MotoGP: Test Results & Photos from Day 2 at Sepang II

At day two of round two at Sepang, MotoGP’s riders once again had to contend with the changing Malaysian climate, as rain continued to make an appearance the Sepang International Circuit. Sidelined for the day, HRC played it safe with its riders after one of Dani Pedrosa’s engines failed during the previous day’s testing, thus making the day strictly a Ducati and Yamaha affair. With Yamaha taking the top four spots on the timesheet (lead by Ben Spies), it is clear to see at this point in the game where Ducati is with its development of the GP12.

With Ben Spies using Wednesday’s test to working wet and dry setups, Jorge Lorenzo concentrated his efforts on refining the power delivery of the Yamaha YZR-M1, especially on the bike’s corner exit speed. “Today we improved a little the connection with the throttle and the engine, it’s much smoother and easier to ride, a big step forward from yesterday,” said Lorenzo. “We were able to try the 1000cc M1 on the wet for the first time and we went very fast so it’s been a positive day and we are very motivated to improve the bike more. We managed to complete everything we wanted to test so it’s been good!”

For Ducati, the rain was an unwanted event, as the team hoped to work more on the Ducati Desmosedici GP12‘s dry setup. Despite the setback, Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden were able to make further progress with the team’s electronic package. “Another day practically lost, which is really a shame because for us it’s very important to ride as much as possible, and today’s track conditions were much better than yesterday’s,” lamented Valentino Rossi.

“Given that we knew rain was predicted for the afternoon, we tried to focus as much work as possible in just the first twenty or so laps this morning. Using both bikes, we tried the new traction control, some software updates with the wheelie control and other small details that have to do with the seating position. I had good impressions with all of those, so we put it all into the setup of just one bike and put on a new tyre, only for it to start raining. Game over. On the plus side, I had a good feeling with all of the new stuff, so I hope we can work a little longer tomorrow.”

Test Results from Day 2 at the Second Sepang Test in Malaysia:

Pos.	Rider	Team	Time	Diff.	Diff. to Leader	Laps
1	Ben Spies	Yamaha Factory Racing	2:01.285	–	–	35
2	Jorge Lorenzo	Yamaha Factory Racing	2:01.293	+0.008	+0.008	26
3	Andrea Dovizioso	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	2:01.522	+0.229	+0.237	18
4	Cal Crutchlow	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	2:01.695	+0.173	+0.410	22
5	Nicky Hayden	Ducati Team	2:01.748	+0.053	+0.463	39
6	Hector Barbera	Pramac Racing Team	2:01.989	+0.241	+0.704	26
7	Valentino Rossi	Ducati Team	2:02.130	+0.141	+0.845	18
8	Franco Battaini	Cardion AB Motoracing	2:03.566	+1.436	+2.281	20
9	Colin Edwards	NGM Mobile Forward Racing	2:05.816	+2.250	+4.531	14
10	Ivan Silva	Avintia Racing	2:07.532	+1.716	+6.247	39
11	Yonny Hernández	Avintia Racing	2:08.213	+0.681	+6.928	26