Sepang MotoGP test: Marc Marquez ends on top once again
Marc Marquez completed a clean sweep of the first MotoGP test of 2014 as he topped the times on Thursday at Sepang
The reigning world champion was quickest on all three days of the test on his factory Honda, and got down to a 1m59.533s on the final morning.
But Marquez's margin over his rivals was the smallest it had been all week.
Yamaha men Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo were second and third, the Italian 0.194 seconds down on Marquez and Lorenzo a further 0.139s behind.
Aleix Espargaro provided further evidence of the Forward FTR-Yamaha's potential by putting the Open class bike a shock fourth overall.
Stefan Bradl recovered from a fall at Turn 1 - where he broke his ankle last October - to take fifth on the LCR Honda, ahead of works man Dani Pedrosa, who also went off the road.
Ducati had by far its most encouraging day of the test as Andrea Dovizioso went seventh quickest, 0.837s off the pace.
His new team-mate Cal Crutchlow was 12th, while Andrea Iannone again got the Pramac Ducati in the top 10 in ninth, behind Tech 3 Yamaha rookie Aleix Espargaro.
The MotoGP field returns to Sepang for its second 2014 winter test on February 26-28.
Pos Rider Bike Time Gap Laps 1. Marc Marquez Honda 1m59.533s 40 2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m59.727s +0.194s 55 3. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m59.866s +0.333s 65 4. Aleix Espargaro Forward FTR-Yamaha 1m59.998s +0.465s 43 5. Stefan Bradl LCR Honda 2m00.112s +0.579s 38 6. Dani Pedrosa Honda 2m00.223s +0.690s 55 7. Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 2m00.370s +0.837s 40 8. Pol Espargaro Tech 3 Yamaha 2m00.655s +1.122s 65 9. Andrea Iannone Pramac Ducati 2m00.725s +1.192s 57 10. Alvaro Bautista Gresini Honda 2m00.788s +1.255s 63 11. Bradley Smith Tech 3 Yamaha 2m00.896s +1.363s 65 12. Cal Crutchlow Ducati 2m01.057s +1.524s 58 13. Nicky Hayden Aspar Honda 2m01.514s +1.981s 59 14. Colin Edwards Forward FTR-Yamaha 2m01.731s +2.198s 47 15. Michele Pirro Ducati 2m01.782s +2.249s 67 16. Hiroshi Aoyama Aspar Honda 2m02.383s +2.850s 66 17. Randy De Puniet Suzuki 2m02.486s +2.953s 67 18. Yonny Hernandez Pramac Ducati 2m02.556s +3.023s 65 19. Kosuke Akiyoshi Honda 2m02.619s +3.086s 58 20. Katsuyuki Nakasuga Yamaha 2m02.788s +3.255s 38 21. Scott Redding Gresini Honda 2m02.833s +3.300s 60 22. Michael Laverty PBM Aprilia 2m03.187s +3.654s 41 23. Hector Barbera Avintia-FTR Kawasaki 2m03.204s +3.671s 54 24. Broc Parkes PBM Aprilia 2m03.402s +3.869s 43 25. Mike Di Meglio Avintia-FTR Kawasaki 2m04.516s +4.983s 58 26. Nobuatsu Aoki Suzuki 2m05.686s +6.153s 12 27. Karel Abraham Cardion Honda 2m05.974s +6.441s 12
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