MotoGP testing: Sepang

World champion Marc Marquez topped the timesheets as the first official MotoGP test of the year began in Sepang, Malaysia on Tuesday, February 4.

The Repsol Honda rider led the way from Yamaha Factory Racing’s Valentino Rossi and his Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa, whileAustralia’s Broc Parkes, making his debut in the MotoGP ranks on the Aprilia-engined Paul Bird Motorsport machine, was 24th out of 26 riders.

The final hour of the day saw track temperatures drop which allowed riders to push for quicker lap times. This duly saw Marquez post 2:00.286, half a second up on Rossi as both he and Pedrosa jumped ahead of Jorge Lorenzo's Yamaha in the final minutes of the day. The top six was completed by GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista and LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl.

"I'm happy with how this first day went and to have achieved my goal of regaining my feeling on the bike," said Marquez.

"Of course, at the start I was a little stiff, but gradually I was able to pick up the pace. Today I tested the new rear tyre from Bridgestone and it felt similar to last year."

At Repsol Honda, this year’s RC213V features a larger air intake in an attempt to increase top speeds and improve throttle response on the exit of corners, with Marquez posting the leading effort fresh from historically claiming the title in Valencia last year. In the Yamaha garage, Rossi continued to develop his working relationship with new Crew Chief Silvano Galbusera, who first worked alongside the nine-time world champion for the post-race test after the final Grand Prix of 2013.

Much attention was on Ducati Team, with talk continuing to circulate that the outfit could elect to race under the new Open regulations this year; this would allow up to 24 litres of fuel as opposed to the 20 of the Factory options, as well as working on engines during the season and not being limited by the new engine freeze.

Also this season, all bikes in the field are running the spec ECU hardware for the first time; however Factory outfits are free to use their own software, whereas Opens must adapt the spec software as supplied by Dorna Sports and Magneti Marelli.

The leading Open representative on this occasion was Forward’s Aleix Espargaro (seventh position), with Factory riders Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing), Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3 team-mates) completing the top 10. Colin Edwards (Forward) overcame early technical difficulties to finish 11th quickest, as Ducati Team filled spots 12 to 14 with Andrea Dovizioso, test rider Michele Pirro and Cal Crutchlow. The leading Honda RCV1000R customer bike was that of 2006 title winner Nicky Hayden (Drive M7 Aspar) in 17th place.

All teams were present with the exception of IodaRacing, which plans to make its 2014 track debut at the second Sepang test which is to run at the end of the month.

Testing continues at the Sepang International Circuit over the next two days.

For day one times, click here.