FIM MotoGP World Championship
Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia
February 5, 2015
Day Two Best Test Times (all on Bridgestone tires):
1. Jorge Lorenzo, Spain (Yamaha YZR-M1), 1:59.963
2. Andrea Dovizioso, Italy (Ducati GP14.3), 2:00.015
3. Marc Marquez, Spain (Honda RC213V), 2:00.146
4. Dani Pedrosa, Spain (Honda RC213V), 2:00.260
5. Andrea Iannone, Italy (Ducati GP14.3), 2:00.391
6. Valentino Rossi, Italy (Yamaha YZR-M1), 2:00.676
7. Pol Espargaro, Spain (Yamaha YZR-M1), 2:00.959
8. Cal Crutchlow, UK (Honda RC213V), 2:01.058
9. Bradley Smith, UK (Yamaha YZR-M1), 2:01.098
10. Aleix Espargaro, Spain (Suzuki GSX-RR), 2:01.344
11. Stefan Bradl, Germany (Forward Yamaha), 2:01.484
12. Hector Barbera, Spain (Ducati), 2:01.615
13. Hiroshi Aoyama, Japan (Honda), 2:01.772*
14. Scott Redding, UK (Honda RC213V), 2:01.844
15. Maverick Vinales, Spain (Suzuki GSX-RR), 2:01.916
16. Danilo Petrucci, Italy (Ducati), 2:01.932
17. Alvaro Bautista, Spain (Aprilia RS-GP), 2:02.155
18. Michel Pirro, Italy (Ducati), 2:02.199*
19. Nicky Hayden, USA (Honda RC213V-RS), 2:02.228
20. Karel Abraham, Czech Republic (Honda), 2:02.574
21. Loris Baz, France (Forward Yamaha), 2:02.842
22. Katsuyuki Nakasuga, Japan (Yamaha), 2:02.914*
23. Jack Miller, Australia (Honda RC213V-RS), 2:03.083
24. Eugene Laverty, Ireland (Honda RC213V-RS), 2:02.129
25. Alex De Angelis, San Marino (Aprilia-ART), 2:03.399
26. Mike Di Meglio, France (Ducati), 2:03.609
27. Takumi Takahashi, Japan (Honda), 2:03.781*
28. Marco Melandri, Italy (Aprilia RS-GP), 2:04.487
*=Test Rider
More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda:
Productive second day in Sepang for Marquez and Pedrosa
Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa have completed another successful day’s testing in Sepang, Malaysia, finishing 3rd and 4th respectively.
After spending yesterday testing different machines brought by HRC from Japan, today both riders have a clearer idea of which bike they prefer and were able to work on the setup on the bike they have chosen. Marc and Dani both spent the day working on geometry, suspension settings and some electronics.
Marc – who completed more laps than any other rider today – finished the day in third, just 0.183 off Lorenzo, with his fastest time of 2’00.146 on lap 35 of 67. He had a small crash in turn seven on his final exit but escaped any injury. Dani was just 0.114 off Marc with his best time of 2’00.260 on lap 50 of 52.
The three-day test will conclude tomorrow.
Marc Marquez
3RD 2’00.146 (67 LAPS)
“Today I focused on just one bike – the one I liked most from yesterday – and put in a lot of laps. In the morning we tested setups for the bike geometry and some different suspension settings. In the afternoon we worked a lot on the electronics, which is a slower process and requires more time and more laps. We have gathered a lot of information but tomorrow we still have to keep doing more testing, after analysing the data on the computer. I am pleased because we have continued to improve and we remained fast, even when the track was warmer.”
Dani Pedrosa
4TH 2’00.260 (52 LAPS)
“After testing the three available versions of the bike that Honda brought here yesterday, we chose which of them we would continue working with and today we used two identical versions. This allowed us to work more on the setup, trying to adapt the new bike’s suspension and electronics a little better. It has been positive, since we have been taking small steps in the right direction and from Valencia we have continued to make progress. I think we still have to improve some aspects, but we have another day in which to continue testing. Hopefully tomorrow we can put in more laps because we have been lucky these past two days; it has not rained at all and we have been able to make the most of the time available.”
