Offseason Testing – Marquez dominates on day one of MotoGP testing at Sepang … but thought he was better than that! –

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Marquez dominates on day one of MotoGP testing at Sepang … but thought he was better than that !

Offseason Testing - Marquez dominates on day one of MotoGP testing at Sepang ... but thought he was better than that! -

Marc Marquez’s painful shoulder did not prevent him from setting the best time on the first day of MotoGP testing of 2019 at the Sepang circuit (Malaysia). The reigning world champion, a solid leader on his Honda, is ahead of Alex Rins ‘Suzuki and Maverick Viñales’ Yamaha. Debriefing.

Two birds with one stone ! By striking the first at the MotoGP tests in Sepang, Marc Marquez not only reassures himself about his state of health, but he also immediately warns his opponents: the reigning world champion will be there in 2019, although his left shoulder still makes him suffer and lack of force on braking! What also reassure the Honda clan, but also his team manager Alberto Puig, who broke his arm on a motorcycle just before the resumption in Malaysia…

  • Sepang tests :
  • MNC special file : 

Bad luck seems to be beating down on the winged brand at the start of the 2019 season: let us remember that the "semi-official" pilot at Honda-LCR, Cal Crutchlow, is also coming out of three months without a motorcycle! Heavily injured in the ankle in Australia, the English rider takes the handlebars for the first time this week: out of caution, it is his teammate Takaaki Nakagami who will be responsible for roughing the parts to be tested.

Marquez gives a shoulder

Seeing Marquez at the top is therefore a comfort for the HRC, especially since its star driver did not take long to make the powder speak: the n ° 93 went down in 1’59.621 in his 26th lap, before returning definitively in the box three rounds later. The Catalan is thus both the fastest and the least present on the track: all his rivals completed between 50 and 65 laps during this first sunny day..

Offseason Testing - Marquez dominates on day one of MotoGP testing at Sepang ... but thought he was better than that! -

His time puts him at around 6 tenths of the official record for the Malaysian track, held since 2015 by Dani Pedrosa in 1’59.053. Note, however, that a certain Jorge Lorenzo is on the last day of winter testing on his Ducati: a record lap … but not official because it was contested outside a Grand Prix..

"I’m very happy to be back on the handlebars after a long winter, but I expected to be better than that," said Marquez, surprisingly disappointed with his morning performance. "I still have no strength, it goes for a couple of laps but I had to change my riding style to compensate. I stopped early to save myself, there are two days left and we’ll see how it works. Honda has worked a lot this winter, we tried a few things but the list is still very long. We test the most important things first. The bike is already well advanced but there is still a lot to try before the Qatar"…

Rins and Viñales on the lookout …

Second at 0.259 seconds behind Marquez, Alex Rins shows that the Suzuki will be able to play in the leading group as it did several times last year. Rins also asserts his status as the new leader of the Hamamatsu clan: his teammate Joan Mir, a MotoGP debutant, is only 23rd..

"My first impressions are excellent and we have plenty of new parts to test to polish our 2019 motorcycle", confirms n ° 42: "the lap times and the pace were already high today, so I feel that we have a good potential. I want to start the year as well as possible to have a regular season from the start. ".

Offseason Testing - Marquez dominates on day one of MotoGP testing at Sepang ... but thought he was better than that! -

Also good start to the season for Yamaha, who saw Maverick Viñales take third time at 0.316 sec. Despite the importance of this gap, this introduction could give balm to the heart to the new n ° 12: a good thing as we know the sensitivity to performance of "Mack", now mentally supported by the former pilot Julian Simon.

  • MNC of February 6, 2019 :

 "I’m really happy because I immediately felt comfortable," said Viñales. "I’ve trained a lot on motorcycles this winter, so physically I’m fine. I want to spend the three days thoroughly and I can be quite precise on the track. There is still room for improvement and it is very important if we wants to fight for the championship. I would like to improve the acceleration and also the braking a little bit, which caused us a lot of problems last year..

Esteve Rabat (+0.362 sec) and Danilo Petrucci (+0.430 sec) complete the Top 5 of this first day of testing at Sepang ahead of Valentino Rossi (+0.433 sec), which reveals as every year a specific helmet decoration that he will wear during the offseason trials. 

Offseason Testing - Marquez dominates on day one of MotoGP testing at Sepang ... but thought he was better than that! -

 "I asked Aldo (Drudi, his designer, Editor’s note) to take a brush and draw freehand, as he did before. And the result is great!", Rejoices n ° 46 by presenting this AGV helmet with bright colors which effectively returns a "raw" aspect of brushstrokes. 

