On the second day of MotoGP testing in Sepang, which was narrowly cut short by rain, it was Repsol Honda Team’s Dani Pedrosa and Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo that led an ever-improving grid on Wednesday.
While the two front runners were edging ever closer to Lorenzo’s record set last year, with Pedrosa posting a 2:00.549, just 0.019s ahead of his compatriot, it was the mid-section and back-end of the group that showed the greatest improvements, with the likes of Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Bradley Smith improving by 1.5s over Tuesday to come eighth and Ducati Team finding well over half a second more.
But the main contenders remained the same as on Tuesday, with Pedrosa and his teammate Marc Márquez, who placed third, working on the RC213V’s electronics package and both putting in impressive times.
“Today I was able to try some more things on the bike and we made a few positive steps forward from yesterday,” Pedrosa said. “The feeling is good, I’m happy and that’s what’s important.
“We had planned to try a few more things in the afternoon, like the hard compound tires, but it started to rain early and we were unable to go out. We hope that it is good weather tomorrow so that we can try them out, as in the coming season it will be important to ride fast on that compound. We also hope to continue moving forward with our quest for the best bike setup.”
And it was the same story for Yamaha once more, as Valentino Rossi continued his form from Tuesday, albeit not making up more time on the top three. Lorenzo and Rossi continued to evaluate the 2013 M1, in a bid to decide which parts are improvements over last year’s title-winning machine.
“Today in the morning the conditions were good and I could easily do the lap times from yesterday, I improved by more than half a second,” Lorenzo explained. “Later we tried some little parts we couldn’t try yesterday, but not so much and the bike didn’t improve a lot.
“In the last hour it started to rain so I decided to exit and ride in the wet. We made more than eight laps in the rain. I think it was important to find the feeling in these conditions and also try the new tire.”
Behind Rossi in fifth, Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow once again proved he is continuing where he left off last year, finishing just over seven tenths off the top, while LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl had a less than ideal day evaluating his new machine, after doing fewer laps due to feeling unwell in the morning. He finished one position lower than Tuesday, albeit still managing to keep Go & Fun Honda Gresini’s Álvaro Bautista at bay in seventh, as he continues on his quest for the best Showa suspension set-up.
Tech 3’s Smith ultimately came in just over 1.3s below Pedrosa, with Ducati’s Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso in tow, as the pair managed to significantly improve their pace from Tuesday. Looming just behind were HRC test rider Kosuke Akiyoshi and Yamaha test rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga, who managed to finish ahead of Pramac Racing’s Ben Spies, who not only put in more laps on Wednesday after shoulder issues, but also upped his pace significantly. Splitting him from his also improved teammate Andrea Iannone was Yamaha test rider Wataru Yoshikawa.
The Power Electronics Aspar pair of Aleix Espargaró and Randy de Puniet led the CRT field once more, as both riders evaluated a new chassis and swingarm, with Came IodaRacing Project’s Danilo Petrucci and HCR test rider Takumi Takahashi in tow.
Avintia Blusens’ Hiroshi Aoyama looked to have few ill effects from his broken left wrist as he improved to 20th, ahead of teammate Héctor Barberá, who was working on the electronics and trying to overcome chatter issues.
Cardion AB Racing’s Karel Abraham headed a much-improved Michael Laverty on the Paul Bird Motorsport ART bike, who managed to beat teammate Yonny Hernandez by two places, as the Colombian struggled for rear grip. Splitting them was NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Claudio Corti, with teammate Colin Edwards and Go & Fun Honda Gresini’s Bryan Staring completing the line-up.
The test was dry until the final hour, after which rain stopped proceedings for the day. Track time will resume Thursday morning at 10:00am local time.
Test Times
- 1 PEDROSA, Dani Repsol Honda Team 2:00.549
- 2 LORENZO, Jorge Yamaha Factory Racing 2:00.568
- 3 MARQUEZ, Marc Repsol Honda Team 2:00.803
- 4 ROSSI, Valentino Yamaha Factory Racing 2:01.038
- 5 CRUTCHLOW, Cal Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2:01.311
- 6 BRADL, Stefan LCR Honda MotoGP 2:01.369
- 7 BAUTISTA, Alvaro Go & Fun Honda Gresini 2:01.729
- 8 SMITH, Bradley Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2:01.931
- 9 HAYDEN, Nicky Ducati Team 2:02.110
- 10 DOVIZIOSO, Andrea Ducati Team 2:02.379
- 11 AKIYOSHI, Kosuke HRC Test Team 2:02.526
- 12 NAKASUGA, Katsayuki Yamaha Factory 2:02.701
- 13 SPIES, Ben Ignite Pramac Racing Team 2:03.002
- 14 YOSHIKAWA, Wataru Yamaha Factory 2:03.156
- 15 IANNONE, Andrea Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team 2:03.169
- 16 ESPARGARO, Aleix Power Electronics Aspar 2:03.251
- 17 DE PUNIET, Randy Power Electronics Aspar 2:03.791
- 18 PETRUCCI, Danilo Came IodaRacing Project 2:04.284
- 19 TAKAHASHI, Takumi HRC Test Team 2:04.559
- 20 AOYAMA, Hiroshi Avintia Blusens 2:04.786
- 21 BARBERA, Hector Avintia Blusens 2:04.989
- 22 ABRAHAM, Karel Cardion AB Motoracing 2:05.028
- 23 LAVERTY, Michael Paul Bird Motorsport 2:05.417
- 24 CORTI, Claudio NGM Mobile Forward Racing 2:05.721
- 25 HERNANDEZ, Yonny Paul Bird Motorsport 2:05.837
- 26 EDWARDS, Colin NGM Mobile Forward Racing 2:06.205
- 27 STARING, Bryan Go & Fun Honda Gresini 2:06.898
- 28 PESEK, Lukas Came IodaRacing Project 2:21.512
–From motogp.com
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