MotoGP completed a three-day shakedown with various riders on the test team and the rookies who are gearing up for debut in 2025.
Day 1 –
The Shakedown is underway and Friday welcomed a mix of new faces and veteran test riders to the track in Malaysia. From MotoGP Legends Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso to headline-grabbing performance from rookie Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team), it was an intriguing return to action for MotoGP.
The Shakedown, which is for factory test riders and rookies, also allows manufacturers with concessions to field their race riders. For Friday though, Red Bull KTM test rider Pol Espargaro was fastest, ahead of a stunner from Ogura with a 1:59.862 as his best. Honda HRC development rider Takaaki Nakagami completed the top three, with Dani Pedrosa slotting into fourth having led for much of the day for Red Bull KTM.
ROOKIES
The fastest rookie – and second overall – was Ogura, but the Japanese rider was actually only a couple of tenths clear of Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Racing MotoGP) as the Spaniard gets to grips with his Ducati GP24. He slotted in behind Pedrosa. Thai rider Somkiat Chantra didn’t head out to actually ride his new MotoGP machine at IDEMITSU LCR Honda on Friday, taking it as a prep day before he’ll roll out tomorrow.
TEST RIDERS
As well as Pol Espargaro and Pedrosa at KTM and Nakagami’s first outing in his new role with Honda, Dovizioso was out for Yamaha, putting three machines through their paces. Ducati were repped by longtime test rider Michele Pirro and Aprilia by Lorenzo Savadori. The latter took every Aprilia on site for a spin, truly shaking them down on Day 1.
Day 2 –
After their team launch on Friday night, Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP rolled out on track at the Shakedown on Saturday – and they immediately made an impact. Yamaha, thanks to their concessions, are able to field all their race riders. As the factory welcomes two more bikes to the grid this year, that means Prima Pramac Yamaha’s Jack Miller and Miguel Oliveira can join Alex Rins and Fabio Quartararo on track. So they did.
Aleix Espargaro made his Shakedown debut as well, joining fellow Honda HRC development rider Takaaki Nakagami on track. Dani Pedrosa and Pol Espargaro were back out for KTM too, as were Michele Pirro for Ducati and Lorenzo Savadori for Aprilia. In terms of novelties, two bigger things caught the eye: updated tail units spotted at KTM and Honda. In terms of times at the top, Rins was fastest with a 1:58.745, with Red Bull KTM test rider Pol Espargaro in hot pursuit just 0.003 off. Quartararo was third, 0.064 behind Pol Espargaro. Impressively, two of the three 2025 rookies made it into the 1:58 club too.
THE ROOKIES
2024 Moto2 champion Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) and fellow debutant Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Racing MotoGP) impressed on Day 1, and Day 2 maybe even more so. The Japanese rider did a 1:58 on his Aprilia and the Spaniard was only 0.016 behind on his Ducati. The two were the final members of the 1:58 club on Saturday. Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU LCR Honda) started his 2025 on Day 2, having not headed out on Friday. He was further towards the back of the field but for his first time on the track on a MotoGP bike, that’s to be expected as he looks to get up to speed!
Day 3 –
Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) ends a busy Shakedown Test in Malaysia as the fastest, the only rider to dip into the 1:57s with a 1:57.794. That gave him three-tenths of breathing space over new Yamaha stablemate Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha) in second, with Honda HRC test rider Aleix Espargaro making a late lunge into third with his last lap of Day 3. But the stories go beyond the timesheets!
THE ROOKIES
Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) kept impressing, fourth overall and 0.414 off Quartararo. The reigning Moto2 champion also did a longer run of laps in a race simulation, and was a few tenths quicker over the course of 17 laps than the top Aprilia finisher here last year. Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Racing MotoGP) had a slightly bigger deficit to the Japanese rider on Day 3, sixth and 0.627 off the top. He was the only rider to crash all test, but no harm done after he tipped off and rejoined at Turn 9 on Sunday. Thai rider Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda LCR) remained a little further off as he put in his second day on track at the Shakedown, having sat out Day 1.
TALKING POINTS AT A GLANCE
Yamaha reportedly had new chassis and swingarm for Quartararo and teammate Alex Rins, and updated aero. Quartararo was top and Rins seventh. Miller’s laptime was only half a second off his qualifying at the Malaysian GP last year on a different machine. At the Barcelona Test, his laptime on the Yamaha was 1.2 seconds off his quali at the venue on his previous bike. Miguel Oliveira was P8, and the final Yamaha on track on Day 3 was new test rider Augusto Fernandez, who was also focusing on adapting to the bike rather than testing items as yet. Pol Espargaro was fifth for KTM, and Dani Pedrosa ninth.
The biggest thing to break cover so far is the new items at the rear spotted on Saturday. Aprilia had test rider Lorenzo Savadori working on a different spec of 2025 machinery, but notably it seems rookie Ogura was also trying some new parts – already. Michele Pirro continued shaking down everything to prep for the arrival of Ducati Lenovo Team duo Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia. Later in the day, updated aero broke cover, as well as the chassis seen on one of MM93’s runs at the Barcelona Test.
At Honda, Aleix Espargaro led the charge on Day 3, his name appearing on the timesheets three times after splitting his workload across different machines. To compare his 1:58.106, the fastest Honda in Q2 at the 2024 Malaysian GP which was Johann Zarco with a 1’57.971 for CASTROL Honda LCR. Amazingly, Aleix Espargaro’s Q2 lap that day was a 1:58.107 on his previous machine – a single thousandth slower than his Shakedown Day 3 with Honda.
2025 MotoGP launches –
[The story is as per press release]
