2025 Sepang MotoGP Test Results—Day Three
The first MotoGP test of 2025 concluded with a Marquez on top – just not the one fans had been expecting. Alex Marquez capped a brilliant three days by posting the fastest lap on Friday morning, his 1m 56.493s enough to lead Pecco Bagnaia by 0.007s.
Much like Wednesday and Thursday, Ducati engineers could toast a job well done. Four of the top five were Bologna bikes, with its year-old GP24 first and fourth (Franco Morbidelli), while factory riders Bagnaia and Marc Marquez (fifth) were extremely fast despite having reservations over Ducati’s GP25 machine.
More than the final time sheets, much interest surrounded the flurry of Sprint simulations over the day. Both Marquez brothers were in ominous shape, with Alex’s average lap time over ten laps a 1m 57.901. His older brother’s average was just 0.025 slower, with both more than half a second faster per lap than Jorge Martin’s Sprint winning times from last November.
Questions still remain over Ducati’s GP25. “The good problem of Ducati,” Marc called it. “We start from a base that won (16) races of 20. This is something difficult to improve and you need to be very sure that it is better because with the ’24 you can fight for the championship, 100%.” The two-day outing in Thailand will be crucial to gain confirmation.
The one fly in the ointment came from one of Ducati’s old foes. Fabio Quartararo was third fastest, his best of 1m 56.724s a whopping 0.8s faster than he managed here a year ago. To be so fast on one of the days could be viewed a fluke. The fact the 2021 World Champion was ever-present inside the top three on each day suggested Yamaha has made serious progress.
So much so that Bagnaia stated he expects Yamaha to be Ducati’s closest opponent in the upcoming season. “Fabio had a fantastic pace all three days,” he said. “And the time attack, which was one weak point from the last years, was (also improved).” While he only managed six laps in his Sprint simulation, Quartararo’s average lap time was extremely competitive – just over a tenth per lap off the Marquez brothers.
Pedro Acosta showed strong speed in sixth. And while he repeatedly spoke of being happy, his body language suggested he was anything but. That may well have stemmed from the fact he was over half a second off the top Ducatis per lap in his race simulation, as KTM tested a multitude of new parts. The performance of new additions Maverick Viñales (16th) and Enea Bastianini (18th) will also be a concern.
Johann Zarco (seventh) and Joan Mir (eighth) provided further positivity for Honda. Yet their longer runs (1.5s slower than Ducati per lap) showed there is still a long way to go. That said, sources close to Honda indicated a good atmosphere, and an overriding sense of the project moving in the right direction, which is much more than can be said of this even in each of the past two years.
2025 Sepang MotoGP Test Results—Day Three
| 1 | Alex Marquez | (Ducati) | 1:56.493 |
| 2 | Francesco Bagnaia | (Ducati) | 1:56.500 |
| 3 | Fabio Quartararo | (Ducati) | 1:56.724 |
| 4 | Franco Morbidelli | (Ducati) | 1:56.948 |
| 5 | Marc Marquez | (Ducati) | 1:57.042 |
| 6 | Pedro Acosta | (KTM) | 1:57.175 |
2025 Sepang MotoGP Test Results—Day Two
To the relief of team bosses around the paddock, the second official day of preseason testing at Sepang was a good deal less eventful than the first, when three names were ruled out due to injury. While there were high profile crashes for Marc Marquez, Pecco Bagnaia and Pedro Acosta, all were fine to continue soon after.
The final times from the second day continue to show just how brilliant a package Ducati’s GP24 is. Frankie Morbidelli was fastest, his 1m 57.2s time the quickest of the test so far. And he was ably backed up by the GP24s of Alex Marquez in third, and impressive rookie Fermin Aldeguer in fourth. With little other than settings to work on, the trio have been a mainstay at the front so far.
While the performances of its satellite riders have been more than satisfactory, Ducati’s factory riders face a slight dilemma. Both Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez spent the best part of the second day assessing Ducati’s new engine. And the Italian remains unsure as to whether it’s a step forward to what he raced last year.
“The GP25 is very fast and good on straight and acceleration,” Bagnaia said of Ducati’s new motor. “It’s very smooth and you can manage the acceleration a lot with the throttle. But the braking the GP24 was out of this world.” Engine development is key for Ducati, Aprilia and KTM as the motor they homologate before the first race will be frozen for this season and next.
Breaking up that Ducati hegemony was Fabio Quartararo. For the second day in succession the Frenchman was modest on his chances. But the fact he has been toward the top of both days from start to finish bodes well for Yamaha. As does the fact he isn’t the sole M1 in the top ten. Pramac Yamaha’s Miguel Oliveira (eighth) and Jack Miller (tenth) both proved to be able back up.
“I think we did a great job,” said Quartararo. “Not too many laps today but we made many changes on the electronics. He was also keen to dismiss the idea he is only fast because he tested for two days at the Shakedown test. “Already on the second day of the shakedown I made a 1m 57.7s (0.4s slower than today) and it was raining!”
