Quartararo fastest again in Sepang, Marquez crashes

Fabio Quartararo led the second day of pre-season MotoGP testing in Malaysia, while reigning world champion Marc Marquez crashed late in the session.

Fabio Quartararo, Petronas Yamaha SRT

Petronas SRT rider Quartararo was fastest on Friday aboard the 2019-spec Yamaha, but finally took delivery of the new 2020 M1 and spent most of the day on that.

Quartararo was once again first out on circuit, though it was Suzuki’s Joan Mir who led the timesheets after the first hour with a 1m58.731s lap ahead of KTM’s Pol Espargaro.

Pramac’s Jack Miller took over from Mir as the session entered its third hour, with the Ducati rider’s 1m58.641s effort remaining the benchmark until the final hour.

Miller spent the day evaluating Ducati’s GP20, and also had a revised aerodynamic package to test on Saturday.

The session was paused briefly in the afternoon when Andrea Dovizioso crashed his Ducati, with the Italian unscathed in the off and returning to action soon after.

Another high-profile crash followed in the final hour, as Marquez went down at the fast Turn 3 right-hander, having managed 47 laps on Saturday before his fall.

Soon after, Quartararo shot to the top of the times with a 1m58.572s, which went unchallenged as the chequered flag fell.

Miller held onto second, 0.069s adrift, while KTM test rider Dani Pedrosa posted his fastest-ever lap of the Sepang circuit with a 1m58.662s to complete the top three.

Mir led the second Petronas Yamaha of Franco Morbidelli, with Maverick Vinales sixth on the 2020-spec works team M1.

Alex Rins headed Pol Espargaro on the second Suzuki, with Marquez ninth despite his crash and Valentino Rossi rounding out the top 10 on the second factory Yamaha.

Aleix Espargaro was just 0.652s off the pace in 11th on his Aprilia, with LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow and Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci shadowing.

Dovizioso ended up 15th following his accident, while Alex Marquez was top rookie runner in 17th on the factory Honda – some 1.089s off the pace.

Avintia rider Johann Zarco found 1.3s on Saturday on the Ducati GP19 with a 1m59.825s, but he was still 1.6s from top spot down in 19th. 

Testing times (Day 2):

 Pos.  No. Rider Bike  Time   Delay  Laps
20 France Fabio Quartararo Yamaha 1'58.572   72
43 Australia Jack Miller Ducati 1'58.641 0.069 51
26 Spain Dani Pedrosa KTM 1'58.662 0.090 54
36 Spain Joan Mir Suzuki 1'58.731 0.159 54
21 Italy Franco Morbidelli Yamaha 1'58.831 0.259 59
12 Spain Maverick Vinales Yamaha 1'58.893 0.321 69
42 Spain Alex Rins Suzuki 1'58.978 0.406 63
44 Spain Pol Espargaro KTM 1'58.989 0.417 49
93 Spain Marc Marquez Honda 1'59.097 0.525 47
10  46 Italy Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1'59.116 0.544 60
11  41 Spain Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 1'59.224 0.652 43
12  35 United Kingdom Cal Crutchlow Honda 1'59.247 0.675 64
13  9 Italy Danilo Petrucci Ducati 1'59.257 0.685 59
14  63 Italy Francesco Bagnaia Ducati 1'59.313 0.741 59
15  4 Italy Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 1'59.342 0.770 55
16  88 Portugal Miguel Oliveira KTM 1'59.365 0.793 42
17  73 Spain Alex Marquez Honda 1'59.661 1.089 66
18  33 South Africa Brad Binder KTM 1'59.780 1.208 59
19  5 France Johann Zarco Ducati 1'59.825 1.253 51
20  53 Spain Tito Rabat Ducati 2'00.189 1.617 77
21  50 France Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki 2'00.286 1.714 58
22  30 Japan Takaaki Nakagami Honda 2'00.347 1.775 47
23  27 Spain Iker Lecuona KTM 2'00.396 1.824 41
24  92 Yamaha test bike Yamaha 2'00.791 2.219 35
25  90 Yamaha test bike Yamaha 2'00.920 2.348 44
26  38 United Kingdom Bradley Smith Aprilia 2'01.119 2.547 61
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