Bad weather continues to follow MotoGP teams, as Alvaro Bautista led a rain-curtailed first day of testing for Honda riders Monday in Sepang.
Bautista, aboard a Gresini Honda, set the pace with a top lap of 2:02.19 after updates to his bike's Showa suspension. MotoGP rookie and Repsol Honda starlet Marc Marquez was second but lagging at 2:03.65. HRC test riders Kousuke Akiyoshi and Takumi Takahashi were two and 7.7 seconds off Bautista's pace, respectively.
Much like his first test last week at Valencia, rain restricted Marquez's activity to just 26 laps. Rain also is in the forecast Tuesday and Wednesday.
Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Stefan Bradl appear to have made smart decisions not to fly halfway around the world to sit around and wait for the rain to stop. Pedrosa bypassed the test by choice; Bradl is undergoing surgery in Barcelona.