Sepang Test: Martin leads on day 1, Acosta already second

The 2024 season officially gets underway with the first day of official MotoGP testing at Sepang. All riders are out on the Malaysian track, with Jorge Martin starting just as he finished last year, in that the team Prima Pramac rider was the quickest over the flying lap, setting a 1'57.951. The Spaniard is the only rider to duck under 1'58 so far.

Behind the 2023 runner-up is a surprising Pedro Acosta who, after building confidence with the Tech3 GASGAS during the Shakedown, proved very competitive on Day 1, closing just 0.269 of a second from Martin. Fabio Quartararo looks solid with the Yamaha, third and very keen to make up for a 2023 season that was more complicated than expected. Fabio Di Giannantonio and Enea Bastianini round out the Top 5 in fourth and fifth position respectively.

Marquez top ten, Bagnaia 16th

The best Aprilia rider is Maverick Vinales, sixth ahead of the Ducatis of Alex Marquez, Marco Bezzecchi and Marc Marquez. The latter was able to move up into ninth at the end of the session, after a crash and a few technical setbacks hindered his progress earlier in the day. Rounding out the top ten is Johann Zarco, the first Honda rider.

Eleventh for Yamaha new-entry Rins, while current world champion Francesco Bagnaia is down in sixteenth place. The Italian also suffered a crash, so expect to see significant improvement from him tomorrow. Luca Marini lies seventeenth with the Honda as he continues to adapt to a bike very different to the Ducati he rode up until a few months ago.