SEPANG: Ducati Lenovo Team rider Francesco Bagnaia (pix) completed the 2024 MotoGP pre-season winter test on a high note after blazing the lap record to be the quickest of all on the final day at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) here today.
The 27-year-old reigning world champion clocked one minute and 56.682 seconds on his 8th of 47 laps, and be one of the four who bettered his teammate Enea Bastianini’s record race of 1:57.134s yesterday.
Meanwhile, Prima Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martin came in second place with a time of 1:56.854s followed by Bastianini settling in third place after clocking 1:56.915s while Alex Marquez from Gresini Racing MotoGP clocked 1:56.938s to come in fourth.
Speaking to media after the test, the Italian (Bagnaia) said his team managed to bring out the maximum potential of his bike despite a slow start on the first day of racing.
“We demonstrated and know perfectly the potential of this bike. We managed to work and improve a lot in just three days and finally we are at good point, at about 80 per cent consistency and move to Qatar in good shape.
“Also, I am happy (with the timing) because it was incredible lap times done in just in my first attack of the season, so it was great but it was a test,“ he said.
Meanwhile, Martin refused to think too much if he will be the main challenger to Bagnaia throughout this season but instead wants to focus on improving his riding skills.
“I feel ready for everything but I don’t know yet. These tests are really difficult to analyse because a lot of riders have a great pace.. I think it won’t be only me and Bagnaia, there will be more riders,“ he said.
The riders and teams will resume their final pre-season testing in the Qatar MotoGP Official Test at the Lusail International Circuit from Feb 19-20, ahead of the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix (GP) from March 7-9.
SIC will host the Malaysian GP, the penultimate round of the 21-race season from Oct 31 to Nov 2. -Bernama
