Sepang II MotoGP Test: Yamaha’s Lorenzo on Top, Day 2

2013 Sepang II MotoGP Results, Day 2

When the second day of Sepang II MotoGP Testing got underway Wednesday in Malaysia, the reigning MotoGP Champion immediately returned to the top of the timesheets.

On the 32nd of 58 laps at Sepang International Circuit, Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo piloted his YZR-M1 to a best lap of 2:00.282, over 1.5 seconds faster than Repsol Honda Dani Pedrosa’s best time on Tuesday, which was plagued by wet track conditions and heavy showers.

Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing YZR-M1 MotoGP) says: “A pretty good day, the track was much better than yesterday, I was surprised in the beginning it was so different. I could be strong from the start; a second and a half quicker and I think I beat my record time here in Malaysia. We improved the setting on the bike and I feel stronger than the first Sepang test so I’m quite satisfied. Tomorrow if the weather is good I would like to try a long run of maybe 24 laps to see what happens with the tires.”

The Spaniard Pedrosa trailed his fellow countryman by 0.369 of a second. Pedrosa posted a 2:00.651 on the 24th of 55 laps while testing a Bridgestone hard front tire and working on engine mapping

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC213V MotoGP) says: “I’m satisfied. Today we were able to put in a lot of laps and we focused on testing things out with the front and rear suspension. It was a hard day, due to the high temperatures, but despite the heat we completed various tasks that we had scheduled in. Now we have to recuperate ahead of the final day tomorrow, in which we will continue to improve the bike.”

Next was Monster Tech 3 Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow, the satellite YZR-M1 0.625 of a second behind Lorenzo. He posted a best of 2:00.907 within 59 laps.

Cal Crutchlow (Monster Tech 3 Yamaha YZR-M1 MotoGP) says: “There didn’t seem to be a lot of grip out there again today although the lap times have improved a lot. We tried something different with the front fork setting, which was in a similar direction to what Jorge (Lorenzo) uses and there were some good and bad points like with most things you test. I’m happy with my pace because we’ve tried a couple of different settings and we need to work on fine-tuning the best one.

“The main goal has been trying to stop the front of the bike lifting so much when I change direction on the throttle. The bike feels quite heavy so we need to reduce how much the fork comes up without sacrificing too much in another area like the braking. I’m sure if I had put in some new tires at the start of the day I could have gone faster. But I waited to use mine around lunch and I still went faster, even though the track temperature was much higher at that point. I’m not really too concerned about the times though. I’m just concentrating on making the package we have got better for the first race in Qatar.”

Pedrosa’s teammate Marc Marquez was fourth fastest. The rookie spent the day familiarizing himself with the RC213V.

Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda RC213V MotoGP) says: “It was a pretty good day for us. Today we did something that is a little harder for riders, which is trying out a lot of things to give information to the technicians. It’s tough, but it is an important job when it comes to deciding which way to go with the setup. We did a good job on the 64 laps that I rode today. Now we have to compile the data and prepare as well as possible for the final day of the test —in which we will continue to put the laps in and look for the best direction to follow this preseason.”

Lorenzo’s teammate, nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi, lapped Sepang International Circuit 63 times. Though he suffered some electrical issues on his YZR-M1, Rossi was fifth fastest, 0.783 of a second behind Lorenzo.

Valentino Rossi (Yamaha Factory Racing YZR-M1 MotoGP) says: “I’m happy, the feeling is quite good. Today was a very long day; I did more than sixty laps because we had a lot of work to do. We lost some time this morning with a small electrical problem that we fixed.

“We continued to work to increase the rear grip and traction, especially when the tire has a lot of laps on it. We found something but we are still not 100% happy as we lose a little balance of the bike. Tomorrow the target is to improve the traction without losing the balance and then the bike will be very good.”

The final rider to post within a second of Lorenzo was Go & Fun Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista. The Spaniard was 0.926 of a second behind Lorenzo, and was followed by LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl, the 2011 Moto2 Champion.

The top Ducati rider was Nicky Hayden, the American finishing Tuesday’s session eighth fastest, 1.496 seconds behind Lorenzo. Hayden was followed by Ducati teammate Andrea Dovizioso and newcomer Bradley Smith aboard the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha.

The top CRT machine was once again Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaró. Though suffering severe jet lag, the Spaniard posted the 12th quickest time, 2.623 seconds off the top prototype of Lorenzo.

As for Ben Spies, the American suffered a crash aboard his Ignite Pramac Ducati GP13 early in the morning, further upsetting his ongoing shoulder injury. He was 16th fastest, over three seconds off Lorenzo’s top pace.

The grid will return to Sepang International Circuit Thursday for the third and final day of Sepang II MotoGP testing.

2013 Sepang II MotoGP Testing Results, Day 2: