Rossi and Pedrosa lead the way

Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi and Honda’s Dani Pedrosa concluded the second Sepang MotoGP test on February 28 with an identical 1:59.999 lap time, as preparations for the 2014 season continued in Malaysia.

The overall pace was not as quick as the year’s first visit to Sepang, with Rossi and Pedrosa’s best laps today being 0.466 seconds slower than the best circulation set last time out by world champion Marc Marquez – who missed this test due to injury.

The Doctor demonstrated his pace once again on Friday as he prepares for a 15th premier class campaign, setting a quickest time on his 13th lap despite some struggles with the 2014 tyres being experienced by the Yamaha factory team.

Thursday’s fastest rider Pedrosa was also on the pace, his sharpest time coming on the 47th of his 50 laps as temperatures dropped slightly – following a 64°C track temperature peak at 4pm.Pedrosa undertook an impressive 19-lap race simulation in the afternoon with every lap under the 2:02.000 mark, and a best time of 2:00.985 coming on lap 15.

On the other side of the Yamaha garage to Rossi, seventh placed Jorge Lorenzo’s frustrations continued as he was 0.75 seconds slower than at the previous test -- where track conditions were better and the riders still had access to a 2013 specification tyre.

The Ducati GP14 is showing signs of real improvement and Andrea Dovizioso ended the test 0.068 seconds off the top pace in third, with a lap time 0.3 seconds better than at Sepang 1. With the data gathered by him and his fellow Ducati riders the Italian factory made the decision it will opt for ‘Open’ class participation this season, meaning it will use standard electronics software and will benefit from the greater engine allocation permitted in the new regulations.

Aleix Espargaro was once again quick, his best time of 2:00.101s leaving him fourth best overall and with a decent race simulation performed for the NGM Mobile Forward Racing team on its ‘Open’ Yamaha.

Stefan Bradl wrapped up early having had a solid week, the LCR Honda rider satisfied with his consistently quick times as he found good rhythm on longer runs and ended up fifth overall.
The fastest rider on the first day, Alvaro Bautista (Honda), was 0.5 seconds off the pace on the final day in sixth and is happy with progress made with a new rear shock this week.

In eighth, Cal Crutchlow (Ducati) made steady headway over the two Sepang tests and has dropped his gap to the front-running pace to less than 0.8 seconds compared with a 1.5-second deficit at the end of the previous visit to Malaysia.

The key development for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team was the introduction of the seamless gearbox to its package. Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro rounded out the top 10 with similar lap times respectively.

Randy de Puniet – who days earlier had attended the Phillip Island world superbike race as a spectator -- carried on with his development work for Suzuki, which aims to return to MotoGP in 2015, the Frenchman concluding Friday’s test in 12th, his best lap time down to 1.431 seconds off the top – compared with 2.953s at the end of Sepang1.

Colin Edwards ran out of fuel twice as he pushed the Forward Yamaha to the limit and concluded 14th, just ahead of compatriot Nicky Hayden on the Drive M7 Aspar Honda RCV1000R.
Australia’s Broc Parkes (Paul Bird Motorsport) skipped the test.

The Ducati, Honda and Yamaha factory teams now head to Phillip Island for a tyre safety test from March 3-5, with Marquez to miss the trip as his recovery from a fibula fracture continues.

For a full run down of the Sepang test times, click here.