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Among the men in action in the shakedown was Somkiat Chantra. The Thai rider is one of next season's rookies and we will see him at work on Lucio Cecchinello's LCR Honda.
The former Moto2 rider took advantage of his first Malaysian outing to grind out the kilometers, gain confidence with the new bike and, of course, gain experience.
At the end of Sunday, his gap from Fabio Quartararo's Yamaha is a good three seconds, but it's best not to look too much at the stopwatch.
"They were three important days of work these held in Sepang," he began, "the first one we worked to put together all the material, then in the other two I worked to try to understand the bike and get to know the electronics, using all the devices. I think we did a good job and we need to continue."
Nakagami was also on the track. What advice did he give you?
"He told me to ride and have fun, just thinking about learning without looking at the stopwatch. Here in Sepang I have two completely new and different Honda 2025s than the one tested in Barcelona."
What's different from the one used in November testing?
"It's difficult to make a comparison because in MotoGP I don't have much experience."
How big is the jump from a Moto2 to MotoGP?
"The most difficult thing is the speed and braking point, because with carbon brakes everything changes compared to Moto2. You also get to carry a lot more speed into the corners. Then there is the gearbox that is different and the lines you make in the lean angle are different, in fact compared to Nakagami I lean a lot less."
How impressed were you with MotoGP?
"MotoGP is a rocket, super power, I'm pretty beat. I was also my first time with Moto2, but now it's different. With Moto2 I had pain in my back, but now I have a lot of pain in my shoulders (smiles)."
Aleix Espargarò finished the test three-tenths behind Quartararo...
"Aleix had a great ride and is doing an important job. I asked the team about this and I will also ask Aleix how we can make a lap like that, so trying to work together and share all the information."
