MADRID, 5 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Sepang International Circuit (Malaysia) will host the first MotoGP preseason tests from this Tuesday until Thursday, three days of testing in which the entire 2024 grid will meet for the first time, including the world champion, the Italian Francesco 'Pecco' Bagnaia (Ducati), and Spanish Marc Márquez (Ducati), now in the Gresini Racing MotoGP.
Last week's 'Shakedown', also in Sepang, already revealed the intentions of some riders such as the 'rookie' Pedro Acosta (KTM), who led the time table. Honda and Yamaha have also raced thanks to the new concession system, and now all the riders will come together on the track.
The team to beat, the Ducati Lenovo Team, with the transalpine Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini at the controls, will seek to perfect its bike after showing its aerodynamic update in the 'Shakedown' with the help of tester Michele Pirro. Meanwhile, in the Prima Pramac, the Spanish Jorge Martín (Ducati) will carry the weight of the tests in the face of the doubt of the Italian Franco Morbidelli, who crashed during a private track day in Portugal.
In the Gresini Racing MotoGP, brothers Marc and Alex Márquez will get on last year's bike; The eight-time world champion was already the fourth fastest rider in Valencia after switching from Honda to Ducati, and now he will have to continue adapting and find the limits of the Ducati. Slightly different is the Pertamina Enduro VR46 bike, which will be ridden by Italians Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio Di Giannantonio.
At KTM, testers Dani Pedrosa and Pol Espargaró and debutant Acosta have already tested the new aerodynamics of the Austrian factory and the carbon chassis. Now, Brad Binder, Jack Miller and the Spanish Augusto Fernández will join the tests.
For their part, the official Aprilia riders, the Spanish Aleix Espargaró and Maverick Viñales, will also take to the track to pilot their new machines, as will the Portuguese Miguel Oliveira and the Spanish Raúl Fernández in the new Trackhouse satellite team, which will debut its new livery.
Yamaha, meanwhile, will once again have the Frenchman Fabio Quartararo and his new teammate, the Spanish Alex Rins, while Repsol Honda will open the 'post-Márquez era' with Joan Mir and the transalpine Luca Marini and CASTROL Honda LCR and IDEMITSU Honda LCR will have at its disposal the Frenchman Johann Zarco and the Japanese Takaaki Nakagami, respectively.