New Ducati MotoGP factory signing Marc Marquez dominated the final pre-season test in Thailand - and heads into the season opener at the same track as a clear favourite.
Though he came up just short of toppling the lap record, Marquez was the sole rider dipping into the 1m28.855s range across the two days - and followed that up with a grid-leading race simulation covering 23 laps, with a 1m30.4s average.
It came on the day that the factory Ducati team has committed to campaigning the 2024 engine this year (and next year, due to the 2025-26 engine freeze), discarding the newer version due to deficiencies in the braking phase.
Like on Wednesday, the two Marquez brothers were out front again, with Gresini Ducati rider Alex Marquez 0.179s off the ultimate pace after having topped the tests at Barcelona and Malaysia.
The other star of the pre-season, Aprilia rider Marco Bezzecchi, was a notable third, continuing to impress hugely with his adaptation to the RS-GP bike and ending up with a lap that stands as both his and Aprilia's best - by a lot - at a track it hasn't historically enjoyed.
Pedro Acosta was fourth, the lead KTM again and this time by half a second over an improving Maverick Vinales, though a marked pace drop-off in his race simulation - as well as that of Brad Binder - might be a source of concern for the manufacturer.
Marc Marquez's team-mate and presumed main title rival Pecco Bagnaia ended up half a second off and appears to be coming into the Thai GP weekend at the end of the month half a step behind.
While Yamaha was by far the stronger of the Japanese manufacturers through the three days of testing at Sepang, here Honda arguably made a better impression.
Its quickest rider Joan Mir was two tenths up on Yamaha benchmark Fabio Quartararo over a single lap, and while Honda's race pace has looked shaky in the pre-season, a surprisingly strong sprint simulation from Mir suggested it's now in much better shape on that front than before, too.
Of the category's three rookies, Ai Ogura was the clear standout on the final day of the pre-season - catching the eye with a 1m29.636s as he's continued to improve his weakness, that being the braking, on the Trackhouse-run Aprilia.