More, from a press release issued by Aprilia:
THE APRILIA RACING TEAM GRESINI CONTINUES TO IMPROVE AT SEPANG
MARCO MELANDRI AND ALVARO BAUTISTA ARE HARD AT WORK WITH BOTH THE PREVIOUS VERSION OF THE BIKE AND THE NEW RS-GP
Sepang (Malaysia), 5 February 2015 – Work continues for the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini on the second day of testing at Sepang.
Romano Albesiano, Aprilia Racing Manager had this to say about the first two days of testing at Sepang: “The initial results of these tests are certainly positive. I won’t dwell too much on the times because that’s not our goal at the moment, but the sensations are encouraging. These two days are in line with a sport season that we are taking on one year ahead of schedule and one that we are well aware will be focused on development and refinement of a competitive prototype. Considering the fact that the new RS-GP is taking its first steps, Alvaro’s performance is definitely a positive sign. Even his comments on the feel of the ride are very encouraging as he did not indicate any real weakness in the project. So the new bike has plenty of room for optimisation and improvement. Alvaro is proving himself to be a fast rider and, just as we expected, he has a positive attitude that is conducive to the work we need to do in the garage. Marco is continuing his apprenticeship and objectively he is struggling a bit more than we expected. But we know Marco and his approach well, so we are doing everything we can to put him at ease in this new technical situation.”
The team has quite a tight schedule considering the début of the Aprilia RS-GP, the bike which will be participating in the 2015 MotoGP season. It is a new project that will need time and laps to be refined and to reach its full potential. Marco Melandri and Alvaro Bautista took to the track on both the previous and the new bike, gathering essential data for development and conducting comparison tests between the two models.
More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:
Ducati Team continues to make progress in IRTA tests at Sepang.
Ideal weather conditions greeted the MotoGP riders for the second of three days of pre-season IRTA tests at the Sepang International Circuit near Kuala Lumpar. Both Ducati Team riders, present in Malaysia with the latest version of the Desmosedici, the GP14.3, took advantage of the excellent conditions to notch up the mileage and continue the fine-tuning work on their bikes.
Andrea Dovizioso took just twenty minutes of the morning session to place himself at the top the standings, setting an excellent time of 2’00.015 on a soft tyre, two-tenths of a second quicker than the one set by Marc Marquez (Honda) at the end of day 1. The only rider to get under the two-minute mark today before the lunch break, was Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha), but the track temperature increased in the afternoon, thus ruling out any major improvements and the leading positions remained unchanged. Dovizioso had to settle for an excellent second place, just 52 thousandths of a second behind his Spanish rival.
Good progress was also recorded by Andrea Iannone. The Italian in fact lowered his yesterday’s time by a full second, setting his best lap in 2’00.391 on a hard compound tyre late in the afternoon. This allowed Iannone to conclude the second day in fifth place and sixth in the combined times of the first two days.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 2’00”015 (2nd)
“I am very happy with the pace I did today because we were interested in doing a long-run: we did 15 laps in these extremely hot conditions, and it was important to do some constant laps, which is normally a bit our limit. We lapped pretty well, and this shows that the guys back in the factory have been working well in recent months. I’m happy with this morning’s time but not 100% because I wanted to see a time of 1’59 on the dash! I was counting on it, it was an aim of mine here but I just missed out. Hopefully it won’t rain tonight so we can find the track still fast tomorrow.”
Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team #29) – 2’00”391 (6th)
“I am quite happy with the way the test went today and in the end we managed to improve a lot our performance from yesterday. In addition, I managed to find more feeling with the bike in turn-in, and now under braking I feel a lot safer and I can push harder. Some of the components of the GP14.3 have for sure helped us in this and it’s a very important aspect in view of the race. Tomorrow is the third and final day of testing and we can do some more modifications, because I want to improve even more.”
More, from a press release issued by Avintia Racing:
Barbera improves in Sepang
Avintia Racing MotoGP – Winter Test 2015 – Sepang 1
Hector Barbera finished the second day of testing in Sepang only 1.6 seconds from the fastest rider of the day, fellow Spaniard, Jorge Lorenzo. Avintia Racing’s rider completed 42 laps, and worked with his crew setting up the electronics and testing some new parts in the rear suspension of his Ducati. The Spanish rider’s best lap was only one tenth from the fastest Open and ahead of several Factory spec MotoGP bikes.
