Dani Pedrosa edged out Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Marquez in an extremely close fought first MotoGP test of the 2013 season at Sepang.
Just 0.036second covered the top three riders at the Malaysian venue at the end of the first day of running. Moto2 champion Marquez was the early sensation, the MotoGP rookie topping the morning session. The established aces edged him out in the afternoon, but not by much.
Last year's title winner Lorenzo put in a 2m01.165s on his Yamaha, before Honda man Pedrosa inched ahead by just 0.008sec. Valentino Rossi's return to Yamaha showed promise as he lapped 0.3sec off the pace in fourth.
The Italian's former team Ducati appeared to be in trouble. Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso were back in 10th and 13th places, both over two seconds off the pace, with Pramac duo Andrea Iannone and Ben Spies even further down the midfield.
Aspar continued its 2012 form in the CRT group, Aleix Espargaro and Randy de Puniet leading the class in 14th and 15th overall.
The test attracted a 28-bike field, the 24 2013 entrants bolstered by Yamaha test duo Katsuyuki Nakasuga and Wataru Yoshikawa, plus their Honda counterparts Kosuke Akiyoshi and Takumi Takahashi.
Pos Rider Bike Time Laps
1. Dani Pedrosa Honda 2m01.157s 49
2. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 2m01.165s + 0.008s 58
3. Marc Marquez Honda 2m01.201s + 0.044s 62
4. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 2m01.584s + 0.427s 56
5. Stefan Bradl LCR Honda 2m01.789s + 0.632s 59
6. Cal Crutchlow Tech 3 Yamaha 2m01.881s + 0.724s 64
7. Alvaro Bautista Gresini Honda 2m01.981s + 0.824s 59
8. Katsayuki Nakasuga Yamaha 2m02.968s + 1.811s 58
9. Kosuke Akiyoshi Honda 2m02.972s + 1.815s 69
10. Nicky Hayden Ducati 2m03.336s + 2.179s 62
11. Wataru Yoshikawa Yamaha 2m03.456s + 2.299s 46
12. Bradley Smith Tech 3 Yamaha 2m03.460s + 2.303s 56
13. Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 2m03.535s + 2.378s 48
14. Aleix Espargaro Aspar Aprilia 2m03.782s + 2.625s 58
15. Randy De Puniet Aspar Aprilia 2m04.283s + 3.126s 56
16. Andrea Iannone Pramac Ducati 2m04.500s + 3.343s 57
17. Ben Spies Pramac Ducati 2m05.086s + 3.929s 21
18. Takumi Takahashi Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 2m05.154s + 3.997s 70
19. Hector Barbera Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 2m05.469s + 4.312s 41
20. Yonny Hernandez Paul Bird Aprilia 2m05.656s + 4.499s 50
21. Karel Abraham Cardion Aprilia 2m05.694s + 4.537s 54
22. Danilo Petrucci Ioda Suter-BMW 2m05.753s + 4.596s 29
23. Hiroshi Aoyama Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 2m05.919s + 4.762s 48
24. Claudio Corti Forward FTR-Kawasaki 2m06.426s + 5.269s 38
25. Michael Laverty Paul Bird Aprilia 2m06.507s + 5.350s 43
26. Lukas Pesek Ioda Suter-BMW 2m07.015s + 5.858s 46
27. Bryan Staring Gresini Honda 2m07.044s + 5.887s 41
28. Colin Edwards Forward FTR-Kawasaki 2m08.206s + 7.049s 25