Regarding his first day, the Doctor first of all recalls that he found it "great to get back on the bike, even if it was physically hard because it was very hot".

"The first day was pretty positive", he continues: "I always had a good feeling with the bike and I worked a lot on improving the grip and the lap times, especially on worn tires. is the first day, I looked a little at the times of the leaders and we are not that far. It seems that we have improved compared to last year ".

Peco Bagnaia first beginner of the day

Further in the ranking are Andrea Dovizioso’s Ducati (8th at 0.576 sec), Pol Espargaro’s KTM (10th at 0.692 sec), Jack Miller’s Ducati (11th at 0.762 sec) and Honda Cal Crutchlow (14th at 1.060 sec), which gently takes its marks on the RC213V. The English is followed by Francesco Bagnaia, 15th and first rookie in this ranking on his Ducati Pramac 1.073 sec from Marquez.

Offseason Testing - Marquez dominates on day one of MotoGP testing at Sepang ... but thought he was better than that! -

Miller’s teammate is ahead of another rookie: Miguel Oliveira (above), however slowed down by a technical problem on his KTM satellite managed by Tech3.

The Portuguese rookie even allows himself to be the second KTM driver of the day: he precedes the test driver of the Orange brand Mika Kallio (19th) and especially Johann Zarco (20th), who has been racing since Saturday in Sepang in the part of the debugging of motorcycles that the teams nickname "shakedown".

"It’s a big circuit with fast corners and the heat allows you to test the front axle well in order to better understand the weak points", commented Johann..

First French rider in 2’00.985, rookie Fabio Quartararo finished 18th 1.364 sec behind the leader on his M1 of the new Petronas SRT (Sepang Racing Team) structure, which replaces Tech3 as the Yamaha satellite team..  

"It’s not easy to have the feeling on such a powerful bike, but I thought the first laps would be more difficult," said El Diablo. "I’m happy because I’ve improved: while in Jerez I had to do a lot of laps to get a good time, today I was able to set a qualifying time after only two laps. The test de Sepang is different from Jerez, which is a much smaller circuit. Here, we have long straights and it is very hot. Tomorrow we will continue to work on the bike, trying to have a better feeling when braking. ".

Results and standings of the first day of MotoGP testing in Sepang

  1. MARQUEZ, Marc Repsol Honda Team 1: 59.621 
  2. RINS, Alex Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 1: 59.880 0.259
  3. VIÑALES, Maverick Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1: 59.937 0.316 
  4. RABAT, Tito Reale Avintia Racing 1: 59.983 0.362
  5. PETRUCCI, Danilo Mission Winnow Ducati 2: 00.051 0.430
  6. ROSSI, Valentino Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 2: 00.054 0.433
  7. NAKAGAMI, Takaaki LCR Honda IDEMITSU 2: 00.158 0.53
  8. DOVIZIOSO, Andrea Mission Winnow Ducati 2: 00.197 0.576 
  9. BRADL, Stefan Honda Test Team 2: 00.214 0.593
  10. ESPARGARO, Pol Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 2: 00.313 0.692
  11. MILLER, Jack Alma Pramac Racing 2: 00.383 0.762
  12. MORBIDELLI, Franco Petronas Yamaha SRT 2: 00.460 0.839
  13. ESPARGARO, Aleix Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 2: 00.602 0.981
  14. CRUTCHLOW, Cal LCR Honda CASTROL 2: 00.681 1.060
  15. BAGNAIA, Francesco Alma Pramac Racing 2: 00.694 1.073
  16. OLIVEIRA, Miguel KTM Tech 3 Racing 2: 00.902 1.281 
  17. TEST 1, Yamaha Yamaha Test Team 2: 00.965 1.344
  18. QUARTARARO, Fabio Petronas Yamaha SRT 2: 00.985 1.364 
  19. KALLIO, Mika Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Test Team 2: 01.054 1.433
  20. ZARCO, Johann Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 2: 01.121 1.500
  21. IANNONE, Andrea Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 2: 01.249 1.628
  22. GUINTOLI, Sylvain Suzuki Test Team 2: 01.286 1.665
  23. MIR, Joan Team SUZUKI ECSTAR 2: 01.432 1.811
  24. ABRAHAM, Karel Reale Avintia Racing 2: 01.627 2.006
  25. TEST 2, Yamaha Yamaha Test Team 2: 01.736 2.115
  26. SYAHRIN, Hafizh KTM Tech 3 Racing 2: 01.853 2.232
  27. SMITH, Bradley Aprilia Racing Factory Team  
  28. TSUDA, Takuya Suzuki Test Team  

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