05:48
Rain spots at Sepang have sent all riders back to the pits, it's only very light drops at the moment and still sunny.
Pol Espargaro, Sepang
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2025 Sepang MotoGP Shakedown Test - Day 1: LIVE
Live updates from Friday’s opening day of the 2025 Sepang MotoGP Shakedown test.
MotoGP 2025 bursts into action at Sepang in Malaysia with a three-day Shakedown ahead of next week’s Official test.
Rookies Ai Ogura, Fermin Aldeguer and Somkiat Chantra, factory test riders and full-time race riders from Yamaha and Honda (courtesy of the manufacturer’s concession rank of D) are eligible to participate in the Shakedown.
However, limits on the number of private testing tyres and team launches could also reduce the Shakedown attendance.
Yamaha’s quartet of race riders - Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins at Monster, plus Jack Miller and Miguel Oliveira at the new Pramac project - are booked for a presentation in Kuala Lumpur this (Friday) evening.
However, former MotoGP title runner-up Andrea Dovizioso and 2024 racer Augusto Fernandez are set for M1 testing this weekend.
Honda’s factory team of Joan Mir and Luca Marini are holding their 2025 team launch on Saturday in Indonesia, meaning new test riders Aleix Espargaro and Takaaki Nakagami could take on extra Shakedown duties.
Espargaro previously took part in a two-day private test at Buriram, where new technical director Romano Albesiano made his Honda ‘debut’.
The official Sepang test, featuring all 2025 race riders, will take place from February 5-7.
31 Jan 2025
05:03
05:00
Nakagami and Dovizioso, both on all black bikes, are riding together, the Italian tucked in behind the Japanese,
04:53
...Make that second place for Nakagami. Quite an opening run!
04:51
Takaaki Nakagami wastes no time settling in, he's already up to 3rd on the timesheets.
04:46
12:45 and we have the first Honda on track, it's former racer and new factory HRC test rider Takaaki Nakagami.
04:42
Augusto Fernandez is also due to test for Yamaha at Sepang but only Dovi's pit board looks to have been in use so far.
04:40
He's not named on the timing screens (Yamaha is just using "Test Rider" for its machines) but Andrea Dovizioso has had a busy opening morning at the Sepang Shakedown, on track with with several bikes.
04:39
Some bikes are back on track, including reigning Moto2 champion Ogura, who climbs to second behind Dani Pedrosa (+0.9s).
04:25
Yamaha's four race riders are not expected on track today due to this evening's team launch in KL.
04:22
LCR's Somkiat Chantra remains the only rookie not to have been on track today, with no Honda riders setting a time so far.
Factory riders Joan Mir and Luca Marini have a team launch in Indonesia tomorrow so are not expected to ride, but Honda teams are present at the Shakedown and presumably preparing for action...
04:20
Ai Ogura returns to the pits on an unliveried black Aprilia with yellow Trackhouse logos and the track falls silent.
There's no official break, the track stays open right to 6pm, but most teams and riders have probably stopped for lunch.
04:08
Midday at Sepang and Dani Pedrosa is fastest by 0.465s from KTM team-mate Pol Espargaro and the Yamaha Test Bike of Andrea Dovizioso...
03:43
Pedrosa now leaps half-a-second ahead of Espargaro with a 2m 0.640s.
Official Sepang MotoGP records:
Best lap: Francesco Bagnaia 1m 56.337s (2024)
Fastest race lap: Alex Marquez 1m 58.979s (2023)
03:38
Just gone 11:30 and Dani Pedrosa slots into second for a KTM one-two, but Pol is still 0.8s clear.
03:35
Pol Espargaro responds and puts KTM back on top, by almost one-secondover Dovi.
03:24
11:20am and Dovizioso (named only as 'Test Rider....Yamaha Factory Racing' on the timing screens), goes fastest for Yamaha with a 2m 2.042s, 0.271s ahead of Espargaro.
03:00
11am, end of the opening hour, and it's still Pol Espargaro quickest from 'Yamaha Test Rider' (Dovi), Pol Espargaro, Fermin Aldeguer, Michele Pirro, Lorenzo Savadori and Ai Ogura.
02:57
Second fastest on timing screens is a 'Yamaha Test Rider'... which is wearing a '04', so Andrea Dovizioso.
02:46
Good morning from day one of the Sepang Shakedown test!
After the opening 45-minutes of track action it's Pol Espargaro fastest with a 2m 2.313s.
Eight riders have so far set a lap time, incuding rookies Fermin Aldeguer and Ai Ogura.
