Quartararo stays on top in Sepang MotoGP test

Fabio Quartararo has set the pace for the third time in as many days as the Sepang pre-season MotoGP test came to a close.

Several riders held the fastest lap at some point during the first hour of the day, with Quartararo’s 1:58.349s standing up as the benchmark for the remainder of the day.

The Petronas SRT Yamaha rider, who had been given a 2020-spec M1 for the latter two days of the test, finished 0.082s ahead of Castrol LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow.

He and Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins, who ended up third with a 1:58.450s, also set their fastest laps in the opening hour.

Jack Miller was deposed from his status as top Ducati rider by Pramac Racing team-mate Francesco Bagnaia.

There was little more than a tenth in it with the Italian fourth on a 1:58.502s, the Australian eighth on a 1:58.616s, and both crashing at Turn 15.

Fifth went to Valentino Rossi at 0.192s off the pace for Monster Energy Yamaha, Danilo Petrucci was sixth for the Ducati Team, and Red Bull KTM’s Pol Espargaro took seventh.

Aleix Espargaro showed promising long run pace on Gresini Aprilia’s new RS-GP on his way to ninth, while Suzuki Ecstar’s Joan Mir was 10th with a spill at Turn 9.

Marc Marquez also spent time on the floor as he racked up 47 laps and finished 12th with Repsol Honda.

Franco Morbidelli (Petronas SRT Yamaha) ended up 13th, Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) was 14th, and Alex Marquez (Repsol Honda) wound up 16th at 0.693s off the pace.

Monster Energy Yamaha’s Maverick Viñales finished 18th and the Iwata marque’s test rider, Jorge Lorenzo, 20th.

Viñales completed 83 laps, at least 14 more than any other rider, and was one of three Yamaha pilots who appeared to have a holeshot device, the others being Rossi and tester Katsuyuki Nakasuga.

The next official test takes place at Qatar’s Losail on February 22-24 (local time).

Pre-season testing: Sepang: Day 3

Pos	Num	Rider	Team	Bike	Time	Gap 1st/prev	Laps
1	20	Fabio QUARTARARO	Petronas Yamaha SRT	Yamaha	1:58.349		17 / 57
2	35	Cal CRUTCHLOW	LCR Honda CASTROL	Honda	1:58.431	0.082/0.082	14 / 69
3	42	Alex RINS	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	1:58.450	0.101/0.019	13 / 42
4	63	Francesco BAGNAIA	Pramac Racing	Ducati	1:58.502	0.153/0.052	15 / 53
5	46	Valentino ROSSI	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	1:58.541	0.192/0.039	10 / 51
6	9	Danilo PETRUCCI	Ducati Team	Ducati	1:58.606	0.257/0.065	17 / 51
7	44	Pol ESPARGARO	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	1:58.610	0.261/0.004	7 / 34
8	43	Jack MILLER	Pramac Racing	Ducati	1:58.616	0.267/0.006	13 / 48
9	41	Aleix ESPARGARO	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	1:58.694	0.345/0.078	5 / 45
10	36	Joan MIR	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	1:58.736	0.387/0.042	13 / 32
11	88	Miguel OLIVEIRA	Red Bull KTM Tech 3	KTM	1:58.764	0.415/0.028	4 / 22
12	93	Marc MARQUEZ	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	1:58.772	0.423/0.008	18 / 47
13	21	Franco MORBIDELLI	Petronas Yamaha SRT	Yamaha	1:58.838	0.489/0.066	19 / 58
14	04	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	Ducati Team	Ducati	1:58.859	0.510/0.021	23 / 51
15	5	Johann ZARCO	Reale Avintia Racing	Ducati	1:58.951	0.602/0.092	24 / 42
16	73	Alex MARQUEZ	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	1:59.042	0.693/0.091	20 / 49
17	33	Brad BINDER	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	1:59.104	0.755/0.062	16 / 45
18	12	Maverick VIÑALES	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	1:59.169	0.820/0.065	30 / 83
19	53	Tito RABAT	Reale Avintia Racing	Ducati	1:59.549	1.200/0.380	20 / 59
20	99	Jorge LORENZO	Yamaha Test Team	Yamaha	1:59.697	1.348/0.148	16 / 46
21	38	Bradley SMITH	Aprilia Factory Racing	Aprilia	1:59.841	1.492/0.144	11 / 60
22	30	Takaaki NAKAGAMI	LCR Honda IDEMITSU	Honda	1:59.860	1.511/0.019	45 / 48
23	27	Iker LECUONA	Red Bull KTM Tech 3	KTM	1:59.898	1.549/0.038	12 / 23
24	50	Sylvain GUINTOLI	SUZUKI Test Team	Suzuki	2:00.100	1.751/0.202	9 / 27
25	82	Mika KALLIO	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	2:00.148	1.799/0.048	19 / 43
26	90	Yamaha TEST 1	Yamaha Test Team	Yamaha	2:01.123	2.774/0.975	45 / 49
27	85	Takuya TSUDA	SUZUKI Test Team	Suzuki	2:03.674	5.325/2.551	10 / 16