Marquez: More consistency needed with new Honda fairing

Alongside his factory teammate Dani Pedrosa and test rider Cal Crutchlow, Marquez trialled the new fairing on the second day of pre-season MotoGP running at the Malaysian track.

The riders confirmed the new fairing helped with wheelie reduction and braking stability - but Marquez admits he is worried about using the specification over a longer run.

"I try, I don't remember, [for] two or three exits," Marquez said of the fairing. "Of course the main target of the new fairing is the wheelie, try to stop the wheelie, try to have more downforce, then you lose a little bit of top speed.

"Of course braking stability, if you have the wings, becomes better, but then when you start to go in looks harder, the bike, on the fast corners also looks a little bit more hard.

"I think with that new fairing we need to find a good bike balance, because for one lap I can ride well, fast, but to be consistent I'm scared a little bit to overheat the front tyre, or something like this."

Pedrosa said he did "a lot of testing" with the new fairing, adding: "Of course, [it has] some positives, like the wheelie is better - but then in the corners a little bit different feeling. We still need to see if it's good for every track.

"We had only this spec. After the first feelings, now we have some information, so they [Honda] can work more on that fairing, to see if they can keep, modify, or see what's requested [by the riders]."

Engine dilemma

In addition to the fairing, the Honda riders continued to trial different engine specifications, as the manufacturer now looks set to choose between a version used in the post-season test in Valencia and a newer specification.

"Basically we concentrate a lot on the new one, the last test one," Marquez explained. "But of course we work also on the Valencia, the step of Valencia.

"Will be important to understand well and to analyse well. This circuit sometimes you can make a big mistake, because always here if you have more power, more torque, you are faster and you feel better.

"Really important tomorrow to decide which engine is the best one. Looks like all Honda riders go to the new one but honestly still I have some doubt, because the new one still have some points that maybe in another circuit we can struggle.

"It's a very special circuit here, just two-three circuits during the season are like this. The other circuits are completely different so it's important to understand."

Like Marquez, Pedrosa also concentrated on the newer specification, but he would not say whether he preferred it to the Valencia version.

"Maybe tomorrow we have another chance to go one time back to the old one, have a back-to-back test, and we'll see," he said.

Additional reporting by Oriol Puigdemont