Sepang MotoGP Test Results - Saturday lap times (FINAL)

Final lap times from the opening day of the Official 2022 Sepang MotoGP test.

05 Feb 2022

Aleix Espargaro , Sepang MotoGP tests, 2 February 2022
© Gold and Goose Photography

Aprilia riders Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales have dominated the top of the timesheets during the opening day of Official 2022 MotoGP track action, at the Sepang Test.

Espargaro - who rode on the final day of the recent Shakedown for rookies, test riders and concession manufacturer Aprilia - led the way for almost the entire day courtesy of an early 1m 58.371s, set on his 9th of 42 laps and close to the all-time unofficial lap record by Danilo Petrucci.

Vinales then made it a close RS-GP one-two by climbing back up to second in the final minutes, with Suzuki's Alex Rins likewise jumping to third ahead of Gresini Ducati's Enea Bastianin (second to Espargaro for much of the day).

Pramac Ducati's Johann Zarco and Yamaha's world champion Fabio Quartararo were also late improvers, clocking the fifth and sixth fastest times respectively.

Quartararo - who spent the middle stages in tenth, just behind Yamaha test rider Cal Crutchlow - has cited improving top speed as his main priority for the new M1.

The Frenchman set a top speed of 332.3km/h - but after missing his braking point - with a next best of 329.2km/h. That compared with 337.5km/h by both Honda's Marc Marquez and Ducati's Jack Miller with a 336.4km/h for Aprilia's Vinales. Brad Binder hit 332.3km/h for KTM and Mir 331.2km/h for Suzuki.

Eight time world champion Marc Marquez edged out his Repsol Honda team-mate Pol Espargaro for eighth and top RC213V.

Saturday was the first time Marquez has ridden a MotoGP bike since winning at Misano last October, after which he was sidelined by a repeat of his 2011 double-vision problems triggered by an enduro training accident. The Spaniard suffered a small crash at around 11:30, then another in the final 30-minutes.

VR46 Ducati's Marco Bezzecchi impressed as top rookie in tenth place, with fellow newcomer Raul Fernandez also making a late push to head the KTM challenge in 13th.

Factory Ducati team-mates Bagnaia and Miller were just 19th and 22nd, while VR46 Ducati's Luca Marini was having his first ride on the GP22 today.

The Sepang test – which takes place from 10am to 6pm, followed by practice starts - continues on Sunday when, if track conditions allow, it's possible we'll see the very first 1m 57s MotoGP lap…

2022 Sepang MotoGP Test - Saturday (FINAL)
Pos		Rider	Nat	Team	Time
1	=	Aleix Espargaro	SPA	Aprilia Racing (RS-GP)	1m 58.371s
2	^1	Maverick Vinales	SPA	Aprilia Racing (RS-GP)	+0.013s
3	^1	Alex Rins	SPA	Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)	+0.100s
4	˅2	Enea Bastianini	ITA	Gresini Ducati (GP)	+0.267s
5	^3	Johann Zarco	FRA	Pramac Ducati (GP)	+0.575s
6	^4	Fabio Quartararo	FRA	Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1)	+0.631s
7	=	Joan Mir	SPA	Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)	+0.696s
8	˅3	Marc Marquez	SPA	Repsol Honda (RC213V)	+0.916s
9	˅3	Pol Espargaro	SPA	Repsol Honda (RC213V)	+0.982s
10	^8	Marco Bezzecchi	ITA	Mooney VR46 Ducati (GP)*	+1.097s
11	˅2	Cal Crutchlow	GBR	Yamaha Test Rider (YZR-M1)	+1.187s
12	˅1	Takaaki Nakagami	JPN	LCR Honda (RC213V)	+1.263s
13	^8	Raul Fernandez	SPA	KTM Tech3 (RC16)*	+1.311s
14	^2	Brad Binder	RSA	Red Bull KTM (RC16)	+1.413s
15	˅3	Alex Marquez	SPA	LCR Honda (RC213V)	+1.542s
16	˅3	Miguel Oliveira	POR	Red Bull KTM (RC16)	+1.574s
17	˅3	Jorge Martin	SPA	Pramac Ducati (GP)	+1.578s
18	^5	Luca Marini	ITA	Mooney VR46 Ducati (GP)	+1.595s
19	˅4	Francesco Bagnaia	ITA	Ducati Lenovo (GP)	+1.656s
20	^4	Fabio di Giannantonio	ITA	Gresini Ducati (GP)*	+1.676s
21	˅4	Franco Morbidelli	ITA	Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1)	+1.736s
22	˅3	Jack Miller	AUS	Ducati Lenovo (GP)	+1.806s
23	˅3	Andrea Dovizioso	ITA	WithU Yamaha RNF (YZR-M1)	+1.971s
24	˅2	Remy Gardner	AUS	KTM Tech3 (RC16)*	+2.099s
25	^1	Darryn Binder	RSA	WithU Yamaha RNF (YZR-M1)*	+2.447s
26	˅1	Sylvain Guintoli	FRA	Suzuki Test Rider (GSX-RR)	+3.019s
27	=	Lorenzo Savadori	ITA	Aprilia Test Rider (RS-GP)	+6.014s

*Rookie

Key:
^X Rider is X positions higher than previous hour.
= Rider is same position as previous hour.
˅X Rider is X positions lower than previous hour.

Fastest Shakedown Time:
Maverick Vinales SPA Aprilia 1m 58.942s

Official Sepang MotoGP records:
Best lap:
Fabio Quartararo FRA Yamaha 1m 58.576s (2019)
Fastest race lap:
Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 1m 59.661s (2019)

Unofficial Sepang MotoGP record:
Danilo Petrucci ITA Ducati 1m 58.239s (2019 testing)