But for Mike Di Meglio was not an easy day. The new electronics have changed the character of the bike and the French rider is struggling to adapt it to his riding style. But he is working hard together with Ducati and Avintia Racing and he hopes to make a step forward in tomorrow’s last day of testing.
HECTOR BARBERA #8 12th 2’01.615 / @HectorBarbera
We had many things to test and I’ve been a lot of time inside the pits, so I did not many laps, but I think we made a good job today. We try some new links in the rear suspension but mainly we improved a lot with the electronics, the connection between the throttle and the rear wheel is better, the engine brake works better… But we can improve more. We are in the good way. This morning I went out with yesterday’s setting, I felt good immediately and I did a fast lap, but for me is more important the pace I did with used tyres during the day.
MIKE DI MEGLIO #63 26th 2’03.609 / @Mikejpp63
Today was a very difficult day and we had many problems, so we could stay not too much time on track. Ducati engineers changed a lot of thing in the electronics and now we can’t adapt it to mi riding style. The main problem is the feeling I get from the bike when I open the throttle going out of the turns. They’ve made a different system that Hector likes a lot, but for me was better the previous one from Jerez. Now the power delivery is much more aggressive and I don’t like it. So we have to see what can we do tomorrow to change this feeling, because I’m not comfortable.
More, from a press release issued by Pramac Ducati:
Petrucci doesn’t exploit the soft tyre due to a litte crash. Pirro works on electronics
The second testing day at Sepang closes with directions all in all positive for Pramac Racing Team.
During the morning session Danilo Petrucci has carried out an extensive work on the electronics to figure out which is the best solution in view of the season. In the afternoon he managed to go under 2:02 setting his best laptime of 2’01’932, running with same set of hard tires used troughout the morning.
At the end of the session he went out on the track with the soft tire trying to lower his best laptime but due to a little crash at turn 1 he was not able to keep on running with the bike used so far.
He came back on the track with the bike never used during the day and there weren’t the conditions to lower his quick laptime. Danilo closed in 16th place with a less then 6 tenths gap to the Top 10.
Michele Pirro continued testing the elecronics of the GP16 14.2 closing the day of activity with a time of 2.02’199 which earned him the 18th place in the timesheet.
Danilo Petrucci – Pramac Racing Rider #9
16th (2.01’932 – 55 laps completed)
It has been a long day. We managed to complete a lot of laps this morning. I had a good pace with the same set of hard tire. I was riding well, with good feeling, and I set the quick lap time in the afternoon even if the conditions of the track were very hot. That’s why I’m glad. I made a mistake crashing at the turn 1, luckily with a very slow speed, and i was unable to exploit the soft tyres. Anyway i’m happy because the pace is good. I have to understand much deeper the bike because I still ride instinctively. My team is showing me many things. Today Francesco Guidotti looked at my run besides the track and we talked a lot late in the session. The fact that everybody is trying to help me makes my days. Tomorrow i hope to to do much better”.
Michele Pirro – Ducati test rider – Pramac Racing Team #51
18th (2.02’199 – 40 laps completed)
“I am satisfied because our goal was to acquire data without looking too much at the performance. We have done a good job in this sense gaining important information. We also tried a push start from the pit lane to simulate situations that can happen during a race. Tomorrow we will continue with this work”.
More, from a press release issued by Drive M7 Aspar Team:
DRIVE M7 Aspar improve times at Sepang
Nicky Hayden and Eugene Laverty continue working on setup of new Honda, improving their times from the opening day
The MotoGP riders were in action again at the Sepang circuit, on the second of the three days of the first test of 2015. The track was open from 10am until 6pm, although some teams stopped at midday to avoid the sweltering heat. The times in the premier class were again spectacular, and Jorge Lorenzo broke the 2 minute barrier with his 1.59.963 lap. Times are already closing in on the fastest official lap of the Malaysian circuit (Marc Márquez / 2014 / 1.59.791). The second day of action at Sepang has confirmed that the four favourites for the title last year remain so this time around. Today Andrea Dovizioso continued amongst the top riders, with the second best time, and is the alternative to Márquez, Rossi, Lorenzo and Pedrosa.
