MotoGP: Lorenzo breaks world speed record for Sepang

The Ducati rider whipped round the circuit in less than two minutes – one minute, 58.83 seconds, in fact – the fastest anyone has ever gone around the Sepang track since it was built.

He has beaten the previous world record set by his compatriot, four-times champion Marc Márquez, 24, who belted round in one minute, 58.867 in 2015 – beating another Spaniard, Dani Pedrosa, who set an earlier record that same year of one minute, 59.053 seconds during a qualifier in Sepang which, naturally, netted him pole.

Mallorca-born Lorenzo, Lleida-born Márquez and Madrid-based Pedrosa (both Repsol Honda) have traditionally been the top three Spanish riders in recent years, although last season saw their fellow countryman Maverick Viñales come into his own: a relative newcomer until 2017, he nevertheless completed the fastest round in Sepang yesterday (Monday), a day before Lorenzo smashed the record, on what was the second day of pre-season test rounds.

Viñales, from Girona, was not far off Pedrosa's 2015 record on Monday, when he whipped round in one minute and 59.355 seconds.

Márquez, who became the youngest rider to win a world championship in his rookie year in 2013 aged just 20 – something he repeated the next two consecutive years – is defending champion this season, having soared to the top of the standings in 2017.

If any riders are likely to be in with a chance of toppling the catalán from his throne, Pedrosa, Lorenzo, Italian veteran Valentino Rossi, and possibly even Viñales would be the ones to watch.