MotoGP Sepang Test: Marini ahead of Bagnaia on day 3, Quartararo sinks

The Mooney VR46 team leaves Sepang on top. Not with Marco Bezzecchi though, who finished first on day one of testing, but with Luca Marini, who was able to lap just one tenth from the track record set in 2022 by Jorge Martin. Marini set a 1’57”889 and was the only rider aside from Pecco Bagnaia to duck under 1’58. A more than convincing performance from the current champion too then (just 0.080 of a second behind Marini), particularly if compared to that of his main rival for the 2022 title, Fabio Quartararo.

Despite completing the most laps on day three, 63 in all, the Frenchman had to settle for nineteenth place, one second from the front. He was still the first Yamaha rider though, with Franco Morbidelli finishing right behind him. Back to the top of the timesheets and Maverick Viñales will be pleased to finish third, increasingly efficient during testing, followed by Enea Bastianini, fourth. The sessions were something of a rollercoaster ride for the Italian, who finds himself carrying out comparison tests for the first time, but he did well to finish top five, ahead of the aforementioned Jorge Martin.

Aprilia good, KTM bad

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A solid performance by Aleix Espargarò in sixth, who finished less than half a second from Marini and was followed by a pretty convincing Fabio Di Giannantonio. The Italian was able to close ahead of both Bezzecchi and his team-mate Alex Marquez, with Marc rounding out the top ten. The Spaniard worked hard throughout the day, even taking to the track with a wingless bike in the final stages.

KTM won’t be pleased with its day 3 performance, Pol Espargaró its strongest rider in thirteenth with the GASGAS, while Jack Miller – who also suffered an innocuous crash – finished just sixteenth, one second from Marini. In last place among the full-time riders was rookie Augusto Fernandez.

Day 3 test results

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Combined test results

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