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MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo led Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi on the first day of pre-season testing at Sepang.

Lorenzo was more than one second clear at the top of the timesheets as race riders returned to action for the first time in 2016.

The Spaniard led the way for the majority of the day, and with his time of 2m00.684s was the only rider below the 2m01s barrier.

Rossi's best effort, 2m01.717s, came within the final hour to move up from the bottom half of the top 10, before a rain storm curtailed running.

The winner of last year's Malaysian Grand Prix, Dani Pedrosa was third and the best of the Honda riders, just 0.031 seconds behind Rossi, with team-mate Marc Marquez seventh.

Danilo Petrucci enjoyed a brief stint at the top of the times during the afternoon, and ultimately finished fourth, the Pramac Ducati rider one spot ahead of factory pilot Andrea Iannone.

On his satellite Avintia machine, Hector Barbera made it three Ducatis inside the top six after improving inside the last hour.

Petrucci's team-mate Scott Redding was eighth, ahead of Suzuki's Aleix Espargaro and LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow.

Eugene Laverty's day ended well before the rain storm, the Aspar Ducati rider crashing at Turn 4 and suffering a suspected right-hand fracture.

Pos Rider Team Bike Gap Laps 1 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Yamaha 2m00.684s 37 2 Valentino Rossi Yamaha Yamaha 1.033s 55 3 Dani Pedrosa Honda Honda 1.096s 34 4 Danilo Petrucci Pramac Racing Ducati 1.127s 43 5 Andrea Iannone Ducati Ducati 1.228s 49 6 Hector Barbera Avintia Racing Ducati 1.318s 59 7 Marc Marquez Honda Honda 1.594s 50 8 Scott Redding Pramac Racing Ducati 1.654s 46 9 Aleix Espargaro Suzuki Suzuki 1.855s 42 10 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda 1.902s 42 11 Maverick Vinales Suzuki Suzuki 1.961s 40 12 Pol Espargaro Tech 3 Yamaha 1.962s 42 13 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati Ducati 1.966s 40 14 Yonny Hernandez Aspar Ducati 2.232s 44 15 Bradley Smith Tech 3 Yamaha 2.342s 55 16 Michele Pirro Ducati Ducati 2.519s 32 17 Loris Baz Avintia Racing Ducati 2.520s 58 18 Tito Rabat Marc VDS Honda 2.779s 53 19 Eugene Laverty Aspar Ducati 2.881s 27 20 Stefan Bradl Aprilia Gresini Aprilia 3.294s 39 21 Alvaro Bautista Aprilia Gresini Aprilia 3.391s 34



