MotoGP Sepang test 2 times, 26-28 February: Day 1
Dani Pedrosa started the second test much as he ended the first, as the fastest rider in the MotoGP paddock. He sat 0.2 seconds clear of Jorge Lorenzo, and must be happy with his day’s work. Even more happy must be Marc Marquez, who clocked a 2:01.9 to be 0.36 off his teammate’s time.
After Marquez, the timings offer a bit of a surprise. Stefan Bradl was mighty impressive and was the last rider in the 2:01s to snatch 4th from Valentino Rossi. Cal Crutchlow is probably annoyed; he was looking to be the fifth fastest rider, but has to settle for 6th, ahead of Alvaro Bautista.
The Ducati riders finally seem to have made some progress, the wet private testing in Jerez clearly giving them some direction for development. Andrea Dovizioso beat teammate Nicky Hayden, but more importantly was only 1.2 seconds from Pedrosa’s benchmark time. The Pramac Ducatis of Ben Spies and Andrea Iannone don’t have as much to be grateful for – they both sit 2.4 seconds off the lead, and behind Aleix Espargaro, who continues to impress with his ART Aprilia.
Espargaro’s time is not just worrying for the Ducatis, but for his teammate, Randy De Puniet. With a best lap 1.3 seconds slower, he’s not only got to find time to match Espargaro, but improve just to be second CRT – Hiroshi Aoyama sits a whole half second ahead of him.
Day 1:
| Pos | Rider | Team | Fastest lap | Lead. Gap | Prev. Gap | Laps | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PEDROSA, Dani | Repsol Honda Team | 2:01.580 | 17 / 43 | |||
| 2 | LORENZO, Jorge | Yamaha Factory Racing Team | 2:01.815 | 0.235 | 0.235 | 14 / 25 | |
| 3 | MARQUEZ, Marc | Repsol Honda Team | 2:01.942 | 0.362 | 0.127 | 17 / 23 | |
| 4 | BRADL, Stefan | LCR Honda MotoGP | 2:01.959 | 0.379 | 0.017 | 24 / 38 | |
| 5 | ROSSI, Valentino | Yamaha Factory Racing Team | 2:02.028 | 0.448 | 0.069 | 19 / 25 | |
| 6 | CRUTCHLOW, Cal | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 2:02.272 | 0.692 | 0.244 | 5 / 28 | |
| 7 | BAUTISTA, Alvaro | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | 2:02.362 | 0.782 | 0.090 | 27 / 32 | |
| 8 | DOVIZIOSO, Andrea | Ducati Team | 2:02.801 | 1.221 | 0.439 | 16 / 22 | |
| 9 | HAYDEN, Nicky | Ducati Team | 2:03.143 | 1.563 | 0.342 | 37 / 46 | |
| 10 | SMITH, Bradley | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 2:03.632 | 2.052 | 0.489 | 24 / 24 | |
| 11 | NAKASUGA, Katsuyuki | Yamaha Factory Racing Test Team | 2:03.734 | 2.154 | 0.102 | 23 / 24 | |
| 12 | ESPARGARO, Aleix | Power Electronics Aspar | 2:03.941 | 2.361 | 0.207 | 27 / 28 | |
| 13 | SPIES, Ben | Ignite Pramac Racing Team | 2:04.047 | 2.467 | 0.106 | 24 / 25 | |
| 14 | IANNONE, Andrea | Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Team | 2:04.050 | 2.470 | 0.003 | 29 / 32 | |
| 15 | YOSHIKAWA, Wataru | Yamaha Factory Racing Test Team | 2:04.590 | 3.010 | 0.540 | 11 / 23 | |
| 16 | PIRRO, Michele | Ducati Test Team | 2:04.626 | 3.046 | 0.036 | 24 / 38 | |
| 17 | AOYAMA, Hiroshi | Avintia Blusens | 2:04.743 | 3.163 | 0.117 | 29 / 30 | |
| 18 | DE PUNIET, Randy | Power Electronics Aspar | 2:05.288 | 3.708 | 0.545 | 9 / 22 | |
| 19 | TAKAHASHI, Takumi | HRC Test Team | 2:05.510 | 3.930 | 0.222 | 21 / 34 | |
| 20 | EDWARDS, Colin | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | 2:05.518 | 3.938 | 0.008 | 17 / 21 | |
| 21 | PETRUCCI, Danilo | Came IodaRacing Project | 2:05.827 | 4.247 | 0.309 | 19 / 35 | |
| 22 | ABRAHAM, Karel | Cardion AB Motoracing | 2:05.838 | 4.258 | 0.011 | 15 / 26 | |
| 23 | HERNANDEZ, Yonny | Paul Bird Motorsport | 2:05.908 | 4.328 | 0.070 | 18 / 29 | |
| 24 | BARBERA, Hector | Avintia Blusens | 2:06.062 | 4.482 | 0.154 | 27 / 30 | |
| 25 | CORTI, Claudio | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | 2:06.306 | 4.726 | 0.244 | 21 / 26 | |
| 26 | STARING, Bryan | GO&FUN Honda Gresini | 2:06.730 | 5.150 | 0.424 | 24 / 34 | |
| 27 | PESEK, Lukas | Came IodaRacing Project | 2:07.991 | 6.411 | 1.261 | 20 / 25 |
Motothoughts 