AN INTERESTING FIRST “TRAILER” AT SEPANG
There was time for everything at Sepang, the venue that hosted the first official test of the 2023 MotoGP season. Three days with plenty of heat – but overall favourable weather – allowed continuity in terms of on-track work for the Gresini Riders, with Alex and Marquez able to carry their testing programme forward.
If both riders had some rust to shake off after an off-season that had never been as short – but still too long for the riders – Alex Marquez had also to get acquainted with the 2023 version of the Desmosedici he first tried at Valencia, while for Marc it was the first real test with the Ducati machine he only recently got to know.
The good feeling experienced, combined with the great distance covered (173 laps for Marc, a little less for Alex) make sure both standard bearers of Team Gresini MotoGP are now eager to put their skills to test at Losail, taking place in slightly more than a week (February 19-20).
4th – ALEX MARQUEZ #73
(Day1 best lap 1’58.542 – 50 laps)
(Day2 best lap 1’57.542 – 50 laps)
(Day3 best lap 1’56.938 – 49 laps)
“Day after day we managed to understand the 2023 version of the Desmosedici some more and I must say that, compared to how we raced here last year, we did make a lot of changes. The bike is different in terms of weight distribution, and we had to adapt to it – with good results I must say. There was enough time to find the rhythm and make some race and sprint race simulations. The times are good, but that is not a super important thing to look at during testing; it would be a mistake to make comparisons with last year already, also because the conditions we encountered this time were much more favourable.”
6th – MARC MARQUEZ #93
(Day1 best lap 1’58.621 – 47 laps)
(Day2 best lap 1’58.118 – 72 laps)
(Day3 best lap 1’57.270 – 54 laps)
“I really did a lot of laps these three days, even during day one when we had some issues – which we tackled and solved brilliantly. The goal was to understand the bike the best possible way and we’re improving step by step. We’re suffering a bit more time-attack wise, an area where normally it’s more about working with instincts, but even in this department we improved a little during day three. From the second day onwards, we started to have fun on the bike, even though I still don’t feel it as my own. I need to shake 11 years of habits on another motorcycle and that’ll take time, but the progression is good and we must be happy with this first test on a track that has never really been mine.”
