Photo: motogp.com
The second day of the Sepang 2 test was more rider-friendly, with the temperatures allowing the MotoGP bikes to increase speed, so everyone hurried to the track and tried to put in as many laps as possible before the afternoon thunderstorms messed things once more, as meteorologists predicted. Marc Marquez showed none of the brake problems which hindered him yesterday, and was able to drop below the 2-minute mark, posting a 1:59.844 lap time.
Jorge Lorenzo had his mechanics set up the bike much better than yesterday and he managed to stay very close to Marquez, at 0.058s. The two have been the only riders who managed to enter high 59s, with the best of the rest still almost a tenth above the two-minute bar.
The fact that both riders have improved the lap times from yesterday is of course a great achievement, but the more important thing is that the two Ducatis have been able to reduce the gap from the leading machines. Iannone was 0.254s off Marquez’ pace, while Dovizioso was 0.406s slower than the Repsol Honda.
Marquez’ team mate Dani Pedrosa has been working one the suspensions and was only 5th at the end of day two, more than 4 tenths slower than the best rider. Valentino Rossi, the fastest man yesterday, tested two types of forks and he was unable to post very fast times. His 2:00.308 was enough for a 6th position.
The top ten was completed with Bradley Smith, Cal Crutchlow and Aleix Espargaro. Crutchlow is getting more used to his all-new CWM LCR Honda bike, while Suzuki is also making solid progress, with the elder of the Epsargaro brothers having improved his lap times since yesterday and beginning to show the high-valued consistency top riders have.
His brother Pol was 0.280s slower than him, and was followed by Pramac Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci, Maverick Vinales and Scott Redding. Aprilia is still trying to find their pace but struggled on Day 2 with Bautista 23rd position and Marco Melandri in the 27th (last) position.
The teams will be looking for longer, faster runs tomorrow, most likely including some race simulations to verify the best settings found today. Stay tuned for more news from Sepang.
Ducati’s GP15 strikes back with full force
While Ducati is still in the shakedown with its all-new Desmosedici GP15 machines and trying to figure out how things work, Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso managed to finish the day in the 3rd and 4th positions, respectively, after testing more setups which seemed to work quite well.The fact that both riders have improved the lap times from yesterday is of course a great achievement, but the more important thing is that the two Ducatis have been able to reduce the gap from the leading machines. Iannone was 0.254s off Marquez’ pace, while Dovizioso was 0.406s slower than the Repsol Honda.
Marquez’ team mate Dani Pedrosa has been working one the suspensions and was only 5th at the end of day two, more than 4 tenths slower than the best rider. Valentino Rossi, the fastest man yesterday, tested two types of forks and he was unable to post very fast times. His 2:00.308 was enough for a 6th position.
The top ten was completed with Bradley Smith, Cal Crutchlow and Aleix Espargaro. Crutchlow is getting more used to his all-new CWM LCR Honda bike, while Suzuki is also making solid progress, with the elder of the Epsargaro brothers having improved his lap times since yesterday and beginning to show the high-valued consistency top riders have.
His brother Pol was 0.280s slower than him, and was followed by Pramac Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci, Maverick Vinales and Scott Redding. Aprilia is still trying to find their pace but struggled on Day 2 with Bautista 23rd position and Marco Melandri in the 27th (last) position.
The teams will be looking for longer, faster runs tomorrow, most likely including some race simulations to verify the best settings found today. Stay tuned for more news from Sepang.
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