The first day of the Shakedown at Sepang goes in the archives with the best time for Pol Espargarò on the KTM, who stopped the clocks with a time of 1'59"691. While the Spaniard is hardly a surprise, the same cannot be said of Ai Ogura. The Japanese rookie on the Trackhouse team Aprilia has been steadily improving and took the satisfaction of setting the 2nd fastest time, just 0"171 from Pol.
Takaaki Nakagami was the only Honda test rider on the track today and he finished with the 3rd fastest time (0"197 from the best) ahead of Dani Pedro, who is always fast despite the passing years. Fermin Aldeguer, another rookie, finished with the 5th time at 0"362 from the top.
The other testers did not look too much at the stopwatch, preferring to focus on the work at hand. On the Yamaha, Andrea Dovizioso was 7th, ahead of Michele Pirro and Savadori. The latter took turns on as many as 7 bikes to prepare them for the riders who will take them over on Wednesday for official testing.
UPDATE 5:30 p.m. - Pol Espargarò remains in the lead, but the surprise is rookie Ai Ogura. The Japanese rider on the Aprilia of the Trackhouse team took the satisfaction of moving into 2nd place, 0"171 from the Spaniard. Behind him were Nakagami, Pedrosa and Aldeguer. Then the Yamahas, Pirro and Savadori.
5 PM UPDATE - When there is one hour left to the end of the first day of Shakedown, Pol Espargarò is in the lead with a time of 1'59"691, a couple of tenths better than Nakagami on the Honda, while Dani Pedrosa is 3rd. Ai Oguro, thanks to the 4th time, is the fastest rookie, ahead of Fermin Aldeguer by 59 thousandths.
UPDATE 4 p.m. - Takaaki Nakagami set the fastest time of 1'59"888, ahead of Dani Pedrosa by 38 thousandths. In 3rd place the KTM of Pol Espargarò, then rookies Ai Ogura and Fermin Aldeguer. At this time, no riders are on the track due to light rain that is falling on the asphalt.
3 PM UPDATE - Activity on the track slowly resumes after the lunch break. Pedrosa remains in the lead, but the other KTM of Pol Espargarò is approaching, at 0"381. Takagami on the Honda climbs to 3rd place, ahead of Ogura and Aldeguer.
UPDATE 1:30 p.m. - All is quiet on the Sepang track, with riders and testers stopped for the lunch break. In the morning, the fastest was Dani Pedrosa on the KTM with a time of 1'59"926. In second place was Honda's Takaaki Nakagami (at 0"415), while the 3rd fastest time was by Ai Ogura's rookie Aprilia, who stopped 0"598 from Dani. The Japanese Trackhouse rider has the other rookie Fermind Aldeguer breathing down his neck, with the Ducati Gresini rider just 59 thousandths away.
UPDATE 12:20 p.m. - Dani Pedrosa has broken his stride and put himself ahead of everyone, the first to drop under 2 minutes with a time of 1'59"926. Behind him was his brand mate Pol Espargarò, then Augusto Fernandez on the Yamaha. Fermin Aldeguer is the best of the rookies with a time of 2'02"260. Lots of work without looking too much at the times for Pirro and Savadori. The Hondas have not yet taken to the track.
2025 has officially started in Sepang with the first day of the three-day Shakedown, tests reserved for test riders, rookies and riders from those manufacturers with concessions. The green light in the pit lane went on at 10 a.m. and will go out at 6 p.m. The sun is shining on the Malaysian circuit and the riders wasted no time in getting on track.
Among those with the most work to do is Lorenzo Savadori: the Aprilia box is crowded with RS-GPs to be 'broken in' considering that all riders (those in the factory team and Trackhouse riders) will have bikes updated to 2025. Michele Pirro also has his hands full, busy preparing the GP25 for the arrival of Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez, as well as Fabio Di Giannantonio, also on an official bike this year. KTM relies on the two pillars of its test team: Dani Pedrosa and Pol Espargarò, who will share the work these days.
Yamaha has Andrea Dovizioso, who arrived in Malaysia to help out new arrival Augusto Fernandez. Absent (justified) for today are the riders of the factory and Pramac teams, who will be busy this evening at the presentation of the new season in Kuala Lumpur.
Same for Marini and Mir, in Indonesia for tomorrow's team launch in Jakarta. There are, however, test riders Aleix Espargarò and Takaaki Nakagami, who have not yet taken to the track. So is LCR team rookie Smkiat Chantra, while the other rookies, Fermin Aldeguer on the Ducati and Ai Ogura on the Aprilia, are already in action.
In the 11:30 a.m. timesheet ahead of everyone is Pol Espargarò on the KTM with a time of 2'01"105. With a time of just over 2'02" is Augusto Fernandez on the Yamaha. Among the rookies, Ai Ogura posted a time of 2'02"497, 0"136 better than Fermin Aldeguer.