The DRIVE M7 Aspar riders continued to work on the setups of their respective chassis at the Sepang circuit today. Whilst Nicky Hayden praised the performance of his new engine, today he experienced difficulty with his chassis and suffered from chatter issues. He also focused on adapting to new electronics and the American improved his best time from day 1 by four tenths of a second almost immediately.
Across the garage, DRIVE M7 rider Eugene Laverty continued working to adapt to an entirely new class. The Northern Irishman focused on putting in laps, in order to feel more comfortable onboard his Honda and improve its lean angle. On day 2 Laverty also lowered his best time from yesterday, but is aware that he must continue working to accelerate his adaptation.
19th Nicky Hayden 2.02.228 (46 laps): “The engine of this bike is definitely a step forward from last year. I haven’t ridden alongside another rider to compare, but the performance of this engine is very positive. I still haven’t been able to ride as fast as I want with it. I am having trouble getting comfortable with the chassis when pushing hard. Today we have taken a big step forward from the first day, but it is still not enough; we must continue working. We are looking at the reasons but it’s quite hard to turn the bike, and there has been some front end chatter. Today we improved the response of the electronics, but it’s all so new that we still have a lot of work ahead. We want to be cautious for now, but we hope that this bike has great potential.”
24th Eugene Laverty 2.03.129 (45 laps): “Today we continued to work on my riding position, to make me feel more comfortable when riding. We are testing the chassis to improve the lean angle. One of the aspects which we have improved is stability under braking, so now I can stop the bike more easily and I have greater sensitivity with the front fork. As for the rear, we still have to keep working to find some more grip. The tyres we used before had a very low temperature and skidded a lot, whilst those we are using now have a higher temperature. That means I can slow the bike down when sliding. I do not mind sliding if the bike still turns, but sometimes if you slide too much you lose time.”
More, from a press release issued by CWM-LCR Honda:
MILLER STILL POSITIVE AFTER SECOND DAY OF TESTING IN SEPANG
CWM-LCR Honda rider Jack Miller remained positive after a more challenging second day of the February tests at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia.
Miller, who has moved up to the premier class after finishing second in last year’s Moto3 championship, endured a crash at turn five in the morning session as he continues his adaptation to the bigger bike he is on this season.
However, he was able to get back out on his new Open category RC213V-RS and managed to put in a solid stint of 57 laps with a quickest time of 2’03.083 putting him 23rd on the timesheets.
The Queenslander acknowledged he was still getting to grips with his new machinery, but is hopeful of making further progress on Thursday and putting down his fastest lap of the week.
Jack Miller #43 (23rd, 2’03.083, 57 laps)
“So, it wasn’t such a bad day for us, we are learning step by step about the MotoGP bike. We missed this morning because I had a small crash with the old tyres and after that it shook my confidence a little bit. By the end of the day we started to become a bit more comfortable with the bike and we were working on long distance again, working to conserve the tyres.
Tomorrow morning we will look to push for a good lap time in the early hours before the temperatures rise too much. All in all we’re sort of happy today, I’m still not where I want to be but we are improving step by step.”
More, from another press release issued by CWM-LCR Honda:
CRUTCHLOW PLEASED WITH PROGRESS ON DAY TWO OF TESTING IN SEPANG
CWM-LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow declared himself pleased with the progress he made on the second day of the February tests at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia.
Crutchlow managed a total of 62 laps on his factory spec Honda RC213V and posted a fastest time of 2’01.058 which left him eighth on the timesheets – under a second behind the factory Hondas of world champion Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa.
He completed a number of shorter runs and was able to improve his feeling on his new package as the day wore on.
However, the Briton admitted there remains plenty of room for improvement and revealed he would be working hard to improve corner entry on the third and final day of testing on Friday.
Cal Crutchlow #35 (8th, 2’01.058, 62 laps)
“I’m pleased with today, we made a lot of progress with my feeling with the bike. Again, we didn’t take my benefit from the new tyre again particularly, we need to still improve in that area. We need to also improve the corner entry as there was a lot of sliding on the corner entry of the bike so this will be our focus for tomorrow on our last day of testing in Sepang.
The team’s been working great. We’ve been working hard, doing a lot of laps, but not so many in a row as we’ve been making quite a lot of changes. But tomorrow I look forward to doing a few longer runs and looking for the best settings to be able to come back for the second Sepang test (at the end of the month) and be comfortable.”