Joan Mir featured inside the top six for the second day running. His personal best was set when he ran out of fuel exiting the final turn, meaning the 2020 World Champ could have been faster still. “We have a little bit better acceleration. But it’s more the top speed (difference),” he said of the new engine. “We improve 1kph on the straight.” Despite struggling when track temperatures rose in the afternoon, he is positive the new RC213V is a lot easier to ride than its predecessor.
Pedro Acosta was tightlipped after an eventful second day. His morning was disrupted by an early crash at Turn 5 and mechanical issues on his second bike soon after, limiting his track time in the morning. A late effort pushed him up to seventh.
As Jorge Martin travels back to Europe to have surgery on a broken left hand and right foot, it was left to new Aprilia teammate Marco Bezzecchi to pick up the slack. The Italian was ninth, 0.7s off the top. “The front is very good,” he said of the new RS-GP. “The aero pack is OK. (But) the electronics we need to improve.”
Friday will be the final day of testing at Sepang before two further days in Thailand on February 12th and 13th wrap up the MotoGP preseason.
2025 Sepang MotoGP Test Results—Day Two
| 1 | Franco Morbidelli | (Ducati) | 1:57.210 |
| 2 | Fabio Quartararo | (Yamaha) | 1:57.324 |
| 3 | Alex Marquez | (Ducati) | 1:57.340 |
| 4 | Fermin Aldeguer | (Ducati) | 1:57.545 |
| 5 | Francesco Bagnaia | (Ducati) | 1:57.652 |
| 6 | Joan Mir | (Honda) | 1:57.791 |
2025 Sepang MotoGP Test Results—Day One
It took precisely five laps of the first official day of preseason testing to erase all optimism from the Aprilia camp. Jorge Martin was dramatically ruled out of the further two days of testing after suffering a fracture to his right hand and three in his left foot in a brutal highside.
After falling just minutes earlier in a pain-free get off at Turn 1, the reigning champion was then flung from his Aprilia RS-GP entering Turn2. The breaks were detected after a visit to a local hospital. Martin will spend the night there before flying home to Europe for surgery.
It’s hard to envision a worse start. Martin is likely to miss the final preseason test in Thailand, but should be fit to compete in the first round. Even still, it’s far from ideal preparations for his title defense. “There could be the chance that his first time with the ’25 (RS-GP) is during FP1 (of Round 1),” said a downbeat Massimo Rivola.
Aprilia Racing’s CEO also stated the crash was no fault of either rider nor machine. “I mean, I can tell you he did no mistake and the bike was fine,” Rivola said, heavily hinting that Michelin’s medium compound rear tire was at fault.
The news capped a miserable day for the Noale factory, who also lost Raul Fernandez to injury early on. For the second year in succession, the Spaniard ruled himself out on the first day of running at Sepang. On this occasion a bizarre lowside entering Turn 9 caused a fractured metacarpal bone in his left hand. He is already en route to Spain.
It was a bruising first day for the class of 2025. Fabio Di Giannantonio was also ruled out of the remaining two days as he crashed at the close of the day, breaking a left collarbone.
Embarrassingly, it’s believed the Italian tucked the front into Turn 5 when landing a celebratory wheelie which he pulled after a practice start.
The incidents detracted from an intriguing results sheet. Fabio Quartararo was the fastest on the new Yamaha M1. Like all four Yamaha entries, the Frenchman benefited from two days of running at the Shakedown test. Thus, he wasn’t getting carried away. But a note of positivity came when he stated, “we did not really focus on time attack so it’s positive that we were already one tenth faster than qualifying (here in 2024),” of his best time of 1m 57.555s.
Marc Marquez was second fastest for Lenovo Ducati. Having spent the majority of the day testing a new engine in a ’24 bike, the eight-time champ posted his quickest lap time on a GP24 for reference. Both he and new team-mate Pecco Bagnaia (17th) were content with the new development direction. “A good thing I feel with the Gp25 is the power delivery. Looks very smooth, precise,” said the Italian.
Ducati’s GP24 was the all-conquering bike of 2024. It was therefore no surprise to see another trio of riders aboard the machine – Alex Marquez, Fermin Aldeguer and Franco Morbdelli – occupying places three, four and five.
And there was a hint of positivity at Honda. Joan Mir was a promising sixth fastest. “Mostly we improved the turning (thanks to) the aero,” he said. “We created a better ground effect in the turning area. That also improves the grip. You carry more speed, you can be more precise with the throttle, you get more grip. You don’t open from zero,” he said. Asked if it was his best day of testing since joining Honda at the close of 2022, he was unequivocal: “Yes.”
2025 Sepang MotoGP Test Results—Day One
| 1. | Fabio Quartararo | Yamaha | 1:57.555 |
| 2. | Marc Marquez | Ducati | 1:57.606 |
| 3. | Alex Marquez | Ducati | 1:57.738 |
| 4. | Fermin Aldeguer | Ducati | 1:58.035 |
| 5. | Franco Morbidelli | Ducati | 1:58.114 |
| 6. | Joan Mir | Honda | 1:58.115 |
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