The storm clouds held off over Sepang today to allow the second day of MotoGP testing to take place in fully dry conditions from 10am until track closure at 6pm.
It was, however, extremely hot once again and the fastest lap times are yet to reach the level of the last test here. Marc Márquez set the quickest lap of the day with an effort of 1’59.844, followed closely by Jorge Lorenzo, who was the only other rider capable of breaking the two-minute barrier today.
With Ducati riders (Iannone and Dovizioso) making up the top four positions, it looks like the Italian factory have taken a step forward with their new machine this season.
The two DRIVE M7 Aspar riders were again satisfied with their day’s work after they built up crucial track time on board their new Hondas.
Eugene Laverty has been working hard on engine braking and chassis, improving his braking and corner entry, and his efforts were rewarded with his best ever lap of this track (2’01.944).
19th Eugene Laverty 2.01.944 (56 laps):
“Today was another very positive day. We have made some progress with the chassis set-up and now I feel like I can brake really hard. I still have to adapt my style for the faster corners because I am washing too much speed off into some of the turns. It is good that I can brake hard but I also have to be able to keep enough corner speed. The weather held off for us today and we were able to get a lot of work done and lower the lap time. We worked on improving the engine braking and now that I am starting to understand the electronics package I like it. I felt comfortable today, so tomorrow the aim is to complete a long run and see where we are.”
Source: Aspar Media