The MotoGP grid burns after official training in Sepang, the first of 2020. All riders broke the two-minute barrier on the Malay track. Also Jorge Lorenzo , who premiered as a Yamaha tester. The results anticipate a very close World Cup : in the combined three days, the 19 best drivers rolled in the same second . And even more: the best drivers of the six builders ended up separated by only 0.345 . Maximum equality ... Waiting for Marc Márquez, of course.

Because the great dominator of last season continues to recover from his operation on his right shoulder . Marquez was squeezed for 10 weeks and 250 hours of rehabilitation to arrive , but the sensations are still not the best. He suffered two falls , one of them avoidable if he had had the shoulder in better conditions, and finished 13th in the Sepang overall, below 1:59, but at 0.341 of the Cal Crutchlow Honda.

The Catalan could only add 131 laps between the three days - "I have taken my body to the limit," he confessed - and the British had to carry the weight of the tests on the new motorcycle. The balance, according to Marc Márquez, can be improved. "I worry more about the bike than my physique," said the champion, with his eyes already on the test next week in Jerez. In the absence of the best version of Márquez, the dominator in Sepang was Quartararo . The Frenchman is one of the most serious aspirants to the throne and showed his letters marking the best time in the three days. The first, with Yamaha last year and the next two with the 2020 version of the M1 .

THE ORIGIN OF EVERYTHING

The fretboard brand has not lifted the title since 2015 with Lorenzo, and wants to end the orange domain once. Its director, Lin Jarvis , openly acknowledges this obsession when he talks about the master lines of his project, which pass through Quartararo and Maverick Viñales . «Everything comes from four years of mastery of Marc Márquez and Honda».

First impressions cannot be better: to the domain of Quartararo he added the good role of Valentino Rossi , fifth to less than two tenths. Only Viñales (16th) was off the hook , although he did not look for a fast lap. Figueras', winner last season in Sepang, focused on other tests and completed 201 laps on the Malay track, more than any other driver . The last day, 83.

With Márquez away from his best level and Viñales in another fight, the best Spaniard was Álex Rins . The Suzuki thanked the grip of the new Michelin tires and the Catalan finished third weekend, a single tenth of Quartararo in tests marked by maximum equality. Among the best of Yamaha (Quartararo), Honda (Crutchlow), Suzuki (Rins), Ducati (Bagnaia), KTM (Pol Espargaró) and Aprilia (Aleix Espargaró) there were only 0.345 seconds of separation. A World Cup that, in the absence of the best Márquez, is presented with maximum equality in the absence of only one month to lower the first checkered flag. Will it be true?

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