MotoGP: Marini quickest on final day at Sepang

The 2023 MotoGP Sepang pre-season test is over after three days of running in Malaysia. Rain would affect the third day of running, with a shower coming in the final hour of the test.

Ducati

It would be a VR46 Ducati back on top, this time with Luca Marini topping the time sheets after three days. He is riding the GP22 this season, and the Italian would set a time of 1:57.889. Bezzecchi would end his day in eighth place, after a great test where he would top day one.

Bagnaia finished his test in second position, 0.080 behind Marini, proving how strong Ducati looks this season. He would test the 2023 bike once again but is yet to be fully comfortable with the new motorcycle.

Enea Bastianini finished his first full test as a factory rider, he finished the day in fourth overall. Bastianini would test a new lower aero on both of his bikes, to provide a ground effect to the riders when turning.

At Prima Pramac Ducati it was Jorge Martin who finished in fifth position, after the third day of testing. He used the new 2023 engine throughout the day and was happy with the step forward that they have made. Zarco would end his day in 16^th position, after a day of comparing parts before Portimao.

Fabio Di Giannantonio finished the day inside the top 10, and ahead of his teammate. Alex Marquez had a good day onboard the Gresini Ducati and would end it in ninth position, in Infront of his brother.

Aprilia

Aprilia would continue to test and compare parts throughout the day, with small tweaks made to their bikes throughout the day. The two factory riders had a busy day, clocking 88 laps total between the two Spaniards.

Maverick Vinales finished the day in third place, proving his pace in testing and ending with a lap time of 1:58.036. Aleix Espargaro bounced back after a tough day two and placed himself in sixth.

RNF Aprilia rider, Miguel Oliveira ended his third day at Sepang in 11^th position, as the Portuguese rider gets comfortable on the Aprilia. Raul Fernandez was 11^th in today’s session, just 0.821.

Honda

Marc Marquez finished as the top Honda, with both Marquez brothers ending the day inside the top 10. He would test three bikes today after one of his bikes was put to the side and would no longer be tested.

Mir would make big steps on the Honda throughout his three days at Sepang but has still a way to go with the Japanese team. He finished the day in 12^th after a respectable lap time of 1:58,784.

LCR teammates Rins and Nakagami had a tough day, finishing down in 18^th and 21^st. Takaaki Nakagami would test the same chassis as both Repsol riders as he tries to find a better feel on the bike.

Stefan Bradl would take to a track in an unusual Honda RC213V, with the German not using any wings on his bike. Step by step the test rider added aero to his bike, as Honda tries to find where the issue lies.

GASGAS

Pol Espargaro finished as the top RC16 for day three, with the Spaniard making huge steps on the GASGAS machine. Espargaro is making the switch to the GASGAS team after two tough seasons at Repsol Honda.

Augusto Fernandez ended his six days of running In Sepang, finishing in 22^nd position. Fernandez is the only rookie joining the premier class this year and is only two seconds off the top spot.

KTM

Jack Miller had a tough day mentally suffering a low-speed crash at turn one, after tucking the front. Miller said that he has “hit a wall with the bike set up.” The Australian spent the day changing the geometry on his RC16.

Brad Binder would make his way up to 14^th position, setting a total of 52 laps throughout the day. He finished the day less than one second off the top spot and would test a new engine throughout the day.

Yamaha

Fabio Quartararo would test the same aero packages as the days previous, using the fairing with the biggest wings. The Frenchman would struggle on fresh tyres, adding that it is a “disaster”.

Franco Morbidelli finished the in 20^th position and would spend his day doing back-to-back runs. He would also do a time attack and struggle, like his teammate proving that Yamaha had work to do before Portimao.

Massimo Mergalli said: “We are happy with the improvement we have made in terms of top speed. But unfortunately, we couldn’t finish the entire testing plan. The list of items to test was so long, and the dry track time was so short, that we weren’t able to get the job done entirely. We will now go over all the data that we couldn’t analyse here to prepare for the last and very important test in Portimão in March.”

The riders will return to the track for the final pre-season test before the 2023 season begins. It will be a busy month of development before the test gets under on the 11^th and 12^th of March in Portugal.