-a-second away from the fastest-ever lap of Sepang, recorded last year by Pecco Bagnaia at 1m57.491.  The fastest 17 riders on Tuesday were under the race lap record of 1m58.979 set by Alex Marquez last year.

Making headlines again in second place was GASGAS rookie Pedro Acosta.  The young Spaniard a quarter of a second away from Martin and closely followed by Fabio Quartararo.

Pecco Bagnaia crashed at Turn 11 on his very first lap of the day, whilst Marc Marquez had to contend with some technical issues. Bagnaia ended day one 16th.

Marc was also well down the order until a late lap promoted him to ninth.

Seven of Ducati’s eight full-time riders hit the track on Tuesday as Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Racing) continues his recovery from a training crash at Portimao, sitting it out until the first race weekend of the year as a precaution. He was replaced by Michele Pirro in Malaysia.

Ducati occupied seven places in the top ten.  For Martin, Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team), work continued on their 2024 engine, which received rave reviews at the Valencia Test in late November. No sign for the moment of the wild new aerodynamics package that Gigi Dall’Igna teased at their Official Launch, only the updated side fairings seen at the Shakedown.

Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing’s Fabio Di Giannatonio closed out the opening day in fourth, with team-mate Marco Bezzecchi in eighth despite a late crash at Turn 4 with half an hour left on the clock.

Marco Bezzecchi

“First of all I’m really happy to be back on track with the new colours of the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team. The day wasn’t bad, I did a good job with the whole Team and we managed to fix some aspects of the bike. In terms of riding, at Valencia test, I wasn’t perfect and we needed to make some steps forward. I didn’t try the flying lap, but the pace wasn’t bad and I’m satisfied. Tomorrow we will continue in this direction, we will make some other changes and then the first time attack awaits us also to understand our real value.”

Fabio Di Giannantonio

“I’m very happy, I was really looking forward to back on track. The sensations are really good, I immediately achieved my goal for the day. I wanted to start from the feeling I had in Valencia and start making a step. We succeeded immediately and we closed the session in crescendo with the entire Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team. The atmosphere is excellent, I’m already faster than the last year and tomorrow we will continue working on the front of the Ducati. Overall, a good first day.”

Gresini Racing’s Alex Marquez was just over half a second adrift in seventh. That aforementioned trio all focused on adapting to the new-to-them 2023 machine.

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As Acosta continued to grab headlines at the sharp end of the timesheets, both Brad Binder and Jack Miller went to work for the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing squad.  Dani Pedrosa reportedly did a first run through to wean out the best new parts at the Shakedown. Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) was also out on track for the first time in 2024.

Pedro Acosta

“Even if we did a good lap time in the end, it was not our main focus today, but we orientated ourselves more towards trying different parts and settings. It was a good day, because we improved our pace, and also the way I am riding with used tyres, which is a really important point for the races. I had some parts I was requested to try, so we got on with them, did a couple of laps to get the data in. It was nice to be able to get some work done for the team, and help as much as I could.”

Augusto Fernandez

“It was not the first day we were dreaming of unfortunately. We had a game plan to follow, but we lost a bit of time in the morning. In the afternoon, we tried the new bike with the new chassis, and that’s when I started to recover a bit, get the feeling back again, but I was pretty slow all day. We have things clear for tomorrow, we know what our package should be for the second day to be at a good pace, so I am looking forward to continuing the work with the team.”

Nobody did more laps on Tuesday than Jack Miller, who tallied 69. The Austrian factory focused their attention on electronics and a new exhaust system, as well as some aerodynamic and engine updates as they look to close that gap to Ducati – a smaller task than anyone else as of the end of 2023.

After not bringing much outwardly new to the Valencia Test, Aprilia have been busy over the winter with new aero, engine, swingarms and chassis all on show on Tuesday. Maverick Viñales was fastest of the lot with a 1m58.470 to leave himself sixth.  Aleix Espargaro P13 and Trackhouse Racing’s Miguel Oliveira in P15.

Miguel Oliveira

“It was a good day. I was very excited to get the tests going because I didn’t ride for a long time. I think everyone on the grid was excited to start. We did what we had to do; get the first impressions of the bike, start to ride it, try a few things, nothing crazy. We didn’t touch the bike too much. Some things work, some things didn’t, which is normal for a new bike. Immediately, what we feel is a lot of potential, but we still need to put everything together and balance the bike a lot better. The aerodynamic side is quite a bit different, so we need to adjust that. Overall, I felt good, although I had a small crash where I hurt my shoulder plate again a little bit, but it went much better throughout the afternoon and I could go through the complete plan that we had scheduled. Tomorrow we face another long day.”

Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Racing) only managed 21 laps in the end after a highside in the opening 15 minutes of the day. He did get back out on track but then headed for further checks at local hospital. He has now been ruled out of the remainder of the test.

Raul Fernandez

“First of all, I would like to say sorry to Aprilia and our Trackhouse Racing MotoGP Team. This morning in my first laps I had a big crash because of the track conditions. Honestly, I didn’t expect that coming. But because of that crash, I won’t be able to continue this test here in Sepang. I feel really, really, bad because we won’t have the chance to continue to understand the new bike better and to learn how it feels. For me, it’s just going to be important now to recover well and to rest. To ride the bike like this is not safe for me, so I need to focus on my recovery and try to be at 100% in the Qatar test in order to do all the work we planned to do here. Again, I want to say sorry to Aprilia and the team.”

Wilzo Zeelenberg- Trackhouse Aprilia Team Manager

“The first day of testing in 2024 is done. The weather was nice, but we have some bad news. Raul crashed this morning quite hard on a slippery race track with good feeling, but he hurt his hip quite badly. It looks like nothing is majorly damaged, but there was a huge impact on his pelvis and on a bone, that makes it better for him not to test anymore, but to recover and make sure that he is well in Qatar. Another impact could be a disaster. Miguel meanwhile did a lot of things. He tried many parts and pieces for the 2024 bike. He is happy with his feeling with the bike, but of course, we always want more. He did 54 laps and is ready to continue testing tomorrow.”

We saw a few updates from Yamaha at the Shakedown, and they will be pleased to see Quartararo sitting third on the timesheets and new recruit Alex Rins just outside the top ten. The Iwata factory’s main focus on the opening day was aero, as well as fine-tuning their new and improved engine. There was also a new tail unit being used.  Cal Crutchlow on test duty for Yamaha once again.

Fabio Quartararo

“I felt great! Basically, today we didn’t really test new items. I tested a lot of electronics and settings of the bike. From the outside you can’t really see what I tested, but it was a positive day. Tomorrow we will work in a similar way, and I think that it’s quite important for us to stay focused because I feel that we have the potential, but we still have to find it. The plan for tomorrow is the same as for today: try to find the best electronics set-up and try to also find the best setting of the bike. This is changing because of the new aero, we have to adjust the balance of the bike. But I’m feeling pretty happy about how we are working in the team.”

Alex Rins

“I’m quite grateful for the work we are doing. We are testing many things. We have also tested in the Shakedown, two full days of work. And the way of working is quite nice – I like it, for sure! I’m getting used to the way they work, and they are getting to know the way I work. Today we tested many things on the electronics side, working on the really used tyre to understand how the Yamaha works, and if I can adapt the bike a bit to my riding style. So I’m quite happy. Let’s see tomorrow. Tomorrow we’ll have more chance to improve and to test more things, because today we only used one set of new tyres to test the items. So, everything is under control.”

There was a lot going on down at HRC on Tuesday. Brand new swingarms, aero, engines and chassis are just the start of a totally revamped RC213V. And the early signs are positive with Johann Zarco (CSATROL Honda LCR) claiming the final spot inside the top ten on the timesheets. For a completely new bike – with Joan Mir (Repsol Honda Team) confirming they’d not even brought the 2023 machine to Malaysia – that’s a positive first day. Mir was P14, new team-mate Luca Marini P17 and Takaaki Nakagami (IDEMITSU Honda LCR) P20.

Joan Mir

“It’s only the first day so I am staying quite calm about everything as there’s still a lot more to come. We were able to improve Sector 3 and 4, our pace is good there. We were faster in the first half of the lap during the Shakedown. Today was about trying some new things and because of that it was the first day I think that we didn’t improve the bike. This can happen when you’re trying a lot of things. As I said, it is not a big problem because we will be back on track tomorrow. Tonight we need to compare our data.”

Luca Marini

“We have many things to try but everyone is working very hard and well. I am really satisfied with how the first days have gone because every time I get on the bike the feeling is better. It’s an enjoyable moment, learning the new bike, the new team and the new culture. We found something better in the last few days but of course there is still more to do. The step since Valencia has been good and everyone is working together well. The objective is to keep putting all the pieces together because there are many new things and improvements.”

Riders are back on track again throughout Wednesday and Thursday.

Sepang MotoGP Test
Day One Times

MotoGP Sepang Top Speeds

Provisional 2024 FIM MotoGP World Championship calendar (Updated)

Reserve Event: Hungary – Balaton Park Circuit.
Portugal & India remain subject to contract.
Kazakhstan is subject to contract and homologation.