Marco Bezzecchi
MotoGP saw a dramatic start to pre-season testing in Malaysia on Wednesday. Three riders have already been ruled out for the rest of the week through injury.
Fabio Di Giannantonio broke his collarbone after falling off his bike from a wheelie. The VR46 rider has returned to Europe to undergo surgery and is set to miss next week’s test in Buriram.
Trackhouse Racing’s Raul Fernandez is ruled out for the rest of testing at Sepang after breaking his hand in a crash on day one. The Spaniard is not the only Aprilia rider sidelined as Jorge Martin suffered a horror crash at turn two.
The defending champion was thrown from his bike after a violent highside, sending him crashing to the ground. Aprilia took Martin to hospital after he complained of ‘great pain’ in his right hand and left foot.
Martin has now been ruled out of the rest of testing. This leaves Aprilia with just Marco Bezzecchi, Ai Ogura and test rider Lorenzo Salvadori to run the rest of the sessions.
Luca Marini says riders are ‘at the limit’ at Sepang as he reacts to Jorge Martin’s crash
The Spanaird’s accident has caused some confusion among fellow riders, as teammate Bezzecchi was not sure why Martin crashed.
Marc Marquez felt the crash was ‘very strange’ as he found a lot of grip on track. Pedro Acosta and Ogura were among others who had accidents on day one.
Honda rider Luca Marini had some explanation for why he thought Martin crashed. Speaking with GPOne after day one of testing, the Italian said the riders were ‘at the limit’ and pushing for a sub-1:59 time.
“This time I haven’t identified a specific reason, it’s clear that everyone is pushing to get results on the first outing. If you don’t close on 1:59, you’re nobody”, he said.
“We’re all at the limit, everyone arrived prepared and charged for the first day of testing. I saw a lot of injuries, this is a shame for the riders involved”.
Luca Marini and Joan Mir will be under pressure at Honda in 2025
Honda will be desperately looking to improve their fortunes in MotoGP in 2025. The Japanese manufacturer finished bottom of the constructors’ standings with just 75 points all year.
Marini and teammate Joan Mir have had extensive runs in testing. The duo took part in the shakedown session at Sepang before the official test as part of the sport’s concession system.
Mir was sixth after day one for Honda, while Marini was more than half a second down in 15th. Satellite Honda LCR riders Johann Zarco and Somkiat Chantra were ninth and 21st respectively.
While timings mean very little at this stage, Honda will be encouraged by their findings in testing. Test rider Aleix Espargaro is starting to love the RC213V, giving a huge confidence boost to Marini and Mir.
But the two full-time riders will be under pressure to find performance this year. Espargaro outpaced Marini and Mir in a private test at Jerez, which will be a concern given the Spaniard’s limited experience at Honda.
Receive racing news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
