The 2025 MotoGP season is fast approaching as the three-day Shakedown test kicked off last weekend in Malaysia, where all five factories put the early versions of their new machines through their paces.

The test was topped by Fabio Quartararo, who was the only rider lapping in one minute, 57 seconds by the close of day three. Yamaha’s (and Honda’s) full-time riders were allowed to test thanks to the concessions currently afforded to the two Japanese factories.

Quartararo was three-tenths of a second quicker than Pramac Yamaha new boy Jack Miller. The Australian was a lowly 22nd at the Barcelona test last November, 2.2 seconds off the fastest time as he got to grips with the Yamaha M1. But there was huge progress on the final afternoon session as he took a full second out of his time from day two.

Despite rumors to the contrary, there was no sign of Yamaha’s new V4 engine on track, with its riders instead focusing on the inline-four configuration. Technical Director Max Bartolini did reveal the V4 could well make its race debut this year in the hands of new test rider Augusto Fernandez, who will make six wildcard appearances in 2025.

Surprisingly neither of Honda’s factory riders—Joan Mir and Luca Marini—tested at the Shakedown. “We can count on a fantastic test team,” said Marini of their absence in Malaysia. “Two very good riders can push each other. And when I spoke to the engineers, they said it’s better to start with them, as three days [at the official test] is more than enough for us.”

Instead, it was the job of new HRC test riders Aleix Espargaro and Takaaki Nakagami to try the new RC213V. Espargaro was impressive again, as he posted the third quickest time.

“My time on the bike didn’t stop since last year,” said the former Aprilia rider. “After Barcelona, I went to Jerez, Thailand, and now here. It’s clear that we have a mission; we have a lot of work in front of us, so we are trying our best, trying to use as much track time as possible to help the boys on the factory team.

“Unfortunately, my track time here wasn’t as I expected because day one was Taka’s time and then day two we had the rain. So, basically, I just used day three of the Shakedown, but we tried many things; Honda brought many things to this test, so I’m quite satisfied.”

Ai Ogura, Fermin Aldeguer and Somkiat Chantra—MotoGP’s three rookies for 2025—were also allowed to test across the three days. Of the three, reigning Moto2 World Champion Ogura stood out. Not only was he fourth fastest and two-tenths quicker than next-best rookie Aldeguer, he posted an impressive 17-lap race simulation on the final day, which was three-tenths of a second faster than what the top Aprilia managed in the hands of Maverick Vinales over the same distance in November’s GP.

Elsewhere, there were competitive times posted by Pol Espargaro (fifth) and Dani Pedrosa (ninth) as they worked on KTM’s new RC16.

The official Sepang test gets underway this week and runs February 5-7.