2025 Official Sepang MotoGP test: Alex Marquez fastest on final day
Gresini rider best in Friday time attacks
Gresini Ducati rider Alex Marquez topped the final day of the Sepang MotoGP pre-season test, narrowly beating factory stablemate Francesco Bagnaia.
The opening portion of the last day was dedicated to time attack runs, with a frantic qualifying sim phase seeing top spot change hands a number of times.
Leading the way on Friday was Gresini’s Alex Marquez, who fired in a 1m56.493s on his GP24 to head the timesheets come the end of hour two.
That time would go unchallenged to the chequered flag, with Marquez putting 50 laps on his GP24 to cap off a positive test for the Spaniard.
Double world champion Bagnaia led the opening hour with a 1m56.5s, which would stand as his best but would keep him off top spot by 0.007s.
Fabio Quartararo completed the top three for Yamaha with a 1m56.724s that has proven to be the Japanese brand’s best-ever lap of the Sepang circuit by eight tenths of a second.
Thursday pacesetter Franco Morbidelli was fourth on the VR46 Ducati, while factory Ducati rider Marc Marquez turned heads with a rapid sprint simulation on Friday.
He completed 70 laps on Friday as Ducati looks to finalise its engine selection for the 2025 campaign.
Pedro Acosta was the lead KTM in sixth, 0.682s off the pace ahead of the top Honda of LCR’s Johann Zarco in seventh.
Joan Mir was eighth on his factory Honda after a late improvement to a 1m57.279s, while Alex Rins made it two Yamahas in the top 10 with a 1m57.351s in 10th.
Marco Bezzecchi was the first of the Aprilias in ninth on a 1m57.328s, the Italian putting 61 laps on his RS-GP to maximise data gathering for the brand in the absence of both Jorge Martin and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez.
Fermin Aldeguer was the first of the rookies in 11th for Gresini, with Jack Miller 12th for Pramac Yamaha having ended his final day early at the conclusion of a full test programme.
Yamaha also had Andrea Dovizioso out on track on Friday, with the Italian completing 58 laps. He managed a best lap of 1m59.929s in 22nd, behind Aprilia tester Lorenzo Savadori.
Testing will continue with two final days in Thailand next week on 12-13 February, before the season begins at the end of the month in Buriram.
