Pol Espargaro had started its first of three days of testing at Sepang with a bang. First in the top 10, he then slipped down the hierarchy after two falls and the regret of a workload considered too heavy. Meanwhile, his new team Johann zarco gained momentum by discovering the RC16 to position himself in front of him both on Thursday and Friday. The Spaniard takes stock of his Malaysian return, marked by a final eighteenth place, 1.5 seconds behind leader Petrucci on Ducati.
While the Red Bull KTM rider, Pol Espargaro, had complained the day before about trying too many new parts, he drew a positive conclusion after the last day of IRTA testing at Sepang. During this third day the cadetAleix Espargaro was about a tenth slower than his teammate Johann zarco. In 1'59,751 min, he took 18th place on the timesheet.
« The first day I was half a second slower so I'm very happy with the pace this Friday “, declared the 27-year-old pilot. “ I felt comfortable, although the fastest lap didn't go the way I wanted, as I encountered Morbidelli in the middle of my attempt. That's why I couldn't improve my time. But it's a test and we go home knowing we did a good job ».
« I had a good rhythm “, he assures. “ I needed this too after yesterday when we tested a lot of things ". Certainly, but there is still a lot to do at KTM: “ there is still work to be done. The conditions did not allow certain things and in the end I was tired and focused on other things. That's why we still have a lot to test in the upcoming tests in Qatar. », explained Pol, adding on speedweek : " in many ways we have laid the foundations for the work to be done at Losail ».
This second test on the circuit which will host the first Grand Prix of the season will begin on February 23 and will last three days. On March 10, the championship will kick off...
MotoGP, Sepang J3 Test: times
| 1 | 9 | Danilo Petrucci | Ducati GP19 | 1:58.239 | ||
| 2 | 63 | Francis Bagnaia | Ducati GP18 | 1:58.302 | 0.063 | 0.063 |
| 3 | 43 | Jack Miller | Ducati GP19 | 1:58.366 | 0.127 | 0.064 |
| 4 | 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati GP19 | 1:58.538 | 0.299 | 0.172 |
| 5 | 12 | Maverick Vinales | Yamaha M1 | 1:58.644 | 0.405 | 0.106 |
| 6 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Honda RC213V | 1:58.780 | 0.541 | 0.136 |
| 7 | 41 | Aleix Espargaró | Aprilia RS-GP | 1:59.022 | 0.783 | 0.242 |
| 8 | 21 | Franco Morbidelli | Yamaha M1 | 1:59.141 | 0.902 | 0.119 |
| 9 | 30 | Takaaki Nakagami | Honda RC213V | 1:59.148 | 0.909 | 0.007 |
| 10 | 46 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha M1 | 1:59.155 | 0.916 | 0.007 |
| 11 | 93 | Marc Márquez | Honda RC213V | 1:59.170 | 0.931 | 0.015 |
| 12 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki GSX-RR | 1:59.180 | 0.941 | 0.010 |
| 13 | 6 | Stefan bradl | Honda RC213V | 1:59.368 | 1.129 | 0.188 |
| 14 | 53 | Tito Rabat | Ducati GP18 | 1:59.485 | 1.246 | 0.117 |
| 15 | 36 | Joan mir | Suzuki GSX-RR | 1:59.486 | 1.247 | 0.001 |
| 16 | 20 | fabio quartararo | Yamaha M1 | 1:59.497 | 1.258 | 0.011 |
| 17 | 5 | Johann zarco | KTM RC16 | 1:59.640 | 1.401 | 0.143 |
| 18 | 44 | Pol Espargaro | KTM RC16 | 1:59.751 | 1.512 | 0.111 |
| 19 | 88 | Miguel Oliveira | KTM RC16 | 1:59.949 | 1.710 | 0.198 |
| 20 | 17 | Karel Abraham | Ducati GP18 | 2:00.378 | 2.139 | 0.429 |
| 21 | 55 | Hafiz Syahrin | KTM RC16 | 2:00.766 | 2.527 | 0.388 |
| 22 | 50 | Sylvain Guintoli | Suzuki GSX-RR | 2:00.990 | 2.751 | 0.224 |
| 23 | 38 | Bradley Smith | Aprilia RS-GP | 2:00.995 | 2.756 | 0.005 |
| 24 | 66 | Mika Kallio | KTM RC16 | 2:01.020 | 2.781 | 0.025 |
| 25 | T2 | Nakasuga/Folger | Yamaha M1 | 2:01.243 | 3.004 | 0.223 |
| 26 | T1 | Jonas Folger | Yamaha M1 | 2:01.719 | 3.480 | 0.476 |
