Marc Márquez went three-for-three on top of the speed charts as Sepang MotoGP testing came to a close.
The Spaniard picked up nearly another four-tenths from day two, setting a fastest lap of 1:59.533. The Yamahas of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo were second and third respectively. Rossi was just under two-tenths back of Márquez with Lorenzo a third of a second back of the defending champion. Aleix Espargaró closed out an impressive three days of testing fourth fastest setting a time of 1:59.998 seconds, the fastest Open entry bike riding for Forward Racing. The Sepang track record for MotoGP was set last October when Márquez laid down a time of 2:00.011 in qualifying.
Stefan Brandl was fifth. His fastest time was a 2:00.112, a tenth quicker than factory Honda rider Dani Pedrosa. Andrea Dovizioso finally put a factory Ducati in the top ten in seventh position. Tech3 Yamaha's Pol Espargaró ended eighth with Pramac Racing Ducati's Andrea Iannone and Gresini Honda's Álvaro Bautista rounding out the top ten.
Bradley Smith was eleventh quickest as he was out-paced by his rookie Tech3 teammate for two of the three days. Cal Crutchlow was twelfth ahead of the man he is replacing at Ducati, Nicky Hayden. Hayden was the second quickest Open entry bike, just under two seconds back of Márquez on his Aspar Honda. Colin Edwards was fourteenth on the second Forward Racing bike. Ducati test rider Michele Pirro rounded out the top fifteen.
Hiroshi Aoyama was sixteenth on the second Aspar Honda Open bike. Randy de Puniet was seventeenth testing for Suzuki as they prepare for their MotoGP comeback in 2015 with a chance of an early return late in the 2014 season. The Frenchman was just under three seconds back of Márquez with a time of 2:02.486. Yonny Hernández was eighteenth on the Pramac Racing Open entry ahead of two test riders, Honda's Kosuke Akiyoski and Yamaha's Katasuyuki Nakasuga.
The MotoGP teams will return to Sepang for another three days of testing later this month, February 24-26th.
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