Saturday at Sepang saw Marc Marquez ride his first MotoGP l💝aps since wi♋nning the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on October 24.

An enduro accident and nightmare repea🌜t of nerve damage to his right eye then forced the eight-time world champion to end the season just as it had started; missing two races due to inju♍ry.

The Repsol Honda🍃 rider's Malaysian return was on a v✅ery different RC213V, radically re-designed to try and get back on technical terms with the likes of Ducati, which dominated the closing rounds of last season.

Marquez finished t🍒he opening day in eighth place, but most importantly emerged from two falls (Turn 9 and Turn 15) wi♛thout triggering further issues with his eye.

"When I spoke to my doctor, it was my first question: If൩ I crash in the Malaysia test, what is the possibility to create the same prob🥀lem again?" Marquez said.

"And the answer was clear: the possibility is the same that you will have in two years. The nerve problem is there. If you crash tomorrow or you crash in two years and you touch that nerve again, 🗹it will be damaged."

It had been a Moto2 fall at Sepang in 2011 that first revealed the 'ꦕweak point' of the nerve in Marquez's𝓡 eye.

"I have strong bones because during all the crashes I only broke the humeru🍷s. But that nerve specifically, [the doctor] doesn't know why it's my weak point."

Major changes to the RC213V, which other Honda riders have characterised as providing𓂃 increased rear grip, combined with Marquez's long absence from the rไace track contributed to today's falls.

"The bike i꧂s different," he said. "Today I had last year's bike too, and immediately I ♍understood that the lap time is easier to get with the new bike. But this creates another problem of course, like always.

"And one of the things that I must learn and💞 understand is that 𝔉the front feeling has changed a lot. For example, one mistake today was completely my mistake, and one time I crashed and I didn't understand why. Because I didn't make anything strange.

"So all these things plus a long time without riding a Moto🍸🍬GP bike created [a situation] where I still don't understand well the way to ride this bike. The lap time was coming, but I don't know why.

"Still with this bike we need to understand especia🔯lly the setup we have to use. Because the numbers we had in the past we have to forget."

Marquez might also have to move away from relying on corner entry to gain time; "At the m🐓oment, I need to sacrifice that a bit. Today when I tried this, I lost the front."

The #93 - who said his right arm has also improved over the w🐼inter, after inflammation issues during last season - now h♔opes to try some new parts tomorrow.

"Today 🌊I said to my team, 'forget trying things, I need to d❀o laps', and we finished with the same bike that we started. So we tried a few things, but not much. Tomorrow if I feel ready, I will try."

Team-mate Pol Espargaro was a fraction behin🦄d Marquez in ninth.

"We’ve had a good first day o🏅n a new bike but the best is yet to come and hopefully we can continue to improve and show the potential tomorrow,ও" Espargaro said. "I spent the day working on medium [tyres], not chasing a fast time as today we were trying many things. Tomorrow we’ll look for a lap time.”

Just three more days of MotoGP pre-season testing, at th♊e new Mandalika circuit, will remain after Sunday.