The 2025 MotoGP season began to take shape as the entire grid took to the streets of Sepang for three days of pre-season testing.
Teams and riders gathered important details surrounding their 2025 machines, testing multiple parts ahead of the season opener in Thailand, with the first practice session starting on February 28th.
The announced 2025 rider line-up saw one of the biggest shakeups to the grid in recent memory, as multiple riders used these three days to adjust to their new marques.
Day 1
Fabio Quartararo led the way on Day 1 of the MotoGP Sepang test, with the Frenchman setting the benchmark time of 1.57.555s.
Factory Ducati’s newest addition Marc Marquez finished close behind the 2021 champion after completing a lap time of 1.57.606s, less than a tenth of a second behind the Yamaha rider.
The Gresini Ducati duo of Alex Marquez and rookie Fermin Aldeguer established third and fourth place by the end of the day’s work, as both riders adjusted to its GP24 Panigale machinery.
VR46 Ducati rider Franco Morbidelli finished in fifth, with Honda Castrol rider Joan Mir behind to close out the top six.
However, three riders crashed throughout the day, including defending MotoGP champion Jorge Martin on his RS-GP Aprilia.
Having tried to adjust to his new bike after switching from Ducati, Martin crashed on two seperate occasions, at Turn 1 and Turn 2. The latter saw the Spaniard suffer a massive highside, and after travelling back to Europe for checkups, he was ruled out of the rest of the test days. Martin was diagnosed with a right hand fracture and fractures in his left foot.
The next rider was GP25 VR46 Ducati rider Fabio Di Giannantonio. After opting out of the last two rounds of the 2024 season to recover from a left collarbone fracture he sustained in Austria last year, he felt ready to go for the new season. However, despite finishing seventh in the classification charts, his session ended abruptly after he reportedly tried to pull off a wheelie stunt and fractured his left collarbone again. He is sidelined until further notice.
In addition, Trackhouse Racing’s Raul Fernandez suffered a broken pinky toe and a fractured metacarpal bone in his left hand, which led the Spaniard to head back to Barcelona for surgery. Fernandez suffered an accident at Turn 9, leaving Aprilia with only two full-time riders available to test the bike.
Pramac Yamaha’s Jack Miller and Miguel Oliveira finished their first official test session with their new team in eighth and tenth, respectively, with Johann Zarco wedged in between in ninth.
Pedro Acosta finished the session in 11th, making him the lead KTM rider, as Brad Binder and Maverick Vinales finished within two tenths behind the Spaniard.
Alex Rins finished a second behind his teammate and session leader Quartararo in 14th, ahead of Luca Marini and MotoGP rookie Ai Ogura.
Francesco Bagnaia surprisingly completed the session in 17th for the factory Ducati squad but finished comfortably clear of friend Marco Bezzecchi and old stablemate Enea Bastianini.
Somkiat Chantra finished behind Yamaha test rider Augusto Fernandez as he spent the day getting to grips with his newest bike.
Day 2
Morbidelli led the way throughout most of Day 2, with the GP24 Ducati rider completing the fastest time of the day by posting a 1.57.210s.
Quartararo finished only a tenth behind on his M1, continuing his strong table-topping display from Day 1.
Once again, Gresini Racing finished third and fourth, as Marquez and Aldeguer slotted themselves in the same positions.
Three GP24 bikes finished ahead of the GP25 bike on Thursday, though Francesco Bagnaia made amends from Wednesday’s result to take fifth. The two-time MotoGP champion crashed out of proceedings early on but avoided major injury.
Bagnaia’s teammate Marquez finished the session down in 15th, as Bologna’s newest recruit took a tumble in the gravel traps himself in the final hour of proceedings.
Mir once again occupied sixth spot, indicating some signs of optimism in the Honda garage after recording its worst MotoGP season in 2024.
Acosta was once again the lead KTM rider, though this time he finished the session in seventh despite a crash himself on the day.
Oliveira and Miller established eighth and tenth once again, but positions were reversed, as this time Aprilia rider Bezzecchi slotted his new Italian marque between the Pramac pair.
Binder, Zarco, and Rins occupied the next three positions but were separated by under 0.160s, showcasing the potential close competition of KTM, Honda and Yamaha heading into the season opener.
One of Marini’s lap times leapfrogged him above the Tech3 duo of Vinales and Bastianini, as the RC16 pairing ended the session separated by only 0.008s.
Rookie Ogura finished just behind in 18th, while Chantra once again ended up as the last classified full-time rider.
Day 3
After occupying the higher echelons on Day 1 and Day 2, Gresini and the younger Marquez brother saved the best till last to top the final day in Kuala Lumpur. Marquez posted a 1.56.493s, which was nearly a second up from the previous day.
The full potential of the up-to-date GP25 was yet to be shown, but Bagnaia and older brother Marquez produced their best day after securing second and fifth spots.
Quartararo capped off an impressive three days of testing for Yamaha, rounding off third place and recorded the team’s best lap around the circuit with a 1.56.724s effort. His former teammate, VR46 Ducati rider Morbidelli, came in fourth.
Acosta sealed sixth and finished as the lead Austrian marque once again, this time half a second clear of his stablemate Binder, who occupied 13th in the classification list.
Bezzecchi placed himself ninth as he continued to get to grips of his Aprilia, but was in the middle of a Honda sandwich as Zarco claimed seventh and Mir finished 0.013s adrift.
Rins and Yamaha rounded off the top ten, ahead of fellow countryman and rookie Aldeguer, who completed a successful test for Gresini Racing.
Miller snatched 12th place, and Ogura completed the final day in 14th as both continued to adjust to their new Yamaha and Aprilia.
Marini slotted his Honda Castrol bike in 15th, finishing six positions behind his teammate Mir, but the closely compacted grid saw him only half a second down.
The adaptation process continued for the KTM Tech3 duo of Vinales and Bastianini. Though it was in the early phases, the duo delivered an underwhelming 16th and 18th place.
After the eight-hour session, Oliveira placed himself 17th after posting his worst testing result thus far aboard the M1 Yamaha, but the Portuguese man would have been happy with the three-day graft.
Chantra once again finished last amongst the full-time riders but produced quicker lap times as each day progressed as he adjusted to the demands of the LCR Honda.
The next MotoGP test is scheduled for the 12th and 13th of February in Thailand.
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