This week’s Sepang 2 MotoGP test had plenty of storylines and as the season draws closer, it’s becoming more and more evident that Marc Marquez is up for his third title and his challengers are constantly improving.

We’ve mentioned it before, but Jorge Lorenzo is fitter and faster than last year, Valentino Rossi has been consistently quick, Cal Crutchlow is getting to grips with the Honda and Ducati’s GP15 is said to be an immediate improvement.

Add in the likes of Dani Pedrosa (you can never count him out for race wins), the Tech3 pairing of Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith, plus a host of other satellite riders and it’s going to be a heck of a season to watch.

The returning Suzuki outfit has been quite impressive with Aleix Espargaro and rookie Maverick Vinales, which bodes well for their comeback season and the pace seems to be in the ballpark of the top 10 at least.

Source: MotoGP.

That’s in contrast of the Aprilias because they’re struggling to match the other factories in these early stages with Alvaro Bautista down in 19th and Marco Melandri bringing up the rear in 27th.

The Melandri situation is a strange one, because although it was obvious he wasn’t overly keen on heading back to MotoGP, he’s just been well off the pace and is having a hard time adapting to the grand prix spec RS-GP.

If he can’t turn it around soon, it makes you wonder whether he’ll last the full season with those kinds of results and, as if to add salt into the wounds, Aprilia is as competitive as ever in WorldSBK with Leon Haslam’s Phillip Island race win.

Flamboyant Queenslander Jack Miller improved on his Sepang best, but after completing his third test this pre-season in Malaysia, he admitted at the end he simply wants to move onto a new track ahead of his grand prix debut.

I have a feeling that Jack will be stronger again come Qatar’s season-opening round; something about the Losail Circuit seems to suit him and he’s not far from the first of the RC213V-RS entries in Nicky Hayden.

Source: LCR.

Realistically Hayden is the benchmark for Miller this year on similar equipment, as is fellow rookie Eugene Laverty, who the Aussie was quicker than at Sepang.

On day four at Sepang select riders including Miller were able to sample the 2016 Michelins in their early stages of development, but it was a bruising outing with multiple high-speed crashes – namely Lorenzo with his YZR-M1 badly damaged.

It will dent the confidence of the riders somewhat, but there’s still more than 12 months of development to come and reports of lap times seemed positive for the likes of Marquez. It will be an interesting development to track over the course of the year.

Make sure you check out all of CycleOnline.com.au’s social networking channels and be sure to Like us on Facebook or Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for even more behind the scenes insights. Just search CycleOnline.