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
Day two at Sepang ends with Lorenzo on top
A 1’59.963 lap by Jorge Lorenzo is the fastest set thus far over two days at the Sepang 1 test, giving the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider the boasting rights at the end of another hot workout for the premier class riders.
The day commenced with cooler, cloudy conditions with the pace increasing in the morning compared with the times from Wednesday’s opening day of action. But intense heat and humidity meant during the middle of the day meant the action slowed for a couple of hours before a late flurry of activity in the final two hours of the afternoon.
With the Yamaha factory team evaluating new components and electronics settings in order to improve tyre life Lorenzo and his teammate Valentino Rossi continued to work hard on Thursday. Lorenzo improved by over half a second from his Wednesday best, but Rossi was marginally slower than on day one and finished sixth.
Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso set his best time early in the day on the GP14.3 and remained second quickest throughout the afternoon with a 2’00.015, six tenths better than on day one. Dovi’s colleague Andrea Iannone also picked up the pace in fifth on the same machine, going over a second quicker than he had 24 hours earlier.
MotoGP™ World Champion Marc Marquez finished the day third on the timesheets, working with two bikes and refining the set-up of his RC213V. He was unhurt in a late crash.
On the other side of the Repsol Honda garage Dani Pedrosa is still working with three versions of the RC213V whilst Marquez has narrowed his selection down to two prototypes to test with. Pedrosa ended the day fourth.
Meanwhile Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Pol Espargaro crashed unhurt at Turn 9 towards the end of day two in Sepang, following a light crash on day one. The Spaniard ended up seventh on the timesheet after working on two chassis variations.
CWM LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow is working on rear stability on corner entry and eliminating chattering, tweaking weight distribution and engine braking with the RC213V. He was eighth best, 1.095s behind Lorenzo.
Pol Espargaro’s colleague Bradley Smith was riding through the pain of an ankle injury sustained in training and finished just inside the top ten.
NGM Forward Racing’s Stefan Bradl finished in 11th place again as the top Open rider. Bradl continued to work his settings and understanding the new Open electronics package, though he is still using a 2013 Yamaha engine. A new engine will be delivered before the first race of the year.
Estrella Galicia Marc VDS Team’s Scott Redding also pushed hard on the RC213V factory prototype, finishing the day 14th.
On the second day in Malaysia, Spaniard Alvaro Bautista led the way for Aprilia Racing Team Gresini, ending up in 17th place. He has decided to discard the current 2015 frame design, judging it to be too rigid and not performing well with the electronics. He prefers the 2014 version which he also rode in November with the evolving pneumatic valve engine.
Suzuki’s Aleix Espargaro is also focusing on chassis development and he was able to improve his best lap from Wednesday by around a second to finish tenth on the Thursday timesheet overall.
Talented MotoGP rookie Maverick Viñales, meanwhile, is lapping as much as possible and working on understanding how to ride a MotoGP bike to its limits on used tyres. He finished 15th fastest, improving his time by well over a second and getting 56 more laps under his belt.
More, from a press release issued by Movistar Yamaha:
Sepang International Circuit (Sepang, Malaysia), 5th February 2015
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo is leading the standings after the second day of pre-season testing at Sepang, with teammate Valentino Rossi finishing less than 0,8s behind him in sixth place.
Jorge Lorenzo made the most of the gained data from yesterday’s eight-hour testing session and was quick to position himself among the protagonists on the leader board. After getting a feel for today’s more slippery and bumpy track, he grew in confidence and picked up the pace to become the first rider to break the two-minute barrier with a 1’59.963s lap. His lap stayed unbeaten for the rest of the session.
With the track still cool in the morning, teammate Rossi took his time to further test set-ups with the aim to prolong tyre life. When the track started to warm up he put his YZR-M1 to the test and posted the sixth fastest time of 2’00.676s, +0.713s behind his teammate, despite suffering some chattering issues.
While the track was baking in the blistering afternoon temperatures at 2pm, the riders took some time to regain their strength and consume enough fluids, before heading back out into the bright sunshine at the Sepang International Circuit.
When Lorenzo and Rossi retuned to the track they used the last two hours of the session to test various aspects of the bike with their fastest lap time and position in the standings remaining unchanged.
