Ben Spies and Jorge Lorenzo were back in action today for the second of three days of testing at the Sepang International circuit in Malaysia, topping the time sheets after Honda riders all pulled out of the day.
All four Honda riders sat out the second day of the Sepang test as a precaution pending the resolution of an engine failure suffered by one of the Honda RC213Vs late on the first day of testing.
The engine on the RC213V of Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa suffered
a failure late on Tuesday while he was on his 36th lap of the 5.548Km
circuit outside of Kuala Lumpur. Pedrosa had earlier set the second
fastest time, second only to team-mate Casey Stoner, the pace-setter
on the opening day.
Pedrosa's engine was flown to Japan from Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday
night for inspection and analysis, but it arrived at the Honda Racing
Corporation race shop after the Wednesday lunch break, by which time
the Sepang International Circuit was doused in heavy rain. That meant
a day of no testing for Repsol Honda riders Stoner and Pedrosa, San
Carlo Honda Gresini rider Alvaro Bautista, and LCR Honda MotoGP rider
Stefan Bradl.
The Honda riders will return to the track on Thursday for the final
day of the three-day test.
The Yamaha Factory riders took advantage of another day of mixed weather to test out the wet settings of the 1000cc YZR-M1 for the first time. A dry morning's riding saw both make big improvements on yesterday's dry times, wrapping up the day in first and second respectively.
Spies used today's sessions to focus on set ups on the wet and the dry whilst team mate Lorenzo concentrated on refining the power delivery of his M1 with throttle and engine control. Tomorrow will mark the final day of testing for the MotoGP riders here in Sepang.
After completing 35 laps, Ben Spies, said, "Today went well, the rain caught us out again but we got everything we needed to do done before lunch including some different chassis set ups and some electronics which we were pretty happy with. The rain started to come down so we waited until it subsided a little bit but with still a full wet track with standing water which we needed. We haven't ridden the thousand in the rain and I've never ridden this track in the rain so it was good to get some laps in.
"I had quite a good feeling with the bike in the rain; straight away it felt pretty good so we rode in full wet conditions and stayed on wets when it dried out a little and was greasy. We've got a lot of stuff to do tomorrow so we're hoping for a dry day!"
Spies' team-mate Jorge Lorenzo recorded the second fastest time. "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. 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!" Lorenzo said.
Tech3 Yamaha riders Andrea Dovizioso and al Crutchlow finished 3rd and 4th fastest respectively followed by a hist of Ducati's lead by Nicky Hayden.
Testing will resume tomorrow
Main Photo: Ben Spies
Credit: Yamaha Racing
Test Times
1. Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha Factory Racing 2'01.285
2. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Yamaha Factory Racing 2'01.293
3. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Yamaha Tech3 2'01.522
4. Cal Crutchlow (GBR) Yamaha Tech3 2'01.695
5. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati Team 2'01.748
6. Hector Barbera (SPA) Pramac Racing Team 2'01.989
7. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Ducati Team 2'02.130
8. Franco Battaini (ITA) Ducati Team 2'03.566
9. Colin Edwards (USA) NGM Mobile Forward Racing 2'05.816
10. Ivan Silva (SPA) Avintia Racing 2'07.532
11. Yonny Hernandez (COL) Avintia Racing 2'08.213
