This selection of photos from the Sepang test were taken by Colm O'Brien, a photographer who works with CormacGP's Cormac Ryan Meenan. You can follow him on Instagram at @colmobri.

After every race, MotoMatters.com will be publishing a selection of Tom Morsellino's photos of MotoGP bikes, together with extensive technical explanations of the details by Peter Bom. MotoMatters.com subscribers will get access to the full resolution photos, which they can download and study in detail, and all of Peter's technical explanations of the photos. Readers who do not support the site will be limited to the 800x600 resolution photos, and an explanation of two photos.



Valentino Rossi's Yamaha M1

David Emmett: The Yamaha M1 barely seems to change from year to year. In recent seasons, even the livery has remained almost identical. Yamaha's philosophy is one of evolution and refinement, and that is not always obvious from the outside. Despite the lack of outward change, there are some major changes to the 2019 Yamaha M1. Yamaha is continuing along the path of moving weight to the rear of the bike, and the bike has new chassis parts (including a new frame) to help with tire life. The biggest changes have been on the electronics side, optimizing the Magneti Marelli spec ECU software.



Marc Márquez' 2019 Honda RC213V prototype

David Emmett: Honda had a couple of variants of their 2019 bikes at Sepang. This is the bike referred to as 'the prototype' or 'the black bike', for obvious reasons. Key identifying detail for the 2019 bike is the black cover close to the headstock (and below the Honda tank badge). That contains various wires and minor electronics components which have been moved out from under the tank cover, to make room for larger airbox and direct air intake. Honda are playing with exhaust systems, and this bike has the older, squared-off tailpipe on the top exhaust. The newer version has a tapered cone on the exhaust. The carbon swingarm is a telltale giveaway that this is Marc Márquez' bike.



Danilo Petrucci's Ducati Desmosedici GP19



Hafizh Syahrin's KTM RC16



Aleix Espargaro's Aprilia RS-GP



Getting ready to start Cal Crutchlow's Honda RC213V



Aprilia's engine starter



KTM's engine starter

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If you would like to buy a copy of one of thes photos, you can email Thomas Morsellino