Spanish rider Marc Marquez is gearing up for the looming season with an opportunity to tie Valentino Rossi’s record for the most MotoGP wins.
Rossi has seven world titles, while Marquez, the youngest ever MotoGP champion, has six.
The Catalonian was seen testing the Ducati-Lenovo bike during the pre-season at Sepang racetrack in Malaysia.
Riders will have the opportunity to acquaint themselves with any new changes made before heading off to Thailand for the first race of the season.
Marquez twisted the Ducati around Sepang on Wednesday, in what still looks like unfamiliar colours on him.
Marc Marquez onboard his GP23 Ducati 😍#MotoGP #ValenciaTest pic.twitter.com/2p2Qpu6Sue
— Crash MotoGP (@crash_motogp) November 28, 2023
For six seasons, the 31-year-old dominated in Honda-Repson colours, winning his first title in 2013, then again in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Rossi dominated the early 2000s in his famous No 46 liveries, which has been retired after he left MotoGP.
Day one of testing concluded with Marquez posting the second fastest time of the day, 1:57.606. Fabio Quartararo in the Yamaha was just inches ahead of Marquez at 1:57.555.
Marc was not the only Marquez honing in on pole position in a Ducati, as his brother Alex finished third fastest in practice, clocking 1:57.738 on his fastest lap around the 5.5km circuit.
Meanwhile, testing took a sour turn for world champion Jorge Martin, who suffered a painful start to the pre-season after two crashes in his new Aprilia.
Martin was weaving the tight opening turns when he lost control of the bike on both instances.
Martin went down for the first turn five at Sepang, when he slid into the gravel after failing to execute the turn.
The second crash was a bit more severe as he was ejected high into the air, before landing hard on his feet and then face-down on the tarmac.
Jorge Martin’s highside at turn 2 😳#MotoGP #SepangTest
— Crash MotoGP (@crash_motogp) February 5, 2025
pic.twitter.com/NmhUuWQPq8
Testing for the day was briefly red-flagged.
“He’s at the hospital undergoing tests due to left foot and right hand pain. We’re sending our best wishes to the world champ,” MotoGP said in a statement.