Marquez: Three bikes, good base

MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez began a year in which he will aim for a fifth premier-class crown by setting the seventh fastest lap time at the start of testing, in Malaysia.

The Repsol Honda rider, whose best lap was 0.863s behind pace setting team-mate Dani Pedrosa, joined his fellow Spaniard in trying three different machines at Sepang on Sunday.

"I have a 2017 bike, exactly the same as I finished in Valencia," Marquez explained. "Then I have one new engine which is the one I used in Valencia test, but with a new chassis also. And then another new engine, developed in the direction from Valencia."

"We concentrated more on the last version, but also the second version has potential. But I think the feeling is the last version has more potential in other circuits."

This new engine, development from data during the November tests, has more torque, "especially on the top but also on the bottom... But still we are not there, there are many parameters that we need to adjust."

Nonetheless, it seems clear that Honda is in a more competitive situation at this stage than was the case in the previous two seasons, when major engine changes meant major electronics work.

"We started this time with a good base, we started to ride the bike and from the beginning, we were already on the same lap time as the other bike," Marquez confirmed. "So the engine was there, the electronics – of course we need to adjust the parameters, but the base was there. And this is important.

"I remember two years ago, it was completely out. It was losing power in the middle of the straight, in the corners it was doing something strange, but now it looks like we have something that is working from the beginning."

Now the important thing will be to keep improving at the same pace as previous years.

"If we start in a good way but we stay at that level, it's something that has no meaning," Marquez said. "But the thing is, we are at the same level as last year, more or less, but we still have many new things to try and to adjust. So this gives good motivation to a rider."

Marquez added that, on day one at least, he was not yet pushing to his usual limits.

"Of course if it is a race weekend, I push at the limit, and it doesn't matter if the bike is shaking and moving. But now we are in a test, still we are not ready, so I am being more calm, trying to understand many things, trying to understand the engine, how it is on the gas, and then tomorrow will be the time to work on the set up and to find that limit."

Testing continues on Monday and Tuesday.