Second MotoGP Sepang Test Wraps Up

The second MotoGP test at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia has wrapped up despite difficult weather conditions, which included several days of heavy rain followed by a dry track and blistering heat on the third and final day of testing. An extra three days of testing will take place on March 12th at the newly-constructed Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. However, due to financial constrictions, only the factory Yamaha and Honda teams along with LCR’s Stefan Bradl plan to attend. The rest will gather at Jerez for the final test before the season kicks off at Qatar with round 1 on April 4th.

On day two of the Sepang test, reigning MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo of Yamaha Factory Racing recorded the [fastest lap time of the test with 2.00.282 seconds. Although Lorenzo was not able to duplicate a similar result on the final day, he still finished first in combined classification. Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa remained at the top of the time sheets, but was not able to match Jorge’s fastest lap time. Dani’s fastest lap was recorded on the second day of the test with the time sheets showing 2.00.992, he then went on to reclaim the top spot on the final day in clearer conditions when the rain had subsided.

Marc Marquez of Repsol Honda completed the final day of the Sepang test on the heels of teammate Dani Pedrosa. Marquez finished second, just 0.081 off Dani’s pace despite two minor crashes, one in the wet at turn 12 during the morning and one in the dry at turn 9 in the afternoon. "It's been a good day, overall. In the morning we rode in the wet and I felt very good on the bike, even though I had a small crash. I clipped the white line and lost the front, but neither myself nor the bike were affected at all. When the track dried out we went back to our work on the electronics and with the bike setup, above all with the front. On the initial laps I didn't feel completely comfortable with the front end and had another small crash at the hairpin when I was forcing it a bit too much. In the final hour we set the bike up the way we had been fastest at this test, and I think that we got a good time again with it. We can leave here feeling positive about how things went.", said Marquez.

A technical problem on the first day of the test forced Valentino Rossi of Yamaha Factory Racing to park his 2013 Yamaha M1 and ride the old 2012 bike. Nonetheless, Rossi put in a valiant effort and finished in fifth position. On day two, with the mechanical glitch fixed, Rossi remounted the 2013 machine and put in more than 60 laps to make up for lost time. However, he remained in fifth position at the end of day two.  He was eventually able to move up one position to fourth, just ahead of Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista on the final day of testing. Rossi made the following comments after encountering issues with both the 2013 and 2012 M1 machines: “This test at the end is positive because we are in fourth place and not so far from the front. We are struggling a little more than the first test though; we were unlucky and suffered a little electrical problem that lost us some time and some other little problems. We tried to improve our performance and we fixed some problems but not all. The balance is positive; we have had another three days with the bike, and ridden more kilometres to take the bike back to the top and closer to the limit. Now we are looking forward to Austin.”

MotoGP Sepang Test Day 1 results:
1. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 2:01.580
2. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Yamaha 2:01.815
3. Marc Marquez (SPA) Honda 2:01.942
4. Stefan Bradl (GER) Honda 2:01.959
5. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 2:02.028
6. Cal Crutchlow (GBR) Yamaha 2:02.272
7. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Honda 2:02.362
8. Andrea Dovisioso (ITA) Ducati 2:02.801
9. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati 2:03.143
10. Bradley Smith (GBR) Yamaha 2:03.632
11. Katsuyuki Nakasuga (JPN) Yamaha 2:03.734
12. Aleix Espargaro (SPA) ART/Aprilia 2:03.941
13. Ben Spies (USA) Ducati 2:04.047
14. Andrea Iannone (ITA) Ducati 2:04.050
15. Wataru Yoshikawa (JPN) Yamaha 2:04.590
16. Michele Pirro (ITA) Ducati 2:04.626
17. Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN) FTR/Kawasaki 2:04.743
18. Randy De Puniet (FRA) ART/Aprilia 2:05.288
19. Takumi Takahashi (JPN) Honda 2:05.510
20. Colin Edwards (USA) FTR/Kawasaki 2:05.518
21. Danilo Petrucci (ITA) Ioda/Aprilia 2:05.827
22. Karel Abraham (CZE) ART/Aprilia 2:05.838
23. Yonny Hernandez (COL) ART/Aprilia 2:05.908
24. Hector Barbera (SPA) FTR/Kawasaki 2:06.062
25. Claudio Corti (ITA) FTR/Kawasaki 2:06.306
26. Bryan Staring (AUS) FTR/Honda 2:06.730
27. Lukas Pesek (CZE) Ioda/Aprilia 2:07.991

