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Sepang MotoGP testing: Quartararo fastest again after Marquez fall

Fabio Quartararo led the second day of pre-season MotoGP testing in Malaysia, while reigning world champion Marc Marquez crashed late in the session

Petronas SRT rider Quartararo was fastest on Friday aboard the 2019-spec Yamaha, but finally took delivery of the new 2020 M1 and spent most of the day on that.

He was once again first out on circuit, though it was Suzuki's Joan Mir who led the timesheets after the first hour with a 1m58.731s lap ahead of KTM's Pol Espargaro.

Pramac's Jack Miller took over from Mir as the session entered its third hour, with the Ducati rider's 1m58.641s effort remaining the benchmark until the final hour.

Miller spent the day evaluating Ducati's GP20, and also had a revised aerodynamic package to test on Saturday.

The session was paused briefly in the afternoon when Andrea Dovizioso crashed his Ducati, with the Italian unscathed in the off and returning to action soon after.

Another high-profile crash followed in the final hour, as Marquez went down at the fast Turn 3 right-hander.

The elder Marquez brother admitted on Friday his recently-operated-on right shoulder was worse than he expected on the bike, though still managed 47 laps on Saturday before his fall.

Soon after, Quartararo shot to the top of the times with a 1m58.572s, which went unchallenged as the chequered flag fell.

Miller remained second, 0.069 seconds adrift, while KTM test rider Dani Pedrosa posted his fastest ever lap of the Sepang circuit with a 1m58.662s to complete the top three.

Mir led the sister SRT of Franco Morbidelli, on the 'A-spec' Yamaha, with Maverick Vinales sixth on the 2020-spec works team M1.

Alex Rins head Pol Espargaro on the second GSX-RR, with Marquez ninth despite his crash and Valentino Rossi rounding out the top 10 on the second works Yamaha.

Aleix Espargaro was 0.652s off the pace in 11th on his Aprilia, with LCR's Cal Crutchlow and Ducati's Danilo Petrucci shadowing him.

Dovizioso ended up 15th following his accident, while Alex Marquez was the top rookie runner in 17th on the factory Honda, 1.089s off the pace.

Johann Zarco admitted after his first day on the Avintia Ducati that he expected to be faster than he was.

Though he found 1.3s on Saturday on the GP19 with a 1m59.825s, he was still 1.2s from top spot down in 19th.

Sepang day two times

Pos Driver Team Car Gap Laps
1 Fabio Quartararo Petronas Yamaha Yamaha 1m58.572s 72
2 Jack Miller Pramac Ducati Ducati 0.069s 51
3 Dani Pedrosa KTM KTM 0.090s 54
4 Joan Mir Suzuki Suzuki 0.159s 54
5 Franco Morbidelli Petronas Yamaha Yamaha 0.259s 60
6 Maverick Vinales Yamaha Yamaha 0.321s 69
7 Alex Rins Suzuki Suzuki 0.406s 63
8 Pol Espargaro KTM KTM 0.417s 49
9 Marc Marquez Honda Honda 0.525s 47
10 Valentino Rossi Yamaha Yamaha 0.544s 60
11 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia Aprilia 0.652s 43
12 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda Honda 0.675s 64
13 Danilo Petrucci Ducati Ducati 0.685s 59
14 Francesco Bagnaia Pramac Ducati Ducati 0.741s 59
15 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati Ducati 0.770s 55
16 Miguel Oliveira KTM KTM 0.793s 42
17 Alex Marquez Honda Honda 1.089s 66
18 Brad Binder KTM KTM 1.208s 59
19 Johann Zarco Avintia Ducati Ducati 1.253s 51
20 Tito Rabat Avintia Ducati Ducati 1.617s 77
21 Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki Suzuki 1.714s 58
22 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda Honda 1.775s 47
23 Iker Lecuona KTM KTM 1.824s 41


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