Sepang Shakedown Test Day 1 Times: Fernandez Off To A Flying Start

The 2022 MotoGP season is almost underway, with the rookies and test riders taking to the track for the so-called shakedown test, three days of pre-testing ahead of the official MotoGP test on Saturday and Sunday, February 5th and 6th. Though the times set don't mean a great deal at this stage in time - there are a lot of variables, and the main job of the test riders is to make sure everything is functioning correctly and to prepare the ground for the official rider this weekend - there were still some notable performances.

First and fastest of all is Raul Fernandez. The Tech3 KTM rookie was fastest on the first day of the test, his entry into MotoGP looking like being as impactful as his joining Moto2. Fernandez' time is impressive, 1.2 seconds slower than the race lap record held by Valentino Rossi set in 2019, and 2.6 seconds than the fastest outright lap at the circuit, set by Danilo Petrucci during the test in 2019.

Ducati test rider Michele Pirro is second, ahead of KTM's Mika Kallio and Aprilia's Lorenzo Savadori, while Remy Gardner is the second quickest rookie, ending the day in fifth just under a second behind his teammate. Gardner was a tenth of a second quicker than VR46 Ducati man Marco Bezzecchi, who is in turn a tenth of a second faster than RNF Yamaha rider Darryn Binder. Gresini Ducati's Fabio Di Giannantonio is the slowest of the rookies, 1.7 seconds off the pace of Fernandez.

Absent from the test was Stefan Bradl, the HRC test rider's Honda RC213V still on its way from the test at Jerez, where Bradl had been putting the radically modified 2022-spec Honda through its pace on Thursday and Friday. Bradl is expected to ride on Tuesday.

There was also news on the test rider front. Yamaha confirmed that Cal Crutchlow will continue in his role as test rider for the next 2 seasons, 2022 and 2023, with the factory.

Times, courtesy of GPOne.com:

Lap records: