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Petrucci Puts Pramac Ducati on Top on Day 2 at Sepang

Ducati took over the lead on Day 2 of the first IRTA test at Sepang. Octo Pramac Yakhnich's Danilo Petrucci posted a 2'00.095 lap time using the softer tire compound brought by Michelin, and got the better of Movistar Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo.
Danilo Petrucci 41 photos
Photo: motogp.com
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The reigning world champion was .060 seconds slower than Petrucci, despite struggling to come up with a better lap. While the Italian set the fastest pace early in his ninth lap, Lorenzo needed 31 laps to become the second fastest on the Malaysian track.

Another Ducati machine, albeit a customer one, ended the session in the third position. Avintia's Hector Barbera fell .232 behind Lorenzo, yet was almost half a second faster than Marc Marquez. Crutchlow and his LCR Honda posted the fifth best time, with a .056s gap from MM93.

Rossi was sixth, followed by another satellite Ducati ridden by Scott Redding, while the top ten included two more Bolognese bikes with Iannone and Stoner, and a Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine with Bradley Smith at the helm.

Avintia's Loris Baz crashed at over 300 km/h because what looked like a faulty tire

The softer tires were retired from use after a crash that looked horrible, but which only left a bike heavily mauled and its rider, Loris Baz, almost unscathed. Early info led to the hypothesis that Baz' rear tire ruptured in a straight line, causing his rear to lock and then subsequently crash.

Even though his bike and his leathers suffered extensive damage, Loris Baz was miraculously left with some minor bruises. Michelin retired the softer tires from the paddock and advised the rest of the teams to increase the pressure in their tires from 21 psi to 25 psi.

Multiple other riders crashed during the second day of testing, and the list includes Lorenzo, Rabat, Pedrosa, and Pole Espargaro. On the good side, it looks like Eugene Laverty's wrist is not broken after yesterday's crash, and is only severely bruised. The doctors hope to have him back on the bike tomorrow.

Stoner ninth aboard last year's bike

Casey Stoner did not take the latest incarnation of the Ducati Desmosedici on the track, and preferred to use the previous version. However, not using Ducati's latest technology did not stop Stoner from posting a 2’01.103 lap that earned him the ninth position in the day's charts.

It is yet unclear whether Stoner will take part in the test on Wednesday, but paddock whispers say that he just might, possibly taking the Desmosedici GP16 out for a spin.

Bradl improved his lap time from yesterday and was 18th, but his Aprilia teammate Bautista is still in the last position. Pedrosa and Dovizioso struggled today, ending the day in the 12th and 14th positions, respectively. Team Suzuki's Vinales was 11th, whereas his teammate Aleix Espargaro only posted the 16th fastest lap time.

Tomorrow there are chances of rain at Sepang, so making now a call as to how the day might unfold is utterly premature.
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