MotoGP Test Sepang J3: Luca Marini returns to the lead in Malaysia!

With a George Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) in the lead at midday, the last of the three MotoGP test sessions at Sepang was in line with the previous sessions, but that was without counting on Luca Marini knowing his Ducati GP22 on the fingertips who seemed poised to tackle the circuit record when the rain arrived...

Finding a wet track this morning was not a big surprise for the premier category drivers who today began their last day of testing in Malaysia before meeting next month in Portugal, and, after taking their time, Johann zarco (Prima Pramac Racing), Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) and Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) were the first to set off, the reigning world champion recording a modest 2'06.697 at the end of his first run while, from the outset, the Australian fell without gravity at the turn #1 before achieving even the slightest time on the handlebars of his RC16.

Day 3️⃣ of #SepangTest rolling🚦 pic.twitter.com/ncWJJZEqkE

- Tech3 Racing (@ Tech3Racing) February 12, 2023

As the minutes passed, there were more and more drivers on an increasingly dry track, and the times fell accordingly, reaching 1'58.642 under the pressure of Luca marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) three hours after the green lights appeared. Italian then preceded Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing), Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team), Espargaro Pol (GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3) and Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP).

Like the previous two days, George Martin regained the advantage at midday, this time in 1'58.204, before losing to Maverick Vinales, the Catalan scoring 1'58.036 around 16:30 p.m., an hour and a half before the end of the session.

A good hour before the checkered flag, Luca marini took back command and displayed 1'57.889, within shooting range of the official circuit record established by Jorge Martín last year in 1'57.790...

Unfortunately, the rain made its appearance around 17:30 p.m., confirming the times established so far, despite the presence of a few drivers still testing the grip of the now wet track until the end. Today, alone Miguel Oliveira (RNF MotoGP Team) and fabio quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) did not improve their times, consequently falling in the general classification.

In the end, despite a Johann zarco very discreet until now, Ducati still places 7 of its 8 Desmosedici in the Top 10, only the official Aprilias of Maverick Vinales et Alex Espargaro as well as the Honda of Marc Marquez managing to get in there.

The pilots will now take a little rest before returning to Portimao on March 11 and 12 for the final MotoGP test in preparation for the Portuguese Grand Prix which will take place at the Algarve Autodrome on the weekend of March 26.