MotoGP - Day 2 of testing in Sepang Yamaha: Factory Racing riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi were again quick to get up to speed, taking over half a second off their times from day one by the early afternoon before rain came in to disrupt the day. Reigning World Champion Lorenzo was again running in second position as he ran through various updates to the 2013 YZR-M1, wrapping up the day just 0.019 seconds from front man Dani Pedrosa. Teammate Rossi put in another strong day, sending a clear message about his capabilities as he completed the session in fourth place, less than half a second from the front. Both riders were working through set up positions along with differing chassis and engine specifications to make up for time lost due to bad weather at the end of season test in Spain last year. Jorge Lorenzo - Laps 43, Time - 2'00.56: "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. 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 tyre.”  Valentino Rossi - Laps 45, Time - 2'01.038: "The second day of testing in Sepang is finished and the balance of the day is positive for us, especially as we finished some work on the bike. We have some different parts for the bike for this season and we continue to work on the setting. The positive is we improved compared to yesterday in terms of time on one lap with the new tyre but especially on the rhythm, I was half a second faster than yesterday which is not so bad. Fourth position is quite good especially as we are less than half a second behind Pedrosa and Lorenzo the front. Unfortunately it started to rain so we had to stop earlier, because our target this afternoon was to go into 2’00 but we will try again tomorrow."Cal Crutchlow - Laps - 41, Time - 2'01.311: "Today I mainly looked at improving the bike on corner entry and one setting was an improvement but we lost a bit of turning performance. This track has some severe braking points, particularly going into the first and last corner where you arrive in the braking zone while flat-out in sixth gear. We need to keep the rear tyre more on the floor at corner entry, so it was good to try and get more rear grip to help me enter the corner without the rear sliding too much. I've still got a few tenths to find but it seems on used tyres I'm around the same pace as Valentino and that's positive but I still feel a little bit rusty after the winter lay-off. Another key target for this test is to get a good understanding with my new Japanese engineer from Yamaha. He worked with Andrea (Dovizioso) last year and we just need time to understand how he works. We are working closely together and I am looking forward to his input this season.” Bradley Smith - Laps - 40, Time - 2'01.931: "Today's performance and the final lap times makes me feel really happy but I am not going to get carried away. I am happy with the job I have done and to be so fast on such a long and technical track is great for my confidence. But I know reducing the gap to the leading group will be very difficult. There's still a long way to go but it is nice to be so m uch faster than yesterday and to see some real progress. A lot of it is down to trusting the bike and having the confidence to ride it to the absolute limit to get the best out of it. I'm not at that point yet but each time I go out I get a better feeling. The great thing with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team is they make me feel calm and concentrated and they give me a focus to work on my technique out on track. The lap times are coming from the work we are trying to improve in key areas. It never feels easy on these bikes and you don't get time to rest, but when it becomes more like your friend then you start making steps forward. The team gives me a plan and an area to work on and I try to implement it on track.” Repsol Honda Team: Dani Pedrosa, who completed 37 laps, recorded the fastest time of the day of 2'00.549 on lap 29. Dani, spent this second day working on weight distribution - to find the ideal placement of the additional 3kg as dictated by the new 2013 rules. In the afternoon he had planned to test the new rear tyre compound from Bridgestone, but after only 1 lap rain arrived and halted his testing for the day. Repsol Honda Teammate, Marc Marquez, began the day as he left off yesterday, lapping in the low 2'01's. Marc began to work with the electronics for the first time and continued to learn the braking point limit on the MotoGP machines. He completed 34 laps taking his fastest lap of 2'00.803 on lap 20, placing him 3rd on the time sheets. The team will be back on track tomorrow for the final day of this first test.
Marc Marquez - 3rd - 2'00.803: "I am happy, because we improved our pace a lot and that is what our focus was for today. The final stints on track were more consistent, which helped us to obtain better data. Today I started to work a little with the electronics and we have a few ideas to put into practice tomorrow or in future tests. This is making me learn new things and I am little-by-little understanding the way the electronics behave on this bike" |
Dani Pedrosa - 1st - 2'00.54