Lorenzo on Top for Day 2 of Sepang MotoGP Testing

Posted on 5 Feb, 2015 by Scott Jones

Jorge Lorenzo Movistar Yamaha Sepang Test

As the Sepang MotoGP testing continues and Day 2 ends, Team Movistar Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo wrested the fastest time honors from Marc Marquez. Lorenzo is the only rider to bust the 2 minute lap time so far in the first Sepang test.

While the MotoGP veteran riders are sorting new parts and set ups on their 2015 machines, we have four rookies coming to terms with MotoGP bikes and tires. Of this set of riders, Loris Baz made the biggest improvement from Day 1, finding 1.321 seconds overnight to post a 2:02.842 earlier today. Maverick Viñales dropped his Day 1 time by 1.248 to post a 2:01.916. Eugene Laverty got slightly faster overnight, his Day 2 2:03.129 being .166 quicker than his Day 1 time. Jack Miller was one of four riders (Pol Espargaro, Michele Pirro and Valentino Rossi) to go slower on Day 2.

Nicky Hayden was fastest of Customer Honda riders, but so far the promised extra performance of the RC213V-RS is not on par with the Forward Yamaha of Stefan Bradl or the satellite Yamahas of Tech 3.

Aleix Espargaro was faster on the new Suzuki factory GSX-RR than Bradl on the Forward Yamaha, a promising 1.381 behind Lorenzo.

Sepang MotoGP Testing Times for Day 2:

Pos	No	Rider	Bike	Time	Diff	Prev
1	99	Jorge Lorenzo	Yamaha M1	1:59.963
2	4	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati GP14.3	2:00.015	0.052	0.052
3	93	Marc Márquez	Honda RC213V	2:00.146	0.183	0.131
4	26	Dani Pedrosa	Honda RC213V	2:00.260	0.297	0.114
5	29	Andrea Iannone	Ducati GP14.3	2:00.391	0.428	0.131
6	46	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha M1	2:00.676	0.713	0.285
7	44	Pol Espargaro	Yamaha M1	2:00.959	0.996	0.283
8	35	Cal Crutchlow	Honda RC213V	2:01.058	1.095	0.099
9	38	Bradley Smith	Yamaha M1	2:01.098	1.135	0.040
10	41	Aleix Espargaro	Suzuki GSX-RR	2:01.344	1.381	0.246
11	6	Stefan Bradl	Forward Yamaha	2:01.484	1.521	0.140
12	8	Hector Barbera	Ducati GP14 Open	2:01.615	1.652	0.131
13	7	Hiroshi Aoyama	Honda RC213V Test	2:01.772	1.809	0.157
14	45	Scott Redding	Honda RC213V	2:01.844	1.881	0.072
15	25	Maverick Viñales	Suzuki GSX-RR	2:01.916	1.953	0.072
16	9	Danilo Petrucci	Ducati GP14	2:01.932	1.969	0.016
17	19	Alvaro Bautista	Aprilia	2:02.155	2.192	0.223
18	51	Michele Pirro	Ducati GP14.2	2:02.199	2.236	0.044
19	69	Nicky Hayden	Honda RC213V-RS	2:02.228	2.265	0.029
20	17	Karel Abraham	Honda RC213V-RS	2:02.574	2.611	0.346
21	76	Loris Baz	Forward Yamaha	2:02.842	2.879	0.268
22	T1	Katsuyuki Nakasuga	Yamaha M1 Test	2:02.914	2.951	0.072
23	43	Jack Miller	Honda RC213V-RS	2:03.083	3.120	0.169
24	50	Eugene Laverty	Honda RC213V-RS	2:03.129	3.166	0.046
25	15	Alex De Angelis	Aprilia ART	2:03.399	3.436	0.270
26	63	Mike Di Meglio	Ducati GP14 Open	2:03.609	3.646	0.210
27	72	Takumi Takahashi	Honda RC213V Test	2:03.781	3.818	0.172
28	33	Marco Melandri	Aprilia	2:04.487	4.524	0.706

Day 2’s other standout rider was Andrea Dovizioso, who came very close to breaking the 2 minute lap, posting a 2:00.015. Unlike Marquez, Dovi and the Ducatis are able to use the softer Bridgestone tire. Speaking of tires, which riders are limited to the harder Bridgestones? Besides the Honda and Yamaha factory riders (Marquez, Pedrosa, Rossi, Lorenzo) and both Tech 3 Yamaha riders (Smith and Pol Espargaro), the two riders on factory Honda RC213Vs (Cal Crutchlow and Scott Redding) must use the harder option.

That’s eight of the 25-rider MotoGP grid on the harder option, at least until a Factory Option team’s results disqualify them from the softer option.

Friday will be the final day on Bridgestone tires, and Saturday will see Michelin tires making an appearance as part of the French company’s preparations for the 2016 season. Subscribers to MotoGP.com can watch this short video about Michelin’s plans here.

For an in depth account of the testing progress so far, head over to MotoMatters.