Dani Pedrosa tops the standings on day 1 test in Sepang

Dani Pedrosa fastest for Honda

Dani Pedrosa set the fastest time of the opening day of the Sepang test, with a mark of 1’59.427" on his 55th lap (out of 56), while teammate Marc Marquez was not trying hard and ended seventh overall with a best time of 2’00.290" on his 50th lap (out of 51).

Honda’s Dani Pedrosa, the pole lap record holder at the track, ended the day more than three tenths clear of 2017 runner up Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team). Dovizioso’s teammate Jorge Lorenzo was third quickest, just 0.032 in arrears.

In typical Malaysian fashion, the morning dawned under heavy rain, so the asphalt was still wet when the track opened at 10 a.m.. Marquez made one run on wet tires, Pedrosa a few more, but both riders really began working on development of the RC213V after lunchtime, by which time the track had properly dried. They completed a few laps on the 2017 bike and then went out on the prototype 2018 machines, which were using different engine specifications.

LCR Honda Castrol’s Cal Crutchlow was also testing for HRC with 2018 prototypes and the Brit had three machines in the pitbox. He earned the honor of first crasher of the season, but did also play guinea pig by heading out first on slicks. Crutchlow did 38 laps with a best of 2:00.522 to take ninth on the timesheets.

Hot on their heels over in the Ducati garage, and following test rider Casey Stoner’s positively on the new GP18 after private tests, Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo had both the GP17 and the GP18 with which to put in their laps. Dovizioso spent some time on top before being deposed later in the day, but the Italian charged back up to second overall by the end of action. 35 laps saw the 2017 Malaysian GP winner put in a best of 1:59.770, with teammate Lorenzo also a late mover and catapulting himself from outside the top ten to P3 on his final run. The five-time World Champion did 38 laps. Danilo Petrucci (Alma Pramac Racing) made it three Ducatis in the fastest four as he took P4, just ahead of new teammate Jack Miller, who made it 80% Borgo Panigale factory machinery in the top five as he impressed once again.

Marquez relaxes in garage

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi and teammate Maverick Vinales, meanwhile, began the day with new fairings – but not the new full carbon-black aero package seen on test rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga’s machine. The two men were forces to be reckoned with on the timesheets until a final time attack from some competitors. With the new chassis based on 2016 and the 2018 engine, an optimistic ‘Doctor’ put in 50 laps. The quickest clocked in at a 2:00.233 to put him P6, with teammate Vinales P13 on Sunday after 72 laps. The first man out on wets in the morning, meanwhile, was Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) as the lights went green, and the Frenchman had some new – to the Tech 3 team – aero to test. He ended the day in eighth after 62 laps.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing impressed once again as they head into their second season. Pol Espargaro was on the pace from the off and completed the top ten, with teammate Bradley Smith in P17. The Spaniard did 39 laps and the Brit matched the lap count. Test rider Mika Kallio was also on track

Dani Pedrosa 1ST 1:59.427 (56 LAPS)
“Of course it’s good to start the testing with the fastest time, so we’re happy with that. We had some rain in the morning and therefore the chance to do a few laps on rain tires, and we felt good from the beginning. In the afternoon, when the track dried, the asphalt kept improving lap by lap, and that was positive for the many changes we had to try. We have three bikes here, and they have the same setup but different engines. Basically, we worked on the engine package, trying to collect as much information as possible and to get a feeling with each different specification; that’s one of the main areas we have as a target for this test. There are still points we need to work on in order to understand more. We also need more laps on used tires, as we didn’t get any long runs in today. Of course we’re still in the early stages but so far the feeling is good."

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