Jorge Lorenzo
1st / 1’59.963 / laps
“1’59 is a good lap time. The other riders couldn’t do it because the track seems to be a bit more slippery and bumpy and that makes it more difficult to achieve good lap times. Our bike improved a lot over this last year and I feel ready both physically and mentally. All together, we’re in a good shape. In the first four hours in the morning I was quite comfortably riding 2’00’s. In the afternoon it seemed that the track condition was a bit worse and I couldn’t ride as many fast laps. The goal for tomorrow is to repeat the pace that I had today and maybe do even better.”
Valentino Rossi
6th / 2’00.676 / laps
“Today was more difficult for us. In the morning we had chattering of the bike in the corner, because we tried something different. The braking was not so bad, but the bike was very difficult to ride. There were hard vibrations with a high frequency. The morning was the right moment to ride good lap times. The conditions were right to push, but I couldn’t ride at 100 per cent. In the afternoon we modified the bike and we fixed the problem with front vibrations. My pace was not so bad but it was also nothing special. I’m not very happy with what we tried today. We have to continue tomorrow, try something else and continue in a good way.”
Massimo Meregalli
Team Director
“Today was a good day but a strange day. We don’t know the reason but between yesterday and today the bikes behaved differently. Jorge has been impressive in the morning and has been very fast and consistent. Valentino suffered from some chattering issues in the morning, we were able to resolve this for the afternoon but possibly due to the track conditions we were then not able to make a step forward in lap-time. We lost a little time working on the chatter this morning but we are confident that we will be on schedule tomorrow to continue testing. Both Jorge and Valentino still need to make a race simulation tomorrow which we will aim to do at the time this year’s race would take place in the afternoon to have as close as possible conditions.”
More, from a press release issued by Monster Yamaha Tech 3:
Espargaro and Smith battle through the heat on day two at Sepang
Monster Energy Tech3 Team rider Pol Espargaro concluded another successful day on track in the searing Sepang heat to post the 7th fastest time as he experimented with different chassis on day two of testing. The young Spaniard undertook another large collective of 57 laps and rode to his quickest one of 2’00.959 right at the beginning of the session on his 7th lap. Some testing time was lost in the afternoon due to the extreme heat which caused a lack of traction, however, once temperatures had cooled, the 2014 rookie of the year went back out to continue working on both chassis and setup options. Although he had a small crash in the afternoon, the 23 year old rider optimistically looks towards tomorrow as he intends to plug the gap to the leading time on his Yamaha YZR-M1.
On the other side of the Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team garage, Bradley Smith proceeded to battle onwards to post a top time of 2’01.098 on the 32nd lap out of 51 in Malaysia, despite still not being fully fit. Similarly to his teammate, his focus today was testing the two different chassis as well as additional general aspects of his 2015 specification Yamaha YZR-M1, with the overall feeling being positive and confidence boosting. His time left him in 9th position, yet satisfied with his progress after completing the productive work. The young British rider remains poised to continue his evaluation of the new Yamaha tomorrow and to lower his lap time further.
Pol Espargaro
Position : 7thTime : 2’00.959
“Today was a bit more challenging than yesterday as we were testing chassis plus new parts and there is no clear result on which one I prefer yet, but we are making good progress so I am happy. I tried to improve my lap this afternoon, but I wasn’t able to, as it’s not the best time to attempt a hot lap due to the track conditions. Anyway, I am not focused on making super fast times for the moment because I would rather concentrate on the bike setup and my riding style, which are progressing positively. I had a small crash this afternoon which was fortunately not damaging to me at all, nor to the bike too much, so I am happy to walk away from that unscathed. Nevertheless, tomorrow is another day and we have a lot more work to undertake which we need to do in the morning due to the temperature in the afternoon, but I look forward to getting back out on track after a good rest tonight. “
Bradley Smith
Position : 9thTime : 2’01.098
“Overall, I am pleased with the progress we have made on day two in Malaysia and I am happy to be back in the groove whilst working on some areas that I can evaluate here in Sepang. I’m at about 85% fitness due to my injured right ankle which I hurt in training, however I still managed to complete 103 laps over today and yesterday. I can’t move around on the bike as much as I would like to due to the injury and right hand corners are a bit tricky, but I will heal and these are only small details and issues, which can be ironed out later. I’m evaluating the two different chassis at the moment and today I rode both and completed a similar distance. My lap times were close on either chassis, which is a very good sign, so I am certainly happy about what we achieved. Yet, now we need to continue working in order to decide which one has more potential for the upcoming season. There’s still some work to do, but we are moving forward.”
