Marc Marquez stunned the MotoGP field with his blistering pace at the Sepang test, completing a remarkable sprint simulation and outpacing the entire competition, including his teammate Francesco Bagnaia. His younger brother Alex was the closest challenger, showcasing the strength of the Marquez family in the paddock. Marquez's performance highlighted his adaptation to the Ducati and raised the bar for the upcoming season.
Marc Marquez concluded MotoGP testing at Sepang with a blistering sprint simulation on Friday, making a powerful statement to his competitors with his exceptional pace. Marquez, riding the factory Ducati in the afternoon session, averaged a remarkable 1m57.930 seconds over a 10-lap run, comfortably outpacing the entire field, including his teammate Francesco Bagnaia .
His performance was characterized by consistency, with seven laps recorded in the 1m57 seconds bracket and only three in the 1m58s range. His fastest lap during this stint was a scorching 1m57.641 seconds, while his slowest was still a respectable 1m58.272 seconds. At this pace, he would have convincingly defeated Jorge Martin in last year's sprint race at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Adding another layer of intrigue to the proceedings, Marquez's younger brother and Gresini rider Alex Marquez emerged as the closest contender to his pace in terms of long-run performance. Having already set the overall pace on Friday, Alex Marquez clocked three laps in the mid-1m57s, even outpacing the six-time MotoGP champion on each of those occasions. However, more than half of his 10 laps were recorded in the 1m58s bracket. Bagnaia, the reigning double champion, maintained a pace primarily in the 1m58s range, only briefly dipping into the 1m57s twice during his race simulation.This performance by Marquez at the Sepang test is even more telling when compared to his past performance at the same track. For context, Marquez's lap times from the same Sepang sprint race in 2022 have been included, where he finished second, nine tenths behind Martin. By way of comparison, Marquez's Sepang test times are significantly faster than his previous sprint race times, showcasing a clear improvement in his performance.Marquez completed a total of 70 laps on Friday, the most of any rider throughout the day, surpassing even rookie Somkiat Chantra's impressive tally of 68 from Thursday. Across these 70 laps, which covered a little over 388 kilometers, Marquez achieved his fastest lap time of 1m57.042 seconds, placing him fifth and just behind Franco Morbidelli, who lapped the circuit fractionally quicker at 1m56.948 seconds.During the day, Marquez completed his 70 laps across 13 runs. During his fifth run, the Spaniard put the bike in time attack mode and recorded two blistering laps - 1m57.086 seconds and 1m57.042 seconds. Later in the afternoon, in his 10th run, he executed his race simulation with ten fast laps consistently in the high 1m57s and low 1m58s range. To conclude the test, Marquez made three more outings, with two laps in the first and three in the other two. Marquez had previously completed 54 laps on Wednesday and another 45 on Thursday before suffering a late crash at Turn 9. Over the course of the test, he amassed a total of 169 laps around the Sepang circuit, which equates to 939 kilometers. Marquez also had the opportunity to test for the factory Ducati team at the Barcelona test in November, where he covered 49 laps on a prototype bike. Consequently, the 31-year-old has now accumulated a total of 1,166 kilometers of mileage as an official Ducati rider
Motogp Marc Marquez Ducati Sepang Test Sprint Race Francesco Bagnaia Alex Marquez
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