Stealth mode begins 2022 for Repsol Honda Team

Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro were on track for the first time in 2022 as the Sepang Test began, the Repsol Honda Team sporting a striking black and white testing livery.
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Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro were on track for the first time in 2022 as the Sepang Test began, the Repsol Honda Team sporting a striking black and white testing livery in Stealth Mode.

Stealth mode begins 2022 for Repsol Honda Team

Testing Report

Saturday, Feb 5th 2022

Sepang Test

MotoGP 2022

Stealth mode begins 2022 for Repsol Honda Team

Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro were on track for the first time in 2022 as the Sepang Test began, the Repsol Honda Team sporting a striking black and white testing livery.

The Repsol Honda Team wasted no time in getting their 2022 preparations underway as Pol Espargaro was one of the first riders to leave his garage when the track opened at 10:00 Local Time, Marc Marquez just a few minutes behind. Dressed in a special black and white testing livery ahead of the launch of the Repsol Honda Team on February 08 at 12:00 CET, the pair completed a comprehensive first day under the oppressive Sepang sun.

Marquez suffered a small fall at Turn 9 in the opening hours of running, able to return to the Repsol Honda Team garage and avoiding any injury. He soon returned to the circuit and was sitting comfortably in sixth place when he and his team paused for lunch around 13:00 Local Time. A second harmless crash occurred at Turn 15 in the final half an hour of the day as Marquez continued to find the limits of his new RC213V. Eighth place and a best time of 1’59.287 was Marquez’s reward after 62 laps around the 5.5-kilometre-long circuit. The time put Marquez 0.916s off the best lap of the day.

Pol Espargaro’s progress was steady across the opening day as he got up to speed with the 2022 Honda RC213V. Inside the top five and under the 2’00 barrier just before the lunch break, the #44 completed a total of 64 laps on his first day back on track. Ultimately ending the day in ninth place with a best time of 1’59.353, 0.066s behind team-mate Marc Marquez as they begin the season. All involved are pleased with the work done and preparations are underway for the second and final day in Sepang. Espargaro is under no illusions about the amount of work that needs to be done in just five days of pre-season testing but is focused and motivated for what’s to come.

Action resumes at the Malaysian circuit tomorrow, Sunday, February 06, for the final day of the Sepang Test. Both Repsol Honda Team riders will continue to work through the remainder of their test plans as they assess Honda’s latest MotoGP machine.

Marc Marquez ⁹³

8th 1’59.287

“To return to the track after the period we have lived through was very rewarding, but it was a long and hard day. I feel good with the bike and most of all, it was a normal day after a long time. Good, fast, some small mistakes – today had everything! The new bike is better but we still have a lot to understand because this is a very big change to the bike. Now the character is different and I need to understand the limits, this is what the pre-season is for. Tomorrow will be important to do a longer run to keep learning and understanding.”

Pol Espargaro ⁴⁴

9th 1’59.353

“It feels great to be back riding and especially on this bike. It’s amazing to see the effort of Honda, not just bringing two new bikes for the factory riders but four bikes for all the Honda riders. Honda has made a huge effort to do this and it’s going to help us a lot. But we have a lot of work to do, with just five days of testing we have to use all the time we can. We’ve had a good first day on a new bike but the best is yet to come and hopefully we can continue to improve and show the potential tomorrow. I spent the day working on mediums, not chasing a fast time as today we were trying many things. Tomorrow we’ll look for a lap time.”

Sepang Test – Day One

Pos.	Rider	Num	Nation	Team	Constructor	Time/Gap
1	Espargaro Aleix	41	SPA	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia	1'58.371
2	Vinales Maverick	12	SPA	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia	0.013
3	Rins Alex	42	SPA	Team Suzuki Ecstar	Suzuki	0.100
4	Bastianini Enea	23	ITA	Team Gresini Racing MotoGP	Ducati	0.267
5	Zarco Johann	5	FRA	Pramac Racing	Ducati	0.575
6	Quartararo Fabio	20	FRA	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	0.631
7	Mir Joan	36	SPA	Team Suzuki Ecstar	Suzuki	0.696
8	Marquez Marc	93	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	0.916
9	Espargaro Pol	44	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	0.982
10	Bezzecchi Marco	73	ITA	Mooney VR46 Racing Team	Ducati	1.097
11	Crutchlow Cal	35	GBR	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	1.187
12	Nakagami Takaaki	30	JPN	LCR Honda	Honda	1.263
13	Fernandez Raul	25	SPA	Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing	KTM	1.311
14	Binder Brad	33	RSA	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	1.413
15	Marquez Alex	73	SPA	LCR Honda	Honda	1.542
16	Oliveira Miguel	88	POR	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	1.574
17	Martin Jorge	89	SPA	Pramac Racing	Ducati	1.578
18	Marini Luca	10	ITA	Mooney VR46 Racing Team	Ducati	1.595
19	Bagnaia Francesco	62	ITA	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati	1.656
20	Di Giannantonio Fabio	49	ITA	Team Gresini Racing MotoGP	Ducati	1.676
21	Morbidelli Franco	21	ITA	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	1.736
22	Miller Jack	43	AUS	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati	1.806
23	Dovizioso Andrea	4	ITA	WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team	Yamaha	1.971
24	Gardner Remy	87	AUS	Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing	KTM	2.099
25	Binder Darryn	40	RSA	WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team	Yamaha	2.447
26	Guintoli Sylvain	50	FRA	Suzuki Test Team	Suzuki	3.019
27	Savadori Lorenzo	32	ITA	Aprilia Racing Test Team	Aprilia	6.014

Location Information

Specifically built for speed and exciting racing, the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia is one of the world’s best. The 2,300 acre complex cost around £50m to construct and was built in just 14 months, holding its first Grand Prix in April 1999 and setting the standard for race circuits… read more.

Length	5.543 kilometres / 3.444 miles
Width	25 metres
Left corners	5
Right corners	10
Longest straight	0.920 kilometres / 0.572 miles
Constructed	1998

Circuit Records

Pole Position	1m 58.303s (168.6km/h) Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha, 2019)
Race Lap	1m 59.661s (166.7km/h) Valentino Rossi (Yamaha, 2019)
Race Time	40m 14.632s (165.2 km/h) Maverick Viñales (Yamaha, 2019)
2019 Race Winner	Maverick Viñales (Yamaha, 2019)

Sepang International Circuit Klia Pahang Malaysia – View in Google Maps

Mark McGhee (609)

I was born a century too late, or maybe too early.
I like to ride motorcycles and write about that.

Stealth mode begins 2022 for Repsol Honda Team