The man who took the honour of first out this season was Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), as the Frenchman headed out on a very wet track to set the first flier of the year. Zarco had some new aero to work with.
Reigning Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) went to the top of the timesheets for a while once the track was ready for slicks. Marquez and teammate Dani Pedrosa are both testing the 2017 and 2018 bikes – and LCR Honda Castrol’s Cal Crutchlow has 2018 prototypes, too.
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Maverick Viñalaes and Valentino Rossi had new aero that made a few headlines – but the even bigger ones were made by the full package, on display with test riders including Katsuyuki Nakasuga.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing picked up where they left off, intent on closing further in on the front. The Austrian factory broke cover later in the day with a carbon-black fairing, sported by Finnish test rider Mika Kallio.
Scott Redding (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) was one of the first riders out, getting to grips with his RS-GP as the Noale factory settle in to 2018.
New year, clean slate: Team Suzuki Ecstar began testing in high spirits in Sepang, sure that the winter had seen some good work at the Hamamatsu factory and that the mistakes of 2017 would be put behind them.
Rookie Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) gets a 2017 spec RC213V this season, the bike that begins the year as defending Champion.
Fellow debutant Franco Morbidelli (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) got his first taste of Sepang on his new bike – and teammate Tom Lüthi got his first ride on the MotoGP™ machine full stop; injured and sidelined during the Valencia test.
Alvaro Bautista (Angel Nieto Team) rides the GP17 this year - the bike that took Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) so close to the title last season - and the team are hoping to have a head start and be dialed in already.
Ducati's Jorge Lorenzo was out with full aero plumage, and the Borgo Panigale factory had both GP18s and GP17s in the garage.