More, from a press release issued by NGM Mobile Forward Racing:
Second day of testing at Sepang for the Forward Racing team
The second day out of three of testing in Sepang for the Forward Racing team ends with Stefan Bradl on top of the standings of the Open class.
The German completed 49 laps improving his time by less than a tenth. Bradl finished the day in 11th place and the first of the Open bikes.
It was a productive day also for Loris Baz who has significantly improved his time. The Frenchman completed 44 laps with a personal best of 2.02.842, ending up twenty-first in the timesheet.
Stefan Bradl
“Today I worked on the lap time. Yesterday we were fast but I needed to find the right consistency and to get closer to the limit. The feeling is positive, I managed to push hard and I was able to set some fast laps even with the old tyres. I’m glad we worked well on the electronics and I tried some new setting for the chassis. Tomorrow we will try to make the most of the day”.
Loris Baz
“Today we did a good job. We are moving forward step by step. The feeling is also getting better. The lap time is good. I thought I could improve slightly again in the afternoon but the track was slippery. Overall we have done a good job. Let’s focus on tomorrow”
More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office:
SUZUKI MotoGP continued to make strong and positive progress in the second day of testing at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia today as Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales significantly improved their lap times.
Espargaro moved up into 10th position on the first two days of combined times with a lap of 2:01.344; which was just over 800ths-of-a-second quicker than Wednesday’s time of 2:02.225. Vinales made even greater improvements aboard his factory GSX-RR, lapping 1.24 seconds-faster and posting a time of 2:01.916 around the 5.543km circuit; placing him 15th overall in the rankings.
Today’s test was held in sunny conditions with air temperatures of 31.9C and track temperatures reaching 52.5C. Tomorrow, SUZUKI MotoGP will continue to evaluate the new settings on the GSX-RRs and plan a full-race simulation testing.
Davide Brivio – Team Manager:
“We are quite happy today because we did a lot of work and achieved much progress, plus we are quite satisfied that both our riders managed so many laps. Aleix tried different types of settings and worked more on the electronics-settings while Maverick made a big improvement on his lap-times as he tried different riding styles and improved. It’s also important that we started to understand more about the bike now from the data we have acquired from our riders. There’s still a lot to do, of course, but it is positive so far for both as they are still continuing the learning-process. We are trying to optimise the package and find the strongest points to prepare for the season ahead.”
Aleix Espargaro:
“I’m happy with the improvements made since yesterday as we closed half-a-second closer to the fast guys compared to the lap-times yesterday; which gives me great confidence that we are working in the right direction. We have a good set-up with the geometry of the bike and I’m getting more-used to being faster and more competitive with my new bike, so we are very happy and really looking forward tomorrow. We still need to work more with TC and rear-grip as these are the main issues right now, but I think that the time we did today was quite competitive.”
Maverick Vinales:
“Today I attempted to try several different lines and also tried different riding styles to try to find which is the best and at the end of the session, I made a good lap, so I’m quite satisfied with the job done today. It’s rather important for me now to improve the lap times, and even step-by-step, I can feel that we are going in the right direction. I’m sure that I can improve a lot more if I have more laps and gain more experience; so I’m really keen to do as many laps as possible. We will try to make one long run tomorrow, but the primary plan is just like today; go step-by-step and target the best lap-time at the end of the day.”
SUZUKI MotoGP concludes its first test of 2015 tomorrow and will return to the Sepang International Circuit at the end of the month for a further four-days of testing in preparation for the opening round of the MotoGP World Championship at Losail, Qatar on March 29th.
Sepang Day 1 & 2 Combined Times: 1 Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1:59.963, 2 Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) 2:00.015, 3 Marc Marquez (Honda) 2:00.146, 4 Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 2:00.260, 5 Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2:00.380, 6 Andrea Iannone (Ducati) 2:00.391. 10 Aleix Espargaro (SUZUKI MotoGP) 2:01.344. 15 Maverick Vinales (SUZUKI MotoGP) 2:01.916.