REPSOL Honda's Marc Marquez finished the first day of the first official MotoGP test in Sepang at the top of the time-sheets, with Dani Pedrosa half a second behind.
After a long winter break, both Repsol Honda riders were eager to get back out on track and eventually completed over 100 laps between them. Both Marquez and Pedrosa mainly worked on comparing the various versions of the RC213V HRC had brought to the test.
Marquez said: 'I'm glad to finally get back on the bike. It's been a hard day and at the same time very positive, because on the first day after the winter break you have to regain confidence with the bike and adapt to the feeling of the MotoGP machine again.
'We tried three different bikes today, and this has been very important. I focused on testing them thoroughly and deciding which bike was the ideal one to continue working with at this test, and then this afternoon we focused more on one of the machines. I was able to start riding better and feel more comfortable on the bike.
'There are still many things to try at this test, so we have to remain calm like we did today and keep working.'
Marquez finished the day with a lap time of 2:00.262 while Pedrosa finished fifth, 0.483s off his team-mate's pace. Pedrosa lost the front at turn nine on his last exit but was unhurt.
Pedrosa said: 'I'm happy with the work we have done today on the first day of testing, because we were able to get back on the bike and we had a good pace. It went pretty well and I think we have improved the bike compared to the one we tested it at Valencia.
'We had a lot of work to do and it has been positive to have a good first day: it was important and we are happy with what we have achieved. There is still more to do, but we have taken a good first step. Tomorrow we'll see if we can continue moving things forward.'
The test resumes tomorrow.
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