news: Bastianini tops Sepang MotoGP test with lap-record pace

Gresini Racing’s Enea Bastianini has topped MotoGP’s Sepang Official test after achieving lap-record pace on his 2021-model Ducati.

The second-year MotoGP rider clocked a best time of 1:58.131s around the Malaysian circuit, ending the second and final day 0.026s up on Aprilia Racing’s Aleix Espargaro.

Bastianini set that marker in the first hour of the eight-hour day and was still on top at the halfway mark when rain began to set in.

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While a number of riders opted for wet-weather mileage, there would be no advances on lap times thereafter, meaning Espargaro finished up second all told on a 1:58.157s after topping Day 1 on a 1:58.371s.

Those two both lapped faster than the All Time Lap Record which Fabio Quartararo set when he qualified on pole position for the 2019 Malaysian Grand Prix with a 1:58.303s, as did the rest of the day’s top six.

Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martin took third at 0.112s off the pace on his GP22-spec Desmosedici Ducati, while Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins had a crash on his way to fourth-quickest.

Aprilia Racing’s Maverick Viñales rounded out the top five on exactly the same 1:58.261s time as Rins, and Francesco Bagnaia was first of the factory-entered Ducati Lenovo Team riders in sixth on a 1:58.265s.

Rounding out the top 10 were Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha), Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda), Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati), and Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda).

Jack Miller was 14th on a 1:58.645s on his Ducati Lenovo Team entry, 0.514s off the pace, with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Miguel Oliveira leading the way for the Austrian marque in 15th on a 1:58.701s.

On a Tech3-entered KTM, Remy Gardner finished 23rd on a 1:59.348s, four positions behind team-mate Raul Fernandez.

Gardner fractured a wrist on a motocross bike last month and opted not to ride in the wet as he continues his recovery.

Another official pre-season test will be held from this Friday, with three days of running on the cards at Indonesia’s new Mandalika International Street Circuit.

Day 2: Sepang Official test

Pos	Num	Rider	Nat	Team	Bike	Time	Gap 1st/Prev	Laps
1	23	Enea BASTIANINI	ITA	Gresini Racing MotoGP	Ducati	1:58.131		13/25
2	41	Aleix ESPARGARO	ESP	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia	1:58.157	0.026/0.026	8/38
3	89	Jorge MARTIN	ESP	Pramac Racing	Ducati	1:58.243	0.112/0.086	8/27
4	42	Alex RINS	ESP	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	1:58.261	0.130/0.018	31/37
5	12	Maverick VIÑALES	ESP	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia	1:58.261	0.130	10/42
6	63	Francesco BAGNAIA	ITA	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati	1:58.265	0.134/0.004	12/49
7	20	Fabio QUARTARARO	FRA	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	1:58.313	0.182/0.048	12/54
8	93	Marc MARQUEZ	ESP	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	1:58.332	0.201/0.019	7/49
9	5	Johann ZARCO	FRA	Pramac Racing	Ducati	1:58.413	0.282/0.081	10/47
10	44	Pol ESPARGARO	ESP	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	1:58.420	0.289/0.007	9/50
11	10	Luca MARINI	ITA	Mooney VR46 Racing Team	Ducati	1:58.430	0.299/0.010	9/37
12	36	Joan MIR	ESP	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	1:58.529	0.398/0.099	26/35
13	30	Takaaki NAKAGAMI	JPN	LCR Honda IDEMITSU	Honda	1:58.607	0.476/0.078	14/42
14	43	Jack MILLER	AUS	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati	1:58.645	0.514/0.038	15/38
15	88	Miguel OLIVEIRA	POR	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	1:58.701	0.570/0.056	8/32
16	72	Marco BEZZECCHI	ITA	Mooney VR46 Racing Team	Ducati	1:58.710	0.579/0.009	11/46
17	73	Alex MARQUEZ	ESP	LCR Honda CASTROL	Honda	1:58.800	0.669/0.090	14/57
18	33	Brad BINDER	RSA	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	1:59.016	0.885/0.216	13/40
19	25	Raul FERNANDEZ	ESP	Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing	KTM	1:59.180	1.049/0.164	17/24
20	49	Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO	ITA	Gresini Racing MotoGP	Ducati	1:59.197	1.066/0.017	16/39
21	35	Cal CRUTCHLOW	GBR	Yamaha Factory	Yamaha	1:59.262	1.131/0.065	9/31
22	04	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team	Yamaha	1:59.284	1.153/0.022	12/55
23	87	Remy GARDNER	AUS	Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing	KTM	1:59.348	1.217/0.064	34/35
24	21	Franco MORBIDELLI	ITA	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	1:59.365	1.234/0.017	8/38
25	40	Darryn BINDER	RSA	WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team	Yamaha	1:59.857	1.726/0.492	7/55
26	50	Sylvain GUINTOLI	FRA	Suzuki Test Team	Suzuki	1:59.996	1.865/0.139	8/44
27	85	Takuya TSUDA	JPN	Suzuki Test Team	Suzuki	2:05.678	7.547/5.682	3/4