2016 testing gets underway for Repsol Honda Team at Sepang
The first day of the Sepang test took place today in hot, humid conditions (max temperature: 33° air, 50° ground) until rain began falling just 20 minutes before the track closed at 6:00 p.m.
Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa ended the day in third place with a best lap time of 2’01.780 on lap 23 of 34. Marc Marquez was seventh with a best effort of 2’02.278 on lap 32 of 50.
The pair took to the track in the morning on their RC213V machines, which were fitted with the engine they had run in Jerez in November. As the day progressed, they began to work with the new engine spec also. HRC engineers worked hard on the new Magneti Marelli software and on the bike setup as well.
Testing will continue for two more days.
Dani Pedrosa
"Today we have done a lot of work. The positive part is that Honda know this and are working on things in Japan. Using my experience I am giving my all to try to provide them with as much information as possible, and advance in every area possible. We shall see if we can finish the test with a better feeling than when we started. We also have to continue testing the Michelins and putting in more kilometers with them. They have made some positive changes, although we still need to work more to improve the feeling. We will continue working and evolving throughout this test. We saw Jorge (Lorenzo) go very fast on Day 1, so we are going to continue improving gradually”.
Marc Marquez
"After going the entire winter without getting on my bike, today we began the first preseason test of 2016. We still have a lot of work to do, as we have new electronics, a new engine and a few different engine specs to what we used in Valencia and Jerez back in November. In terms of setup, we made very few adjustments, because we were focused on the electronics and adapting it to my riding style. It’s true that neither my place on the timesheet or lap time today are great, but this is going to be a long preseason in which we will have to work hard on many different things. We’ll see if we can improve tomorrow.”
Day 1 - Top 10 Results
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|
Location Information
Specifically built for speed and exciting racing, the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia is one of the world’s best. The 2,300 acre complex cost around £50m to construct and was built in just 14 months, holding its first Grand Prix in April 1999 and setting the standard for race circuits… read more.
| Length | 5.543 kilometres / 3.444 miles |
| Width | 25 metres |
| Left corners | 5 |
| Right corners | 10 |
| Longest straight | 0.920 kilometres / 0.572 miles |
| Constructed | 1998 |
Sepang International Circuit Klia Pahang Malaysia - View in Google Maps
Records
| Pole Position | 1m 56.337s (171.5km/h) Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati, 2024) |
| Race Lap | 1m 58.979s (167.7km/h) Alex Marquez (Ducati, 2023) |
| 2024 Race Winner | Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) |
| 2024 Sprint Winner | Jorge Martin (Ducati) |