MotoGP Sepang Test Day 2 results:
1. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Yamaha 2:00.282
2. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 2:00.651
3. Cal Crutchlow (GBR) Yamaha 2:00.907
4. Marc Marquez (SPA) Honda 2:00.992
5. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 2:01.065
6. Alvaro Bautista (SPA) Honda 2:01.208
7. Stefan Bradl (GER) Honda 2:01.485
8. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati 2:01.778
9. Andrea Dovisioso (ITA) Ducati 2:01.803
10. Bradley Smith (GBR) Yamaha 2:02.023
11. Andrea Iannone (ITA) Ducati 2:02.608
12. Aleix Espargaro (SPA) ART/Aprilia 2:02.905
13. Michele Pirro (ITA) Ducati 2:02.920
14. Katsuyuki Nakasuga (JPN) Yamaha 2:02.946
15. Wataru Yoshikawa (JPN) Yamaha 2:03.354
16. Hector Barbera (SPA ) FTR/Aprilia 2:03.428
17. Ben Spies (USA) Ducati 2:03.460
18. Randy De Puniet (FRA) ART/Aprilia 2:03.518
19. Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN) FTR/Aprilia 2:03.990
20. Danilo Petrucci (ITA) Ioda/BMW 2:04.279
21. Karel Abraham (CZE) ART/Aprilia 2:04.350
22. Takumi Takahashi (JPN) Honda 2:04.512
23. Colin Edwards (USA) FTR/Kawasaki 2:04.656
24. Yonny Hernandez (COL) ART/Aprilia 2:04.671
25. Claudio Corti (ITA) FTR/Kawasaki 2:04.709
26. Bryan Staring (AUS) FTR/Honda 2:05.439
27. Lukas Pesek (CZE) Ioda/BMW 2:06.206
28. Michael Laverty (IRL) ART/Aprilia 2:07.721

**MotoGP Sepang Test Day 3 Results: **
1. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 2'00.562
2. Marc Marquez (Honda) 2'00.643
3. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 2'00.992
4. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2'01.062
5. Alvaro Bautista (Honda) 2'01.078
6. Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) 2'01.094
7. Stefan Bradl (Honda) 2'01.309
8. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) 2'01.650
9. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) 2'02.070
10. Bradley Smith (Yamaha) 2'02.314
11. Andrea Iannone (Ducati) 2'02.566
12. Michele Pirro (Ducati) 2'02.773
13. Randy de Puniet (ART) 2'02.863
14. Ben Spies (Ducati) 2'03.055
15. Katsuyuki Nakasuga (Yamaha) 2'03.154
16. Hector Barbera (FTR-Kawasaki) 2'03.155
17. Wataru Yoshikawa (Yamaha) 2'03.357
18. Aleix Espargaro (ART) 2'03.423
19. Karel Abraham (ART) 2'04.066
20. Colin Edwards (FTR-Kawasaki) 2'04.102
21. Hiroshi Aoyama (FTR-Kawasaki) 2'04.512
22. Michael Laverty (ART) 2'04.546
23. Lukas Pesek (Suter-BMW) 2'04.674
24. Danilo Petrucci (Suter-BMW) 2'04.686
25. Claudio Corti (FTR-Kawasaki) 2'04.718
26. Yonny Hernandez (ART) 2'04.722
27. Takumi Takahashi (Honda) 2'04.749
28. Bryan Staring (FTR-Honda) 2'05.313