On the first two days of Sepang’s MotoGP test, there was a general good mood in the paddock except in the Honda garage, where the serious faces of Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa betrayed the ghosts of one year ago when the RC213V was struggling and Jorge Lorenzo and the M1 were dominating.

The first day was spoiled by the rain, but on day two Marquez finished tenths and one second off the top - an embarrassing gap for the reigning world champion. Several problems, mainly electronics, kept him in the garage for long time. “I didn’t expect to have so many problems, but it’s better to have them now than during the season,” he said. “We have several things to test, but for sure an important factor is the electronics, as we are losing too much time. We are here to work and to improve and when these things happen you need patience and little by little I’m sure it will be better.”

Already at eve of the first MotoGP test, Tetsuhiro Kuwata, the new Racing Manager and responsible for the rider contracts, who replaces Shuhei Nakamoto, who will retire in June, underlined that: “During the 2016 season we learned a lot about the electronics, but we are still not using all the potential of the software. There is an important margin of improvement, I would say a 30 per cent.”

Honda had brought a new engine to the Valencia test. The riders liked the character but asked for more power. At Sepang they found a more nervous engine. “It’s normal that the riders ask for more power, better driveability, a smoother character of the engine,” continued Kuwata-san. “In November Marc and Dani asked basically the same things. As engineers, we have a different approach.

“We look at the package as a whole, not only at the engine or the electronics. Regarding the power and the top speed, we know that Ducati is still the fastest bike, so we had to catch up also in this area, but we have worked also on the chassis side because we needed to improve corner exit.”

Today, the Honda riders made an important step forward with Marquez putting in the second fastest time only a tenth slower than Maverick Vinales’ Yamaha. No-one had really doubted Marquez and Honda’s potential - who remain the reference and the favourite, but the Spaniard was finally back in the top positions, with his team-mate Dani Pedrosa still struggling a bit. He finished in fifth position and two-tenths behind on the combined, confirming important progress had been made.

Marquez can now leave Sepang with a smile and fewer doubts about the 2017 machine. “I’m happy about these three days of test not only for the final lap time, but because we have improved a lot. We worked well with the team and the Honda engineers and on the last day my feeling with new bike has improved a lot. Regarding the new engine and the new machine, there are some points that are not clear and we need to understand. The main issue remains the electronics. The Honda engineers will have a lot to do once they return to Japan.”

“Finally we could use the whole day to test, with the best track conditions. I’m confident because we have improved a lot along the three days”, said Pedrosa. “We started with a lot of problems, especially the electronics, but not only this. To solve these problems the engineers will work once they return in Japan. All in all the balance of the test is positive. I’m also happy with the new team. We have some new entry, included my chief mechanic, and this was the first time we worked together after the winter break. The time spent together was also useful to make the team more unite.”

Team principal Livio Suppo is confident about the progress: “The balance of this first test is positive, there is still work to do but in general we leave Sepang much better than what we did last year. Both Marc and Dani worked well.”

The Honda engineers will have their homework to do on their return in Tokyo as the next appointment in Phillip Island will be another important bench and – as we know – the riders do not have so much patience.