Lorenzo and Rossi go 1-2 on opening day at Sepang

The factory Movistar Yamaha pairing of reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi have made it a one-two at the top of the timesheets after the first day of the 2016 season.

Lorenzo was the clear fastest rider of the day, finishing over a second clear of his teammate, who was in turn only 0.06 ahead of Dani Pedrosa. Both Yamaha riders have three bikes available to them at the test, as they work to develop components to suit the new Michelin tyres.

Pedrosa was the best of the Hondas, well ahead of teammate Marquez back in seventh, behind a string of Ducatis led by satellite rider Danilo Petrucci in fourth and Andrea Iannone in fifth. Tomorrow will see ten Ducatis on track, as Casey Stoner returns to MotoGP with Ducati for the first time since 2013.

Scott Redding was the best of the Brits in eighth, with Cal Crutchlow in tenth and Bradley Smith back in fifteenth after a small tumble. However, it was less lucky for Eugene Laverty, who looks set to miss the rest of the test after a suspected throttle left him with a broken hand.

Testing gets underway again tomorrow at 2am UK time, but with rain forecast for the next two days it could well be the first chance to test Michelin’s new rain tyres.