Sepang MotoGP test: Marc Marquez sets record pace as Honda leads

Marquez made the most of cooler temperatures during the morning session at Sepang, the reigning world champion laying down a record-setting 1m58.867s on the eighth of his 52 laps, before completing a 20-lap race simulation in the afternoon session.

"The truth is that when I saw the time I was surprised, just like everyone else," said Marquez.

"In any case, I must say that today the track was fast, as we all rode faster than before.

"I'm glad I was able to set a good lap, but more important is the fact that I felt very comfortable, right from the start."

Pedrosa also set his best time during the morning session, finishing second overall with a 1m59.006s.

Ducati's Andrea Iannone finished the test third on an updated 2014-spec bike, and while the Italian was more than half a second down on Marquez's benchmark time, he was more than half a second quicker than team-mate Andrea Dovizioso, who was seventh fastest.

The Yamaha pair of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo ended the day fourth and fifth fastest respectively, both riders breaking their own personal lap records at the Malaysian circuit during the morning session with a 1m59.401s for the Italian, and a 1m59.624s for the Spaniard.

Like at Honda, the Yamaha riders focused on a race simulation during the afternoon session.

Pol Espargaro, who crashed during the morning session - his third fall in as many days, wound up sixth fastest, while German Stefan Bradl was the best of the Open bikes with 2m00.294s to go eighth fastest on the Forward Yamaha

Bradley Smith, still struggling with an ankle injury, was ninth fastest on his Tech 3 Yamaha, ahead of Aleix Espargaro, who was the fastest Suzuki rider in 10th.

The teams will stay on for a Michelin 2016 tyre development session with test riders on Saturday, with the second full-field test scheduled to take place at Sepang between February 23 and 25.

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