Espargaro was the fastest rider at the final pre-season outing at Mandalika, Indonesia, a new circuit which will host its first MotoGP event two weeks after the season opener. The former Moto2 World Champion was also on the pace at the opening tests at Sepang, where his best lap was just 0.289 seconds off the fastest.

Marquez, who had to rest throughout winter to cure diplopia, immediately showed his potential at both venues, 0.201 seconds off the best lap time at Sepang and 0.421 seconds at Mandalika.

Both riders had to work especially intelligently through pre-season testing – this year limited to just five days – because Honda has undertaken a full redesign of its RC213V for 2022. The machine has been hugely successful, winning six MotoGP Riders World Championships with Marquez and seven MotoGP Constructors World Championships since its launch in 2012. However, a full redesign was required to suit MotoGP’s latest tyres.

Both Repsol Honda riders say the latest RC213V is easier to ride fast, which will help them push the limits even further as they aim to achieve Honda’s 22^nd premier-class riders title and 26^th constructors title. Honda’s current totals of 21 and 25 crowns respectively are both all-time records in motorcycle GP racing.

This will be Marquez’s tenth season in MotoGP. The 29-year-old Spaniard graduated to the class of kings after winning the 2012 Moto2 title, which followed his first world championship, in the 125cc class, in 2010.

Marquez was MotoGP’s dominant force, scoring six championships in his first seven years in the category, until he broke his right upper arm at the first race of the 2020 season. That injury forced him out of racing for nine months. After returning to action last April he scored three further victories, before missing the last three races, due to issues with diplopia.

So far Marquez has won 59 MotoGP victories for Honda, making him the company’s most successful rider since it first entered the World Championships in 1959. Marquez has won twice at Losail – in Moto2 in 2012 and in MotoGP in 2014.

Espargaro joined Honda last season and had some promising rides while getting accustomed to the RC213V. He scored his first pole position on the machine at August’s British GP at Silverstone and his first podium at October’s Emilia Romagna GP at Misano. He feels much more at home on the 2022 iteration of the RC213V and his speed in testing suggests he will be fighting for podiums once the racing starts at Losail on Sunday evening.

Last year at Losail the 30-year-old Spaniard finished eighth in the Qatar Grand Prix, his first race aboard an RC213V.

LCR Honda team-mates Alex Marquez (LCR Honda CASTROL Honda RC213V) and Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda IDEMITSU Honda RC213V) are also delighted with the latest iteration of the RC213V. Both were very much on the pace during pre-season testing, making them hopeful of their best seasons yet in MotoGP.

Marquez had a great rookie MotoGP campaign in 2020, with two podiums, but had a more challenging time last season, so he’s keen to get back to his best this year. The 25-year-old Spaniard is already a double World Champion: he rode a Honda to the 2014 Moto3 title and won the Moto2 crown in 2019.

This weekend Nakagami commences his fifth year in MotoGP, confident that the 2022 RC213V will help him achieve his lifelong ambition: a first premier-class podium. The 30-year-old has come so close to the podium on three occasions so far, with hard-fought fourth places. He is a former winner in the Moto2 category, taking victories at the 2016 Dutch TT and the 2017 British GP.

Honda riders have enjoyed plenty of success at Losail since the inaugural Qatar GP – MotoGP’s first in the Middle East – in 2004. Sete Gibernau won that race on his Honda RC211V. Casey Stoner was Honda’s next winner, in 2011, riding a Honda RC212V. Marc Marquez was Honda’s last winner at the track, in 2014, aboard a Honda RC213V.

The 5.4 km/3.34-mile circuit, constructed specifically to host MotoGP, is a sinuous test for man and machine, with the layout of individual corners inspired by famous corners at racetracks from around the world. Corner speed and machine agility are vitally important at Losail with only one real straight – the 1.068km/0.664-mile start-finish, which demands plenty of horsepower. Top speeds on this straight reach around 362kmh/224mph.

The Qatar GP is MotoGP’s only night-time event, run under floodlights, although this year’s race starts earlier than previous years, at 18:00 local time, just as the sun goes down. The circuit is lit up by a 5.4-million-watt lighting system.

The 2022 MotoGP World Championship continues with the Indonesian GP on March 20, the Argentine GP on April 3 and then Grand Prix of the Americas on April 10. The European season commences with the Portuguese and Spanish GPs on April 24 and May 1. This is the longest-ever Grand Prix season, with 21 races, concluding with the Valencia GP in Spain on November 6.