2022 MotoGP Pre-Season Testing Results | Aprilia 1-2 on day one

Aprilia hit the ground running on the first official day of pre-season testing for the 2022 MotoGP World Championship by locking out the top two positions on the timesheets after eight hours of track action at Sepang, Malaysia.

Day one of a two day test at the Malaysian circuit - the first visit to Sepang for the riders since 2019 - it marks the first time this year all 24 riders that will line-up in Qatar in March have tested together on their 2022-specification MotoGP machines.

However, a handful of riders - the five rookies and both factory Aprilia riders - did come into today’s test with three days of running already behind them, extra mileage Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales took full advantage of on Saturday to set the pace.

Aprilia’s first MotoGP season since splitting from Gresini Racing and taking its team completely in-house at Noale, though the RS-GP is a notable evolution of the model that achieved breakthrough podium success in 2021, team principal Romano Albesiano says it is still almost entirely new.

Espargaro edged Vinales for day one honours, the two Spaniards split by a mere 0.013secs.

In third position, Alex Rins led a strong opening day for Suzuki, with 2020 MotoGP World Champion Joan Mir following in seventh place, while Enea Bastianini was an impressive fourth fastest as he and Gresini Racing picked up where they left off from post-season testing Jerez in November.

Johann Zarco was quickest of the 2022-spec Ducati GP22 contingent in fifth place, with defending champion Fabio Quartararo following up in sixth place.

Returning to action following his eye injury, Marc Marquez was eighth fastest for Repsol Honda, just ahead of team-mate Pol Espargaro, with top rookie Marco Bezzecchi turning heads with a run to tenth quickest on the VR46 Ducati.

Indeed, it was a solid day all around for the new contingent, with Raul Fernandez out-pacing Brad Binder in 13th, Fabio di Giannantonio was on the pace of the factory Ducatis and Darryn Binder was only half a second slower than RNF Yamaha team-mate Andrea Dovizioso.