Marc Marquez: Fast, fun, sliding the bike… job done

A month ago, it was still doubtful whether Marc Marquez would even be fit to ride in the pair of MotoGP pre-season tests.

But his double-vision problems improved just in time for the Sepang test, where he finished a close eighth fastest on the all-new Honda RC213V.

Struggling for general fitness after two and a half months of enforced rest, Marquez didn't waste energy on a time attack during the final day of the following Mandalika test, which concluded on Sunday.

But the eight-time world champion felt a "big difference" in his form compared to Sepang, "enjoying" himself on the bike and setting an average pace comparable to the likes of Fabio Quartararo and team-mate Pol Espargaro.

"It's true that I was fast, in a good pace, riding well," Marquez said. "When I tried different set-ups, still the lap time was coming. I tried different aerodynamics, the lap time was coming. I tried different tyres, medium rear and soft rear, the lap time was coming. When you have this feeling it's because the potential is there.

"It's true that it's a special track also, it was slippery and in these conditions normally I feel really good. But by the end the grip was very high. So I'm happy because we go leave the Mandalika test with the job done.

"I still need more to get this special feeling with the bike, but the lap time was coming, so happy.

"I enjoyed it a lot on the bike and that was the way to survive [the last day] because I was very tired from the beginning. I think everybody was. But today I felt pain on the shoulder and for that reason I didn't make a time attack, because you use too much power.

"So I just kept my race pace, worked on the set-up of the bike and I enjoyed it. I started to feel the bike, I started to feel the slides. I want to reconfirm this feeling in Qatar of course. But it was a big difference, comparing Malaysia to here."

Marquez was 14th on the final day in terms of one-off lap time, 0.733s from team-mate Pol Espargaro.