Stoner tops opening day of Sepang MotoGP test

The two-time MotoGP champion rode at the Malaysian circuit last week in a private session, and joined the full field for the first of three days of testing on Monday.

Stoner set a 1m59.681s on the 2017 Ducati just after 1pm local time, displacing the Italian manufacturer’s race rider Andrea Dovizioso at the top of the order.

Dovizioso finished 0.115 seconds slower than Stoner, while new Ducati recruit Jorge Lorenzo was a quiet 17th, 1.669s adrift.

Ducati’s primary test rider Michele Pirro will take over from Stoner on Tuesday before a decision is made on who will join Dovizioso and Lorenzo on track on the third and final day. 

A rain shower hit the circuit at 4pm local time, making the last two hours of available running a write-off, although some riders did sample the wet conditions.

Lorenzo’s replacement at Yamaha, Maverick Vinales was Ducati’s closest challenger in third place, and he finished the day 0.447s slower than Stoner with a time of 2m00.128s.

Valentino Rossi was eighth, 0.567s behind his new teammate and 1.014s behind Stoner.

Aspar Ducati recruit Alvaro Bautista was fourth fastest on his 2016 Desmosedici, having led the way early on, one spot ahead of new Suzuki signing Andrea Iannone.

Cal Crutchlow was the best of the Honda riders on his satellite LCR entry in sixth, with factory pair Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa ninth and 13th respectively.

Of this year’s four rookies, Jonas Folger led the way in seventh place, six spots ahead of Tech 3 Yamaha teammate Johann Zarco, with Suzuki’s Alex Rins in 20th and Aprilia’s Sam Lowes 26th.

While Lowes is spending this test on last year’s Aprilia, Aleix Espargaro was 15th fastest on the latest version of the RS-GP with a heavily revised engine.

Pol Espargaro was the best of the new KTMs, one spot behind his brother with a 2m01.338s that was 1.657s off Stoner’s pace, while Bradley Smith wound up 27th and the last of the runners, 3.353s adrift.

Day 1 testing times:

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Time	Gap
1	Casey Stoner	Ducati	1'59.681
2	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	1'59.796	0.115
3	Maverick Vinales	Yamaha	2'00.128	0.447
4	Alvaro Bautista	Ducati	2'00.134	0.453
5	Andrea Iannone	Suzuki	2'00.490	0.809
6	Cal Crutchlow	Honda	2'00.570	0.889
7	Jonas Folger	Yamaha	2'00.643	0.962
8	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	2'00.695	1.014
9	Marc Marquez	Honda	2'00.737	1.056
10	Hector Barbera	Ducati	2'00.744	1.063
11	Danilo Petrucci	Ducati	2'00.850	1.169
12	Scott Redding	Ducati	2'00.852	1.171
13	Dani Pedrosa	Honda	2'00.970	1.289
14	Johann Zarco	Yamaha	2'01.224	1.543
15	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	2'01.271	1.590
16	Pol Espargaro	KTM	2'01.338	1.657
17	Jorge Lorenzo	Ducati	2'01.350	1.669
18	Loris Baz	Ducati	2'01.351	1.670
19	Takuya Tsuda	Suzuki	2'01.812	2.131
20	Alex Rins	Suzuki	2'01.889	2.208
21	Karel Abraham	Ducati	2'01.926	2.245
22	Jack Miller	Honda	2'01.942	2.261
23	Kohta Nozane	Yamaha	2'02.187	2.506
24	Katsuyuki Nakasuga	Yamaha	2'02.290	2.609
25	Tito Rabat	Honda	2'02.316	2.634
26	Sam Lowes	Aprilia	2'02.942	3.261
27	Bradley Smith	KTM	2'03.034	3.353